Election news from the weekend tells us that Ron Paul won the majority of delegates at Maine’s GOP state convention, with a sizable hunk of Republicans saying, yet again, “no” to Mitt Romney.
In France, Nicolas Sarkozy got ousted, as French voters put in a self-declared socialist for the second time since World War II.
Meanwhile, in beleaguered Greece, elections gave no clear majority to any party.
Since the new French president, François Hollande, has pledged to fight back against German “austerity” measures, and since Greece, too, resists those “bailout” procedures, it looks like the collapse of the European Union may be at hand.
On one level, Greek and French voters seem to prefer to live in that special fantasy land where you can grow government and debt indefinitely and expect good times to roll on forever. On another, they are reacting, at least in part, to the idea that austerity is being pushed by foreigners, that they have been forced not by reality to reform, but by … Germans!
Americans wouldn’t be happy about having a policy shoved down their throat by France. Or Germany. Or (more likely) Beijing.
It’s not easy accepting less than one is used to.
Which is why, here in America, neither Obama nor Romney talk seriously about measures to balance the budget. Obama lives in la-la land, and Romney thinks that Rep. Ryan’s plan — which allegedly would balance the budget scores of years from now — is a responsible fix for the irresponsible reality of the day.
Only Ron Paul and Gary Johnson are really taking reality seriously. Perhaps that’s why they are still in the race.
Thus it is, in interesting times.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.