Who's Mad?

There are occasions when I think my fellow countrymen are mad. If, despite the hypocrisy of the man, his record whilst in office, his anti semitism, his closeness to people who are less than savoury and his lies that have been fully exposed in the media, Ken Livingstone wins the London Mayoral election then this will be one of those occasions. I look up round at other countries to see how they are faring and the only one that currently gives me any hope is the United States where it is still possible that a third rate President with socialist tendencies will be ousted and replaced by a man who understands business and economics and who, one suspects, has a greater understanding of foreign policy. Nearer home one only has to look at the French Presidential election to realise that the French are completely mad. Sarkozy and Hollande are both socialist in British terms but of the two it has to be said that Hollande is the scarier. No doubt if he wins office he will moderate his policies but he is definitely likely to reject most of the German economic medicine that Sarkozy has already half swallowed. Hollande's rejection of the German austerity pill will lead to seismic strains within both the French economy and the eurozone and inevitably lead to its early break up. It is the best outcome for this country in the long run although the acrimony and the collateral damage the break up will cause in the way it will happen will be painful in the extreme. The government are seeking further cuts of 5% as they must know a cold wind is about to blow through Europe. This is a good move in any event and something they should have done last year but better late than never. Will it be enough though? Quite likely not. This is an encouraging sign that the government still has its eye on the ball. Who else are mad? Why citizens of those eurozone countries that are still convinced the euro is a good thing.