Rally the Republic

One would hardly realize conservative governments have swept to power in former strongholds of leftism around the world, given the media's framing of current events.

Germany, Australia, Canada...and now France, the previous leader of anti-US intellectual opinion.

They're trying to make a big deal about how the conservative victory isn't as big as it might have been, but it's still a decisive majority for Sarkozy:

Sarkozy's UMP party will face little resistance to the rash of measures he plans to introduce within weeks to make France's sluggish economy more competitive and less protective.

But Sunday's legislative runoff suggests that voters in France, long driven by leftist ideals, wanted to send the hard-driving and U.S.-friendly president a message that his powers are not absolute, and to keep their concerns in mind.

That's the fantasy of the writer coming through. The majority is still decisive and still a mandate with about 60% of the seats.

Some have even predicted mass street protests — like those that stymied former President Jacques Chirac's efforts to free up the economy — or an eruption of violence in France's housing projects if Sarkozy goes too far, too fast.

So much for democratic ideals, eh? The will of the majority should yield to the demands of the violent thugs in the streets?

I say, give them a whiff of grape, as another Frenchman once ordered, putting down a Paris mob in 1795.

Despite the UMP's weaker than predicted performance, the result still marked a milestone: It was the first time in nearly three decades that voters returned an outgoing parliamentary majority to power.

Well how about that!

"We don't want to wait any longer to launch the renovation that the French are calling for," he said. "We will reform, we will renovate, we will experiment with new ideas. ... We will get rid of the defeatism that is suffocating the republic."

If France can shake off defeatism, it bodes well for the Continent. We should do the same, by running Sen. Reid and his allies out of town on a rail.