How sweet!

How sweet!

The "(European partners) indicated they can be helpful in some respects ... but they're also making it very clear they don't have an interest in re-ratifying or amending the treaty in a substantive way."

Thus said Irish prime minister Brian Cowen, as recorded by Reuterstoday, telling his grateful people that Ireland may have to reconsider its rejection of the European Union's "reform treaty".

Why Reuters is still calling theconstitutional Lisbon treaty the "reform treaty" is anyone's guess, but this is also the agency which calls British MPs "lawmakers". It seems you just can't get the staff these days.

Anyhow, it is so comforting to learn that the "colleagues" are prepared to be "helpful", just when we thought they were a bunch of evil, self-serving … That goes to show how wrong we've been about them all along.

However, it seems there is a mailed fist inside that … er … mailed fist. Cowen also purrs: "We need to come back and say to the Irish people honestly, here is what is on offer from the European Union, do we wish to revisit this question or do we not?," He adds: "If 26 other partners want to proceed in a certain direction and we ... are not going to respond in a positive and constructive way to address that issue, then there are consequences."

"There are consequences", my beloved people, "there are consequences". Now, shut up, do as you are told and vote "yes" like the good little bogtrotters you are.

COMMENT THREAD

How true!

Bruno, if you weren't a man, I could kiss you! Not that we go in for that sort of thing on this blog, mind you.

"The Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand furore speaks volumes about Britain's infantile and degenerate political and moral culture," he writes on his blog.

"I know that we ex-pat, non-residents are supposed to keep our mouths shut about developments (especially when negative) in the mother country," he adds. "But enough is enough."

Now, would someone tell that stupid woman Mrs Teresa May that? 

And, while they are about it, could they please remind her that, while she is prattling about a debate on the Ross Brand affair, Parliament has still to debate Brown's bank bailout.

This may be an extreme version of bicycle shed syndrome, also known as Parkinson's Law of Triviality, but, as the man said, enough is enough!

COMMENT THREAD

And now for a break

Alas, this is not a commercial break as this blog has not mastered that aspect of the problem yet. However, we need a break to have another quick look at what is going on across the Pond. The answer is nobody knows or understands.

If you get your information from the British media you may be forgiven for thinking that Barack Obama is already president and somehow you managed to miss the actual election. Actually, no. The election is on 4 November and the two candidates (plus their Veeps) are a lot closer than one realizes. In fact, the polls are all over the place. On one day last week the polls ranged from Obama being 1 point ahead (which is effectively him losing) to 14 points ahead.

State polls seem to yo-yo in a most alarming fashion and the Big Media is getting more and more hysterical. Except that some local media outlets (of greater importance in America than in Britain) have suddenly become critical of Obama and some of his statements and actions.

In other words, nobody knows or understands. So here is an interesting takeon the situation by one of my favourite bloggers, The Anchoress, who points out that America is now truly post-racial and not only in the sense used by The One and his acolytes, who cry raaaaaaaaaacism every time his politics are criticized.

The Anchoress tries to deal with the question that is being asked of why Obama is not more ahead, given the many advantages he has (except for his politics, which are truly socialist):

I have no idea what any of it means, or how next week will turn out - how can anyone project anything in the face of voter "registration" fraud, whackadoo polling and an in-the-tank media?

But all of this uncertainty - all of these "narrowing" polls are proving one beautiful thing, definitively: that America actually is more post-racial than most realize. Think about it. Obama can't break 50 percent. Neither could Kerry, Gore or Clinton.

So, Obama is being treated precisely like every other Democrat politician of the last 16 years. His race is not holding him down. His race is not propping him up.

This should be cause for celebration, I think. We've clearly moved past race.

Go figure, as they say on that side of the Pond. But I am not sure this is quite the post-racial politics the Left had in mind. Then again, Governor Palin is not quite what the Left had in mind either. Heh!