The Night They Said "Nee!"

EU Secertary-General Prostetnic Javier Solana responds to news of the Dutch vote

As polls close and evening falls over the Netherlands today, Dutch voters have resoundingly rejected the EU constitution, 63 - 37%.

I realize that much of this is motivated by leftist fear of competition, specifically that from the fast-growing Eastern European nations that have joined the EU recently, but it is also a full-scale rejection of the top-down, bureaucratic nightmare that is the Brussels government model. Think: Vogons. It also lessens any chances of Turkey joining the EU, which is a good thing. I wish Turkey well; I hope it comes to lead a coalition of prosperous, moderate muslim nations; but I have absolutely no desire to see a muslim nation become part of Europe. I wouldn't even accept Albania. Cultural chauvinist, doncha know.

Cap'n Ed at the Quarters thinks the EU needs something that guarantees more independence for constituent states, much like the US Constitution. I agree, although I disagree concerning the Art. of Confederation analogy. What's wrong with Brussels is exactly the opposite of what was wrong with our first government: theirs is too centralized and top-down; ours was not strong enough at the center.

The EU will need to regroup. No one expects the alliances to fall apart, but the nations of Europe have to ask themselves if they want a homogenous entity on the Continent with top-down sovereignty -- or if they shouldn't try to build a model closer to that of the United States, with states' rights built into a united federal system with a concise and limited constitution for use as a framework for a limited but sovereign federal government.

The current efforts of the EU to define itself looks more like our original Articles of Confederation than anything approaching unity. The results this week look similar to what they were here as well. Eating one's cake and having it too is a pipe dream, a Holy Grail of politics that winds up either as comedy or tragedy. Thankfully, so far, it has only been the former.

And--dangit!--Cap'n Ed stole my Python meme, too!

Kudos to the Dutch nontheless!

Monk