AND NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS - AT 8:25 A.M. ET:  There'll be an election this week for members of the European Parliament, and things look pretty good for our guys, as The Times of London reports:

The big beasts of Europe are set to claim victory for the Right in this week’s elections, leaving the Left to wonder why it has failed to benefit from such a serious economic crisis.

Left-of-centre parties in government and in opposition are struggling in the six countries of Europe that choose the majority of MEPs in the biggest multicountry elections yet held, according to an analysis of polls due out today and seen by The Times. About 375 million people in 27 member states are eligible to vote.

Governing left-wing parties in Spain and Germany are struggling while the socialist opposition is in crisis in France, Italy and Poland. So it is the likes of Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel and Silvio Berlusconi who are likely to emerge with the biggest smiles after the votes have been counted.

COMMENT:  We recently ran a story at Urgent Agenda reporting that, in hard economic times, many people return to traditional values.  That may be what is at work here.  Another factor at work is the genuine scare going through Europe over immigration policies.  There are immigrant communities from the Middle East that refuse to integrate, and have turned sections of cities into self-imposed and often hostile ghettoes.

And remember that Iran votes in about a week.  Sarah Palin will not win.

June 4, 2009