Wednesday, July 11, 2007

It’s Not the EU, it’s the EE

Further update: The video is working again. We’ll see how long it lasts...


Update: The embedded video no longer works, nor does the direct YouTube link.

I know it used to work, because I watched it. suspect that YouTube’s bandwidth has been overloaded this morning, as everyone in the world takes a look at the newborn Empire.

We’ll keep checking it to see if it comes back.


Speaking in Strasbourg, Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, sliped big time: he said the European Union is now an empire. It must’ve morphed into this new entity while we weren’t looking. But don’t worry, Barroso claims this is the first “peaceful empire,” one without a dictator.

Well, that’s reassuring. I was worried there for a moment. I thought that the bustle of bureaucrats in Brussels constituted a hydra-headed diktat, but obviously they mean no harm to mere earthlings. So we’re safe. Whew!

I think EUX TV was a bit taken aback, too. It reports:

His answer startled many of the journalists present. Barroso’s spokesman, Johannes Laitenberger, afterwards asked some of them not to pay too much attention to the comments.

Somehow that explanation seems a lot like the dialogue from another fanciful tale… “pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.”

Here’s EUX TV’s video. Watch Vice-President Margot Wallström making a joke while she tries to wriggle out of what Barroso has just said:


I think her response was bureaucratese for “no way, Jose.”

Or maybe, “Wait till I get you in private, you moron. Don’t give away the Empire’s secrets on television.”

That would explain the spokesman who told everyone to ignore the comments.


Hat tip: Larwyn.


[ends here]

7 comments:

History Snark said...

Hmmm. "Ignore his comments", rather than "Oops! He's a moron and mis-spoke". That is kinda scary.

Reminds me of the incident some years back, where a spokeswoman for UK gun-grabbers explained that their goal wasn't to outlaw certain types of guns, but rather to eliminate all of them.

Apparently she never appeared on TV again. Wonder if the Imperial Stormtroopers will lock this joker away now.

PapaBear said...

To give the guy some benefit of the doubt, the definition of empire is

(a) A political unit having an extensive territory or comprising a number of territories or nations and ruled by a single supreme authority.
(b) The territory included in such a unit.

Given that the EU is composed of multiple nations (where nation is defined as "A people who share common customs, origins, history, and frequently language; a nationality"), the a political entity that includes the nations of the French, the Germans, the Italians, etc could be properly termed an empire

Clovis Sangrail said...

I have suggested that a suitable title is Empire of the Senseless

turn said...

canker-

How about Empire of the Spineless?

ziontruth said...

"In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the Union will be re-organized into the first EUROPEAN EMPIRE, for a safe... and SECURE... society!"

The thing that gets me is that the moonbats have always been talking about how Bush would do such a thing. While, in reality, throughout this decade so far, it was Hugo Chávez who did this first, and now Barroso has crowned himself Emperor José I.

Being a moonbat means you can call yourself "reality-based" while being stuck deep in Rovian conspiracy theories and ignoring the real dangers in plain sight.

Unknown said...

It is not EU nor EE; it is EEE.
It stands for European Eunucus Empire

hank_F_M said...

Dymphna

Dan Nexon of and Thomas Write recently published an article What is at stake in the American Empire Debate in the American Political Science Review.


Despite it eye catching title it is a excellent analysis of what makes an empire an empire. While some, without reading, have jumped on it and said, “See the US is an Empire, I told you so!” there is much more than that. Going through it I get the impression that if one makes the assumption thaif the US relatons with the rest of the wold has imperial characteristics then the policy of the current administration is a problem because it is following non-imperial policies. That is what they see as at stake - does the policy match reality. Well I think to the extent this is true we should be moving away from Imperial policies and relationships, though perhaps more intelligently.

Former Secretary Rumsfeld is famous, among other things, for his comment that “we don’t do empire,” I get the impression that the implicit response from the left in the context of this paper “You are and you should be. Be like us.”

But if you use the same analysis on the EU's policies and programs it can seem very imperialistic. And perhaps other things might stand differently than expected.


But good reading in a case.

Note. The Duck of Minerva is an academic International Relations site, while the polemics are rather to the left to the Gates (and like the Gates they have always been polite to my disagreements) they have interesting tidbits that you won’t get elsewhere, and the straight political science is top notch. The opinions above are mine -who would want them.