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"Sometimes the electorate has to be protected from making the wrong decisions"
Hat tip: Instapundit. EFL.The German government is under growing pressure to hold a referendum on the new European constitution after 30 of the country's most eminent legal scholars declared that federal law could easily be changed to allow a vote. Opinion polls show that 70 per cent of Germans want a vote on the treaty but Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has refused to follow the British and French in staging a referendum. "Even if we wanted to have a vote, Bet they'd go nuts in California! he said last week, declaring that his government would override public opinion The legal scholars have, however, undermined Mr Schröder's claims. In a joint statement published last week, 34 professors, led by Hans Herbert von Arnim from the university of Speyer, declared: "A small addition to the text of the [German] constitution could enable the German people to vote in a referendum." But what's a little lie among friends, eh, Gerhardt? The letter said that a vote was "necessary" because Germans had been denied the chance to elect directly members of the European convention, which drew up the EU constitution. No, really? Previously, they had been denied a vote on whether to join the euro. What do they think they live in, a democracy? It must suck being German. German politicians were surprised when Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, caved in to pressure for a referendum earlier this year, and shocked when President Jacques Chirac followed suit last month. Mein Gott in Himmel! iiiiieeeeeeeeeee! Edmund Stoiber, the conservative Bavarian prime minister who ran against Mr Schröder in Germany's 2002 general election, declared last week: "If the French, the British and the Spanish are to hold a referendum on this issue, the Germans cannot be barred from the process." Mr Stoiber's views are echoed by Roman Herzog, Germany's former conservative president, who argued recently that Germany faced the prospect of being the "only country in Europe" not to hold a referendum. Other advocates include Guido Westerwelle, the leader of the country's liberal Free Democrat party, Wolfgang Thierse, Germany's Social Democrat parliamentary president, leading Green party MPs and at least five of Germany's 16 regional branches of Mr Schröder's governing party. Ooooo, looks like they're ganging up on Gerry-baby. GOOD!
Reflecting the prevailing mood in the Berlin chancellery, Michael Muller, the deputy head of the Social Democrats' that's redundant parliamentary party, added: Wait for it...... "Sometimes the electorate has to be protected from making the wrong decisions." Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding! The leftist elite crawls out from under his rock. And how, exactly, is this different from having a king in charge? Shrillery and the Dems would love this guy. Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-08-03 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=39586 |