-Caveat Lector-
Via NewsMax.CoM
Sovereignty Matters Oliver NorthJune 18, 1999
WASHINGTON -- Tony Blair, Bill Clinton's new best buddy, was shocked.
The June European Parliamentary elections seem to have rejected the
vaunted "Third Way" globalists in the Blair government. The
conservative Tories overwhelmed Blair's hand-picked Labor Party
liberals by a margin of 36 percent to 28 percent. This victory is all
the more significant when you consider that the Labor Party has
dominated the political landscape of Great Britain since it came to
power in April 1997. In fact, as Brits went to the polls this month,
Tony Blair's approval ratings had never been higher, thanks to his
"leadership" in NATO's Balkan Blunder. But Blair's personal popularity
wasn't enough to save the day when it came to standing up for the
Union Jack. For the first time since Margaret Thatcher sent the fleet
to win back the Falkland Islands in 1981, British sovereignty is a
major issue in British politics.
This conservative resurgence is based on the simple premise that
national identity, autonomy and independence are more important than
the New World Order policies Tony Blair has been espousing since he
and his liberal Laborites came to power. Whether this sea change in
British politics will affect their next elections or ours remains to
be seen. "Third Way" proponents poo-poo the results as nothing more
than a minor wrinkle in the political fabric. They note that this was
nothing but an election for delegates to the European Parliament --
the body theoretically charged with administering the European Union.
While the liberals have been quick to blame their dismal showing in
the parliamentary elections on Tory leader William Hague's
"Euro-bashing," the real issue was whether Britain would retain its
own identity and sovereignty, or whether Brits would wake up one
morning in a "Europe First" society. As Hague bluntly put it when
discussing Britain's ties to the rest of Europe, "In Europe -- but not
run by Europe."
What Blair's apologists do not want to acknowledge is that many Brits
are coming to see this conglomeration of Eurocrats as an entity whose
activities and interests are hostile to the people of the British
Isles. Among the chief goals of the European Union is the
establishment of a common currency, the Euro, which would replace the
currencies of all of the European Union member states. Unfortunately
for Tony Blair and his globalist allies, a majority of Brits don't
seem ready to surrender the British Pound.
Why? Because when Great Britain abandons the Pound it gives up a
significant measure of their national identity. The British people
have yet to become convinced that handing over their sovereignty to a
group of continental bureaucrats best known for petty wrangling, gross
incompetence, and rampant corruption is really in their best
interests. The choice the Brits face is tantamount to Bill Clinton
telling Americans that George Washington was being replaced on the
dollar bill by Kofi Annan.
In the U.S., talk of a Continental Currency for the Americas has been
forestalled by the early start of the year 2000 presidential election
campaigns. Advocates for such a measure in the Clinton Administration
have been told to pipe down until after the race is run -- because
their internal polls show that most American's find the idea
deplorable. But similar threats do indeed lurk on our own horizons,
and if Washington's globalists have their way, Americans will indeed
face the choice between Mr. Clinton's vision of a "New World Village"
or a reassertion of our own national sovereignty. One election does
not make a trend.
The recent balloting for a Euro Parliament may or may not portend the
kind of dramatic change in political fortunes that Margaret Thatcher's
election foretold when she and her Conservative majority came to power
in 1979. Thatcher's rise to power was indeed the beginning of a
conservative movement throughout many Western nations. But for more
than six years now, Bill Clinton and his fellow "internationalist
elites" have been telling us that their "Third Way" is the way of the
future. They have told us that "globalism" is better than nationalism,
that "constructive engagement" is more important than national
security, and that international cooperation outweighs America's
sovereignty. To the Clintons, Blairs and the rest of the globalist
gurus haunting Europe, borders don't matter. But to the rest of us,
they do.
In repudiating Mr. Blair, the British people have demonstrated that
their tolerance for this hogwash has limits. When the day comes that
Americans find themselves facing a choice similar to that of the Brits
this month, hopefully they will recognize the importance of our own
national identity -- and realize that "sovereignty" isn't such a bad
word afterall.
COPYRIGHT 1999 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
Oliver North is a former
