Back in 2010, everyone's favorite truthsayer in Europe - MEP Nigel Farage - opined on who exactly was Herman Van Rompuy - the new EU President. Claiming HvR's charisma approached that of a damp rag, we noted at the time that this was indeed slanderous to all the hard-working damp-rags out there. Well, given the EU's need for cash - by any route possible - it seems they have chosen to start building a mountain of fines. As AP reports, the EU parliament fined Nigel EUR2980 for his self-expression.
Here is the dreadful moment of truth...
Via AP:Lawmaker Fined About $4,000 For Insulting EU Chief [3]
BRUSSELS (AP) — How much does it cost to tell the one of the EU's top officials he has "the charisma of a damp rag?" About €3,000, or close to $4,000, as a European member of Parliament has discovered.
In 2010, Nigel Farage, an anti-European Union member of the EU Parliament, rose following a speech by Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council. As Van Rompuy listened, Farage, a Briton, added that the former Belgian prime minister came from "pretty much a non-country."
The Parliament docked Farage €2,980 — 10 days' expenses. Farage appealed to the European Court of Justice. It ruled this month that he filed his appeal too late and would also have to pay Parliament's legal expenses.
The decision was posted on the court's website on Monday.
which leaves us wondering - as we tweeted earlier:
Does everyone who call @euhvr [4] a "damp rag" get a $4,000 fine?
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 17, 2012 [5]
Given Germany's EUR 190bn ESM contribution, we assume that Nigel has 63 million more insults before Europe is fixed