I was just drafting a perplexed story in my head, but this will do. I'm confused by the reactions aroudn the place.

• What the fuck is with the anti-British bullshit here? Should we be banning all the Brits from ET on the grounds they're anti-European because they're British?

• How come the people and media who seem to be anti-Federalist seem to be the ones most pissed off that Europe hasn't appointed a Federal President and  Secretary of State?

• How come people are surprised that, in a Europe dominated by Christian Democrat types we get Christian Democrats, with all their parochial pseudo-religious concerns, appointed to EU positions?

These appointments seem to me to be perfectly normal, low-key appointments for the positions that avoid a lot of the risks that high-key ones would have led to. Tony Blair or another high-key appointment would have been perceived as an executive president in the US or French style, which would have been appalling.