Was France Lucky To Have Had Ethnic Riots?

I think the answer to the above question, over the long run, will turn out to be a definitive 'yes'. As it appears to me, France has already begun to reap the benefits of those riots, you remember them don't you, the ones in which mostly Muslim youths ransacked and burned anything they could lay their hands upon somewhat more than a year or so ago. Yes they seem to have already started to work wonders for France. Of course you are probably guessing as to what I mean, and those of you who realize their presidential elections were yesterday have probably guessed correctly.

Yesterday, Nicolas Sarkozy won the French presidential elections. He is well known as a baby boomer child (he is now first French president elect born after WWII), a conservative, as a pro-American (can you imagine that), as being the son of an immigrant (no Sarkozy is not a French name), yet as wanting to make immigration laws stricter, as being anti-crime, and as being against France's 35 hour work-week. as being for allowing employers to hire and fire with more ease. In addition he referred to those responsible for the 2005 riots in France as "scum".

Now if you look at the list I just gave to you, you will realize that with all you may know about France, over the years since WWII France has not been very supportive of the USA. Even when our donations of money to the victims of the Tsunami dwarfed those of all other nations, France complained that the people in the USA did not donate enough - typically liberal! In addition, despite having what were called conservative presidents over the past few administrations, France has somehow remained very socialistic; therefore its economy has lagged behind the rest of the other members of the European Union, what with a 35 hour work week, and with employers finding it very difficult to fire sluggards because of employment laws. So, knowing these things, you may wonder how on earth did Sarkozy win the election by defeating his opponent: Segolene Royal, who ran on an obvious socialist ticket.

Well, first of all, Sarkozy won by a very good margin, about 54% of the vote, compared to 46% for Royal. The way he did that was by gaining a lot of votes from those across party lines, and from camps other than the conservatives. According to the article: France's President-Elect Sarkozy Plans Quick Reform Package @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,270398,00.html:

"Exit polls offered some surprises. Some 49 percent of blue-collar workers — traditionally leftist voters — chose Sarkozy, according to an Ipsos/Dell poll. Some 32 percent of people who usually vote for the Greens and 14 percent who normally support the far-left also went with Sarkozy. The poll surveyed 3,609 voters and had a margin of error of about 2 percent."

Just look at those numbers. Look at how many eligible voters turned out: 85% - WOW! He got almost 1/3 of the votes of those who usually vote for the green party (pretty far left as anyone goes), and 14% of those who usually vote extreme left. The 49% of the blue collar workers is also amazing in that he wants people to work more hours, but then again, he gives a tax incentive, no tax on overtime pay. Yet the question remains, how did he get all those votes.

So how did he do it, in a country like France. Well, I put it to you that he did it with the help of the riots, and the extremist Muslim Arab and African immigrant community. No he did not get great support in that quarter. In fact, extremist Muslims Arab and African Immigrants threatened to riot should he win; and some violence was reported in said article, about 387 cars were burned (here they go again). What Sarkozy did most likely get were the votes of those people who were sick and tired of interlopers ravaging their country. Just look again at the amount of leftists, hard leftists who voted for Sarkozy. What on earth could make someone from the hard left vote for a guy who wants to make people work more, who wants to empower employers in the private sector to be able to more easily fire people, who wants to get tough on immigration, and who supports the United States of America. Yeah, you probably guessed it by now, violence that threatens to take away the liberals ability to be the loudest moaners and groaners in the nation. The rioters pretty much did just that, so the libs, along with the cons, and the middle of the roaders, probably decided it was time to get back to the status-quo of having the French run France. They elected the guy they thought would get that done.

Time will tell if they got what they needed. I don't like every platform on which this man ran. For one, many believe he will bring France into the EU more completely by having France ratify the EU's constitution. I think that is a mistake. He has also been spouting off about global warming and how the USA should lead the world in its fight against it (yes french conservatives are fairly liberal by anyone standards but he seems less so than most). I think France can do well without the socialist agenda of the EU; and I think Frances needs to worry about itself before it worries too much about the global warming lunacies. Maybe he will take care of problems at home first, and things will improve based upon the house cleaning of France itself. Hopefully he will really be tough on crime, really get tough on illegal immigration, really institute immigration reform, really boost the economy through employment laws, and really be a good ally of the USA.

Bon jour,
Glenn B