Bable Rebuilt

Since I’m not sure that the American Revolution overthrowing British rule is being taught as a positive these days, it is occasionally worth taking a moment to remind people that America was created to be something different from Europe. Taking a hard look at the Old Country in general and Britain is specific is a great way to test whether we American citizen want to continue to reshape ourselves in their image.

A Confusion of Tongues: London is now the most ethnically diverse city in the world—more so, according to United Nations reports, even than New York. And this is not just a matter of a sprinkling of a few people of every race and nation, or of the fructifying cultural effect of foreigners. … A third of London’s residents were born outside Britain, a higher percentage of newcomers than in any other city in the world except Miami, and the percentage continues to rise. Likewise, migration figures for the country as a whole—emigration and immigration—suggest that its population is undergoing swift replacement. Many of the newcomers are from Pakistan, India, and Africa; others are from Eastern Europe and China. If present trends continue, experts predict, in 20 years’ time, between a quarter and a third of the British population will have been born outside it, and at least a fifth of the native population will have emigrated.

But we did not conclude that it was best, then, to have no national, religious, or cultural identity at all. The institutions that allow one to live in peace, freedom, and security require loyalty (not necessarily of a blind variety); and loyalty in turn requires a sense of identification. In a world in which sovereignty must exist, some kind of identification with that sovereignty is also necessary: too rigid a national identity has its dangers, but so does too loose a one. The first results in aggression toward and denigration of others; the second in society’s disintegration from within, which can then provoke authoritarian attempts at repair.

Theodore Dalrymple writing this article for the City Journal wraps some examples within the framework of the plausible truism that the answers to immigration will not be found on the extremes. That’s all well and nice, perhaps even a tad cliché in that optimal is nearly always somewhere in the middle. The problem Dalrymple sees in not in shared values of commerce, but unshared values in terms of violence (e.g. honor killings), family (e.g. polygamy and forced marriage) and multiple bodies of law in a larger sovereignty that recognizes validity in the identity politics of sub-groups.

A Leading Indicator

The lesson of American history is drive and thrive. If the Republican Party wants to win the hearts, minds and votes of the majority of American citizens, then they need to aggressively advocate for the ability to own and drive cars.

Globe and Mail: After hundreds of angry drivers shut down highways in England yesterday in protest against green automobile taxes, and drivers and fishermen in France and Spain paralyzed their ports and roads in a fuel-tax protest, politicians began to signal Europe's ambitious emission-control policies may soon have to be abandoned.

While Europe has led the way in using tax incentives to encourage people to buy low-emission cars and to build carbon-neutral houses in order to meet Kyoto targets, it has become increasingly apparent that inflation-battered voters are no longer willing to go along.

Emotionally, there is no greater understanding of personal freedom than the ability to use time to go directly to where you want to go, when you want to go. One proper role of government is to insure the population is free to be productive. Computer programming can create fantasy but experimentally controlled empirical science explains reality. CO2 is harmless to ecosystems constructed from CO2.

Is NATO obsolete?

The CATO Institute takes a quick look at the present condition of this World War II era agreement. Europe is all healed up now, so it may be time for them to take total responsibility for their own safety, thus allowing the United States to focus entirely on ours.

Cracks in the Foundation: NATO's New Troubles: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is beginning to fracture. Its members, sharing the triumphalism that underpinned U.S. foreign policy after the Cold War, took on burdens that have proved more difficult than expected. Increasingly, they are failing to meet the challenges confronting them.

2008 is going to be a very eventful year. The world economy is showing signs of systemic financial stress. The political battles over the direction of America are going to be very bitter. It may be a good time to rethink the formal obligations that U.S. citizens have to defend foreign populations.

Putin Decides What To Do

The next President of Russia will be Dmitry Medvedev. In the historical style of the powerful, the powerful hold a meeting and current President Vladimir Putin announces his successor. There will be voting because the international press will expect another act in the democracy theater the Russians have been staging.

New Prince, New Dangers: When Putin announced yesterday that he supports First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to succeed him next March, the country's bureaucratic and political elites fell over themselves to be among the first to affirm their loyalty to the newborn prince. But the outward show of unity does not mean the transition problem is resolved.

The news in this is that Putin will not relinquish power, but is willing to wield it without the artifice of official title. Some observers are calling Medvedev a placeholder, a harmless figurine for public appearances. Someone from the “family’, like the Godfather going with Fredo because in this version, Sonny and Michael are girls and can't play the game.

A Mafia Nation: The key problem, Ryabov added, is that Putin has created a system that works poorly without him, since he is the only one who can balance the competing Kremlin clans. "With such countervailing forces, the system cannot regulate itself," Ryabov said. "It cannot resolve these conflicts through two-sided negotiations. An arbiter is always necessary and this is the role Putin is playing.

Putin Picks His Heir: "The Kremlin has long said that Medvedev is like the adopted son of Putin, who only has two daughters. Putin has treated Medvedev like a son," Kryshtanovskaya says. "This is a person who is practically like family to Putin. He is a dependent, manageable, and obedient person who doesn't have his own approach or point of view."

Oh Look, it's the Little Bear: The idea that anyone in Russia is strong enough to serve independently as "president" while Vladimir Putin sits "below" him as prime minister, giving orders to Putin when necessary and dismissing him if the nation's interest called for it, is so ludicrous that the mere suggestion of it offends the intelligence of a turnip.

Lest anyone doubt these gambits are the result of an ambitious young man with a drive to lead the surviving population of the grand communist experiment, the ‘candidate’ himself puts those thoughts to rest.

Dmitry Medvedev: Speaking to reporters at one of his recent press briefings, Medvedev dropped a very meaningful phrase while answering one more question about his presidential ambitions: “I am a part of the state machine.” Some might view this as a sign of a lack of character. But others might view it as an honest acknowledgment of a man who does not want to pretend to be something he is not.

Much like the Chinese, the heirs of the KGB legacy are no longer truly concerned about anything as petty as academic theories of enlightened leadership. Russia is flush with oil wealth and the big bosses are never going to voluntarily release their grip on that much money.

The French President Announces His Divorce

A mere five months after winning the election the first family of France splits.

Nicolas and Cecilia Sarkozy split: It's finally official, and it appears Nicolas Sarkozy decided to announce this on the most politically fortunate day possible. In a press release from the Elysee, the Sarkozy's announced their separation "by mutual consent." Not to make political hay out of a very personal decision, but this was certainly the way to do it. Sarkozy has managed to distract the entire media from the current transport strike, which the BBC reports some unions may be extend for another 24 hours. Then again, if he dosen't make any statements in person soon, it could look like he's hiding in the bunker. As Le Figaro points out, this will be the first time that a French president is also a bachelor.

On a side note, Ségolène Royal who lost the election to Sarkozy announces her separation from long time partner Francois Hollande just a month after the defeat. Being a mutually happy power couple must be a very hard act to maintain. This of course raises the unnecessary gratuitous question of how long will Mr. Bill be allowed around after Hillary’s inauguration? After all, there is Presidential divorce prescedent now. Stare decisis Bill, bye, bye.

Russia Rediscovers a World View

Moving forward to the past. The phrase fits a number of current philosophies but La Russophobe finds the sentiment specifically active in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Their lengthy editorial argues that Anti-Western ideology is the official perfume being used on the unearthed corpse of Soviet Communism.

The Neo-Soviet State: The Russian political elite has long dreamed of finding a national idea capable of rallying the people. … President Vladimir Putin came to power under the unofficial slogan: "Let's put an end to the Yeltsin-era chaos." Now the elite is pushing a new national idea to rally the nation. It can be stated as follows: "We will protect the country from external enemies and establish a new global order to replace the one that so humiliated Russia in the 1990s." To put it more simply, Putin's motto is: "Russia is back!"

Searching for enemies and casting the West in the role of the principal foe has turned out to be the most successful method for rallying the people. … The arguments supporting the new national idea are plain and simple: "The West is interfering in our domestic affairs and attempting to weaken Russia. By promoting democracy, the West is really advancing its own interests." … Being pro-Western in Russia today is not only unpopular, but also dangerous because it necessarily means being anti-Russian.

What is behind the new national idea? Anti-Western ideology has become an important factor that legitimizes the highly centralized state. The Kremlin has to offer some kind of explanation for the concentration of authority in so few hands, the elimination of political pluralism, the expansion of the state's role in the economy and the redistribution of property. The search for enemies and the cultivation of a "siege mentality" have always been used to justify "iron-hand" regimes in Russia.

The Russians are in the process of claiming a huge portion of the Artic Circle and they know no power on earth is willing to stop them. On their southern border, Publius Pundit comments on Georgia claims that Russian jet fighters fire a missile that lands inside their borders without exploding. The Kremlin denies any wrong doing but the situation between the two countries is tense, to say the least.

Sergei Borisovich Ivanov

Who? Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

The Dossier on Putin's Clone: A FORMER KGB spy who studied in London, became a lifelong fan of the Beatles and speaks fluent English is being tipped to succeed Vladimir Putin as president of Russia.

He shares Putin’s mistrust of the West and anger at NATO expansion, and is a strong opponent of US plans to install a missile defence shield in Europe. As defence minister, Ivanov drastically increased military spending but opposed army reforms. … “Russia’s next president may turn out to be someone who is not even on our radar, but if Ivanov comes to power, those who are criticizing Putin now may come to miss him,” said a western diplomat. “Behind the worldly facade is a steely hawk - a replica of Putin without the charisma.”

Power is always about getting the desired outcome. Principles have nothing to do with the desire to control for personal gain. Oh by the way, the United States has only one operating uranium enrichment facility so the atomic future is still mostly fueled by seasoned apparatchiks.

Polls Blow French Parliament Vote

Did anyone believe the French left would wise up and stop fighting for power? There are a lot of people invested in the welfare state and they are not going to let even common sense adjustments go unchallenged. Sarkozy will have a majority to work with but the leftists are gaining Parliamentary seats following elections today.

Sarkozy's parliamentary majority smaller than expected: Official results Monday morning gave French President Nicolas Sarkozy a majority in the parliamentary election run-off, but it was not as large as he had hoped for or polls had predicted. … The results are no-doubt disappointing for Sarkozy, as they represent a net loss of about 44 seats for the UMP compared to the number the party held in the outgoing National Assembly. In addition, the opposition Socialist Party gained 36 seats, to 185.

The new French President will retain about a 100 seat majority and intends to proceed with his tax cut plan which motivated the socialist base to turn out in mass this election. French expatriate Daniel at Venezuela News and Views agrees the handling of the tax issue backfired on Sarkozy's party.

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory: The reason is quite simple. When the new Fillon cabinet was named a month ago it started by a program of tax incentives that, no matter how the UMP tried to hide it, favored folks who already had some money. The idea was of course to try to promote more investment in France and boost the economy growth. It did work in some countries and it certainly was worth trying in France which seemed blocked for years.

The problem is that such a loss of income must be compensated from somewhere, even more so in a welfare state of the size of France. The right had no better idea than to leak a possible increase in sales tax, and clumsily labeling it "social sales tax".

The right wing bungling a message delivered to the public. Another failure to understand how voters react to words and phrases. What a shock.

Sea Change in France

An impressive 85% of eligible French voters show up at the polls to vote for President. Nicolas Sarkozy wins the election and in his acceptance speech declares: “I want to issue an appeal to our American friends, to tell them that they can count on our friendship, which has been forged in the tragedies of history which we have faced together”. An overtly US friendly candidate wins with 53% of the French vote. This is good news.

Yahoo News: Sarkozy will take over from Chirac on May 16, and has promised to act quickly to enact key items of his manifesto. His campaign was based on the theme of "la rupture" -- a clean break from past policies which he blamed for creating France's runaway debt, high unemployment and festering discontent in the high-immigration suburbs. After legislative elections in June -- in which he will seek a clear majority for the UMP and its allies -- he plans a special National Assembly session to set off his reform drive.

These include the abolition of tax on overtime, big cuts in inheritance tax, a law guaranteeing minimum service in transport strikes, and rules to oblige the unemployed to take up offered work. On the social front he has pledged minimum jail terms for serial offenders and tougher rules to make it harder for immigrants to bring extended families to France. His right-wing programme was in sharp contrast to Royal's promise to extend state protection, create 500,000 jobs, and increase the minimum wage.

It is good to remember that a right winger in French politics is analogous to an American centrist Democrat. Still this result shows that much of the public understands that the government guaranteed easy life under socialism is unsustainable. The French do not want to give up the welfare state and will question and resist the restructuring process, but a majority concedes changes are undeniably needed.

Defeated Socialists search for scapegoats: It is the party’s third consecutive presidential defeat. The Socialists now face the question of whether they can ever regain power without ditching their anti-capitalist rhetoric, as the mainstream left has done across almost all of Europe.

Moderates attracted to her early campaign were disappointed by her manifesto, filled with generous spending pledges and little indication of how to fund them. Party disunity exploded into public view when Eric Besson, her economic adviser, quit saying she was “dangerous for France” and joined the Sarkozy campaign.

The left needs to give up their dream of good mother government and convert to the goal of improving the weaknesses within capitalism. Fausta's Blog and Captains Quarters have roundups of the world reaction to this sea change in Europe.

Socialist Desperation in France

There is an old saying that people vote their: (pocketbooks, party, resentments, aspirations, moral convictions, values, identity, or self-interest). Sunday’s vote in France will add another non-definitive data point to the electoral evidence. My choice in this specific vote is fears. People vote their fears.

Europe (finally!) gets the War on Terror: The words "cynical" and "immoral" were used by Sarkozy recently to describe the Boomer Left. Europe's vacation from reality is reaching its natural limits, and public opinion is sobering up fast.

With just hours before the decisive election the socialist candidate is trailing badly in the polls. In what some label desperation the left is waving the bloody shirt to the public. As time winds down Ségolène Royal accuses her opponent of being a threat to democracy and warns of violence if Sarkozy is elected.

Hillblogger 3: There is no doubt in my mind that while Royal's performance has enhanced her stature as a politician, someone to reckon with seriously in the not too distant French legislative elections, her "tantrums" and "woolliness" her debate with Sarkozy turned off many "centrist" voters. Even friends of mine who were hardline Socialists were unanimous - Royal blew it big time when she went on unprecedented name-calling attacks against Sarkozy, i.e., liar, immoral, dangerous, brutal, divisive, etc. Not at all presidential, they say.

American style capitalism is the antithesis of maximum government dependency at the core of socialism. Nicolas Sarkozy is realist enough to understand the cherished French welfare state will not survive assault by an outside world filled with poverty, anger and values intrinsically opposed to western concepts including individual freedom of thought.

EU Referendum: Nicolas Sarkozy who is, let us not forget, the son of a Hungarian refugee from the Soviets, has been talking about events in Chechnya in a way that is not entirely complimentary to Russia, pointing out that a great country ought not to be handling matters that way. On his return from a visit to Washington he said: “When I think that those who disapprove of my visit with Bush are the same ones who would shake hands with Putin, it makes me quietly laugh”.

French extraterritorial voters go to the ballots Saturday then national residents vote Sunday. The direction of Europe will be shifting.

Cold War II

“If we don't handle this very carefully--and we won't--we'll be facing a perfect storm of foaming Islam, sullen Russia, and grinning China”. - Publius Pundit

The Cold War has perhaps only been on hiatus. Early 80's Russian Pics.

France Selects Two Final Options

Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal survive being voted off the island after the first round of the French Presidential election. The results achieve the ascension to power of the post WWII generation. The importance of this election is not lost on the citizens as a phenomenal 85 percent of eligible voters turn out to cast ballots. A second nation wide vote on May 6th determines the Presidency.

Official Results Reported: The twelve candidates have the following percentage scores following the record turn-out of 85%: Nicolas Sarkozy 31.11%, Ségolène Royal 25.83% ... .

It is widely believed that Sarkozy is the more American friendly of the two candidates but the choice is truly more analogous to one between Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, with the pretty boy playing the Ségolène socialist role. This dynamic within the welfare state has the American left keeping a close eye on events, as Madison’s own socialist extraordinaire points out.

John Nichols: French voters have set up a race worth watching for one of the highest-profile presidencies on the planet. A pair of relatively young and dynamic candidates, conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Ségolène Royal, led Sunday's first-round voting and will face one another in a May 6 run-off vote that is expected to draw an extremely high turnout.

Though Sarkozy is a good deal more liberal than many American Democrats, he is by European standards a man of the right. And Royal, the first woman to make it into a second-round race for the French presidency, is anything but a radical.

But their contest will be a classic fight between the right and left in a country that remains the counterpoint to the United States on a host of foreign-policy issues -- not least the future of the Middle East, where the French government of outgoing conservative President Jacques Chirac has led international opposition to the military adventurism of the Bush's administration.

Ultimately, however, the French race will be decided on domestic issues -- with Sarkozy and Royal battling for the votes of centrists torn between the conservative's promise of corporation-friendly free-market economic reforms and the Socialist's promise that "human values will triumph."

The economic and social problems facing Europe are every bit as great as in America. The free west has thrived under the protection of the American military for over sixty years allowing governments to grant as benefits assets that otherwise would need to be allocated towards defense. Neither candidate is likely to bring about major reform to the status quo, but Sarkozy is more predisposed to tweak the edges in favor of employers. The vision Ségolène Royal describes of fortress France where outsourcing is restricted and every home has its own flag, is unlikely to grow prosperity. The left desperately want to preserve wonderland but reality has a way of imposing upon fairy tales and I’m sure Tehran is watching even closer than the Capital Times.

Two Weeks Till France Decides

The European decision about the direction and the magnitude of the response to the ongoing immigration wave is about to revealed. There are big differences in the choice between socialism and the alternatives. Whatever France decides to do, the policy effects will spill over onto all the lands of the old world powers.

Hard choices ahead: With fewer than two weeks to go before the French presidential elections, what might a Sarkozy victory mean for France's immigrant communities? … France's voters are being presented with a choice between two, or perhaps three, main candidates.

On the one hand, they can vote for the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal, the first woman to stand a real chance of winning a major French election. She is a politician who has been careful to distance herself from the unpopular, and largely male, "dinosaurs" of the French Socialist Party, choosing instead what she calls a new way of doing politics that is closer to people's everyday concerns.

On the other, they can choose to head into what for France are largely uncharted waters by voting for the centre-right UMP candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, who has similarly distanced himself from the kind of politics-as-usual represented by the outgoing French President Jacques Chirac, himself from the UMP. Sarkozy has caused disquiet among many voters by provocative statements he has made about the need to shake up French life and politics.

More background at French Election 2007

The Triumphant Ruling Class of Russia

Former CIA operative Reuel Marc Gerecht paints a disturbing picture in which former KGB and successor intelligence personnel own Russia. His report for the American Enterprise Institute calculates that 78% of the top 1,016 government officials have “an intelligence affiliation”. The good old boys of Soviet oppression or more accurately, their children, appear to have total control. I suppose what never leaves doesn’t have to come back.

A Rogue Intelligence State? The Russian state under Putin has no single, unifying, driving ideology. Lust for power, personal greed, and an aspiration for national greatness have yet to push Russia into fascism, although a number of factors--primitive nationalism, a reflexive "us vs. them" worldview that is often explicitly racist, and a zero-sum understanding of economics and foreign affairs--make it a real possibility. The Kremlin's determined efforts to control the Russian media and--increasingly--the Internet leave little space for any meaningful check on state power.

There is no historical precedent for a society so dominated by former and active-duty internal-security and intelligence officials--men who rose up in a professional culture in which murder could be an acceptable, even obligatory, business practice.

Gerecht believes Vladimir Putin’s minions are behind the Polonium-210 poisoning of ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko which I find improbable. (It seems more likely that was a simple accident of criminal smuggling by a banished robber Baron.) What is clear is the Russians completely comprehend the value of their oil and gas assets and the strategic choke points they control over Europe’s dependence on those fuels. Then there is Iran.

There is another Russia-Iran parallel: in Iran it is difficult to separate the truth from frightful falsehoods because there is little transparency in the deliberations of the ruling elite. The result in Iran has been severe ethical corrosion as the regime's disregard for life defines down what is acceptable.

Only when the United States and Europe appeared to be failing at thwarting Iranian nuclear ambitions did Putin intercede. Intelligence officers always seek to exploit weakness in their targets. If we allow the Russians to believe we can be blackmailed over Iran, Putin will surely blackmail us. If Russia really believes a nuclear Iran is not in its national interest, then American efforts to counter rogue Russian behavior in Europe and the Caucasus are unlikely to change the Russian analysis of the menace from nuclear mullahs.

In other words, with Europe demilitarized, dependent and vulnerable, the US will have little leverage over how Putin wants to play his hand as he deals with the hostile regime on his southwest flank. Hitler and Stalin play their game by signing The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and history attests to the power of those nicely typed pages and inky little signatures.

No Smoking In Church

At the risk of ridicule, a few British bureaucrats are simply doing their job.

Churches told to put up No Smoking signs: Health chiefs are spending thousands of pounds ordering churches to put up signs banning smoking. The decision has left religious leaders bemused because, they say, no one smokes in places of worship anyway. … The Department of Health said: "Churches will be included in the ban as they are enclosed public spaces. Signs will be prominently displayed at all entrances."

The population has agreed that government has the duty to guide the population away from potential dangers to individual health. These civil servants are only trying to make sure that the path to a healthy life is well marked. I wonder how long before someone calls City Hall in Madison to complain about unmarked church doors? H/T The Brussels Journal

One Europe One History

Czech native Luboš Motl unleashes a rant against a European Union proposal that all schools use a common history book. The idea is being promoted by the German Education Minister Annette Schavan as a means to standardize what all European children are taught. "It is not the idea at all to rewrite history," according to a German government spokesman, but of course this is exactly what a single state approved history requires.

European Universal History Book: What she wants is a synchronization, forcible coordination, making equal. German readers know that the correct translation to German is gleichschaltung. … What does it mean? She effectively wants to eliminate nations from the intellectual map of Europe. ... In the textbook, we will probably learn that the U.S. entered the war by occupation of Normandy in 1944 but the Yankees were finally stopped by heroic allied French and German forces near Pilsen, my hometown.

The unique history of the multiple countries in Europe can be a touchy subject. It turns out a compellation of human events is a very complex task, and defining an official summary of the cumulative actions of millions of people back through generations is a goal for fools or tyrants. Still, as long as education is considered a rightful role for government, there will be public servants arguing that efficiency and equality should justify standardization of curriculum.

The Nanny State Says Take a Nap

I keep telling people to keep an eye on France. The creative minds of the nanny state are dreaming up ideas that will eventually be introduced to America. Think about it a moment, who is going to vote against Hillary when she campaigns for paid nap time?

Too tired to work? Then have a snooze: They already enjoy Europe’s shortest working week. Now French workers are to be encouraged to have a nap after lunch. The state-backed siesta is part of a €7 million (£4.7 million) campaign begun yesterday by the Health Ministry to encourage the French to sleep more and better. A third of the population does not sleep enough, experts say.

“Sleep must not be trivialized,” Xavier Bertrand, the Health Minister, said. The after-lunch nap is to be introduced by volunteer companies and studied for results. It could then be recommended for all employees, the minister said.

OK, so the idea is still in the planning stages but the key elements for success are all present. It is pro-worker, pro-health and uses rich people’s money that would otherwise be wasted as profits. With a little thought it can probably be justified as being for the children too.

Champagne Socialist Soap Opera

Image that Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle goes on television and says, "Hillary Clinton has only one defect -- her partner", and this coming shortly after Bill Clinton tells the press that everyone earning over $62,000 should be heavily taxed. That would be political theater at its finest. It is also the exact soap opera playing out in the French Presidential campaign.

Ségolène puts down her man: The glamorous candidate tore a strip off Hollande after he promised that her administration would slap a big tax rise on the well-off once she is elected. Added spice comes from the fact that Royal and Hollande have been a couple -- at least officially -- for most of the past 25 years and they have four children together.

Trouble on the home front for Ségo: Socialist embarrassment reached a peak when Arnaud Montebourg, an MP who is Royal's spokesman, quipped on television: "Ségolène Royal has only one defect -- her partner." … Royal, 53, suspended Montebourg for a month, but her reprimand seemed aimed at Hollande. "It should understood, particular by certain men, that they need to accept that women exercise their authority differently, but not more weakly than men," said Royal.

Socialist Presidential candidate Ségolène Royal and Socialist Party Chairman François Hollande have four children, no marriage license and a very old shared dream of government power. When Party Leader François feels the need to re-assert leftist orthodoxy that the rich should be taxed because they are rich, it forces Party Candidate Ségolène to make their finances public to prove they are not really that all that wealthy.

Accused Of Failing To Pay Her Taxes: Faced with taunts about being a gauche caviar, the Gallic equivalent of a champagne socialist, she denied being rich, instead claiming that she was just "well-off." … Not only does she have part ownership in three impressive homes with her boyfriend, the Socialist Party chairman Francois Hollande, but the two have set up a real estate company to manage the properties. This has enabled them to reduce the amount that they pay in l'impot de solidarité sur la fortune, or ISF, a high tax imposed on anyone with assets of more than $985,000.

Now that Hillary is officially in pursuit of her lifetime ambition, the similarities to the French political power couple make watching French mistakes even more entertaining. A guide to the melodrama is available at French Election 2007. Does anyone really believe Bill will be able to keep his ego and mouth disengaged for twenty months?

Immigration Reform in Russia

Immigration reform enforcement begins – Russian style.

New Laws Create Widespread Uncertainty For Migrants: A government decree went into effect on January 1, but with the holiday hiatus is only now being enforced. The decree restricts the number of non-Russians working in the retail trade in outside markets and kiosks. Now the quota is set at 40 percent. From April 1, it will incrementally decrease to zero by the end of the year.

"The new rules will have some positive and some negative effects for migrants," Muhabbatov says. "The positive effect is the simplification of registration rules for migrants in Russia. In the past, migrants could register for only three months, but now they can do so for six months or one year. But on the other hand, the rules have been tightened for employers who give work to Tajik migrants. Companies that use illegal migrants will be fined 800,000 rubles. Most employers, who employ Tajik migrants virtually for free, will employ fewer Tajik migrants after that." What that means is more uncertainty and, in many cases, a scramble to get legal.

“Virtually” free labor certainly helps keep operational costs low for business and the new laws have financial disincentives for employers. A problem is that a history of chronic corruption makes it probable that bribing officials will neutralize this deterrence. That is unless the authorities are actually intent on driving out the swarm of recent arrivals. Zero as the end of the year goal is a pretty small number.

Modern-Day Racism? The collapse of the Soviet Union has also contributed to the problem by literally opening the floodgates to uncontrolled migration. Soviet authorities maintained absolute control on people movement through residence permits and internal passports. Now, migrants from the former Soviet republics face far fewer travel restrictions, and a much greater need to go wherever they can find work -- usually the comparatively prosperous Russia. It's a situation that has fueled massive resentment toward migrants among many Russians, many of whom are themselves struggling to make ends meet.

Maybe the Russians are mindful of inertia. A body in motion tends to stay in motion. A body at rest tends to stay at rest. Migration initially begins when bodies start going into motion and I’m sure the Russians are very aware of the way population dynamics are playing out in Europe.

Tony Blair: Man of the World

British Prime Minister Tony Blair opens up to let the world know what he really thinks. The lengthy article in Foreign Affairs starts with rambling platitudes about Islam including this insight:” To me, the most remarkable thing about the Koran is how progressive it is.” The rest of the commentary then dissolves into liberal fantasy of how common values will make the entire world a better place.

A Battle for Global Values: We have to show that our values are not Western, still less American or Anglo-Saxon, but values in the common ownership of humanity, universal values that should be the right of the global citizen.

The danger with the United States today is not that it is too involved in the world. The danger is that it might pull up the drawbridge and disengage. The world needs it involved. The world wants it engaged. The reality is that none of the problems that press in on us can be resolved or even approached without it.

In my nine years as prime minister, I have not become less idealistic or more cynical. I have simply become more persuaded that the distinction between a foreign policy driven by values and one driven by interests is wrong. Globalization begets interdependence, and interdependence begets the necessity of a common value system to make it work. Idealism thus becomes realpolitik.

Hillary Clinton will give her variation of this same speech because this is exactly what progressive liberals believe. Reason and discourse will lead to planetary harmony and shared common values. America is needed, not because of American exceptionalism, but because our riches (and sometimes our soldiers) are needed to make the world free of pollution and poverty. The daydream desire to rule the world is alive and well within the internationalist movement, and if that means subordinating U.S. interests to the whole of humanity, then so be it.