The thing with Farage's comments is that they're completely inconsistent.
Legolas Send a noteboard - 25/02/2010 05:59:14 PM
Regardless of Farage's prior history or record of behavior, his attack on Van Rompuy strikes me as a calculated attack on not just the man in person, but the EU in general. Divorced from any context of a history of similar remarks, of course, this could read as a deliberate defiance of the EU and a rejection of their authority or any claim of respect as a true authority or sovereign government. From what the article says of Farage's political views, this is not a bad stance to take. The personal attacks SEEM a little out of line, but that is Europe so I can't say for sure what is appropriate. And again, depending on what is going on, criticizing a leader's deportment and bearing ARE germane issues. And what is the context? Was the EU leader supposed to be more symbolic than actually a figure of power? Were Farage & his sort reassured that he was just supposed to represent Europe, rather than governing it? In those cases, Farage's remarks are less of a personal attack and more of a rejection of qualifications.
His UKIP party officially advocates the departure of the UK from the EU. Since that's not really likely to happen, they just try to keep the EU's power as limited as possible. As such, it doesn't make any sense to complain on the one hand about the EU having too much power, and on the other hand attack the EU President for lacking charisma, influence, name recognition and power - which ought to be precisely what they want.
But yes, if you take the personal attacks out, what Farage says is what a lot of Brits are thinking - there's a reason why the UKIP has this many seats in the European Parliament.
The UKIP makes a spectacle of itself in the European Parliament... why am I not surprised
- 25/02/2010 10:45:56 AM
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Yeah, I saw about that
- 25/02/2010 11:17:48 AM
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Is there a "No Confidence" box on voting slips?
- 25/02/2010 12:26:40 PM
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There should be
- 25/02/2010 12:34:13 PM
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Re: There should be
- 25/02/2010 01:56:46 PM
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A. Whitney Brown had a bit like this 'long about the Bush/Dukakis election.
- 01/03/2010 02:14:11 AM
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What I don't get about the Lib Dems is their stance of ruling out a coalition government
- 25/02/2010 04:03:11 PM
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Marta Andreasen has something useful to say.
- 25/02/2010 11:56:30 AM
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Not sure your link title is true
- 25/02/2010 12:09:45 PM
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The fact that she was fired for it and nothing was fixed strongly suggests a cover-up.
- 25/02/2010 12:25:58 PM
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I don't think it does - the fact auditors never sign off the EU accounts mean it was already public
- 25/02/2010 12:50:18 PM
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"Pretty much a non-country"
- 25/02/2010 02:41:33 PM
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Well, you know... it is a fairly accurate description of belgium.
- 25/02/2010 08:08:38 PM
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It might not actually be all that bad of a tactic.
- 25/02/2010 05:03:01 PM
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The thing with Farage's comments is that they're completely inconsistent.
- 25/02/2010 05:59:14 PM
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Re: The thing with Farage's comments is that they're completely inconsistent.
- 26/02/2010 06:22:29 AM
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