C’est belge

Belgian papers (I read ’em all) are reporting that Yves Leterme, who didn’t know his country’s national anthem and was given to publicly speculating on the limited intelligence of his Walloon countrymen, has handed in his resignation to the King. Things hadn’t been going well there for a while. Cue the Belgian national-unity crisis; it had been so long. One is reminded of the Meech-era Brian Gable cartoon in the Globe where a bored printer is ordered to stop and re-start the presses on Page One: "Confederation Saved!!! Or Possibly Doomed!!! Confederation Saved!!!..."