Breaking Up?

Out on The Right Coast one of the bloggers picked up on this piece in the London Review of Books.

Mr David Runciman asks "Is this the end of the UK?".  We have been through this before.  There was the Welsh nationalism, the Plaid Cymru.  Then there was Cornwall wanting to be free.  The British Government gave the Scots and the Irish and the Welsh their own Parliaments, leaving the English the only members of the Union without their own parliament.

Then there were the French with the people out in Brittany wanting to be free.  ("Il est interdit de parler breton et de cracher par terre".)

Over in Belgium the recent elections suggests there may be a divide between the Flemish (Dutch) and the Walloons (French).  The Kingdom of Belgium is not that old.  Catholics have had the right to hold office in Massachusetts longer than Belgium has been a nation.

And, regarding the post on Belgium, I thought the one comment was pretty drool:  "Charles Johnson bans Belgium in 5, 4, 3 ...".

It all seemed to be patched up, until now.  Greece and Spain and other nations with debt problems are not helping.

Which leads us to this International Herald Tribune article on France and Germany.  This is not good news.  But, Europe breaking up is unthinkable...isn't it?

If you think Washington is having trouble managing an out of control oil well a mile down in the Gulf of Mexico, think about the Administration dealing with a breakup of Europe.  The good news is that SecState Hillary Clinton would be in charge, if she was given a free rein.  If she has managed to keep Bill under some sort of control and stay married to him for lo these last 35 years, Europe should be a piece of cake.

Regards  —  Cliff