In spite of your valiant endeavor to liven things up for your readers, it is not easy to get through your special report on the European Union’s fiftieth anniversary (“Fit at Fifty?” March 17, 2007). The institutional tangle is baffling. The constitutional quagmire is demoralizing. The enlargement conundrum is sickening. The democratic deficit is debilitating. The economic performance is disheartening. In short, it is a depressing reading regardless of your best effort. As I was approaching the end of the report, I had a powerful vision of a gargantuan juggernaut slowly sinking into the quagmire. Stumbling upon Helmut Schmidt’s wise words just then was thus salutary: “If you have visions, you should see a doctor.” How insightful.