Wretchard analyzes the EU vote

Belmont Club, read the whole thing as they say. His conclusion is especially important:

The real challenge for Europeans, especially Eastern Europeans and the British, is to articulate an alternative vision for the Continent. The European vision needs a second party in order to make up a debate.

As I have said, I think that the EU constitution is horrible. It is designed to empower rule by beaurocracy and will result in a stagnate government that will be unable to adapt with the times. However, that is certainly not why the French rejected the thing. They rejected it because they were afraid of a changing future and were worried about globalization. This is a signifigant problem for those of us who like the idea of a unified Europe, but want it to be a strong and free society, that embraces capitalism. It is hard to tell if Europeans want that, of if many do, but they lack leadership to articulate and promote that goal. It will be interesting to watch things develop.