PrintJuly 11, 2007
EU President calls it a "European Empire."
Well, the truth will out eventually. The European Union has just been labeled "an empire" -- something its critics have been ridiculed for saying for a long, long time. This is now creating a big fuss in Europe.
According to EUReferendum,
"It's an "Empire" - official."And here we have it from the horse's mouth (or backside)... el presidente (Jose Manuel) Barroso in full flow in Strasbourg, speaking to journalists in a press conference today. And this is what he said*:"Sometimes I like to compare it to compare the EU as a creation to the organisation of empires. We have the dimension of Empire but there is a great difference. Empires were usually made with force with a centre imposing diktat, a will on the others. Now what we have is the first non-Imperial empire. We have 27 countries that fully decided to work together and to pool their sovereignty. I believe it is a great construction and we should be proud of it. At least, we in the Commission are proud of it."
Ah, yes, the "non-Imperial empire," from the President of the Politburo himself. (I mean, the European Commission.) A non-Imperial Empire with a non-taxing tax policy, a non-foreign-policy-making foreign ministry, a non-propaganda propaganda apparatus, and all the bells and whistles of a real, honest-to-gosh Empire, including police powers over all citizens, sovereignty in matters of war and peace, and enough goose-stepping snootiness to satisfy Napoleon Bonaparte. Or as the former Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky said the other day, the EU is a new USSR, the EU-SSR.
I wonder if Barroso's revealing slip of the tongue will wake up any members of the snoozing public?
James Lewis blogs at http://www.dangeroustimes.wordpress.com/
*Bruce va de Kooij writes disputing the accuracy of the transcription carried by EU Refendum and quoted here. He writes:
"Sometimes I like to compare it to compare the EU as a creation to the organisation of empires."
"to compare it to compare", that's clearly a transcription error.
"We have the dimension of Empire but there is a great difference.Empires were usually made with force with a centre imposing diktat, a will on the others."
Another transcription error, he said "empires", so plural not singular and I think he said "center" (which is basically the same, but seems less imposing).
"Now what we have is the first non-Imperial empire."
He clearly said "... we have what some authors call ...", it changes the meaning. It might be weasel words of some sort, but he still said it.
"We have 27 countries that fully decided to work together and to pool their sovereignty."
They left some things out, such as the important bit "to work toward values".
