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Friday, December 31, 2010

This is how you wreck any efford to make Europe united.


As published in the Irish Times, 25 Jun 2009.
Latest Nixon tapes reveal broker role offer to Lynch. 

By Denis Staunton. 

Days after Ireland joined the European Economic Community in 1973, Richard Nixon urged former Taoiseach Jack Lynch to act as a “broker” between European and American interests by discouraging protectionism.

The request came during a 30-minute meeting at the Oval Office on January 5th, 1973, a recording of which is part of 150 hours of newly released White House tapes.

Ireland had joined the Common Market, along with Britain and Denmark, just four days earlier and Nixon told Lynch he was worried about the bloc’s future trade policy.

“There’s a lot of concern in this country about what’s going to happen in relation to Europe. And I would think myself and would hope that Ireland would play, the Irish government would play frankly a broker’s role and say, look, we’d better look out for this. You may have more fish to fry with us than with some of these other people,” Nixon said.

“That’s right,” Lynch replied.

“We would hope so.”

Peter Flanigan, who was Nixon’s assistant for international economic affairs and attended the meeting with Lynch, confirmed to The Irish Times yesterday that the White House had indeed feared that the Common Market would move towards protectionism.

Lynch was in Washington to attend a memorial service for former president Harry Truman but he took the opportunity of the White House meeting to brief Nixon on developments in the North in the run-up to the Sunningdale Agreement and to discuss bilateral economic issues.

Much of the discussion focused on a dispute over the Shannon stopover, with the White House threatening to lift Aer Lingus’s right to land at Chicago unless the required stopover at Shannon for US carriers was shortened.

Nixon offered no concessions to Lynch on the landing rights issue but he advised the Taoiseach on how he could spin the meeting back in Ireland.

“You could say that the president directed that Mr Flanigan review the problem again, bearing in mind the points you made,” Nixon suggested.

Lynch told Nixon that the Irish economy was doing well and was a good venue for US investment, although he had harsh words for the unions.

“Our big problem, of course, is that our trade unionists have inherited all the bad habits of the British trade union movement. They’re looking for too much for too little work,” Lynch said.

The US president said it was difficult to handle unions, particularly if they were unable to impose discipline on their own members.

“You know, it’s really hard to be a responsible leader in Ireland, just as it’s hard to be a responsible leader in America,” said Nixon, who would resign from office the following year in the wake of the Watergate scandal.

Other newly released recordings cast further light on Nixon’s handling of the Watergate investigation and the former president’s attitude to abortion. After the supreme court struck down laws criminalizing abortion in June 1973, Nixon expressed concern that the ruling could encourage permissiveness but suggested that abortion could be necessary in some cases, including interracial pregnancies.

“There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white. Or a rape,” he told an aide.

The reason and purpose of this Blog!

It is time I think to explain to my readers the reason for this blog.

If you take in account that the majority of the media in this world, are owned by mainly 5-6 multinational companies, then you realize that the "news" that we are being presented, are a product.

Not much different than anything else that is produced by a multinational company: mass produced, to reflect the interest of the masses, the popular conception of the events that are taking place and the national interest. Or are they?

Could the people who own the media, try to shape our interests and our conceptions? The way we see the world, our perception of it or what we should like, believe or support in our life. Just imagine this: would we in Europe accept multiculturalism as easily, if we haven't been for decades exposed to movies or TV programs from the USA?

If it bleeds it sells in our media, sad but true. But do we really want to know how many people died and in what way, more than we would want to know what really is being cooked in our Parliaments, the European Parliament, the UN meetings or the G20, G8 and so on.

What is more important, a family that accidentally perished in a blaze, or what has been discussed and agreed in all these summits by our leaders and how will they affect us in the future? Do we form what become news in our media, or do the media dictate what is news for us?

Personally I love questioning everything, thinking, having an active not a passive mind. If you are into politics, Europe, European history, culture and heritage, European social issues and economics but from a citizen's point of view you may like this blog. What I am trying to do is not impress you with my knowledge of economics. I am not an economist. Rather present you with thoughts, ideas and analyze European politics as any ordinary citizen would do.

I am trying to inspire you to become more active or even understand a bit more about some European, (or Irish and Greek) political realities. Writing about politics and social issues, as well as historic facts is my passion. I want to change the way people think and become more active politically and socially. I do not feel very comfortable with idle people, people with no interests or opinion.

So what I am trying to achieve in this blog, is to stimulate your brains and offer you an alternative point of view. Many  times an inconvenient or uncomfortable alternative opinion that you will in no way find in any mainstream media.

I believe that blogs like this have a lot to offer in breaking the monopoly of the established media and start a debate among ordinary citizens. With ideas and information that are not widely accepted or promoted in our national media, perhaps we can reach different conclusions and solutions. Hopefully you will find some interesting ideas by reading this blog.