NEW EU TREATY GOES DOWN

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ANOTHER COUNTY HEARD FROM!

IRISH VOTERS REJECT MORE POWERFUL EUROPEAN UNION

Brussles Muscles Not Welcome

"All politics is local," in the words of that great professional Irishman, Tip O'Neill, defunct Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Boston politician par excellence. He forgot to tell Europe. That's what they call themselves, now. Well, that's what Eurocrats call it. And that's the problem.

As Irish voters demonstrated today, there is no such thing as Europe. Yes, there is a Eurasian landmass, and west of the Urals, it's called Europe. But there has never been one unified country of "Europe." As close as they came, with the Roman Empire, the medieval Catholic Church, the Holy Roman Empire, the various Leagues and Ententes, Alliances and Axes, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, they never could quite hold it together. A helluva a lot of people in the various nations of the European subcontinent are OK with that. Who wants another Stalin or Hitler?

The benefits of European union so far have been obvious: Lowering of trade barriers, a common currency, free movement of labor and capital, improved infrastructure; all seem rational and beneficial. They are the nuts and bolts things that were holding Europe back: They couldn't compete with a unified America, and a newly energized Asia. Now they can. Prosperity ensues, especially in Ireland. Freed of English domination and dependency, the Emerald Isle has flourished as never before. But they are ever mindful of their hard-won independence, and not willing to trade it for silver or gold.

The French people, whose officials have led the charge for EUnity, don't seem all that amoureux, either. Even the remote possibility of a Union dominated by the English, the Germans, or, someday, the Russians, sends frissons down their colonne. If anyone is going to dominate Europe, it should be France, evidemment. But, in a democracy, they might be out-voted. So Frenchmen would have to give up all they fought and died for over the centuries, because some Baltic, Balkan or Mediterranean bloc prefers German engineering? Impossible! In a vast bureaucracy, their wishes might count for nothing. They don't need to be told how to make cologne or couture, champagne or cognac, chocolate or cheese, thank you very much. They've pretty much got that down. The idea of a monstrous new superpower dominated by anyone but them was not attractive. Look at what it has done for the U.S. The French voted down the treaty three years ago. So you can't pin this on the Irish.

One of the primary effects of the New World Order if the Treaty is ratified is a militarization of EU foreign policy, which seems intended to lead Europe into wars in Asia and Africa. Having barely survived WWI and WWII, the actual foot-soldiers of any future Armageddons might not be so enthusiastic as their non-combatant leaders, motivated by envy of the US. The swaddies will not soon forget that it's a long way to Tipperary, where they won't be waltzing with Matilda again, if they get their legs blown off by IED's.

The reemergence of Eurofascism is also involved in this rejection, with new limitations on workers rights under the treaty, and a Walmart approach to globalisation that can only lead to a race to the bottom of the standard of living, which is fairly high, still, in Europe. Oh, yes, workers still have rights, spokesmen, Parties and votes, in Europe. They don't want to end up like American workers, competing with the Third World, without health benefits or a living wage, and no one to speak for them. Can you blame the Irish?

Ironically, only one million people voted in Ireland, out of 500 million in the EU. So, as some Gaels are saying, the system works. Why fix it? Moreover, if the Eurocrats didn't have the savvy, or the desire, to win over a small and beholden nation like Erin, maybe they don't belong in charge of a political union. They clearly don't know much about politics. Maybe they should study up on the auld O'Neill. Slainte!



Washington Post:
"Ireland Shoots Down Plan for a More Unified E.U."
Official Line: Damned peasants are in the way!


BBC:
"EU mulls options after Irish No vote"
Translation: We'll have to find another way to screw them.


Agence France Presse:
"Europe stunned by Irish rejection of treaty"
And, by "Europe," we mean, nobody.


The Irish Times:
"Referendum No vote 'great day for democracy'"
Or, "This is why the English always hated the Irish."

"Speaking in Dublin Castle, where final results of the counts will be announced later, Mr Higgins said he believed the No side had 'won the argument', despite the fact that the main political parties and 'big business' were in favour of the treaty.
'Certainly from the point of view of the Socialist Party, the key elements that we raised, of concern about public services, militarisation and worker rights and the race to the bottom, they got a key echo among working people and in working class areas, and that was shown quite clearly in the result.
'This is not a disaster, which they have been trying to make out. In fact, this can be a rallying call for workers throughout Europe who have been at the brunt of this neoliberal juggernaut from the EU in terms of privatisation of services, attacking their pension rights, attacking the idea of a decent wage and a proper job.
'So workers should get up and fight now, fight for their services, fight against the military project, fight against the race to the bottom and particularly the abuse of migrant workers which the EU was part and parcel of with the Laval and other judgments.' "

Radio Telefís Éireann News
"Lisbon No vote: What happens next?"
Eurocrats regroup.

"In the short term, the Irish vote means the new positions of a permanent president of the European Council of EU leaders and a stronger foreign policy chief with a real diplomatic service will be delayed.
The EU will be weakened internationally, notably in dealings with difficult powers such as Russia and Iran, by having to limp on with dysfunctional foreign policy and defence institutions, and by the sheer loss of face, diplomats said.
Pending legislation to fight climate change, promote energy efficiency and open the EU internal energy market to more competition should not be delayed by the Irish vote, they said.

Irish Independent
"Gormley snub 'helped No vote'"
In the end, politics is all about turf.

"ENVIRONMENT Minister John Gormley has been accused of fuelling a 'No' vote by snubbing turf cutters.
There is significant anger in parts of rural Ireland about the EU Habitats Directive which will ban turf cutting next year on 32 bogs designed as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).
The rising price of oil, which has made the turf harvested from the bogs even more valuable, is expected to have swelled the numbers of those voting 'No' yesterday.
Fine Gael Galway East TD Paul Connaughton said Mr Gormley should not have declined to meet the turf cutters to discuss the issue. He claimed it was an issue in the Lisbon Treaty referendum debates.
'What we find extraordinarily difficult to understand is that at the time oil prices have doubled, we have to walk away from [our] most sustainable fuel supplies,' he told the Irish Independent."

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