Time for Trump and GOP To Advance a Platform To Back Britain’s Gamble

By SETH LIPSKY, From the New York Post | June 25, 2016

What a gift to the Republican Party. No sooner had Britons cast their historic vote for independence than Donald Trump — already in Scotland — declared that they have “taken their country back” and called it a “great thing.”

The next move ought to be for Mr. Trump to set a meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan to talk about moving Britain to the front of the queue. They need to make sure Britons know that America will not be punishing them for their vote.

A clear message from the GOP leadership on this head would start to repair the damage of President Obama’s threat that if Britain voted to exit the European Union, it would land at the “back of the queue” for a trade deal with America.

That threat no doubt helped set the stage for the turmoil in the financial markets, which have sent stocks and the pound plunging and gold soaring. It’s a moment for the GOP to stress Brexit’s upside for Britain and America and, in the long run, Europe.

It would help were Mr. Obama and Hillary Clinton to play a supportive, happy role. They both said they respected the British decision. Mr. Obama made similar noises after the Republican sweep of the 2014 midterms — only to promptly ignore the voters.

No doubt the left more generally will write off Britain’s decision as a manifestation of xenophobia and racism. No one can gainsay that those evils exist in Britain (among many countries, including our own).

It’s unlikely, though, that the campaign for British independence would have succeeded were xenophobia the only, or even main, motive. It certainly wasn’t Margaret Thatcher’s motive when she lit this fuse.

Her famous speech at Bruges, Belgium, in 1988 had nothing to do with bigotry. It was about creeping socialism in the European Union and its transmogrification into an emerging supra-state.

“We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them reimposed at a European level with a European super-state exercising a new dominance from Brussels,” Thatcher warned.

“Certainly we want to see Europe more united and with a greater sense of common purpose,” she said. “But it must be in a way which preserves the different traditions, parliamentary powers and sense of national pride in one’s own country.”

For those of us who covered Europe at the time, it was breathtaking to watch how blithely the mandarins of the EU ignored Thatcher’s warning. They offered only grudging accommodation, seized ever-greater power and took Britain for granted.

Big mistake. The campaign for Brexit began to really take off when the new generation of Conservative politicians, such as Michael Gove, Britain’s justice minister, and Boris Johnson, former mayor of London, moved the debate to a higher plane.

Johnson lifted Britons’ sights beyond the rejection of European-style socialism to focus on the positive opportunities. He referred to the “sunlit meadows” offered by the more entrepreneurial parts of the world.

No wonder Britons rallied to independence in numbers that stunned the Old World (and the New York Times). The margin of victory for British independence was, though not a landslide, more than a million votes.

While GOP leaders are reassuring Britain, let them offer, as well, some encouragement to the rest of Europe. The continent is, journalist James Kirkchick reminded The Post’s readers Thursday, in its own struggle against a revanchist Russia.

Mr. Obama on Friday did note that Britain’s membership in NATO survives. But it would be folly to suppose that Europe’s future can be secured by a socialistic supra-state in which unelected bureaucrats impose rules on democratic countries.

Britain’s prime minister, David Cameron, had run a campaign against independence that came to be known as “Project Fear.” It was a tragic error for a leader who, in many ways, has been a great friend to America.

In the end, Mr. Cameron made it clear that he understood the decision of the British voters was unambiguous and that he would bow to it. His resignation will be remembered as one of his finest moments.

Cameron’s recognition that new leadership is needed in Britain certainly echoes from across the pond here in America, where an infatuation with European socialism has infected our Democratic Party. What an opportunity for the GOP, indeed.

June 26, 2016 | 11 Comments »

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  2. Denying diversity, for the sake of uniformity.

    “Globalsim” and the “EU” is like the “Tower of Babel”.. Nimrod, who enslaved the populace to build the “Tower of Babel”, knew as all tyrants know, that you cannot subdue people by telling them, “I want to enslave you. I want you to work for my aggrandizement.” You have to find a way to appeal to their desire for a higher purpose. (Peace and prosperity)

    …Come; let us build a city and a tower whose top will reach heaven…
    (Genesis 11:4)

    In the Torah portion (Genesis 11:1-9) we read about the demands of the nations to create a world of sameness and uniformity: the “Tower of Babel”.

    “And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech… And they said one to another: ‘Come, let us build a city, and a tower, with its top in heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth… And the LORD said: ‘Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do; … So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth… Therefore was the name of it called Babel…”

    There have been times where we may strongly relate to these nations’ desire for uniformity. By nature, avoiding conflict is one of the basic tenants set out by Anna Freud in her work on defense mechanisms. Granted, placed there in order for us retain our peace of mind, but this was not the intention of our Creator. G-d did not want us to look the same, speak the same or act the same, and thus the call for diversity caused the tower of exclusivity to crumble.

    Obadiah 1:4
    “Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.

  7. @ lsatenstein:One of your many incorrect writings about Brexit was the Wales voted for Brexit 53 to 47%. Northern Ireland voted 56 to 44% to leave. Only London and Scotland areas voted to Stay.

    The turnout was very high 72% in Britain.

  8. It is hard to predict what will happen next but a real possibility is the unraveling of the EU. Many Europeans like the Brits do about having their countries run by Brussel elites and having Europe flooded with people who do not assimilate into their local nations. They do not like getting their women raped my men who have cultural problem with women and sex.

    The Brexit May Be Just The Beginning Of Anti-Europe Votes.

    The U.K. Independence Party was the only major party to campaign in favor of leaving.2 Its leader has already said that he expects something similar in Denmark, Sweden or the Netherlands. Le Pen in France is all ready calling for a referendum as so is Gert Wilders in Holland.

  9. The vote turnout in Britain was 72%. Only areas to for staying was London (which is full of Muslim immigrants or second generation Muslims) and Scotland.

    The main reason the majority voted for it was anti-Muslim immigration that they had no say so over. Brussels was dictating this immigration. ISIS and the potential of more terrorists.

    Just like in the USA many people do not like of control immigration, refugees which can not be vetted and some who will surely be terrorists and an elite central authority talking tough I am bringing these Sharia lovers into the country whether you like it or not (i.e the Muslim Brotherhood backer Obama).

    This is one of the main reason people are for Trump and anti-Hillbilly Clinton. Even some working class Dems who will vote this way and not say it to a pollster.

    Latest poll had Trump supporters average income is 70K (which is middle class).

  10. lsatenstein Said:

    Wales staying with the Europeans and the Euro.

    I think wales voted to leave… and britain was not using the euro.
    Furthermore, there are a number of bi lateral treaties made prior to political integration of eu which will remain in effect
    lsatenstein Said:

    Already, the British have regrets. As interviewers have found out, most expected the Brits to stay in, and hence did not vote.

    the media make a couple of interviews to make the case of their funders and it suddenly becomes fact.

    Regarding your predictions of the future: your past predictions never pan out so its difficult to take them seriously… Corbyn was on his way out the minute he was elected leader.

  11. Its not a deal until it’s done. Britain will fall apart with Scotland, Ireland and Wales staying with the Europeans and the Euro.

    Already, the British have regrets. As interviewers have found out, most expected the Brits to stay in, and hence did not vote.

    Corbin will be out, and Britain will be a shell of it’s former self. But on the other side, new rules about membership obligations will be there to relax obligations.

    Certain rules governing the internet, and safety and transportation and banking were great pluses of the Union. Their rules were good for England.