METHINKS THE MESS IS EXPANDING – AT 7:14 A.M. ET:  I was with a very knowledgeable participant in and observer of British politics today, and she was absolutely despondent over the mess over there.

There is no new government.  The Conservatives were negotiating with the Liberal Dems, but now Prime Minister Gordon Brown has offered to resign as head of the Labour Party, and there's some negotiating between Labour and the Lib Dems.  So we could see 1) a coalition government between Tories and Lib Dems; 2) a coalition government between Labour and Lib Dems; or 3) a minority Conservative government on shaky foundations.

The worst of the three would be a coalition between Labour and the Lib Dems – essentially a coalition between a failed government and a group of psychiatrically certifiable eccentrics, the Lib Dems, who don't much like their own country.

This comes against a background of major economic crisis in Europe. 

Weren't all these folks the ones who were lecturing George W. Bush on the proper way to run things?  I think they were.  Maybe they should now hire him as a consultant.

The British political crisis is significant.  Whether President Obama wishes it or not, Britain is our closest and most important ally.  The longer the negotiations for a new government go on, the weaker Britain looks.

May 10, 2010