War between the Netherlands and Belgium

Now I understand why the government wanted us to support the EU constitution. That 500 pages long document is probably the only thing that could have kept them from regressing into atavistic behaviour such as displayed in the current row between Belgium and the Netherlands.
Mr. Karel De Gucht, the Belgian secretary of foreign affairs, yesterday was quoted in the equally Belgian newspaper 'Het Laatste Nieuws' as having said that Mr. Balkenende waged a terrible 'YES' campaign (true), that Mr. Balkenende looks like Harry Potter (wrong, and an insult to Harry Potter - just ask yourself, who do you consider 'Most likely to be invited by Michael Jackson'?), that Mr. Balkenende has no charm (very true), that Mr. Balkenende is a bourgeouis stiff (only too true), and that he would have done better when there had been a plebiscite in Belgium (completely apocryphal, especially since the 'NO' voters are even on the rise in Luxembourg, which is a very rich and very pro-EU country).
De Gucht first tried to weasel his way out of the ensuing bickering by denying he'd said anything of the kind. However, since Mr. De Gucht is equally well known for making controversial statements as well as his habit of trying to cop out afterwards, the journalist who interviewed him had been smart enough to record the conversation.
So Mr. De Gucht first apologized through the media, and when that turned out to be insufficient, he also sent a letter to the Dutch secretary of foreign affairs. The later, Mr. Ben Bot, received it earlier tonight, but still isn't satisfied and wants to have an urgent meeting with the Belgian ambassador first thing in the morning.
Meanwhile, some people in France, Germany and Italy are talking about getting out of the euro. This is rich. France and Germany bent the eurozone budget rules into a Moebius ring; Italy should never even have been admitted. (By the way: no, you're not getting out of the euro, you bunch of tossers. You'll bloody well stay in and pay us our 10 percent back first before you even get to bring up the subject again. Then you can run with your tail between your legs, because God knows there are no balls to get in the way.)
To summarize, I'm beginning to think they were right about that whole Holocaust and World War III prediction. It's what might happen if we don't send this bunch of adolescents who are supposed to be our leaders home pronto.

21:37

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Why the 'NO' vote

Christopher Caldwell of the Weekly Standard gets it right by quoting a French teacher:

1. A constitution has to be readable to permit a popular vote; this text is unreadable.
2. A constitution doesn't impose a political ideology; this text is partisan.
3. A constitution is revisable; this text is locked in . . .
4. A constitution protects people from tyranny through separation of powers; this one doesn't have real checks and balances and separation of powers.
5. A constitution is not handed down by the powerful; it is established by the people themselves, to protect them from arbitrary power, through an independent constitutional assembly elected for the purpose and disbanded afterwards; this text entrenches European institutions designed 50 years ago by the men in power.

Exactly. Dutch PBS is tirelessly endeavouring to spin the 'NO' vote as the result of Dutch xenophobia and (just a few moments ago) our alleged fear of cheap Polish labour (which was a French concern, and by the way, my bathroom really needs new tiles. Bring 'em on).

Quite ironic it takes an American journal to get it right.

< self-indulgence mode >
Good thing there's blogs.
< /self-indulgence mode >

1:50

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