Comments on: Going for the Twofer

By: mds

mds — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:59:55 +0000

Well, whoever gets chosen, there’s a strong likelihood that they’re the Antichrist. Or so some of us will be lucky enough to hear.

To be fair, the EEC as fulfillment of End Times prophecy has declined over the decades. There was once much made of the fact that it had twelve members, and when it increased to exactly thirteen, as foretold in the Book of Asspull, watch out. For some reason, this prophecy was quietly dropped. Whereupon we heard more about “the Antichrist of Rome” for a while, as American fundamentalism returned to its roots. This shared time with the old-school Bircher shtick about the UN, and occasional dire mutterings about the too-charismatic evil Democratic US president of the time. The Caliphate and the Hidden Imam opened up new directions, but laziness has led them back towards the UN. All of this is why I expect the American right to really open up with the big guns on the New and Improved EU: they can just dust off empirically falsified Hal Lindsey tracts from the 1970s to whip up their religious wing. The hysteria over those socialists and their Peace Prize acts as foreshadowing.

By: JohnDE

JohnDE — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:05:46 +0000

One down-side of Merkel winning is that she is not free for the job.

It needs an efficienct and effective chair, not someone who would think themselves greater than the sum of the parts and there to define the job along persoanl lines.

The High Representative ought to, and probably will, have all the global fun and frustration – if Pres. Mary wants a job she should start wresting Bildt and the others for that one…

By: mollymooly

mollymooly — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:32:52 +0000

Ursula Plassnik—tall blond and Teutonic—might appeal more to the wingnuts.

By: novakant

novakant — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:14:42 +0000

I think the concept of the nation state is terribly outdated and useless when it comes to solving the massive problems problems we’re going to face in the next 50 years. It’s a bit like religion – many still adhere to the concept and we’ll have to deal with it for the foreseeable future, but its time has passed (in Hegel’s sense). So I think it’s time to give a bit more weight to the fact that there are 500 million people living in the EU and to consider what’s best for them as a whole.

This is not necessarily a critique only of the smaller states demanding more power, since the big states know how to play the nationalistic game as well, but we need to keep in mind that of the above mentioned states, The Netherlands represent 3% of the EU population, Belgium 2%, Ireland less than 1% and Luxembourg less than 0.1%. That said, I think Mary Robinson might be a great president and Tony Blair would be a disaster.

By: James Conran

James Conran — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 12:36:03 +0000

Surely it can’t be Blair but I doubt Mary Robinson is a serious candidate either. Excellent international profile but no Brussels corridor-time. Also probably too much of a figure of “conscience” rather than of diplomacy.

By: herr doktor bimler

herr doktor bimler — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:13:54 +0000

I’ve been wondering about this ever since Blair was mentioned for the presidency. I would have thought that Blair would create the undesirable impression that the EU collectively valued mendacity, manipulativeness, lack of principle, a thirst for control and an inner-circle approach to decision-making. At least, I had assumed that this was an undesirable impression.

By: EWI

EWI — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:32:14 +0000

It would be very, very sad to see wingnuts’ heads exploding again in just a few weeks time …

I’ve a feeling that Mrs. Sjostrom may shortly need to take away Mr. Sjostrom’s Internet access…

By: Jacob Christensen

Jacob Christensen — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:03:17 +0000

Well, even though I’m among those puzzled by the Nobel Committee, some Wing-nut splatter and gore is always appreciated.

By: Antoni Jaume

Antoni Jaume — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:40:59 +0000

While he has said he did not want such a job, Felipe González would be a rather good candidate. He is no longer in ordinary politics and has an European positive viewpoint.
What is more, he does not speak English.

By: P O'Neill

P O'Neill — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:29:16 +0000

Is the twofer that she will therefore twice have been in charge of the EU’s policies towards Israel, given Michael Rubin’s version of the job description of President of Ireland?