[DJ Taylor]

More hand wringing from the liberal left on why socialist workers will not obey their socialist elitist betters.

1.Farmers, workers and the unemployed were among those who led the way to the defeat of the European Union constitution in France...

2.According to the Ipsos polling agency, 70 percent of farmers voted no, despite the fact that France is the largest recipient of European Union farm subsidies. Public and blue-collar workers and the unemployed, all low-pay groups vulnerable in a country with more than 10 percent unemployment, voted no by 60 percent to 79 percent.

3.Although most of the Socialist Party hierarchy lobbied in favor of the treaty, 56 percent of Socialist voters rejected it. On the political extremes, 98 percent of the Communist Party and 93 percent of the extreme right National Front voted no.

4.Paris and Lyon, two of France's biggest cities, and pro-European regions like Alsace, Brittany and the Loire Valley voted yes, while rural France and smaller cities and towns voted no. Most surprisingly, 55 percent of people ages 18 to 25 rejected the treaty, underscoring what appeared to be a lack of trust in the future of Europe and the leadership of France.

[RockinRight]

So, the left wing voted no because they were afraid of losing their precious handouts. The right wing voted no because they are afraid of losing their sovereignty.

[highlander_UW]

If it's reasonable for the French to chose Dominique de Villepin as their new Prime Minister then the Left no longer can complain about Bolton as an ambassador...of course the Left is not rational, so they will continue to complain.

[aegiscg47]

"the vote plunged the center-right government"

Whoa, the Times has been drinking too much of it's own Kool-AId!"

[Smile-n-Win]

Nine European Union members ratified the constitution before the French referendum. But France's no vote is likely to kill the constitution - at least in its current form - because it requires approval by all of the union's member countries.

European logic at its best. ALL members have to approve, otherwise it won't pass. One member has DISapproved. So this means it "likely" won't pass.

[Smile-n-Win]

"This is still better than a war of secession like the United States once had," he said in a telephone interview. "I'm serious now. We must keep this perspective in mind. We don't have a treaty, but we also don't have wars."

Yet.

[Smile-n-Win]

President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic, whose country has yet to decide whether to support the charter, declared it "a thing of the past." He added, "The French referendum, and its result, clearly demonstrated the deep division that exists between the European elite and the citizens of Europe."

Remarkable how the only voice that makes sense comes from New Europe.

[aspiring.hillbilly]

The very idea of applying a constitution as thick as a phone book to the various countries in Europe is as nutty an idea as the eurowienies can devise, a building block to one world government. Finally the frog population has some sense.

[GOP_1900AD]

Yeee ha! EU Non!

[johnb838]

That is the one thing you gotta love about the French, they are even more bloody-minded than we are. They simply do not give a sh!t about what anybody else thinks about them. They are purely selfish.

They may be surprised, I think their stock just went up dramatically in the United states.