I just figured out what's wrong with Margot Wallström's blog...

Not only is the comments section moderated, but the moderator is the one who spars with the (mostly Eurosceptic) crowd that comments on her writing.

Take, for example, the current spat on a topic dear to our hearts:

Si vous voulez mieux comprendre les gens en Europe, la première chose serait peut être de respecter leur dignité en respectant leur langue. Vous considérez les Anglophones comme étant les citoyens supérieurs, seul leur avis vous intéresse, seules les idées pensées en anglais vous intéressent, et vous même, avez abandonné votre langue maternelle pour ce blogue. Cette Europe là m'écoeure.

Wàng

A slight variation on a reply I posted in the Debate Europe site:

For the Debate Europe site we have already asked for Margot's contribution to be translated into German, French and Swedish, which represent 92% of the comments there.

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Margot writes her blog in English because (a) she speaks English and (b) it is the most-understood language in Europe.

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Posted by The Moderator

Dear moderator, à mon tour, je reproduis ce que j'ai écris sur debate europe.

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This « fait-accompli » policy of the moderator and the Commission, typical of the anglosaxon mentality, makes me vomite !

Wàng

Wang - first, I'm not Anglo-Saxon, neither is Margot and neither is the Commission.

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The reason Margot's post to the Debate Europe site is not being translated into Italian is simple - only 1.7% of the comments have been in Italian.

Posted by The Moderator

This blog is not a dialogue, it's talking from a lectern and then letting the nanny moderate the childrens' discussions among themselves. I understand that she doesn't have time to react to the comments as they happen, but the least she could do is reply to some of the comments at the end of the day.

On the Debate Europe site, she periodically summarizes the discussion. I found the following interesting criticism in a thread started by a message of hers called The Discussion So Far"

I would also like to ask Ms Walstrom why she thinks that the postings on this site back the eu, has she got a filter that removes anything that is not 100% europhile, the majority of the postings are either eurosceptic completely, or people who want the eu to hand power back to the sovereign states.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman