<HTML> <HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Mozilla/4.05 [en] (Win95; I) [Netscape]"> <TITLE>Joe Bob Briggs Past Articles</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <CENTER>EUROPE'S LEFT TURN</CENTER> <CENTER> <HR WIDTH="100%"></CENTER> I'm looking at these pictures of Bill and Hillary having picnics and coffee klatsches with Tony Blair and his wife, and I'm thinking: What happened to the good old days when American presidents thought a Labour government was a sure sign that Europe was going soft, turning Commie, ruining civilization as we know it?  In fact, you could make a dang good argument that Europe HAS turned Commie. Thirteen out of the 15 European governments have Socialists in some kind of control. Can you imagine what Bush or Reagan or even JIMMY CARTER would say about this? After all, it was Jimmy who ruined the Olympics to send a message to a Communist country.  In other words, if it was dangerous to have left-wing parties running Europe in 1960, or 1970, or 1980, or 1990, why wouldn't it be considered dangerous now? The guy running France is a flat-out devotee of Trotsky! Why don't we have harried State Department spokesmen appearing at hastily called press conferences to decry the choice of the French people?  In other words, when did the conservative Congress, and the moderate Democratic executive branch, and the Wall Street mutual fund managers all get together and decide, "Oh well, what the hell, who CARES if Europe goes left?"  It makes me think the whole thing was a GAME.  Of course, I never DID care whether Denmark had an 80 percent tax rate or not. I could care less whether the industrialists of Milan or the Communists of Rome run Italy, as long as it doesn't affect tourism in Florence. If Belgium wants to pass universal health-care laws and give asylum to Polish Leninists, it's no mustard off my cheeseburger-I rather talk to Belgium about the possibility of deporting Jean-Claude Van Damme back to Brussels, but that's about the only thing I wanna get into with 'em.  In other words, for YEARS we said we were trying to protect Europe. We were trying to protect its people against the evils of socialist economies. We were trying to make sure they weren't repressed or mistreated by the mean ole Commies, and their brothers the Socialists. We pumped money into right-wing political campaigns. We lobbied behind the scenes. We made speeches. We wrote laws limiting trade with left-wingers who were too belligerent for our tastes. And we did it all in the name of protecting mankind.  And then the people of Europe voted left. They voted for government control, government financing of welfare and health care and housing. They voted for punitive taxes on the rich. They voted, for the most part, Socialism right down the line. More of them voted left than any time since World War II.  And we said: "Oh. Interesting. Hmmmm. Oh, well."  I'm not saying we should do anything DIFFERENT. But we never really cared about those people at all, did we? So I'm just asking: Didn't that lie last about, oh, FIFTY YEARS?  That, to me, is amazing. <HR WIDTH="100%"> <CENTER>|| <A HREF="index.htm">Home</A> || <A HREF="aoebob.htm">Who is Joe Bob?</A> || <A HREF="aoke.htm">Joe Bob's Jokes</A> || <A HREF="upcoming.htm">What’s to come?</A> ||</CENTER> <CENTER>|| <A HREF="mailgirl.htm">Mail Girl</A> || <A HREF="comments.htm">Comments & Questions</A> || <A HREF="quotes.htm">Quotes</A> || <A HREF="previous.htm">What you have missed?</A> ||</CENTER> <CENTER> <HR WIDTH="100%"></CENTER> </BODY> </HTML>