What we have seen happen it Italy, Germany and France is now likely to happen to England and the Netherlands. We finally get a center-left government here in the US while Europe now swings to the right. I wonder which way Spain will head next.

Posted by: will | Mar 5, 2009 9:16:21 AM

You don't get a center-left government in the US. In European view of politics both Democrats and Republicans are far-right.

The plural party-system in the Netherlands combined with the day-to-day insanity of polls really skews the view. Even in his highest point the party of Geert Wilders only represents 1/7th of the total number of seats.

Posted by: Publicus | Mar 5, 2009 9:43:47 AM

Publicus, as much as I like neither the Republican or Democratic Parties you can hardly call Obama's government "far-right". Obama is moving to end the Iraq war and promote massive health care reform. Obama is also beginning to enact legislation to support alternative fuels and strenghten pro-environmental laws, none of which would ever be done by an American right-wing government.

Posted by: will | Mar 5, 2009 3:18:48 PM

will: when we hear "alternative fuels", it always leaves me wondering just what fuels the author is talking about....i support electric cars, but not "ice" vehicles...ice=internal combustion engine ice engines leave a large carbon foot print, some larger than others......flex fuels is just a catch phrase that favors the petroleum industry and archer daniels; a huge farm company...soy beans etc if we are going to shovel soy beans into a ice, all we're doing is degrading our top soil, and producing co2 to be lofted to the atmosphere....
1 gallon = 18.5 lbs of co2 into the atmosphere....it's like clean coal, it just sounds good, but we know it ain't so....bio diesel isn't much better, but at least the money isn't going directly to archer daniels or chevron/texaco/standard oil/rockefeller
in the last 100 years the top soil in the plains states has been reduced down from about 8'ft to less than 4'ft...most of it in the last 70 years........

Posted by: bobby t | Mar 6, 2009 2:05:45 AM

Ok, you think in terms of progressive/conservative and not the economical left/right; in that light the arrival of mister Wilders does represent a shift to conservative xenophobia. But may I remind you if the political system of the US was like most European countries, multiparty instead of biparty, a big share of the Republicans would vote on a Wilders-esque persona.

I'm very pleased with the win of the democrats and the way Obama is handling himself. I have high hopes for the future. But the retreat in Iraq is followed by an increase in Afghanistan. The bigger shift is in the approach to other countries and the abandoment of the with-us-or-against-us-doctrine.

Posted by: Publicus | Mar 6, 2009 7:26:08 AM

Unfortunately, the whole Western Europe will be gradually moving rightwards politically because of the immigration. Usually, mostly conservatives are against immigration but lately even many liberals are unhappy about immigration.

Consider the following example: Twenty-thirty years ago an openly gay teacher could safely work in a public school in Rotterdam. Now, with most kids being from Muslim families it is not safe to be an openly gay teacher. This clash of civilizations forces openly gay teachers to go back into the closet.

That's why Pim Fortain was right.

Posted by: Nureyev | Mar 11, 2009 8:33:52 PM