Yesterday, May 29, 2005, was the date set for the French voters to cast their ballot for or against the European constitution. Let's look at how the voting went.
The "non" vote won. From what I see at the Belmont Club, Instapundit, etc., the EU elites will just keep doing their thing, and will sweep the clear rejection of the constitution under the rug. Some see the "non" vote as a vote against free trade and for a still more collectivist society. I wish I could still read French well enough to follow along with some of their bloggers. That is, if the government allows them there.
This is typical, absolutely typical, of Europe:
In a campaign dominated by misinformation, hysteria and downright lies on both sides, one warning has the ring of truth: That Europe, and France, face a period of uncertainty while leaders decide what the French vote represents.
God forbid the "non" should be seen as the voters saying, "This constitution sucks." And whatever you do, even if you have a vote, never let the little people actually have a hand in their governance.
Back in April, the Ankle Biting Pundit had this to say:
But the European Dream may have an expiration date: May 29th, 2005.
On that day, the citizens of France will quite possibly reject the proposed EU constitution, thereby tossing the contrived union of disparate states into a long, slow death spiral. .
So, how did it go?
One thing we all know for sure, bien sur, is that the EU Constitution does not suck. don't believe me? Just ask its author:
The mood of pessimism that descended on the French Government after ten successive polls showing the “no” camp leading was echoed by Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, the former French President, who drafted the constitution. He blamed the failures of the “yes” campaign on the half-heartedness of France’s leaders.
“Our current leaders are of course believers in the idea of Europe but in their heart of hearts they are not men and women who are inspired by a European feeling,” he told a French newspaper.
Why are the Euro's revolting? Because they smell bad. No! Bad American! Bad! It's the economy, stupid!:
The relative economic decline of “old” Europe since the early 1990s — especially of Germany and Italy, but also of the Netherlands and France — has been a disaster almost unparalleled in modern history. While Britain and Japan certainly suffered some massive economic dislocations, in the early 1980s and the mid-1990s respectively, they never experienced the same sort of permanent transformation from thriving full-employment economies to stagnant societies where mass unemployment and falling living standards are accepted as permanent facts of life. In Britain, unemployment more than doubled from 1980 to 1984, but conditions then quickly improved. By the late 1980s it was enjoying a boom, the economy was growing by 4 per cent and unemployment had halved. In continental Europe, by contrast, unemployment has been stuck between 8 and 11 per cent since 1991 and growth has reached 3 per cent only once in those 14 years.