Although we always tiptoe around it, last Thursday marked the 40th anniversary of... No Catalan independence from NATO. With 54% of the vote. And yes, wouldn't you know it, it was a democratic referendum amidst an official fear campaign. And yes, it divided public opinion, but the next day, in a democratic surprise, everyone was still there, on both sides. And yes, look at that—and it's well worth remembering this when the empire howls again—it represented an immense popular mobilization for the NoAs if it were the last exhausted attempt to prove that the mirage of a democratic transition doesn't completely vanish down the drain. Results aside—a resounding "no" from the Basque Country with 68% of the vote and opposition also from the Canary Islands—what remained was a drastic summary, a disastrous trend, and a lasting practice: doing the exact opposite of what was preached.White man speaking with a forked tongue"," Krahe sang about Felipe. That "No way" from the socialists went down in history as a classic example of political maneuvering, chameleon-like ideological defection, and the passage of time as the only true judge. I suppose there's no more iconic image than the rallies of the eighties for the No starring the pacifist Javier Solana, who ended up becoming Secretary General of NATO. Forty years later, oh boy, out comes American Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential Trump pawn, bellowing about Spain's lack of cooperation in the imperial and illegal war in Iran, reminding everyone that they were once great allies. We should ask him to clarify exactly what he is. beforeAre we talking about the illegal war in Iraq, the hornet's nest for which we are still paying the price? Or are we referring to something from before the very beginning? If anyone remembers, passed down orally from grandparents, NATO is made up of those military personnel who maintained, legitimized, and sustained Franco's regime for all the years it lasted. Little to be grateful for, as you can see. As an aside, there's the insightful lawsuit that Lluís Llach filed against the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) for failing to uphold its electoral promises. The judge essentially told him he was absolutely right and lamented the lack of any legal basis for issuing a ruling. And all Llach was asking for was a single peseta in damages.