EU-DIGEST

Five Aspects of the Conservative State - by Tom Frank

Everyone's a change-bringer this year. Everyone's a reformer. Even the improbable Sarah Palin tells us she intends to clean up not only Washington but to "stop the greed and corruption on Wall Street" itself. What's more, she wants to do it on behalf of--her own term--the "working class." There are several reasons to cheer for this development. With the Republican standard-bearers now tacitly acknowledging that the Bush administration and the Republican congress were episodes of unexampled misgovernment, much of the right's exculpatory rhetoric can now be dispensed with. The verdict has hereby been reached on Bush, DeLay, Gingrich, and maybe even on Ronald Reagan himself. The case is closed. All that remains is to understand the causes of the catastrophe.

This is an astonishing reversal. It was just ten years ago that CNBC used to run a "CEO wealth-meter" feature so that viewers could track the daily ups and downs of their favorite mogul; today, faced with a $700 billion Wall Street bailout, the public screams for the billionaires' heads. It was just two months ago that, in a review of the book we are preparing to discuss, the New Yorker magazine suggested that to criticize capitalism was the act of a "neo-Marxist"; today, even Republicans are doing it. Things are changing fast.

Labels: Conservatives, Politics, Republicans, The Senate, US Congress

Out of Africa: a growing threat to Europe from al-Qaeda's new allies - by David Sharrock

Intelligence sources and Western diplomats have told The Times that a new force – an Algerian group calling itself al-Qaeda in the Land of Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) – aims to create an arc of influence throughout North Africa by spreading Osama bin Laden’s “brand” through a fusion of disparate fundamentalist groupings. Ernst Uhrlau, the head of the German foreign intelligence agency, said recently: “We are watching the activities of al-Qaeda in North Africa with great concern. A handful of groups have become ensconced there, largely unobserved, and are strengthening bin Laden’s terrorist network. What is evolving there brings a completely new quality to the jihad on our doorstep.” In Tunisia this week the French President echoed this nervousness. “Who could believe that if tomorrow, or after tomorrow, a Taleban-type regime were established in one of your countries in North Africa, Europe and France could feel secure?” President Sarkozy asked.

Note EU-Digest: It is amazing that most of these alarming reports about terrorism all seem to originate from conservative circles in the US, Britain,France and probably soon also Italy, after Berlusconi took power again. Fear mongering in these circles seems to be their hidden agenda to curb civil liberties and use force to establish a foothold in those countries which have large reserves of natural gas and oil. All we have to do is look at Iraq to see what arguments were used to attack that country and the results following the invasion. We were all fooled then, lets us not fall for the same nonsense again.

Labels: Africa, Conservatives, EU, Middle East, Terrorism

The decline of the Left parties

Stratfor first forecast the decline of the European left in 2005, when Germany and Poland both elected center-right coalitions. The current agenda of the right in both countries favors participation in military alliances such as NATO and closer US relations. The Polish government is an avid supporter of the missile defense shield proposed by the United States, and under Merkel, Germany is considering getting behind such a program-a policy her leftist predecessor, former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, finds inconceivable.

This change is not limited to Germany; the left has faltered throughout Europe, even in places where the right has historically been the underdog. For example, in September 2006, Sweden's Social Democrats-the country's oldest political party-lost control of Stockholm. In March, Finland elected the Center Party to power, and the June 10 Belgian elections likely will see the ouster of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and his Liberal Democrat Party.

Labels: Conservatives, Europe, Left

"Reagan's policy of false triumphalism continues to this day to influence Conservatives around the world"

Reagan was a fabulist. He told stories--often charming, sometimes loony--in which sentimental images triumphed over facts, warmth over light. So it is entirely appropriate today that the major media, draped in mourning, are solemnly fictionalizing his presidency. Reagan spun them around brilliantly, used the White House reporters and cameras as hapless props in his melodrama, ignored the tough questions and stuck unyieldingly to his scripted version of reality.

Both parties would spend the next twenty years cleaning up after the Gipper's big mistake. They collaborated in an ongoing politics of bait and switch--raising taxes massively on working people through the Social Security payroll tax while continuing to cut taxes for the more affluent and to whittle down government aid for anyone else. The Gipper had taught Washington an important new technique for governing--how to fog regressive tax cuts past the general public without arousing voter retribution (the media can be counted on to assist). The trickery continues to succeed.

The Gipper insisted, no doubt sincerely, that it was "morning again in America." People wanted to believe this, and politicians of both parties learned from his cue--wave the flag and avoid bad news. Ronald Reagan launched the great era of false triumphalism that continues to this day among American leaders and Conservatives arounf the world. Fortunately the current generation lacks his charm and is therefore less successful at hiding the truth."

Labels: Conservatives, Europe, USA