Dutch graffiti. Photograph: John D McHugh/AFP/Getty
Just what part of "no" don't you understand? Bloggers and journalists who normally clamour for a straight answer to a yes or no question seem utterly perplexed at having finally received one from French and Dutch voters.
Fistful of Euros runs through some of the 20 or so reasons Dutch voters gave for putting the boot to the proposed European constitution: loss of Dutch influence under the proposed regime, domestic unemployment, euro-induced price inflation, Turkey, and dissatisfaction with Dutch political leaders.
The anti-constitution EU Serf, for one, understands what all those no-voting young people were on about. "They are happy to travel, eat foreign food, sow their wild oats to the four corners of the globe, work in another country, but they don't see the need to destroy their national identity in order to do so. It's a kind of globalist patriotism, or post nationalist nationalism." Or maybe they just don't like the 9.2% unemployment rate for young people (thank you Guy at Fistful).
Richard North argues on the eurosceptic EU Referendum blog that whatever else it may mean, two noes don't make a right. The constitution is not nearly as dead as British newspapers think it is and the British referendum will go ahead, he says.
He suggests the "great unwashed" will be lulled into thinking it's safe to ignore the constitution, while in truth Eurocrats will "get back to the serious work of bringing it into force. As the great man Barroso (nearly) said: 'We shall overcome.'."
In the pro-constitution camp, Britain in Europe wants to see some leadership from the European Council summit in June, as the current treaties, holding together the EU like so much sticky tape, will not work long in the newly enlarged union. "The EU will have to revisit the issue of institutional reform," the group says.
Both Fistful and Europhobia note that the Latvian parliament ratified the constitution today. "Good to see some enthusiasm, but really - what's the point?" Nose Monkey wonders.
Now no one knows what "yes" means, either.
