IT'S ABOUT TIME – AT 12:30 P.M. ET:  It appears that a few brave souls in Europe are willing to confront the discontent with the European Union recently expressed in Britain's vote to leave the organization.  From the Guardian:   

The German government has been canvassing support for a senior political leader to gather views in European capitals on a new future for the continent in the wake of the Brexit vote, with the aim of completing the task before the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome next March.

EU heads of state, reeling from the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, want to be seen to be responding to the Eurosceptic mood, and some want a new “vision for Europe” document that distils the conflicting thinking.

EU heads of government are due to gather in Bratislava for an informal summit on 16 September to discuss the fallout from Brexit, but mainly focused on how the EU will operate in the future, including what more it can do to reduce youth unemployment, straighten out the eurozone and strengthen security. In practice, the meeting may also see a first EU response to the election of a new Tory party leader, and the pace at which Brexit talks will take place. Those talks are to be led by a Belgian diplomat, Didier Seeuws, a former staffer for the former European council president Herman van Rompuy.

COMMENT:  Well, we should be skeptical.  Europe's track record in getting things right isn't strong, and without the power of the United States I'm not sure that Western Europe would even exist.  The British vote was a wake-up call in a continent where waking up is prohibited by EU regulations. 

July 3, 2016