Brexit: Even though Britain's referendum to leave the EU is over, those who lost refuse to give up. Like angry kids playing a game in the yard in which they've just lost, some are insisting on a "do-over." But, hey, it's always that way with left-leaning statists.
The confetti of the Brexit winners had barely been swept up following the vote when it was revealed that a petition had been posted on line seeking a revote. "More than 3.5 million Britons Are Demanding A Second EU Referendum," blared a WorldPost headline.
Some on the far left, like those at the Guardian newspaper, openly held out hope that Parliament might thwart the people's will, since legally Brexit cannot take place until Parliament repeals the 1972 European Communities Act -- under which Britain first joined what was then called the European Economic Community.
The Guardian's helpful how-to headline: "How to Stop Brexit: Get Your MP to Vote It Down."
Still others note that, before Brexit takes place, Britain first must officially notify Brussels of its intent to leave under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty it signed in 2009. It then has two years to negotiate terms of departure with the 27 remaining states.
Tory Prime Minister David Cameron, a Brexit foe, has announced his resignation, but will likely stay on until October. Under some scenarios, he could slow-walk the Article 50 declaration, hoping for a change of heart in the British public. Boris Johnson, Cameron's likely successor, is an ardent Brexist, and would likely push the U.K.'s departure. But a lot can happen between now and then.
So, yes, technically, a way still exists by which Britain could be kept in the EU.
But good luck with that.
The "Bremains" lost 52% to 48% -- not a close vote, given that 30 million people, or 72% of all eligible British voters voted, even with horrible weather. By the way, that was more people than voted in last year's general election. So it was a decisive, and devastating, loss.
Yet, the talk of sabotaging the people's will goes on among the elites. Former British central bank officials and big business leaders have warned darkly of ramifications for leaving the EU, and hint that they'll be less than cooperative.
This is the way of the world for the statist elites, their allies in big business and the left.
But they should know that Britain isn't the only malcontent: No one is happy these days with the EU, which has been an utter failure.
As recently as 2000, the EU boldly vowed it would "leapfrog" the U.S. in growth, living standards and productivity within a decade. It didn't come close.
As we noted here before, the 28 nations that now make up the EU 40 years ago made up 36% of the global economy. Today, that share is 17% and shrinking. By comparison, the U.S. still makes up nearly 25% of global output.
Beset with a massive influx of unwanted immigration from northern Africa and the Mideast, heavily indebted governments, costly overregulation, a lack of entrepreneurialism and job growth and, in what can only be described as a demographic death spiral, the EU is not a club that any mature nation would want to join today.
A regional Mori poll shows that both Italy and France now also want to vote on leaving. Likewise, other EU members, including the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Hungary, Portugal and Slovakia are considering jumping the EU's sinking ship.
But in Britain, Brexit will be dragged out by those who want that country to remain an EU possession. It's reminiscent of the Muslim Mideast and Africa during the 2011 "Arab Spring," and in other places such as Hugo Chavez's Venezuela, when the leftists, socialists and radical statists never, ever accepted the democratic will of the people -- until the will agreed with them. It's a leftist strategy known as "one man, one vote, one time."
Don't like the outcome of an election? Keep voting until you do. Then shut down all debate.
They won't accept the outcome of the referendum in Britain, either.
So they will seek vote after vote after vote, if possible. They'll continue the campaign. They'll stall Brexit in Parliament. They'll ridicule those who voted to leave as rubes, idiots or worse merely for seeking to regain their lost sovereignty and ancient rights. In the end, it shows just how right British voters were to reassert control over their own country.
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