what's the worst that could happen?

I'm not sure whether the European Union needs a "president", but if it does, who would be the worst candidate one could imagine?

Which former leader of a EU country has harmed EU cohesion by keeping his country out of the Schengen treaty for free travel and out of the Euro zone, has promoted the accession of countries that make the EU wider but shallower, has steered his country so close to the US that it appears the English Channel is now wider than the North Atlantic?

Well, yes, you guessed it, the answer is Tony Blair. So when his name came up as a possible EU president some time last week, I had a very hard time trying not to bump my head against the nearest available wall. I've always considered myself a European citizen, but if he gets to run this place, I'll have to emigrate to Africa.

Luckily -- so we don't have to feel quite as powerless -- there is an online petition to stop Bliar from getting the EU job. In true European spirit you can read the petition in virtually every language spoken in the EU. I think I've never signed an online petition before, but I've signed this one as soon as I heard about it.