Article 50

Tears of joy Mr President?
We start with Barack Obama. Kicking the can down the road and the fiscal cliff. It all sounds so dramatic don't you think? Perhaps we have to forgive those who ramp these things up. For dithering and living beyond your means sounds so boring, not the sort of thing you would expect from the USA and their President. Funny how it goes but when Spain began its descent into financial chaos it was Barack Obama who in 2010 rang up Prime Minister Zapatero to offer words of advice and encouragement. Rumour has it Obama handed out a bit of a ticking off too.

Time moves on and Don José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero lost the 2011 Spanish elections but Obama secured a second term as the President of the USA. We don't know if Zapatero or any other leader rang him to reciprocate with words of advice but I think we can imagine the reaction had they done so. For Obama is so typical of his nation at its worst, they like dishing it out but not getting it back. As time moves on Obama is looking ever more Hollywood than White House. Ronald Reagan was a better and more convincing actor too!

The arrogance of Obama was at first a shock but now seems commonplace. Taking people for granted is what he does. Also they say that history will be a harsh judge of Zapatero.