Roi Barack & Michelle Antoinette

It is difficult for me to wrap my head around the concept of the UK and France sharing a rapid deployment force, aircraft carriers and nuclear research efforts. It will all end in tears of frustration. It is impossible for the French to compromise on anything. Theirs is the French way and zat iz all, monsieur. There is simply no grounds for unity between the French and UK cultures. DeGaulle was not subordinate in his mind to anybody and I dare say his military successors are of much the same frame of mind. In the final analysis, the UK and France are better at fighting one another than fighting side by side and they certainly had more practice at it.

The interminable mid-term elections are finally over. As predicted, the Republicans won big and are busily committing hubris over that event even though the wiser pundits are cautioning that the vote contained a strong anti incumbent element. Some of the Republicans main targets managed to get reelected. Namely, the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Ried, Senator Barbara Boxer of California and, by a larger margin owing to a safe seat, Nancy Polosi the former Speaker of the House. O will have a nationally broadcast speech tonight in which he is likely to pledge his, and ask for their, non-partisan cooperation. Fat chance.

Regardless of their motives, the public has largely sealed the fate of O's campaign for change. Not that it ever took off in the first place. The campaign foundered on O's inability to manage the legislative process needed for success in orchestrating change. He made too many compromises and offered to many deals to legislators seeking quid pro quos in spite of his promise to maintain an open and transparent administration. Even more important in the public eye, was O's failure to markedly reduce unemployment. Not that he could have done so, but rather he could have been much more proactive in educating the public as to the difficulties of this task and the time needed to make it happen. Big failure here as seen in the voting.

While it is clear that America has spoken, it is not at all clear what they said. As a result, the Republicans are now busy putting words in the public mouth and praising the public for having said them. Before long, crow will be regularly served at Senate and House dinners. The new Speaker of the House, John Boener (pronounced Bayner) lacks spark and is not an inspiring speaker. Add to this the growing rift between common everyday Republicans and the further right wing Conservatives and their Tea Party acolytes and party solidarity becomes more of an aspiration than a reality. Janet Daley puts the dilemma quite well in her Telegraph column today:

'The truth comes now: can a party that tapped grass roots anger remain in active touch with the grass roots?'

We live in interesting times and if the Republicans fail to internalize the message that the public is fed up with self-serving politicians, there will be hell to pay.

Meanwhile, O is will soon tour in India. It remains rather unclear as to why, but he booked 750 rooms in the Taj hotel to accommodate some of his entourage of about 7,000 people stuffed into 40 aircraft led by Air Force 1. Roi Barack and Michelle Antoinette are way over the top in their excesses which is no way to make much needed contact with struggling poor and middle class Americans. It is absolutely unbelievable that they are so adamant about cutting their own throats. He who campaigned as a man of the people has succumbed to the good life and is eating their cake in the process.