You never know what will change history

France has a new President, a socialist elected to undo the austerity policies that have left so many people unemployed. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

France has a new President.

Francois Hollande — and he’s an unabashed socialist. A socialist elected to undo the austerity policies that have left so many people unemployed. It appears to signal a huge change in direction for France, and maybe even the rest of Europe which was hoping budget cuts would pull it out of the recession.

And you wonder — how a tiny change in an event a year ago might have tipped history. Because you know who was SUPPOSED to be the Socialist candidate for President? A guy by the name of Dominique Strauss Kahn — who was France’s top socialist until he let his personal stimulus program get the best of him — and was so distracted he left his cell phone behind in a New York hotel room where he had mistreated a housekeeper.

Imagine if he’d won his party’s nomination, and this had come up DURING the campaign — could the conservative Sarkozy perhaps have survived?

But it happened when it happened, and now, instead of government austerity, and tax breaks for the wealthy — France is on track to impose a 75 percent tax on earnings above a million Euros a year, hire more teachers, and lower the retirement age, and try a stimulus program. We’ll see if it works. Just hang on to your cell phone, Mr. President.