Blogging the democratic revolution
The Times has an incredible piece on how fast and how hard the revolutionary winds of change are hitting Europe. Europeans everywhere are rejecting the Franco-German centralized-welfare-statist model and embracing the Anglo-Roman ideal of freedom and rule of law. It’s happening at breakneck speed, and among people no one ever expected such enthusiastic support from. East and West are uniting under common ideals, not degrading spoils-grabbing. Europeans everywhere are rejecting subsidies, taxes, bureaucracy, privilege, inequality and inertia, in favor of free capitalism and fairness, something that could make Europe the dynamic powerhouse it is meant to be. The Revolution is…
City government machines are usually filthy even in the most ideal of first-world political conditions, which makes them an ideal operating environment for Venezuela’s dictator, Hugo Chavez. That may be why he’s growing active there. Alek Boyd recently questioned the brazen use of London municipal resources for Chavez’s government propaganda effort and got an amazing response from London officials, disingenuously wondering what the problem was. Read Alek’s account of Chavez’s London onslaught here.
On Monday I posted to this blog an entry on the constitutional process in Europe and the rejection of it by the French. See, The French say “Oui” to Sovereigny, and to the Welfare State. That post received some comments, and as they were likely to take us off-topic here at Publius Pundit, I have just posted my full response on my blog; see Response to Comments – the EU Constitution. On that post I have pasted in a detailed comment by a French reader who voted for the constitution, and have then given my reply.
So the French have rejected the proposed new constitution for the European Union. This is a vote of potentially massive importance for the future of Europe and the Western world as a whole. The European project for an “ever closer union” has long been an elite one, and especially over the past decade the gap between the elites and European populations grew large. All maintream French parties supported this constitution, yet the French people strongly rejected it. The Communists, Greens, hardline socialists and the National Front voted overwhelmingly against the treaty; the moderate socialists and the center-right Gaullists of President…
Glenn posted a link earlier to a report that an EU confidential document says that the elections in Ethiopia were rigged. ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia’s electoral board appears to have lost control of the vote counting for the May 15 legislative polls, European Union election observers said in a report obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday. The confidential report went on to say the EU might have to make a public denunciation of developments to distance itself from “the lack of transparency, and assumed rigging” of the vote “Ten days after the polling day, the situation is…
Stefania Lapenna writes a dazzling essay today on The American Thinker, outlining the meaning of Cuba’s democracy conference held in Havana, including many aspects of it that might not be so obvious. Stefania is a brilliant young thinker whose original work will be read for years to come for its insight. Think I’m exaggerating? You won’t after you read it here.
Of all the disgusting prosecutions, this one, against the great Oriana Fallaci, probably the finest journalist alive, is the most despicable. No one can compare to Oriana, no one has written with more powerful, penetrating insight and determination than she has. You don’t even need to agree with her to appreciate her. I tend to defend Islam, but she is far harsher. Doesn’t matter. No one writes more compellingly than Oriana, a true journalist’s journalist. Which is why the Italian prosecution’s charges against her are so shameful. My own feeling about how nations want to tailor free speech is that…
You know how it goes: as soon as your diplomats get expelled, its finally a humanitarian crisis! European lawmakers are finally urging their countries to get tough on Castro. This, of course, after they lifted sanctions on the regime earlier in the year. Two former Spanish senators, Isabel San Baldomero and Rosa Lopez Garnica, were expelled, as were lawmakers from Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic. Arnold Vaatz, a German lawmaker who was expelled from Cuba on Friday, called for the European Union to take a stronger stand against Cuba. ééWith its decision to lift (diplomatic) sanctions against Cuba, the…
More than usual, anyway. The UN Commission on Human Rights just passed a resolution condemning Belarus for abuses. Following the adoption on 14 April of a resolution by the UN Human Rights Commission alleging human rights abuses by Belarusian officials, Syarhey Aleynik, Belarus’s permanent representative to the UN, criticized the document as “another attempt to create a distorted picture of the country’s situation in order to justify the intention of its co-sponsors to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state,” Belapan and Interfax-Belarus reported. Aleynik said that the resolution has passed under “unprecedented pressure from the United States,”…
In view of the utter silence of the anglo phone MSM with respect to recent announcements of chemical warfare agents and other weapons sold by Spain to Venezuela Ä1Å I decided to dig a little and the findings, as usual, are rather grim. It turns out that Venezuela has been spending, since 2000 Ä2Å, substantial amounts of money in the procurement of defence and “Double Use” materials. According to Spain’s Customs and Special Taxes Department of the Treasury ???????247.509 and ???????2.812.827 worth of defence and ‘Double Use’ materials were acquired by the Hugo Chavez administration in that year; in 2001…
Over at Bloggledygook, I have a post on the trouble the EU constitution is having getting past the new French Resistance. The most delicious part of the story is that it looks as if Chirac might be hoisted on his own pitard. The constitution must be unanimously approved by the member states. In a hilarious twist, it looks like France may ultimately kill the United States of Europe.
Timothy Garton-Ash is not a well-known name in the U.S., but when I was a student in England, during the darkest days of Poland’s martial law, he was the person whose lectures I went to, and the one whose answers to my questions provided the most illumination. He hasn’t changed any after all these years and today he writes about what he knows best in a truly fine summary of the Pope’s contributions to the world’s freedom struggles. Read the whole thing here.
Revolution is hitting Europe hard. A German CEO, writing in Die Welt, publicly condemned the continent for its long record of cowardice against tyrants and terrorists. It’s a challenge so radical and so against prevailing wisdom that it may have the same impact as Emile Zola’s J’Accuse in forcing Europe to be what it ought to be. It was published a few months ago in Germany but is a hot item on the blogosphere today. Alek Boyd has the translation here.
Europe is busy telling Castro’s communist Cuba to ‘dialogue’ with it on human rights. Carlos Alberto Montaner argues that if Europe is serious about human rights in Cuba, it will ask Castro’s regime to dialogue with Cuba’s opposition instead of Europe itself. Given Europe’s tendency to side with failed regimes over ascendent peoples, jealously undermine successful nations that don’t, and stew about its lack of influence in the world because of these repeatedly bad choices, I can’t see them taking him up on this idea. However, Montaner is right.
Firstly, the OSCE is concerned because of the major crackdowns on independent media, NGOs, and people’s lives in general. A senior official of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has denounced authorities in Belarus over their treatment of independent media. The OSCE’s special commissioner for the media, Miklos Haraszti, said today that restrictions have effectively shut down many non-state media outlets. His statements accompany the release of a broad assessment of media freedoms in Belarus, where President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has kept a tight hold on power for more than a decade. Effectively, Belarus has earned the nickname…
Alek Boyd has located a disturbing new story out of Rome about a member of Chavez’s trusted inner circle – a presidential guardsman charged with protecting Chavez’s life, who’s now charged with drug trafficking among Europe’s dangerous syndicates. In light of recent stories about Chavez’s permitting FARC Marxist drug lords like Rodrigo Granda to walk freely in Venezuela with a cheaply bestowed passport, this could signal Chavez’s growing involvement in narcotrafficking on world markets. We should all be concerned.
Posted in the Ukraine Action Report, the speech basically thanks the European Union for their support, rejects the “neighborhood policy” in favor of full member status, explains how Ukraine will reform, and talks a lot about freedom and democracy. A great speech, overall, for a prestigious president.
I already posted my favorite quotes from Bush’s speech, but there is still plenty of speculation and analysis from the blogosphere that is worth reading. Here’s the full transcript of the speech. And here is a lot of the preliminary commentary wrapped up by Chester. Because it was so long ago, you may not remember when I predicted Bush’s “war on tyranny” inauguration speech, but I think Bill’s analysis of the speech given to Europe is good because he predicted it with great foresight on the pragmatism of idealism. Neo Coneli has reads into what Bush’s plan for Israel. More…
Drudge has posted many fantastic excerpts from President Bush’s speech today in Brussels, which reads fantastically. “The alliance of Europe and North America is the main pillar of our security in a new century. Our robust trade is one of the engines of the world economy. Our example of economic and political freedom gives hope to millions who are weary of poverty and oppression. In all these ways, our strong friendship is essential to peace and prosperity across the globe – and no temporary debate, no passing disagreement of governments, no power on earth will ever divide us.” “Today, America…
Spain’s Zapatero is facing his first big test as voters go to the polls to ratify or not the EU constitution. He’s made a big effort to persuade them to say yes. Whether they will or not is their choice. Regardless of that a lot of people look in askance at his ascent. Venezuelan blogger Alek Boyd (who was educated in Spain and knows the country well) reminds us of Zapatero’s peculiar relation to world terrorism, not just in Spain but to dictator Hugo Chavez who shelters FARC terrorists. What a guy.
While the mainstream media sleeps, the blogosphere doesn’t, and Spain’s Barcepundit Franco Aleman is particularly swift. Franco reports a new video showing evidence that Spain’s great skyscraper fire last Sunday (which he did excellent blogging on this week) may have been deliberately set. If that’s the case, the mainstream media’s blithe dismissal of the fire as a result of a faulty electrical short falls short. Any number of things could now come into play, from terrorism to insurance fraud. Franco’s got a fascinating exclusive on the emerging new details still not seen in the mainstream press.
Carlo Stagnaro suggests that the European Union is ignoring Putin’s abuses because he signed on to the Kyoto Protocol. I’d like to add that signing on to Kyoto itself is a kind of abuse. I’m not sure if Putin will ignore it or not, but it makes the perfect excuse to put into place anti-free market measures and further government control. UPDATE: Kirk posts in the comments section: I think it is important here to note the reason why Russia decided to ratify the Kyoto Treaty in the first place – the European Union agreed to support Russia’s bid to…
Maidan is reporting staunch French opposition to the inclusion of Ukraine to the EU, despite approval by others. Poland, Germany, and France, with Lithuanian participation, are conducting intensive discussions, having received something more than cooperation within the framework of neighbourhood policy from the European Union. As reported by ProEuropa, based upon the Polish Gazeta.Pl., “the virtually completed text of the Polish-German-Lithuanian proposal for Ukraine has met opposition from France. Paris prefers that relations with Yushchenko be contained within ‘the borders of the European Union politics of neighbourhood policy and the so-called plan of action,’ developed during Viktor Yanukovych’s office.” A…
David McDuff posts an interview dealing with the culture clashes of eastern Europe and “Old Europe.” Here’s the excerpt: The notion that Ukraine or its new president-elect are now the darlings of the EU is almost laughable. The EU would have completely ignored this crisis had it not been for the new accession states–Poland and Lithuania in particular. The EU has completely ignored the abuses of the cryto-Stalinist regime in neighboring Belarus for years. The last thing EU bigwigs want is another “eastern entanglement” especially one that will cause any unpleasantness with Russia. The European left is furious with the…
EU member countries formerly part of the Soviety Union are now proposing an all-out ban on communist symbols. This just after the recent proposal to ban all Nazi symbols in Europe as well. Several European Parliament members have urged the EU to match a proposed ban on Nazi signs with one on communist symbols like the hammer and sickle. The MEPs, from Lithuania, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, said communist symbols were a reminder of suffering under Soviet-era regimes. EU debate over Nazi symbols was fuelled by outcry after the UK’s Prince Harry wore a swastika to a…