Europe is ready to deal with Bush

The Houston Chronicle has these thoughts.

Many European leaders once swallowed the Michael Moore version of history: that Bush was an ignorant interloper who stole the White House. His thumping re-election, however, shows that he represents a large body of conservative American opinion.

In short, Europeans are getting used to the idea that it is not Bush who is the exception, but the U.S. itself that is exceptional — and that if they want to deal with this exceptional superpower they need to humor it rather than rile it. Strangely enough, this has been Tony Blair's strategy all along; it is rapidly becoming the Continent's strategy, too.

They cite 3 reasons, 1) One is the death of Yasser Arafat, 2)A second reason is Europe's growing worries about Islamic terrorism, 3) The Russian bear is growling again.

Well worth a read.
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