La Julia Sez: "The United States was in violation of the law by declaring independence from England!!"

....well, not actually, but she might just have well said it. (It seems ironic that on this, one of the most quintessential American holidays, that I should be writing about something like this....) You see, La Julia (AKA Conservative blogger/"commedienne" Julia Gorin, for those new to the Blog), in her latest blog POSting, crows about how finally a member of the "MSM" is in agreement with her and all other "true believers", that it was those nasty Yugoslav republics like Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia, and not Slobodan Milosevic, who destroyed the de facto Greater Serbia known as the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia and started the Balkan conflicts of the '90s by declaring independence, and worse yet, actually getting international recognition for their efforts! (Why the effrontery! Why, how dare they not recognise the right of a largely Serbian dominated Yugoslav government-or at least from the death of Tito on-in Belgrade to rule over them!?) It is equally ironic that the source for this "joy" (more like schadenfreude) on the part of La Julia comes from the main newspaper of one of the "capital cities" of the American Revolution (and the home to the oldest Albanian-American community in the US), the Boston Globe.

In any case, here is what the Globe editorial actually says on the subject:

While 20 of the EU's 27 members favor independence for Kosovo, nearly all dread a unilateral declaration. That prospect conjures up memories of Europe's careless acceptance of declarations of independence from Yugoslavia by Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia in the early 1990s. Those acts ushered in horrific wars and crimes against humanity.

Now, from that editorial, it's hard to tell for sure by the wording if the writer is blaming the former Yugloslav "republics" for the wars, the international community for daring to recognise the breakaway republics as independent countries (as was their right to become if they so desired under the Yugoslav constitution), or both. But the meaning to La Julia seems pretty clear:

Let the record show November 21, 2007 as the date that, for perhaps the first time in history since the 1990s Balkan wars, the mainstream American media has acknowledged that illegal acts of secession, hastily recognized by European nations, are what set off the Balkan wars. This is the first time I am seeing something other than, and in contradiction to, “Slobodan Milosevic set off the Balkan wars.”

Yep, pretty clear there, I'd say. First and foremost, in her opinion, it was Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia. "You nasty little Yugoslav republics! Bad, bad ex-Yugoslav republics! Why, how dare you declare your independence from Mother Serbia, er Yugoslavia!?" (Not surprisingly, there are many who decry the dissection of Yugoslavia who at the same time consider the "north" to be "bullies" for "daring" to allow themselves to be dragged into a war in order to keep the United States together, instead of allowing a bunch of uber-traditionalist, luddite plantation owners to have their own country where they'd be free to continue declaring a significant part of the population to be "3/5ths of a human being"-and that only for purposes of democratic representation.) Of course, never mind that Yugoslav republics did have the right of unilateral secession (contra La Julia), or that Macedonia and more recently Montenegro did just what Croatia, Bosnia, and Slovenia did-with no retribution whatsoever. Nope, it was those nasty republics that did it (not surprisingly, the three that most often come in for demonisation by Serbian National(Social)ists and their supporters). Milosevic cant be held responsible for his actions-he was just trying to keep those miscreant republics in line (and under Belgrade's thumb....)!

But of course, sane rational people whose thoughts and beliefs are dictated by reason and logic, as opposed to systematic dogmas (no real thinking needed-just add adrenline!) that try to give one a "position" to take on every single matter in the world know better. Slobo and "Yugoslavia" could have responded differently. The wars could have been prevented-not by the republics continuing to remain part of a federation (and before that a kingdom) they never really wanted any part of to begin with-but by Belgrade respecting their right to secede if they so desired.

Now, if you're wondering what all this has to do with the US, and it's right to secede from Great Britain, well, that's simple. What we did was an illegal act. No doubt about it. We had no permission to secede from George III or his parliament, nor any right whatsover to do it, unlike the former Yugoslav republics. We did it on our own. And even Ben Franklin himself knew this when he said 'we must hang together, or we will be pretty sure to hang separately.' But we did it anyway, to the benefit of not only ourselves, but the whole world. But if the Boston Globe and La Julia are to be believed, we were naughty for declaring our independence against the English, and France was naughty for "having our back". By that logic, it is the Union Jack that should be flying over this land today, not the Stars and Stripes.

Remeber that, as you sit down to your Thanksgiving dinner (and by the way, a Happy Thanksgiving to all our American readers!). And remember also that Turkeys are for eating, not for listening to. ;-)