You're gonna be screwed - by Richard... Friday, October 29, 2010

You're gonna be screwed - by Richard... Friday, October 29, 2010

In any evaluation of a European Council meeting, we always have to be conscious that we have an ignorant media, which cannot get its head round the fact that we are seeing the routine meeting of an institution of the European Union, more properly called by its full name of the Council of the European Union. It is never, therefore, going to report the proceedings intelligently or accurately.

At least, though, The Guardian has got some things right. It tells us:

Europe is in a mess. The European Union is in trouble. Today's summit in Brussels is unlikely to do much to help. David Cameron, like his fellow leaders, can only hope to limit the damage: and even as he does so he can hear the ghoulish sound of Tory Euroscepticism rising from the grave.

The problem is that only the first five words are really spot on ... and even then, it is not "Europe", but the European Union. And as for Dave's little games with the EU budget, had any one of the hacks so breathlessly reporting on the issue cared to look at the agenda, they would have seen this:

The President of the European Council intends to restrict the agenda to the items which will actually be examined by the European Council. The conclusions of the meeting will be brief and will focus on decisions and general policies approved by the European Council.

That's Van Rompuy calling the shots – and the budget is not on the agenda, because it will not be (and has not been) examined by the European Council, for the very good reason that it is not within its jurisdiction. Hence, all the hyper-ventilation about said budget is smoke and mirrors.

Similarly, the talk of a new treaty is getting lost in the miasma of ignorance with so obscures these issues. In short, if the "colleagues" want a new treaty, there are various defined procedures. However, there is a now confirmed tendency for the colleagues to make the rules up as they go along, and then legitimise them afterwards.

And we've now got a statement from Rompuy about how they're going to do it. Not one in a thousand who actually read the statement will fully understand it, and even less will actually care. Get your brains round this, if you are in a masochistic mood:

Further to the report of the task force and in order to ensure balanced and sustainable growth, heads of state and government agree on the need for member states to establish a permanent crisis mechanism to safeguard the financial stability of the euro area as a whole and invite the president of the European Council to undertake consultations with the members of the European Council on a limited treaty change required to that effect not modifying Article 125 (of the Lisbon treaty) - the no bailout clause.

This is "slime talk", otherwise known as "Eurospeak". You are not supposed to understand it. You just weigh it and then slice it off by the centimetre. All it says – as it always says – is "you're gonna be screwed".

The only thing of even marginal interest is precisely how, and when. We don't know that yet. And the media will never tell us until it's too late, because they know so little about the EU, they only find out afterwards, if then. So we can all go back to sleep, trying to convince ourselves that it is really a dream we're experiencing and not a nightmare. Sooner or later, though, there will have to be an awakening.

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Loser! - by Richard... Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Daily Mail is on the case, and this will damage the posturing fool. David Cameron, the paper says, "has admitted defeat today in his bid to stop British taxpayers footing a multimillion-pound hike in the EU budget - prompting a new row with the Tory right."

"Despite demands the runaway bill be reined in," it then says, "No10 has acknowledged it is powerless to prevent the budget soaring by at least 2.9 percent - equivalent to an extra £429million from the UK - after failing to gain support from other EU members." Then we learn that the rise could even be as high as 6 percent, at a time when public services in Britain are being slashed in a bid to cut the deficit.

So much for Cameron's big, brave words yesterday during PMQs: "The greatest priority for Britain should be to fight very hard to get the EU budget under control. It is completely unacceptable at a time when we are making tough budget decisions here we are seeing spending rise consistently in the European Union," he proclaims.

It used to be said of people such as The Boy that they were "all mouth and trousers". That fits quite neatly, except one has also to take in the lack of tactical acuity. The last thing a politician should be doing is committing himself to something on which he cannot deliver.

But then, I've long held the view that Cameron isn't even a good politician. If he was, he would have found a way of keeping people like me on board and would have won the last election. But he can't even do that – even his own side is having problems. The man's a loser.

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Spot the difference - by Richard...

BBC "journalists" are going to go on strike. Given the quality of their output, it is very unlikely that the average viewer/listener will notice any difference ... or even care. I certainly won't.

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Turds-for-brains - by Richard...

Possibly, he said cautiously – because it is a close-run thing – the level of blind ignorance exhibited by that moronic excuse for a prime minister is exceeded only by the destitution of the cerebrally challenged Telegraph leader writer. This is the paper that has the headline "David Cameron softens on EU budget", which is hard enough to believe, as the man is so soft in the head that any softer and he would melt away.

But for incomparable imbecility, we have as a prize specimen, the breathless statement in the leader:

At this week's EU summit, our most instinctively Eurosceptic Prime Minister for 20 years faces a tricky set of challenges. The easiest to bat away will be the European Parliament's risible demand for a 5.9 per cent budget increase for the Commission next year.

There is so much wrong here, it is difficult to know where to start. First, it ain't a summit. And no, that isn't pedantry. It is a meeting of the European Council, an institution of the European Union. The European Council does not have any jurisdiction over the budget. That is handled by the Council of Ministers. Cameron can prattle away for all he is worth - the European Council cannot interfere in the procedure, which is laid down in the treaties.

Second, Cameron ain't a eurosceptic, instinctive or otherwise. He is a "One Nation" Tory, in the manner of Heath, which makes him dyed-in-the-wool euroslime. Third, the budget is not a European Parliament "demand", risible or otherwise. It is an EU Commission proposal, made in accordance with the Treaty procedures.

Fourth, Cameron cannot bat it away. It is now a matter for the conciliation committee, as I explained earlier, over which he has neither jurisdiction nor control, the decision in any event being QMV, with the final arbiter the EU parliament.

Thus, no wonder Cameron is "softening". He has no option, because he has no power. And the turds-for-brains in the Telegraph can’t even be bothered to learn the procedures before they write their unmitigated garbage. They and even darlink Hannan can't even apply their limited intellects to understanding the difference between a "summit" and a European Council.

Even The Independent has more brains – a measure of how low the Cameron/Telegraph axis has descended.

But when neither of them seem to have the first idea of how our government is run, there is every reason to be very angry indeed. It is fools like this who got us into this mess in the first place, and now we are having to pay for their stupidity and their venality. They treat us like fools, but they are the fools, and worse.

We really need to treat these malign pustules accordingly. I am sick to the back teeth of them, their posturing, their pretences, their vanity and the ease with which they feel they can take the piss and get away with it. At a time when they have the unmitigated gall to call for austerity, these ocean-going d***heads are lumbering us with even more expense.

The only thing wrong here would be to say that shooting is too good for them. And that's because shooting is too good for them. Something much slower, and altogether more painful is called for.

Then you have dear little Norm wittering on about avoiding "Vichy-style" surrenders. He means well does our Norm, but he really doesn't get it. Oddly enough, Petain's final surrender to Hitler camealmost exactly 70 years ago, but he surrendered because he had to. Cameron will surrender because he wants to. The approval of the "colleagues" means much more to him than the approval of the British people.

"Quislings" is probably better than "Vichy", says Autonomous Mind. He adds:

Cameron and his vichy Conservatives like to wrap themselves in the flag and waffle at length about patriotism. The problem is the flag is blue with gold stars that their loyalty is to Brussels rather than the people they are supposed to serve. As a result we are bound into a bloc devoid of democratic legitimacy or oversight and powerless to for as long as we remain part of it. We should feel nothing less than furious contempt for these sickening creatures who have dragged us into this situation and are working hard behind the scenes to keep us there.

"Furious contempt" is a phrase I like. It doesn't get close to the black hatred I have for these slime. But it'll do for the moment.