Olde Europe To King George: Gotcha!

by pessimist

The Old World has spoken loudly about the selection of Paul Wolfowicz to head the World Bank: No, Non, Nein, Nyet, ...

Most of the EU cast miss Wolfowitz ‘audition'

Only seven out of the 25 European Union member states were represented by a minister or secretary of state at Wednesday's meeting. Several countries sent their Brussels-based ambassadors to what was billed as an informal meeting of EU governors of the World Bank.

Only two of the big EU countries, Germany and Britain, managed a minister, along with the smaller nations Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium. France, which is trying to create a new number-two post at the World Bank, sent its treasury director.

This was in spite of the fact that EU finance ministers had insisted on holding such an audition before Mr Wolfowitz's expected election as World Bank president in Washington on Thursday.

The spin of the article is that Old Europe doesn't really care enough about the Wolfowicz nomination to send representatives to ask him questions:

Nonetheless, one official described the poor turnout as “a fiasco” and “truly humiliating considering that we [the EU] supposely had serious concerns that we really needed to discuss with him and that, perhaps against expectations, he did bother to show up”.

I have a different read on this.

Back when I was in high school (we used to ride the relatives of that T-Rex just found in Montana - the one found with the soft tissue still pliant inside the leg bone), one of the meaner tricks that used to be played was to coerce someone to be somewhere at an inconvenient place and time, then not show up. One of the cabal would be hiding nearby to see if the person so coerced did actually show up, and any reaction expressed by the coerced upon deciphering the scam would be reported in detail to be used later in a demeaning manner at the expense of the victim for the perverse enjoyment of the cabal.

This dirty trick was one way people used to insult, express disdain and/or disgust at someone and lower their self-esteem, and maybe also destroy their image with other people. It was usually played on someone who was considered less than dangerous and incapable of retaliating in any meaningful physical manner.

Certainly, Old Europe is not fond of King George nor any of his court jesters, so if I'm right about what I suspect, this is certainly one way they would be putting one over on Ol' George that he wouldn't ever come close to understanding. I doubt that any of his court jesters would, either.

Imagine the laughter behind the scenes in the government offices all over Europe!

"Dumbya really IS dumb! We really got him good, didn't we?"

But of course, one doesn't want to give the joke away by not responding in some 'appropriate' manner, so it's fallen to the Belgian development minister to perform that diplomatic duty:

“There were some absentees but I don't think that lowered the quality of the debate with Mr Wolfowitz,” said Armand De Decker, the Belgian development minister. “Having said that, it is true that people could probably have found a way to be there.”

Now that that duty is completed, it's now necessary to offer the official explanation as to why this (I believe deliberate) snub was really accidental in nature so as to not make things worse than can be easily managed:

EU officials blamed the fact that the meeting had to be scheduled at short notice, on the heels of the Easter weekend, while many ministers were still on holiday or otherwise engaged.

This was the part of the article which gave me the clue that this wasn't quite the simple oversight that it might otherwise appear. Think about these points:

* The EU insisted that this meeting take place

* They had to have been the ones to make the arrangements

* Wolfowicz had to have been notified where to be and when to be there

* Holidays and 'other engagements' would have been known for a significant amount of time, thus all of these plans would certainly have been finalized long before Wolfowicz was even announced as the nominee.

* Thus do I conclude that the EU ministers knew what they were about - pulling a fast one at King George'$ expen$e. It's not like he could pass a law against this sort of official insult like the Turks are doing!

There have been many recent news reports that the EU was less than pleased by the announcement of Wolfowicz, and I suspect that they do not consider Wolfowicz to be qualified for the World Bank post, nor acceptible in light of his past actions involving Iraq, and for his membership in Bu$hCo. That may be one reason why so many countries sent their ambassadors instead of their finance ministers.

But as the US is the 900 pound gorilla in many ways, one has to be crafty in how one expresses one's displeasure lest there be serious repercussions. One of the best ways would be to do something like as I describe above - make the 900 pound gorilla the butt of the joke, which is amplified by the fact that the patsy doesn't know that he's been taken.

This gleeful situation isn't going to last forever, as someone will spill the beans to Bu$hCo. That's when the fireworks will begin, and that particular reaction will be harsh and vengeful, which in the long run will work against Bu$hCo by creating the image of their being too 'sensitive' to criticism, and thus incapable of leading because they will overreact at the slightest provocation.

Gee - ya think???

Just keep your eyes open in the near future for the (mis)Adminstration to be taking cheap shots at the jokesters - then watch for the response of the Old World to show that they - unlike the Bu$hevik$ - can dish it out as well as take it.

You know the Chinese and the Indians will be watching with great interest! And so will end another chapter in the decline of American leadership of the world since the neocon nocturnal emission period of post-war 1945.

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