Our British brothers and sisters have evidently decided to join us in the geopolitical dumpster and, to that end, they've elected Boris Johnson as the next prime minister of the United Kingdom.
In his very first remarks after the results of vote were revealed, Trump Lite vowed to exit the European Union (EU) at the end of October.
“We are going to get Brexit done on Oct. 31, and we are going to take advantage of all the opportunities it will bring in a new spirit of ‘can do’,” Johnson, 55, said after the result was announced.
“Like some slumbering giant, we are going to rise and ping off the guy-ropes of self-doubt and negativity.”
Johnson said the mantra of his leadership campaign had been to “deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat (opposition Labour leader) Jeremy Corbyn - and that is what we are going to do."
For their part, European officials wasted no time at all in telling Johnson that there will be no more deals.
Minutes before Johnson's victory was announced by the Conservative Party, European Commission deputy chief Frans Timmermans - who will retain his job under Von der Leyen - said the EU would not agree to change the withdrawal accord.
The bloc sealed it with outgoing British leader Theresa May last November but it has since been rejected three times by the British parliament.
"The United Kingdom reached an agreement with the European Union and the EU will stick to that agreement," Timmermans told a news conference. "This is the best deal possible."
This is going to end in disaster and there doesn't necessarily need to be a hard or no-deal Brexit for that to be true.
The so-called Brexit hasn't even happened yet but it may have already pushed the British economy into a recession that simply hasn't shown up in the data yet according to analysts who spoke to the Financial Times. Even a soft, orderly Brexit is going to bring pain to the British and global economy.
And no "can do" spirit will correct this. This "slumbering giant" is going to stay in bed.
Johnson and his conservatives would like the world to believe that a hypothetical trade deal with the United States can replace unfettered access and freedom of movement within the EU, but that is a nationalist fantasy. A trade deal with the US would take years if not a decade to draft and ratify, but even if the process were not so elaborate, the United States cannot replace the access Britain enjoys as a member of the Union. The EU is the largest trading bloc in the world representing to 28 countries (27 without the UK) and over 500 million consumers.