EU must learn from America - by John O'Sullivan
Whatever the merits or otherwise of the "comprehensive" immigration reform that foundered in the US Senate last week, its defeat was undeniably a victory for democracy. All the crack regiments of the establishment - the White House, congressional leaders in both Houses, the establishment media from the New York Times to the South Succotash Independent, the "mainstream churches," the major charitable foundations, Corporate America, and Big Labour itself - were solidly in favour of the not-an-amnesty bill.Its opponents were a handful of determined and well-informed legislators, immigration reform groups such as Numbers USA, talk radio hosts including Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, bloggers like Mickey Kaus and Kathryn Lopez of National Review Online, and individual researchers. This was David versus Goliath. David won.America's open debate over immigration demonstrates that the US is a democracy by any standard. The EU's false prospectus, secret deliberations, closed circle of decision-makers, and contempt for the voters make equally clear that "Europe" is anything but a democracy. If it turns out to be merely a ramshackle, bureaucratic, multi-national empire like the Hapsburg one, we'll be lucky.Note EU-Digest: "the author of the article in the Gulf Post is former advisor to Prime Minister Lady Thatcher, is the author of The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister, Regnery 2007, and a member of Benador Associates.
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