Ahem, where were we? Ah, yes, my observations on the G-8 summit.
First, the WSJ's King Canute at the G-8. In previous years, the summit did precisely nothing about climate change, but it got to blame this nothing on Bush and feel virtuous, and Bush didn't mind taking the fall so long as he could save the planet and its numerous economies. This year, with no Cowboy to pretend to push around anymore, the G-8 did, if possible, even less:
we will work . . . to identify a global goal for substantially reducing global emissions by 2050.2050?! By Al Gore's calculations we'll all have been underwater three decades by then and that's when they hope to maybe, possibly, be within sight of a goal? This stunning achievement, however, was called a "victory lap for Obama" in yesterday's WaTi, apparently on the ground that he ran the meeting. You think I'm kidding, but read the story.
I think perhaps Carla Bruni Sarkozy had the right idea, no matter what the Italian press said of her.
Anyway, the last line of the column is priceless:
In the legend of Canute, the king, after failing to stop the rising tide, told the assembled crowd: "Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but He whom heaven, earth and sea obey by eternal laws." If a medieval monarch could draw the right conclusion, how hard can it be for his sophisticated 21st-century successors?In other words, our age is more backwards and superstitious than the Middle Ages we're all so certain we've risen above. (Curtsy to Mr. W. for that link).
