Putinoids are heartbroken that Brexit failed. Ukrainians are celebrating. They want to believe that the Europe they imagined and are fighting for exists.
What about you? Sad or happy about Brexit fail?
Brexit Fail Reactions
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Clarissa's Blog 
Neither. I’ve never been a big fan of the EU, and its ridiculous idea of a single economy policy for countries as different as Germany and Italy. (The fact that Putin would like to see it fail is not ipso facto a good reason to support it.)
I’m more concerned about the future of NATO, and how that military alliance stands up to Putin — and the fate of the EU is irrelevant to NATO’s success or failure.
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I think NATO is quite dependent on the success of the EU. People are more likely likely to go to war to defend somebody they are connected to. These days, it’s all about convincing the public to make sacrifices it detests making.
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NATO forces are nation-specific, and each European NATO force is funded solely by its country’s government and its country’s taxes (with substantial help from the USA).
The EU has NO armed forces, no military budget, and most importantly, NO authority to command a single soldier in any country’s uniform.
The bulk of any country’s military force is made up of enlisted young people from blue-collar/working class backgrounds — people most likely to see multinational organizations like the EU as an impediment to their economic situation and their country’s national sovereignty. Do you think any German or French soldier has any motivation to fight to preserve a beloved homeland called the “EU”?
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You think a French or a German soldier is more motivated to defend Estonia if it’s not even a part of a shared union? Not that I’m super optimistic about NATO standing up for its marginal members as it is, of course.
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I think the soldier is going to take orders from a French or German commander, and that for most soldiers the concept of an “EU” is no more compelling than the concept of a simple “European” entity forced together by the realities of geography. Remember, NATO is a lot older than the EU.
The NATO forces that fought in Iraq and Afghanistan certainly weren’t fighting because of any feeling of solidarity with the Middle East.
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Speaking of Estonia, CNN news reports:
“Four U.S. Air Force A-10 jets landed Monday on the remote Jägala highway in Estonia near the Russian border, the first such practice road landing in over 30 years.
“The maneuver in Estonia, a NATO member that shares a 183-mile long border with Russia and sits about 100 miles from St. Petersburg, comes amid heightened tensions with Russia.
“These so-called ‘austere’ highway landings were relatively common during the Cold War as military planners sought contingencies in case air bases were destroyed in a large-scale conflict.”
They didn’t land there because Estonia is part of the EU. 🙂
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Brexit fail? Posts I’m seeing say its too close to call.
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Jinx!
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Nigel Farage said it failed, and I figured he’d know. And then Putinoids were very miserable.
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Wait, why do you think Brexit failed? The tracker I’m watching on The Guardian has it pretty much as a dead heat (Brexit winning by 2% with a little over half reporting).
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Clarissa knows something we all don’t know yet. 😉
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I’m happy, because ITV calls that Leave EU will win!
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http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36615028
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The twitterz are saying that Brexit won at 78.3% reporting.
I’m confused.
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I’m hoping the Brexit wins because I want the EU to survive in some form.
The EU leadership is made of fossilized technocrats who understand nothing of history or human nature and they have systematically been ignoring growing signs of discontent for years.
If something doesn’t change then I expect civil insurrections in some European countries within about 5 years. Austria, Sweden and France are the likely first to go that route.
The shock of a ‘leave’ vote might wake them up and start a rollback on the more dysfunctional aspects of their mania for further integration and “harmonization” (roughly – let’s choose the most awkward and worst policies and make every country follow them). Or it will cause them to double down and things will get a lot worse.
The latest I’ve seen is that it’s still too close to call
http://www.bbc.com/news/politics/eu_referendum/results
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Um: It looks as if Brexit has won. This will be a disaster for Great Britain.
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Hah. Then Nigel Farage is an idiot because I got it from his statement that it lost. What a tool.
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Farage is a dangerous idiot. Always was. For some reason he gets huge coverage in the press even though his party is tiny and only has one MP. I think Rupert Murdoch loves him.
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“Farage is a dangerous idiot. Always was.”
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It has won, from what I can tell. I am on balance neutral and curious on this matter.
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Yes Brexit has won. The UK stock market is falling. Gibraltar voted by over 90% to remain, I never even realised they had a UK vote.
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“Gibraltar voted by over 90% to remain”
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Brits google “moving to Canada” after Brexit vote concluded.
Seems to be a theme.
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Canadians should totally stick it to them by leaving the Commonwealth.
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Canada can’t afford to — it would have to recall all of its currency presently in circulation, and mint/print new coins and bills without Queen Elizabeth’s image on them. 🙂
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Oh, I’m sure the Queen will be happy to move. Tons of space for her to show off her hats.
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Why would she leave the UK, when she (allegedly, privately) strongly resented the EU’s encroachment on British sovereignty?
(At any rate, that’s what several of the strongly pro-Brexit British newspapers claimed.)
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