Chance for the Dutch to show their cojones

For the non-European readers: All EU member countries are soon to vote on the so-called 'constitution'. If you think it's anything like the US constitution, you are very mistaken. It's a huge, opaque document that essentially takes power away from smaller countries, makes power sharing and political responsibilities less transparent than ever, and ensures that the individual voter will have nothing whatsoever to say about EU policy.

It's a truly bad idea.

And it looks like the Dutch are wise to it. Being cheated out of 10% of our net income when the conversion to the Euro took place, the murder of Theo van Gogh, clear signs that today's politicians (both those in power and their opposition) have their own interests at heart rather than the people they claim to represent, the Dutch seem to buy it no longer:

The Dutch public appears on course to firmly reject the European constitution in a referendum on 1 June, according to latest opinion polls.

says the BBC.

The Netherlands is one of the EU's founding members, and support for the bloc has traditionally been strong among the Dutch.

However, tensions over immigration and the high financial cost of EU membership have led to increasing Dutch euroscepticism ahead of the poll.

It's not all that relevant to the conflict in the ME, except that this 'awakening' may also lead to more resistance against the unhindered flow of immigrants into the Netherlands, the unopposed (except for some token resistance) entrance of Turkey into the EU, the ever increasing signs of Islamization of the Netherlands.

I hope that's what it means, anyway. See, I can be optimistic too.