BRITAIN ON THE BRINK? – AT 11:38 A.M. ET:  No, I'm not referring to terror, but to the precarious state of Britain's government.    Theresa May, staunchly pro-American, is failing as prime minister, and has just survived an attempt by her own party to remove her.  From AFP:

London (AFP) - A devastating election and a high-profile speech strewn with mishaps have ignited a leadership crisis for British Prime Minister Theresa May at a critical time as Brexit negotiators push for a deal in Brussels.

A plot by a group of Conservative MPs to oust May was exposed on Friday, reviving memories of the backstabbing that led to Margaret Thatcher's ouster in 1990.

Many colleagues publicly condemned the attempt and backed their leader, but the Sunday Times reported that at least three cabinet ministers had discussed the need to replace her this week.

Parliament returns on Monday and May is expected to announce a number of policy initiatives in a bid to reassert her authority, while there are also rumours of a cabinet reshuffle.

But she will also need some progress in the deadlocked Brexit negotiations which resume on Monday.

The prime minister has struggled since June when her gamble in calling an election to cement her power backfired spectacularly and she lost her parliamentary majority.

For many Conservatives, it is now a question of when, not if, she steps down ahead of the next election in 2022 -- and the date most often mentioned is 2019, when Britain is expected to leave the European Union.

"Getting rid of her is like going to the dentist," a government minister was quoted by The Sun as saying.

"You keep putting it off because it's going to be painful but you know you have to do it eventually."

COMMENT:  What is chilling is the alternative for Britain, and, by extension, for the United States.  Britain's Labour Party, written off as a crazed anachronism only recently, is gaining strength.  It is led by Jeremy Corbyn, the most extreme leftist leader in the party's history.  Anti-American, anti-Western alliance, pro-Arab extremism, with a high tolerance for anti-Semitism, Corbyn would be a catastrophe for Britain and for the special relationship between Britain and America.

I've always said that there's a Great Britain and a not-so-great Britain.  Britain came within a hair of passing over Winston Churchill for prime minister in 1940 and choosing a "peace" government that would have negotiated a humiliating deal with Nazi Germany.  Fortunately, the Great Britain prevailed.  It must prevail again.

October 8,  2017