THE EU BULLY

WHO IS THE GLOBAL BULLY WHO DOMINATES THE WEAK AND DICTATES WORLD-WIDE BEHAVIOR? NOT THE IMPERIALISTIC, BIG, BAD UNITED STATES, BUT THE EU, THE EUROPEAN UNION. A DIPLOMAT HAS CALLED IT "A SERIOUS GLOBAL ECONOMIC FORCE," TO WHICH AMERICANS "NEED TO PAY HEED." THAT SOUNDS LIKE A 'CLOSET' BULLY STATEMENT TO ME. TO PROVE ITS IMPORTANCE, THE EU CLAIMS THE 2ND LARGEST ECONOMY WHICH , WITH 11.75 TRILLION IN GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, CAN PUSH AROUND GENERAL ELECTRIC BY DASHING ITS PLANS FOR A MERGER WITH HONEYWELL AND ORDER MICROSOFT TO PAY A HUGE FINE FOR ANTITRUST VIOLATIONS. IT PROBABLY DOESN'T MATTER THAT SUCH BULLYING RESEMBLES THE ACTIONS OF A POWERFUL, EU TRUST. ON THE OTHER HAND, WHEN MUSLIMS REACTED VIOLENTLY TO A CARTOON INSULTING THEIR PROPHET, MOHAMMED, THE BIG, BAD BULLY EU BETRAYS WEAKNESS. IT MATTERS NOT THAT MUSLIMS CHAMPION NEITHER FREE SPEECH NOR A SENSE OF HUMOR, THE INSULT TO MOHAMMED HAS HAD DANGEROUS REPERCUSSIONS. THE EU, WHICH ATTEMPTS TO REGULATE THE WORLD WITH ITS 80,000 PAGES OF REGULATIONS TO WHICH ITS MEMBER STATES MUST ADHERE, WON'T STAND UP TO THE OUTBURSTS OF ANOTHER BULLY, RADICAL ISLAM. WHEN FUNNY CARICATURES ARE PUBLISHED IN DENMARK AND ONE OF ITS MEMBERS IS ATTACKED FOR DEFENDING VALUES THAT THE EU IS BASED UPON, THE BIG, BAD EU BULLY IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. IT HAS NOT INVOKED THE BULLY PULPIT OR THE CLUB. PERHAPS THE EUROPEAN UNION'S BULLYING IS LIMITED TO THE ECONOMIC SPHERE, WHICH WOULD SUPPOSEDLY EXCUSE ITS SILENCE AND INACTION. BUT WHEN ONE BULLY WITH 80,000 REGULATIONS TO GIVE IT HEFT, ENCOUNTERS AN OPPOSING BULLY WITH GUNS, BOMBS AND STEEL, WE CAN GUESS WHICH BEAST WILL TURN TUSH AND RUN.