Black Tuesday for France Caught in the Crosshairs of Reform: Pray for France and President Nicolas Sarkozy

"Regardless of where one stands on the issue of labor unions and the extent to which they should interfere in personal lives, France needs our prayers."

(France)—Due in part to the role communists (via Stalinist Russia) played in helping the Allies liberate Europe in WWII, labor unions in many European countries wield a power that eclipses that of many nations. Emboldened by the success of mob rule vis-a-vis the French Revolution, French society, and politics, have long been hog-tied by its history. Enter the current transportation crisis in France. (Photo: BBC News)

Any traveler who has had the misfortune of being held hostage by striking transportation workers in France knows the maddening havoc that is enveloping the country. Indeed, the strikes have been given so much muscle by labor unions that Tuesday, November 20, was coined Noir Mardi, or Black Tuesday. The name reveals the current state of affairs in France.

Regardless of where one stands on the issue of labor unions and the extent to which they should interfere in personal lives, France needs our prayers. So does President Nicolas Sarkozy, an avowed friend of America who realizes union thuggery has hindered France from overhauling its system to gain the economic reforms it needs to compete in the modern world.