French President Sarkozy: Less Abstraction, More Work

One of the things you often hear from people without any real fondness for America’s accomplishments in the world is how much “prestige” has been lost as the result of its refusal to turn the other cheek against foreign attacks. This notion is most often promulgated by the Old Left who seem not to have noticed that Europe has moved on to address its entrenched, endemic economic problems caused by medicinal political systems which hold your hand while the ship sinks.

Both Germany and France have elected leaders who have distanced themselves from the left-leaning politics of the Old Left. France elected Nicolas Sarkozy, a man who recognizes the dangers of a nuclear Iran. Germany has elected Angela Merkel and she has also gone out of her way to mend fences with the U. S. Both have made official visits to the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas.

So what? Well, for one thing I can buy excellent French wines again in good conscience and some Liebfraumilch (sp?) too.
The other advantage has been pointed out in the British Economist magazine. The French president is far more practical, energetic, and less inclined toward empty poetic flights than the Chirac government with its former poet-turned-prime minister Dominique De Villepan. That was a cute government, alright, but left quite a mess in its place. Sarkozy’s message to Europe: Roll up your sleeves and go to work.