No to Chirac!

As they say in Texas, it could not happen to a nicer man.

Jacques Chirac is the big loser of the French vote.

Again, it could not happen to a nicer jerk.

Like others, Chirac opposed Bush on Iraq. First, he told Powell that France would support the war. Then he stabbed Bush by pulling out at the last minute. Then he did everything possible to hurt the US effort, even putting US forces at risk by working diplomatically against Bush and Powell.

Why?

Chirac had intentions of turning into the leader of the United States of Europe, the big leader of the anti-American brigade. It worked for a while. It distracted Europeans from their high unemployment and zero growth economies. It turned Bush into the bad guy and it bought irresponsible leaders a little bit of time.

But high unemployment has a way of catching up with demagogues. Sooner or later, people want jobs whether they hate Bush or not!

Where are we now?

First, it does not take a genius to figure out that Chirac was taking money from Saddam to support him at the UN. They are now calling him a "lame duck" in Paris. They are also calling him other names, but I can't repeat them in front of children!

Even the French have figured out their corrupt Jacques. The latest approval ratings from France put him in the low 30s.

Second, the European economies are a mess. High unemployment and high taxes are killing the continent. You can't find work in Europe!

So here we are. Two and half years after Iraq and this is the latest box score:

Bush was reelected. His approval ratings range from 46% (Gallup) to 51% (Rasmussen).

Our southern friend, Vicente Fox, and our northern friend, Paul Martin, would give you an arm and a leg for an approval rating like that. The latest poll from Mexico has Fox in the high 20s and Martin is probably a little bit better.

The UK's Blair and Australia's Howard were reelected. Neither one had to offer a Cabinet post to an opposition member to keep his job!

Over in Germany, Schroder is in trouble too.

Over in Spain, Zapatero is having a hard time explaining to his countrymen why there are more terrorists in Spain today. Didn't he say that terrorism was due to Aznar's support of Bush?

Why is all of this happening?

The US economy has a lot to do with it. Once again, the US economy is growing and showing the world that Bush tax cuts, like Reagan tax cuts, are a good medicine for economic growth.

The second factor is the over valued euro. Europeans can't export.

The third, and most important, factor is leadership.

People respect leaders. Leadership is what separates Bush, Howard & Blair from Martin, Fox, Chirac & Schroeder.

Blair, Bush & Howard are in the tradition of FDR and Churchill.

Bush probably would not want to trade places with any other head of state. Yet, most of the world's citizens would love a "moron" leader with a GDP growth of 3.5% and 5.2% unemployment!

Our allies in France and Germany need a moron for a leader. They need a moron who can cut their taxes and give them some economic growth.

Last but not least, our friends need a few more babies!

Our friends need to break their addiction to secular socialism. They need to follow our lead and create a Reaganeque economy!

Will they do it? I don't know. Time will tell.

The bottom line is that they have learned that bashing Bush is not going to solve their problems!