I didn't vote. I couldn't understand it properly

by john of gwent
This morning, I went to have a look at the pages of the BBC Website to see what sort of a spin they were putting on the kicking given by those who live south of the Six Counties to their faceless masters in France and Germany who are behind the Lisbon Treaty and the Constitution it is in all but name.

Masters who, let us not forget, gloated when Eire went through economic hell to adjust itself to the Eurozone it had joined at the wrong point and on unfavourable terms. Masters who laughed as the Irish felt the wrath of their own politicians, forced to use the lash against their own men in the interests of keeping the "Eurozone Economy" on an "even keel", and Masters who then laughed off calls for them to take the same medicine when the pendulum swung the other way. Masters who ignored the same rules, failed to apply the same economic restraints to theor own populations when their economies whent off the euro-rails and continued to live a life of hedonism both individually as politicians and collectively as countries, and then, when at last the chickens came home to roost and the EU top brass "brought them to book" for their sins, got off scot free.

Now what I found on the BBC Website was so worrying to the enquiring mind able to stand back, cut through the claptrap and see the whole picture, that I decided for the first time ever I would merely cut and paste an article wholesale from my own personal blog straight into the Home of The Green Arrow. For what I read on the BBC site, and what I realised it meant, had me running for Heimdall's Gjallerhorn. So here you go ... Read It .... and prepare to weep.

If you pop over to here you will find something most unusual. Under a banner headline "EU grapples with Irish 'No' Vote" the BBC say this :-

"Governments in the European Union are exploring what to do after the Irish Republic's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty to reform the expanded EU. France and Germany have described the No vote in the referendum as a serious blow but have urged the EU to press ahead with the project. European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso said the treaty was not dead. But Czech President Vaclav Klaus said the treaty was finished, since any further ratification was impossible. His is a lone voice among EU leaders, but his views will probably resonate with many European voters who did not get a say in a referendum, says the BBC's Oana Lungescu in Brussels."

And then at the right of the page you see a picture of a smiling young woman. Click the image and you are presented with the chilling facts as the slideshow opens to show seven pictures, seven people, and prints their seven opinions. I feel compelled to cut and paste the lot, it is so important, but that would be unfair, so I shall paraphrase.

I click the link and the first picture I see is of a man about half my age with a friendly smile. His hair is short, he wears an open necked denim shirt, sports a large but plain round ear-ring in each ear, and what I suppose used to be called 'designer stubble'. Or maybe he's half way to growing a presentable beard. And yet this man is the saviour of us all. The words under his picture say it all. "I voted No because I believe Ireland's sovereignty and neutrality are extremely important. The whole European Union regime is getting ridiculous and is too underhand to even follow. Ireland was oppressed for 800 years and we've only been free for 80 years. To hand it over to Europe now would be ridiculous"

The next picture is of a clean shaven dark haired younger man. Clean shaven, fresh faced, eyes wide open but with a strange look. He reminds me of a youthful David Nimmo in his role as the curate in All Gas and Gaiters. But his expressionless stare worries me. This chap, with a greek-sounding name, says he voted yes "because there is no point in being separatist" and worryingly for me he believes that "next time we won't be asked to vote". Why is that worrying ? well, the only reason the Irish voted this time is because THEIR constitution demands it. It would be typical of the EU to oil and bribe their way by hook or by crook to a position where they could indeed sidestep this little stumbling block to conquest. Your words, young man, are prophetic, and you know it not.

Next up is a woman of 54. The first thing I notice about her is her hair. When she was half her age I bet those flame-red locks would have turned the heads of every man in the street. Now I see she, like me and like Mrs JoG too, is going grey gracefully at the edges. She voted No and is delighted with the result because she felt a lot of people did not understand the issue, and she felt it was really important to vote No because a lot of people in other countries were denied a vote, and so she was voting for them, too. Thank you, Mrs Doyle. Are you listening, Gordon ?

Next up is a young man of 22 who looks like Bob Geldof did when he was 22 but this chap is ALREADY an accountant. He voted Yes because he "didn't really see it is a major issue. I didn't see that there were going to be that many changes as a result of it - other than make it a more equal union. And I didn't like the No side - they exaggerated things, played on peoples' fears - and told too many lies". Really ?

Next up is a blonde woman about the same age as my eldest daughter who voted No and is glad because "a Yes vote would have been bad for Ireland ... I don't agree with a lot of Europe's policies - which seem to be taking power away from our parliament ... I don't think that's fair". Now then Mr Accountant, can you explain why taking power away from your parliament is not really a major issue ..... It's that sort of talk that will have you denied a voice when the EU Overlords make their next assault.

Last but one is a bloke who bears more than a passing resemblance to my father in his later years. This chap voted yes and had no problem with it, and is astonished the vote was lost, saying that he knows someone voted No because they did not like the present government and feels they have made a big mistake. He may be right, the conquerors often come with beads and trinkets before they come back with swords.

Last up on the list is a girl of 20 with deep red hair and I bet the 54 year old Mrs Doyle, pictured earlier, looked just like her when she was 20. Just like Mrs JoG bore a stunning resemblance to Kate Beckinsale as pictured in the promotional material for Van Helsing. Ah, what it is to be a man of fifty looking back three decades and remembering with a wry smile what it was like to be a man of twenty. But this young student's words worry me most of all. Indeed they chill me to the bone. She admits "I didn't vote. The reason is the brochures they sent out were full of language that was so convoluted I couldn't understand it properly. I didn't really have a clue what I was voting."

It isn't her fault that politicians seek to obfuscate the truth. That is, after all, what they do. When Marcus Brigstoke met the former Tory Front Bencher David Davis ona train to Rugby to do an interview with him on the cynicism of the electorate, the man who walked over the 42 day limit said it wasn't the electorate's job to come up with the answers, thatw as what he and his 650 odd fellows were paid to do. But it was his job to listen to the electorate before coming up with the answers. Prophesising his own actions, no doubt. Mr Davis is being held up simultaneously as "our last honoirable politician" and "a grand egotist pulling a futile stunt".

I don't know which is closer to the mark. But I know that today Gordon Brown will take solace in the words of that young redhead. For while there are people that can be bamboozled into standing idly on the sidelines as he railroads us headlong into oblivion, he can still hope he will get away with it and by the time we realise, it will be too late.