Originally Posted by Frangipano

I'd shoot the bastard!

Me too, then his wife

Originally Posted by SalemSaberhagen

I absolutely detest the grinning, smarmy, lying, backstabbing, thieving, corrupt, egotistical, war mongering, manipulative, arrogant, misleading, bullshitting, unapologetic, f*ckwitted, treacherous, American arrse licking, immigrant loving, war crime dodging, sneering, fraudulant, Pusillanimous, religious zealot (etc) and his hypocritical, money grabbing, delusional, fugly, rat faced, wide mouthed, chinless bitch of a wife. Phony Bliar boning this horrible creature is no way near enough punishment for his misdeeds

F ucks sake stop beating around the bush and say what you mean!

Originally Posted by SalemSaberhagen

I absolutely detest the grinning, smarmy, lying, backstabbing, thieving, corrupt, egotistical, war mongering, manipulative, arrogant, misleading, bullshitting, unapologetic, f*ckwitted, treacherous, American arrse licking, immigrant loving, war crime dodging, sneering, fraudulant, Pusillanimous, religious zealot (etc) and his hypocritical, money grabbing, delusional, fugly, rat faced, wide mouthed, chinless bitch of a wife. Phony Bliar boning this horrible creature is no way near enough punishment for his misdeeds

You will never make a politician. That is about the first time I have seen Bliar summed up ACCURATELY in one single paragraph You did however. miss off two-faced, egotistical, sleazy, immature, narcisis, loathed, slime-ball, attention-seeking, half-wit, but I think you summed him up well.

Originally Posted by Dread

If Blair gets in then then he will be dead within 6 months...

There are too many (correction: not enough) ex-soldiers with access to weapons who despise this cúnt.

I must say that I'm extremely disappointed that despite all those PR photo ops he did in Iraq not one lad managed an ND.

More likely *because* of all those photo ops - too many cameras.

In The Guardian How Angela Merkel quietly sank Tony Blair's bid to become EU president

But David Miliband favourite to become first EU foreign minister

...
The spotlight turned on Miliband as it became clear at the summit there is barely any prospect of Blair mustering the necessary consensus among 27 government leaders to become the first EU president.

As Blair's chances waned, it emerged last night that Miliband is winning support from a key figure, Werner Faymann, the centre-left Austrian chancellor. Faymann has been appointed to a troika of leading social democrats charged with negotiating the post of European foreign minister for the centre left. Senior Austrian officials said that Miliband was by some distance the favoured candidate of the six names listed as contenders.

Miliband has publicly ruled himself out of the job. "I am not a candidate," he said at a press conference at the European council with Gordon Brown. "I am not available. I am proud to be foreign secretary in Gordon's government and that's what I am determined to do."

But he appeared to leave the door ajar when he was asked whether his claim that he is "not available" would still apply if the Lisbon treaty is ratified. The foreign secretary said he would not indulge in "Kremlinology" because he has a clear position.

In a sign of Blair's waning chances, his greatest advocate indicated that he is cooling on the former prime minister. Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, who backed Blair for the post in 2006, declined to stand by his strong support for him.

Admitting there had been discussions at the summit "behind the scenes, among ourselves" on names, Sarkozy said: "The names that first come out of the hat are not necessarily those that are finally chosen."

British sources believe Blair lost the support of Sarkozy after senior officials in the Elysée Palace made clear to the president that Paris and Berlin had to agree on a joint candidate. Sarkozy said: "Chancellor Merkel and myself, Germany and France, have exchanged considerably on the subject and we will adopt a joint position."

Senior government sources in Europe let it be known that many government leaders, and perhaps a majority, had agreed that the job should go to someone from a smaller country, ruling Britain out. This position, taken by many of the 19 smaller countries, is also shared by the biggest member state, Germany.
...

Would rather depend on his leadership chance post Broon. At least he knows his Bananas:

Another reason some states may not want Blair lies in the obvious misunderstanding English speakers have of the role. "President" of the European Council" would be better translated as "chairman"; because French doesn't have a word for "chairman", they use "president" instead. What they actually want is someone who will run four meetings of all the heads of government per year, not someone who thinks they actually have some kind of a role in representing the EU.

That job is completely different. The new foreign representative job being created is the one that actually has some teeth, and I hope nobody is considering Blair for it.

Originally Posted by Inzile

Another reason some states may not want Blair lies in the obvious misunderstanding English speakers have of the role. "President" of the European Council" would be better translated as "chairman"; because French doesn't have a word for "chairman", they use "president" instead. What they actually want is someone who will run four meetings of all the heads of government per year, not someone who thinks they actually have some kind of a role in representing the EU.

That job is completely different. The new foreign representative job being created is the one that actually has some teeth, and I hope nobody is considering Blair for it.

That's a good point, though I think its still up in the air as to how this will work in practice. The type of guy they pick for the office will represent the consensus on what sort of job it is and that matters more than what's in the Lisbon treaty. A big hitter like Blair would inflate the POTEUs power, the leaders of the core EU states are wisely coming out against that.

Incidentally President does retain exactly this meaning in English as in French Président=Chairman. The confusion of the drab POTEU with the kingly POTUS is understandable especially given the degree of paranoia in the UK about the EU federalism.

president

Dictionary: pres·i·dent (prÄ•z'Ä*-dÉ™nt, -dÄ•nt') pronunciation

Home > Library > Literature & Language > Dictionary
n.

1. One appointed or elected to preside over an organized body of people, such as an assembly or meeting.
2. a. The chief executive of a republic.
b. The chief executive of the United States, serving as both chief of state and chief political executive.
3. The chief officer of a branch of government, corporation, board of trustees, university, or similar body.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin praesidēns, praesident-, from present participle of praesidēre, to preside. See preside.]
presidentship pres'i·dent·ship' n.

"I then wanted to experience the month upon month of sickening, transparent lies while European newspapers were bullied into submission by some oleaginous mortgage fraudster and a bag-piping psychopath."


http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/i...-200910302183/

Many a true word said in jest.....

Originally Posted by Awol

"I then wanted to experience the month upon month of sickening, transparent lies while European newspapers were bullied into submission by some oleaginous mortgage fraudster and a bag-piping psychopath."


http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/i...-200910302183/

Many a true word said in jest.....

Ho ho

...
The job now looks likely to go to a lower profile candidate despite Gordon Brown attempting to secure the job for Mr Blair in a twisted, malevolent bid to inflict his former colleague on the EU before he is chased out of Downing Street next spring.
...

FiveThirtyEight on For European Integration, Movement and Money Counts presents this little table:

When Switzerland entered the "Schengen Area," that is, the group of twenty five continental European countries who allow passport-free movement of people among themselves, it was after decades of strong Euro-skepticism. After referenda strongly rejected the accession of the country to the European Economic Area (the precursor to the 1993 establishment of the EU) and subsequent ballot initiatives to re-open negotiations to join the EU failed with more than 75 percent of voters against, it seemed quite unlikely that the free movement of people would ever come to pass.

So, when I flew back to Geneva in March by way of Paris, after a short visit to the US, I was shocked to find myself walking straight through to customs, with my entry stamp from Charles-de-Gaulle good enough for the Swiss authorities.

At this point, freedom of movement is the leading edge of integration with the European system for the Swiss, with their high importation tariffs and controls, a strong committment to the Swiss Franc as the national currency, strenuous immigration requirements, opaque banking system, and neutrality-focused foreign policy. Indeed, in 2006, the Swiss Federal Council changed the official Swiss position regarding EU membership from "a strategic goal," to "an option."

For the rest of Europe, however, it is the impending passage of the Lisbon Treaty that defines the cutting edge of European integration. Signed in December 2007, the treaty has undergone more than 73 legislative, executive, royal, and judicial activities in the 27 EU countries. These have ranged from the official permission from the Duke of Luxembourg, no less than 10 separate regional legislatures, language community committees and special Brussels authorities in Beligum, along with the the ill-fated first 2008 referendum in Ireland that was the only failing vote on the treaty (and was overturned just a few weeks ago).

The Treaty of Lisbon is intended to improve coherance and streamline decision-making in the EU, and establish an appointed President of the European Council (the EU member states), who will serve a 2 1/2 year appoint term, instead of the current 6 month rotating Presidency. Approved by all the requisite parliaments, royal leaders, and the like, the treaty requires only the pro-forma approval of conservative, euro-skeptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus.

Klaus has decided to use this opportunity for a political stand against European integration, and insists that legal actions questioning the constitutionality of the treaty brought by conservative parliamentarians must be allowed to come to completion before he signs. The Czech constitutional court is set to review the case early next week.

Whether these efforts are meaningful, in practical terms, is up for debate. While there has been a great deal of heartburn about Lisbon from conservatives around the continent, it turns out that few issues that treaty addresses are meaningful to regular Europeans.

Eurobarometer polling published in September, which admitedly covers just the twenty seven EU countries, indentified ranks two issues far above the others in terms of the EU's role for its citizens. The two main practical impacts of European integration, common currency and common market, in terms of the movement of people travel) and the movement of workers and students (permanent work and study) are understandably the two key things that EU represents to Europeans. Speak to any regular person, be it Berlin, Athens or Ljubljana, you will find this to be true.

To measure these two issues (splitting travel and work, as the treaty system does), we can have a look at major European countries in terms of their participation in the common-currency Eurozone, the passport-free movement Schengen Area, and the European Economic Area, which encompasses free trade, common customs, and the freedom to work and study.

Regardless of the Lisbon Treaty, integration will continue, with eight countries on track to join the Eurozone in the next five years, and several others considering doing so. Liechtenstein and Cyprus are expected to join the Schengen Area in 2010 or 2011, while the new EU states of Bulgaria and Romania are on track to become part soon after, leaving just the UK and Switzerland outside of the "two or more" group.

Indeed, as French President Nicolas Sarkozy criticized President Klaus for his hold-up on the Lisbon Treaty, he suggested that the U.K.'s refusal to adopt the Euro would be a major stumbling block for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair becoming the inagural President of the European Council. Though Sarkozy intially introduced Blair's name into the process, he was not sure if he is the right choice. "Personally I believe in a Europe that is politically strong and embodied by a person. But the fact that Great Britain is not in the euro remains a problem," he explained.

So though the current Czech leadership, strong Euro-skeptic parties (such as those in Austria and the Netherlands), and other naysayers dominate the public dialogue right now, the real question will how the countries on the bottom end of the chart, namely the U.K., Switzerland, and to a lesser degree Norway, will change in the coming decade. Does the perception of inevitibility come into play at a certain point, or do national priorities dominate enough that this image does not come through?

The issue has been discussed and debated a hundred times since the negotiations of the Maastricht Treaty, which established the EU, in the early 1990s. But with a new generation of ERASMUS-educated civil servants and political leaders and a likely common foreign policy, the option for countries to "opt-out" begins to seem more permanent than temporary.

While we are watching for the results of the Constitutional court in the Czech Republic, we can also look forward to next spring's UK General Election. After twelve years in power and facing a surging opposition, the ruling pro-Europe Labour Party looks ripe for a toss-out. And with the Conservative Party's shift to the euro-skeptic European Conservatives and Reformists political group, it seems quite possible that EU integration may be an important card on the table.
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Renard Sexton is FiveThirtyEight's international columnist and is based in Geneva, Switzerland. He can be contacted at sexton538@gmail.com