What really seemed to upset Vance and Trump was Zelensky campaigning in Pennsylvania for the Democrats and that wasn't, in fairness, the smartest move. Thank goodness none of our parties were stupid enough to send supporters to campaign for Harris.
I agree this was definitely a trigger. In that context it's funny that Starmer got away with Labour's actions. Once again it shows that this was a hatchet job on Z.
Starmer didn't get away with anything Trump and Vance are seriously harsh about Starmer's restricting free speech and the Apple backdoor nonsense
Watch the WHOLE press conference
I mean specifically the Labour representatives going to campaign for Harris. I didn't see Trump or Vance use that against Starmer; did I miss it?
I think that all of this is a series of tactical exaggerations / misrepresentations, tbh.
Here is an FT piece about a group of Republicans coming to the UK in 2015 to help the Tories campaign in marginal seats. Campaigning with sister parties over the pond is just normal, and has been so since the time of Mrs Thatcher, and perhaps earlier (I wasn't around). https://www.ft.com/content/48d94f08-e82b-11e4-9960-00144feab7de
The President of Ukraine visiting a US Munitions plant with a representative of the US Govt to thank the workers for making shells for his country is actually exactly what Vance was demanding, ie gratitude. The issue is perhaps the Vance fantasises about the state as politicised against him. Vance's demands about "have you thanked us" are nonsense, the USA already having been thanked again at the start of the meeting. I say Vance's upset is entirely tactical.
The free speech stuff is weird. The examples in Vance's Munich speech were fabrications - whether because he's manipulating or because he's ignorant I cannot tell. "Facebook poster jailed for hurty words" claims I have seen have almost all been for far more serious offences, such as calling for hotels full of brown people to be burnt down with the brown people still in them. That's an attempted wedge issue by elements on the Right of our politics, in the hope of using talking points that used to belong to the BNP and similar to build a support base.
IMO it's all mainly Trump & Vance reacting to images they have projected on the inside of their own heads, or a deliberate political tactic. Vance gets seriously harsh when anyone refuses to kneel down and lick the boots.
Bollocks, people ARE doing jailtime for social media, and cops are knocking on doors for literally NON crime "hate incidents"
Free speech is under attack in the UK in a way we have not seen in many decades. Meanwhile we suddenly have a de facto blasphemy law that only protects Islam
There are many reasons to abhor Trump, one of them - for me - is this: his oafish, New Jersey Mafia Don impression is slowing the advance of the new right that will reverse all this shit. Cf Canada
It feels to me like Western Democracy - the amazing fruit of the Enlightenment - is dying.
What is clear is that Europe, plus Canada, Australia & NZ - these places will be the last bastions of Western Democracy, not the US.
The imminent failure of the US as key pillar of democarcy on the alt-right, no one else.
It really is dying. The stats don't lie
EIU’s 2024 Democracy Index: trend of global democratic decline and strengthening authoritarianism continues through 2024
Not much of a surprise. Full democracies has never been as numerous as people in the West think, and several places are backsliding. Any going in the other direction need to be celebrated.
I believe, long term, that democracy is dead
Well, we need to change that - pronto - because one thing linked to the death of democracy is a lack of respect for the sanctity of life.
Extra-judicial killings and violence is normal. And that could include you.
A lot of people like the idea of a strong man leader, a leviathan who who won't be constrained by the slowness of democratic systems and will do exactly what they want.
The problem is that one is equally likely to get a strong man leader who shares none of your views and values and who hates people like you: so @Leon ends up with a Jeremy Corbyn strongman, not a Marine Le Pen one.
And, then, of course: how do you get rid of them? The messiness of democracy suddenly looks a lot less unattractive.
What I think we need, though, is to tweak our democratic system so that politicians get the message they're making a mistake quicker. The Chagos deal, for example, is liked by (as far as I can tell) Starmer and... umm... Starmer's mum.
How do we introduce feedback systems around - say EU membership, or Chagos, or shooting up immigration, so that politicians can make smaller decisions quicker (incrementalism) rather than making massive changes (often over-corrections) every four years.
Well done to the King and whoever arranged this meeting (I assume Starmer).
That is half way there. Now they need to cancel the Trump invitation.
They won’t and need to buy time so I understand why it still needs to be in the calendar , hopefully it won’t happen anytime soon .
I really wish we could say to the US thanks for the initial attempt in peace talks but Mr Trump as you said yourself this really is Europe’s problem so we’ll take it from here !
At the same time freeze all those Russian assets and use them to help Ukraine .
In an ideal world we’d have the military resources to do that . We need to do something though to disempower Trump from shafting Ukraine .
What really seemed to upset Vance and Trump was Zelensky campaigning in Pennsylvania for the Democrats and that wasn't, in fairness, the smartest move. Thank goodness none of our parties were stupid enough to send supporters to campaign for Harris.
I agree this was definitely a trigger. In that context it's funny that Starmer got away with Labour's actions. Once again it shows that this was a hatchet job on Z.
Starmer didn't get away with anything Trump and Vance are seriously harsh about Starmer's restricting free speech and the Apple backdoor nonsense
Watch the WHOLE press conference
I mean specifically the Labour representatives going to campaign for Harris. I didn't see Trump or Vance use that against Starmer; did I miss it?
I think that all of this is a series of tactical exaggerations / misrepresentations, tbh.
Here is an FT piece about a group of Republicans coming to the UK in 2015 to help the Tories campaign in marginal seats. Campaigning with sister parties over the pond is just normal, and has been so since the time of Mrs Thatcher, and perhaps earlier (I wasn't around). https://www.ft.com/content/48d94f08-e82b-11e4-9960-00144feab7de
The President of Ukraine visiting a US Munitions plant with a representative of the US Govt to thank the workers for making shells for his country is actually exactly what Vance was demanding, ie gratitude. The issue is perhaps the Vance fantasises about the state as politicised against him. Vance's demands about "have you thanked us" are nonsense, the USA already having been thanked again at the start of the meeting. I say Vance's upset is entirely tactical.
The free speech stuff is weird. The examples in Vance's Munich speech were fabrications - whether because he's manipulating or because he's ignorant I cannot tell. "Facebook poster jailed for hurty words" claims I have seen have almost all been for far more serious offences, such as calling for hotels full of brown people to be burnt down with the brown people still in them. That's an attempted wedge issue by elements on the Right of our politics, in the hope of using talking points that used to belong to the BNP and similar to build a support base.
IMO it's all mainly Trump & Vance reacting to images they have projected on the inside of their own heads, or a deliberate political tactic. Vance gets seriously harsh when anyone refuses to kneel down and lick the boots.
Bollocks, people ARE doing jailtime for social media, and cops are knocking on doors for literally NON crime "hate incidents"
Free speech is under attack in the UK in a way we have not seen in many decades. Meanwhile we suddenly have a de facto blasphemy law that only protects Islam
There are many reasons to abhor Trump, one of them - for me - is this: his oafish, New Jersey Mafia Don impression is slowing the advance of the new right that will reverse all this shit. Cf Canada
It feels to me like Western Democracy - the amazing fruit of the Enlightenment - is dying.
What is clear is that Europe, plus Canada, Australia & NZ - these places will be the last bastions of Western Democracy, not the US.
The imminent failure of the US as key pillar of democarcy on the alt-right, no one else.
It really is dying. The stats don't lie
EIU’s 2024 Democracy Index: trend of global democratic decline and strengthening authoritarianism continues through 2024
Not much of a surprise. Full democracies has never been as numerous as people in the West think, and several places are backsliding. Any going in the other direction need to be celebrated.
I believe, long term, that democracy is dead
Well, we need to change that - pronto - because one thing linked to the death of democracy is a lack of respect for the sanctity of life.
Extra-judicial killings and violence is normal. And that could include you.
A lot of people like the idea of a strong man leader, a leviathan who who won't be constrained by the slowness of democratic systems and will do exactly what they want.
The problem is that one is equally likely to get a strong man leader who shares none of your views and values and who hates people like you: so @Leon ends up with a Jeremy Corbyn strongman, not a Marine Le Pen one.
And, then, of course: how do you get rid of them? The messiness of democracy suddenly looks a lot less unattractive.
What I think we need, though, is to tweak our democratic system so that politicians get the message they're making a mistake quicker. The Chagos deal, for example, is liked by (as far as I can tell) Starmer and... umm... Starmer's mum.
How do we introduce feedback systems around - say EU membership, or Chagos, or shooting up immigration, so that politicians can make smaller decisions quicker (incrementalism) rather than making massive changes (often over-corrections) every four years.
But is this because people assume strongmen will be competent ?
Mostly they aren’t.
It's projection. They are the strong man.
That's why they take criticism of the strong man so personally, and find a way to justify everything they do.
Zelenskyy is apparently going to meet King Charles tomorrow . I’m really pleased about that and good to see Starmer pushing the boat out to make Zelenskyy feel loved which is true of how the vast majority of Brits feel about him .
Hopefully the vast majority of British people don't feel anything so nauseatingly un-British.
Seems spot on to me. And you are the last one to talk about people being childish. It is one of the main planks of your whole persona on here.
Yeah, but at least I’m not FAT like you, fatso
To be honest old chap I would rather be fat in the body than fat in the head.
And to whoever flagged Leon's comment, if you were doing it to defend me then thanks but it really isn't necessary. I long ago got the measure of Leon's rather fragile ego.
Zelenskyy is apparently going to meet King Charles tomorrow . I’m really pleased about that and good to see Starmer pushing the boat out to make Zelenskyy feel loved which is true of how the vast majority of Brits feel about him .
Hopefully the vast majority of British people don't feel anything so nauseatingly un-British.
A small nation standing up to a dictator is pretty much the origin myth of the British people.
The irony of all these European leaders getting their knickers in a knot and saying "Well we're going to kick Putin's arse outselves then!" is that that's exactly what Trump wants. Trump is going to un-sanction Russia, throw open his country to Russian billionaires, whilst getting whatever he can from Ukraine. Europe will continue to be at daggers drawn with Putin, and shut out Russian money and Russian gas. It's perfect for America. To mix metaphors, they stirred up the hornet's nest, and now they can sit back with popcorn.
If Europe *really* wanted strategic and defensive independence from the USA, they would do it, however unlikely it seems now, in coordination with Russia, offer an associate EU membership (without Shengen as Russia wouldn't have any people left). That's what would really upset America, and it's what they have skilfully avoided thus far.
That's true. But there's one slight flaw in your plan, which is Putin's tendency to brutally invade neighbouring countries. Makes me wonder what your European 'defensive independence' is supposed to defend against.
Zelenskyy is apparently going to meet King Charles tomorrow . I’m really pleased about that and good to see Starmer pushing the boat out to make Zelenskyy feel loved which is true of how the vast majority of Brits feel about him .
Hopefully the vast majority of British people don't feel anything so nauseatingly un-British.
What’s nauseating about having huge admiration and love for an absolute hero and remarkable man.
Zelenskyy is apparently going to meet King Charles tomorrow . I’m really pleased about that and good to see Starmer pushing the boat out to make Zelenskyy feel loved which is true of how the vast majority of Brits feel about him .
Hopefully the vast majority of British people don't feel anything so nauseatingly un-British.
A small nation standing up to a dictator is pretty much the origin myth of the British people.
It's all about 'owning the libs' for Luckyguy. Same can be said for JD Vance, to be honest.
The irony of all these European leaders getting their knickers in a knot and saying "Well we're going to kick Putin's arse outselves then!" is that that's exactly what Trump wants. Trump is going to un-sanction Russia, throw open his country to Russian billionaires, whilst getting whatever he can from Ukraine. Europe will continue to be at daggers drawn with Putin, and shut out Russian money and Russian gas. It's perfect for America. To mix metaphors, they stirred up the hornet's nest, and now they can sit back with popcorn.
If Europe *really* wanted strategic and defensive independence from the USA, they would do it, however unlikely it seems now, in coordination with Russia, offer an associate EU membership (without Shengen as Russia wouldn't have any people left). That's what would really upset America, and it's what they have skilfully avoided thus far.
That's true. But there's one slight flaw in your plan, which is Putin's tendency to brutally invade neighbouring countries. Makes me wonder what your European 'defensive independence' is supposed to defend against.
What really seemed to upset Vance and Trump was Zelensky campaigning in Pennsylvania for the Democrats and that wasn't, in fairness, the smartest move. Thank goodness none of our parties were stupid enough to send supporters to campaign for Harris.
I agree this was definitely a trigger. In that context it's funny that Starmer got away with Labour's actions. Once again it shows that this was a hatchet job on Z.
Starmer didn't get away with anything Trump and Vance are seriously harsh about Starmer's restricting free speech and the Apple backdoor nonsense
Watch the WHOLE press conference
I mean specifically the Labour representatives going to campaign for Harris. I didn't see Trump or Vance use that against Starmer; did I miss it?
I think that all of this is a series of tactical exaggerations / misrepresentations, tbh.
Here is an FT piece about a group of Republicans coming to the UK in 2015 to help the Tories campaign in marginal seats. Campaigning with sister parties over the pond is just normal, and has been so since the time of Mrs Thatcher, and perhaps earlier (I wasn't around). https://www.ft.com/content/48d94f08-e82b-11e4-9960-00144feab7de
The President of Ukraine visiting a US Munitions plant with a representative of the US Govt to thank the workers for making shells for his country is actually exactly what Vance was demanding, ie gratitude. The issue is perhaps the Vance fantasises about the state as politicised against him. Vance's demands about "have you thanked us" are nonsense, the USA already having been thanked again at the start of the meeting. I say Vance's upset is entirely tactical.
The free speech stuff is weird. The examples in Vance's Munich speech were fabrications - whether because he's manipulating or because he's ignorant I cannot tell. "Facebook poster jailed for hurty words" claims I have seen have almost all been for far more serious offences, such as calling for hotels full of brown people to be burnt down with the brown people still in them. That's an attempted wedge issue by elements on the Right of our politics, in the hope of using talking points that used to belong to the BNP and similar to build a support base.
IMO it's all mainly Trump & Vance reacting to images they have projected on the inside of their own heads, or a deliberate political tactic. Vance gets seriously harsh when anyone refuses to kneel down and lick the boots.
Bollocks, people ARE doing jailtime for social media, and cops are knocking on doors for literally NON crime "hate incidents"
Free speech is under attack in the UK in a way we have not seen in many decades. Meanwhile we suddenly have a de facto blasphemy law that only protects Islam
There are many reasons to abhor Trump, one of them - for me - is this: his oafish, New Jersey Mafia Don impression is slowing the advance of the new right that will reverse all this shit. Cf Canada
It feels to me like Western Democracy - the amazing fruit of the Enlightenment - is dying.
What is clear is that Europe, plus Canada, Australia & NZ - these places will be the last bastions of Western Democracy, not the US.
The imminent failure of the US as key pillar of democarcy on the alt-right, no one else.
It really is dying. The stats don't lie
EIU’s 2024 Democracy Index: trend of global democratic decline and strengthening authoritarianism continues through 2024
Not much of a surprise. Full democracies has never been as numerous as people in the West think, and several places are backsliding. Any going in the other direction need to be celebrated.
I believe, long term, that democracy is dead
Well, we need to change that - pronto - because one thing linked to the death of democracy is a lack of respect for the sanctity of life.
Extra-judicial killings and violence is normal. And that could include you.
A lot of people like the idea of a strong man leader, a leviathan who who won't be constrained by the slowness of democratic systems and will do exactly what they want.
The problem is that one is equally likely to get a strong man leader who shares none of your views and values and who hates people like you: so @Leon ends up with a Jeremy Corbyn strongman, not a Marine Le Pen one.
And, then, of course: how do you get rid of them? The messiness of democracy suddenly looks a lot less unattractive.
What I think we need, though, is to tweak our democratic system so that politicians get the message they're making a mistake quicker. The Chagos deal, for example, is liked by (as far as I can tell) Starmer and... umm... Starmer's mum.
How do we introduce feedback systems around - say EU membership, or Chagos, or shooting up immigration, so that politicians can make smaller decisions quicker (incrementalism) rather than making massive changes (often over-corrections) every four years.
Nobody on PB can still seriously think Trump was the right choice in 2024 surely.
Was Zelensky the right choice for Ukraine in 2019, or would a continuation of Poroshenko's government served them better?
Do you have an answer? Are you able to detail it? Are you just some lost soul wandering around asking about the meaning of life? So many questions, so little fact.
What really seemed to upset Vance and Trump was Zelensky campaigning in Pennsylvania for the Democrats and that wasn't, in fairness, the smartest move. Thank goodness none of our parties were stupid enough to send supporters to campaign for Harris.
I agree this was definitely a trigger. In that context it's funny that Starmer got away with Labour's actions. Once again it shows that this was a hatchet job on Z.
Starmer didn't get away with anything Trump and Vance are seriously harsh about Starmer's restricting free speech and the Apple backdoor nonsense
Watch the WHOLE press conference
I mean specifically the Labour representatives going to campaign for Harris. I didn't see Trump or Vance use that against Starmer; did I miss it?
I think that all of this is a series of tactical exaggerations / misrepresentations, tbh.
Here is an FT piece about a group of Republicans coming to the UK in 2015 to help the Tories campaign in marginal seats. Campaigning with sister parties over the pond is just normal, and has been so since the time of Mrs Thatcher, and perhaps earlier (I wasn't around). https://www.ft.com/content/48d94f08-e82b-11e4-9960-00144feab7de
The President of Ukraine visiting a US Munitions plant with a representative of the US Govt to thank the workers for making shells for his country is actually exactly what Vance was demanding, ie gratitude. The issue is perhaps the Vance fantasises about the state as politicised against him. Vance's demands about "have you thanked us" are nonsense, the USA already having been thanked again at the start of the meeting. I say Vance's upset is entirely tactical.
The free speech stuff is weird. The examples in Vance's Munich speech were fabrications - whether because he's manipulating or because he's ignorant I cannot tell. "Facebook poster jailed for hurty words" claims I have seen have almost all been for far more serious offences, such as calling for hotels full of brown people to be burnt down with the brown people still in them. That's an attempted wedge issue by elements on the Right of our politics, in the hope of using talking points that used to belong to the BNP and similar to build a support base.
IMO it's all mainly Trump & Vance reacting to images they have projected on the inside of their own heads, or a deliberate political tactic. Vance gets seriously harsh when anyone refuses to kneel down and lick the boots.
Bollocks, people ARE doing jailtime for social media, and cops are knocking on doors for literally NON crime "hate incidents"
Free speech is under attack in the UK in a way we have not seen in many decades. Meanwhile we suddenly have a de facto blasphemy law that only protects Islam
There are many reasons to abhor Trump, one of them - for me - is this: his oafish, New Jersey Mafia Don impression is slowing the advance of the new right that will reverse all this shit. Cf Canada
It feels to me like Western Democracy - the amazing fruit of the Enlightenment - is dying.
What is clear is that Europe, plus Canada, Australia & NZ - these places will be the last bastions of Western Democracy, not the US.
The imminent failure of the US as key pillar of democarcy on the alt-right, no one else.
It really is dying. The stats don't lie
EIU’s 2024 Democracy Index: trend of global democratic decline and strengthening authoritarianism continues through 2024
Not much of a surprise. Full democracies has never been as numerous as people in the West think, and several places are backsliding. Any going in the other direction need to be celebrated.
I believe, long term, that democracy is dead
Well, we need to change that - pronto - because one thing linked to the death of democracy is a lack of respect for the sanctity of life.
Extra-judicial killings and violence is normal. And that could include you.
A lot of people like the idea of a strong man leader, a leviathan who who won't be constrained by the slowness of democratic systems and will do exactly what they want.
The problem is that one is equally likely to get a strong man leader who shares none of your views and values and who hates people like you: so @Leon ends up with a Jeremy Corbyn strongman, not a Marine Le Pen one.
And, then, of course: how do you get rid of them? The messiness of democracy suddenly looks a lot less unattractive.
What I think we need, though, is to tweak our democratic system so that politicians get the message they're making a mistake quicker. The Chagos deal, for example, is liked by (as far as I can tell) Starmer and... umm... Starmer's mum.
How do we introduce feedback systems around - say EU membership, or Chagos, or shooting up immigration, so that politicians can make smaller decisions quicker (incrementalism) rather than making massive changes (often over-corrections) every four years.
Zelenskyy is apparently going to meet King Charles tomorrow . I’m really pleased about that and good to see Starmer pushing the boat out to make Zelenskyy feel loved which is true of how the vast majority of Brits feel about him .
Hopefully the vast majority of British people don't feel anything so nauseatingly un-British.
It's nauseatingly un-British to support the democracy invaded by the much larger neighbour?
Seems spot on to me. And you are the last one to talk about people being childish. It is one of the main planks of your whole persona on here.
Yeah, but at least I’m not FAT like you, fatso
To be honest old chap I would rather be fat in the body than fat in the head.
And to whoever flagged Leon's comment, if you were doing it to defend me then thanks but it really isn't necessary. I long ago got the measure of Leon's rather fragile ego.
What really seemed to upset Vance and Trump was Zelensky campaigning in Pennsylvania for the Democrats and that wasn't, in fairness, the smartest move. Thank goodness none of our parties were stupid enough to send supporters to campaign for Harris.
I agree this was definitely a trigger. In that context it's funny that Starmer got away with Labour's actions. Once again it shows that this was a hatchet job on Z.
Starmer didn't get away with anything Trump and Vance are seriously harsh about Starmer's restricting free speech and the Apple backdoor nonsense
Watch the WHOLE press conference
I mean specifically the Labour representatives going to campaign for Harris. I didn't see Trump or Vance use that against Starmer; did I miss it?
I think that all of this is a series of tactical exaggerations / misrepresentations, tbh.
Here is an FT piece about a group of Republicans coming to the UK in 2015 to help the Tories campaign in marginal seats. Campaigning with sister parties over the pond is just normal, and has been so since the time of Mrs Thatcher, and perhaps earlier (I wasn't around). https://www.ft.com/content/48d94f08-e82b-11e4-9960-00144feab7de
The President of Ukraine visiting a US Munitions plant with a representative of the US Govt to thank the workers for making shells for his country is actually exactly what Vance was demanding, ie gratitude. The issue is perhaps the Vance fantasises about the state as politicised against him. Vance's demands about "have you thanked us" are nonsense, the USA already having been thanked again at the start of the meeting. I say Vance's upset is entirely tactical.
The free speech stuff is weird. The examples in Vance's Munich speech were fabrications - whether because he's manipulating or because he's ignorant I cannot tell. "Facebook poster jailed for hurty words" claims I have seen have almost all been for far more serious offences, such as calling for hotels full of brown people to be burnt down with the brown people still in them. That's an attempted wedge issue by elements on the Right of our politics, in the hope of using talking points that used to belong to the BNP and similar to build a support base.
IMO it's all mainly Trump & Vance reacting to images they have projected on the inside of their own heads, or a deliberate political tactic. Vance gets seriously harsh when anyone refuses to kneel down and lick the boots.
Bollocks, people ARE doing jailtime for social media, and cops are knocking on doors for literally NON crime "hate incidents"
Free speech is under attack in the UK in a way we have not seen in many decades. Meanwhile we suddenly have a de facto blasphemy law that only protects Islam
There are many reasons to abhor Trump, one of them - for me - is this: his oafish, New Jersey Mafia Don impression is slowing the advance of the new right that will reverse all this shit. Cf Canada
It feels to me like Western Democracy - the amazing fruit of the Enlightenment - is dying.
What is clear is that Europe, plus Canada, Australia & NZ - these places will be the last bastions of Western Democracy, not the US.
The imminent failure of the US as key pillar of democarcy on the alt-right, no one else.
It really is dying. The stats don't lie
EIU’s 2024 Democracy Index: trend of global democratic decline and strengthening authoritarianism continues through 2024
Not much of a surprise. Full democracies has never been as numerous as people in the West think, and several places are backsliding. Any going in the other direction need to be celebrated.
I believe, long term, that democracy is dead
Well, we need to change that - pronto - because one thing linked to the death of democracy is a lack of respect for the sanctity of life.
Extra-judicial killings and violence is normal. And that could include you.
A lot of people like the idea of a strong man leader, a leviathan who who won't be constrained by the slowness of democratic systems and will do exactly what they want.
The problem is that one is equally likely to get a strong man leader who shares none of your views and values and who hates people like you: so @Leon ends up with a Jeremy Corbyn strongman, not a Marine Le Pen one.
And, then, of course: how do you get rid of them? The messiness of democracy suddenly looks a lot less unattractive.
What I think we need, though, is to tweak our democratic system so that politicians get the message they're making a mistake quicker. The Chagos deal, for example, is liked by (as far as I can tell) Starmer and... umm... Starmer's mum.
How do we introduce feedback systems around - say EU membership, or Chagos, or shooting up immigration, so that politicians can make smaller decisions quicker (incrementalism) rather than making massive changes (often over-corrections) every four years.
Zelenskyy is apparently going to meet King Charles tomorrow . I’m really pleased about that and good to see Starmer pushing the boat out to make Zelenskyy feel loved which is true of how the vast majority of Brits feel about him .
Hopefully the vast majority of British people don't feel anything so nauseatingly un-British.
A small nation standing up to a dictator is pretty much the origin myth of the British people.
It's all about 'owning the libs' for Luckyguy. Same can be said for JD Vance, to be honest.
JD Vance and Luckyguy1983 ever been seen in the same room?
"Asian perspectives of the US have shifted from a country once perceived as a force of “moral legitimacy” to something akin to “a landlord seeking rent,” Singapore’s defense chief said on the sidelines of a security meeting," per Bloomberg.
That's quite an insightful comment. For example, the 'rent' Trump seeks in his business franchises is a payment to be associated with his name. So if he is running the US as a business, you have to pay to be associated with him (mainly) and the US as a power (as a secondary).
"Asian perspectives of the US have shifted from a country once perceived as a force of “moral legitimacy” to something akin to “a landlord seeking rent,” Singapore’s defense chief said on the sidelines of a security meeting," per Bloomberg.
Talking about landlords, I was astounded to discover that one of my local pubs has had their hours curtailed because of a sound complaint from a short-term let owner. Apparently their Airbnb reviews mention the karoake.
The bloody cheek. These arseholes destroy the lives of people living in tenements, yet have no qualms about shutting down everything that makes living in a dense city so good. A local kebab place has also been forced to close early.
Who approves decisions like these? It's barmy.
Could be Edinburgh Council's staff, or its relevant committee or it could be a Scottish Gmt inspector. Can't say on the info to hand. (Council is Slab/Scon/SLD, purportedly minority Slab.)
The issue is its multiple different departments (and laws) that don't talk to each other.
So you see issue 1 but don't grasp that issue 1 is only a problem because issue 2 exists and the department for issue 2 didn't fix the problem before issue 2 became a big problem.
Different process entirely. An established AirBnB's owner who is licensed and pays the additional costs presumably has the same rights to make complaints as anyone else in the area who lives or has a business which is affected by the noise (and the reviews would be good evidence). How else can one do it?
But I ewxpect that any noise from that AirBnB will now get complained about even more vigorously.
I’ve come up with the following.
Upon making complaints about a long standing premises or business, the premises or business should have the right to apply to the magistrates to have the complainant officially labelled as a “wan&er”
Said appilation to be written in ancient style and nailed to their front door, in an official ceremony.
Being someone who enjoys listening to bells ringing, I propose that this right be limited to properties that are more than 100 years old.
What really seemed to upset Vance and Trump was Zelensky campaigning in Pennsylvania for the Democrats and that wasn't, in fairness, the smartest move. Thank goodness none of our parties were stupid enough to send supporters to campaign for Harris.
I agree this was definitely a trigger. In that context it's funny that Starmer got away with Labour's actions. Once again it shows that this was a hatchet job on Z.
Starmer didn't get away with anything Trump and Vance are seriously harsh about Starmer's restricting free speech and the Apple backdoor nonsense
Watch the WHOLE press conference
I mean specifically the Labour representatives going to campaign for Harris. I didn't see Trump or Vance use that against Starmer; did I miss it?
I think that all of this is a series of tactical exaggerations / misrepresentations, tbh.
Here is an FT piece about a group of Republicans coming to the UK in 2015 to help the Tories campaign in marginal seats. Campaigning with sister parties over the pond is just normal, and has been so since the time of Mrs Thatcher, and perhaps earlier (I wasn't around). https://www.ft.com/content/48d94f08-e82b-11e4-9960-00144feab7de
The President of Ukraine visiting a US Munitions plant with a representative of the US Govt to thank the workers for making shells for his country is actually exactly what Vance was demanding, ie gratitude. The issue is perhaps the Vance fantasises about the state as politicised against him. Vance's demands about "have you thanked us" are nonsense, the USA already having been thanked again at the start of the meeting. I say Vance's upset is entirely tactical.
The free speech stuff is weird. The examples in Vance's Munich speech were fabrications - whether because he's manipulating or because he's ignorant I cannot tell. "Facebook poster jailed for hurty words" claims I have seen have almost all been for far more serious offences, such as calling for hotels full of brown people to be burnt down with the brown people still in them. That's an attempted wedge issue by elements on the Right of our politics, in the hope of using talking points that used to belong to the BNP and similar to build a support base.
IMO it's all mainly Trump & Vance reacting to images they have projected on the inside of their own heads, or a deliberate political tactic. Vance gets seriously harsh when anyone refuses to kneel down and lick the boots.
Bollocks, people ARE doing jailtime for social media, and cops are knocking on doors for literally NON crime "hate incidents"
Free speech is under attack in the UK in a way we have not seen in many decades. Meanwhile we suddenly have a de facto blasphemy law that only protects Islam
There are many reasons to abhor Trump, one of them - for me - is this: his oafish, New Jersey Mafia Don impression is slowing the advance of the new right that will reverse all this shit. Cf Canada
It feels to me like Western Democracy - the amazing fruit of the Enlightenment - is dying.
What is clear is that Europe, plus Canada, Australia & NZ - these places will be the last bastions of Western Democracy, not the US.
The imminent failure of the US as key pillar of democarcy on the alt-right, no one else.
It really is dying. The stats don't lie
EIU’s 2024 Democracy Index: trend of global democratic decline and strengthening authoritarianism continues through 2024
Not much of a surprise. Full democracies has never been as numerous as people in the West think, and several places are backsliding. Any going in the other direction need to be celebrated.
I believe, long term, that democracy is dead
Well, we need to change that - pronto - because one thing linked to the death of democracy is a lack of respect for the sanctity of life.
Extra-judicial killings and violence is normal. And that could include you.
A lot of people like the idea of a strong man leader, a leviathan who who won't be constrained by the slowness of democratic systems and will do exactly what they want.
The problem is that one is equally likely to get a strong man leader who shares none of your views and values and who hates people like you: so @Leon ends up with a Jeremy Corbyn strongman, not a Marine Le Pen one.
And, then, of course: how do you get rid of them? The messiness of democracy suddenly looks a lot less unattractive.
What I think we need, though, is to tweak our democratic system so that politicians get the message they're making a mistake quicker. The Chagos deal, for example, is liked by (as far as I can tell) Starmer and... umm... Starmer's mum.
How do we introduce feedback systems around - say EU membership, or Chagos, or shooting up immigration, so that politicians can make smaller decisions quicker (incrementalism) rather than making massive changes (often over-corrections) every four years.
Was just sent this nice example of grifting by an old school friend who lives in the US.
Corruption out in the open: the criminals becoming the oligarchs - by invitation. The Securities and Exchange Commission has stopped its prosecution of Justin Sun, a Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur who had been charged in March 2023 with securities fraud. After Trump was elected in 2024, Sun bought $30 million worth of Trump’s World Liberty Financial crypto tokens, putting $18 million directly into Trump’s pockets. Since then, he has invested another $45 million in WLF. Altogether, Sun’s investments have netted Trump more than $50 million. SEC also appears to have dropped its case against the crypto trading platform Coinbase after the platform donated $75 million to a political action committee associated with Trump and donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.
It's astonishing that in the land of supposed checks and balances this kind of fraud is flourishing so openly. It's like they genuinely have no idea why the US has been such an attractive investment destination and how easily that reputation can be trashed. In the weeks since Trump's inauguration we have seen the very idea of America dying before our eyes, it's incredible.
Isn't it famously the land of LACK of checks and balances?
Was just sent this nice example of grifting by an old school friend who lives in the US.
Corruption out in the open: the criminals becoming the oligarchs - by invitation. The Securities and Exchange Commission has stopped its prosecution of Justin Sun, a Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur who had been charged in March 2023 with securities fraud. After Trump was elected in 2024, Sun bought $30 million worth of Trump’s World Liberty Financial crypto tokens, putting $18 million directly into Trump’s pockets. Since then, he has invested another $45 million in WLF. Altogether, Sun’s investments have netted Trump more than $50 million. SEC also appears to have dropped its case against the crypto trading platform Coinbase after the platform donated $75 million to a political action committee associated with Trump and donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.
It's astonishing that in the land of supposed checks and balances this kind of fraud is flourishing so openly. It's like they genuinely have no idea why the US has been such an attractive investment destination and how easily that reputation can be trashed. In the weeks since Trump's inauguration we have seen the very idea of America dying before our eyes, it's incredible.
Isn't it famously the land of LACK of checks and balances?
Well, it is now. They've gone crypto only and are in mountains of debt.
Ha, ha! I bet Vlad is pooping himself. The Russians always think that we'd want to go back to being world policeman if the yanks ever give it up, and that looks like it's about to happen and the Russians fear us more than they fear the US.
What really seemed to upset Vance and Trump was Zelensky campaigning in Pennsylvania for the Democrats and that wasn't, in fairness, the smartest move. Thank goodness none of our parties were stupid enough to send supporters to campaign for Harris.
I agree this was definitely a trigger. In that context it's funny that Starmer got away with Labour's actions. Once again it shows that this was a hatchet job on Z.
Starmer didn't get away with anything Trump and Vance are seriously harsh about Starmer's restricting free speech and the Apple backdoor nonsense
Watch the WHOLE press conference
I mean specifically the Labour representatives going to campaign for Harris. I didn't see Trump or Vance use that against Starmer; did I miss it?
I think that all of this is a series of tactical exaggerations / misrepresentations, tbh.
Here is an FT piece about a group of Republicans coming to the UK in 2015 to help the Tories campaign in marginal seats. Campaigning with sister parties over the pond is just normal, and has been so since the time of Mrs Thatcher, and perhaps earlier (I wasn't around). https://www.ft.com/content/48d94f08-e82b-11e4-9960-00144feab7de
The President of Ukraine visiting a US Munitions plant with a representative of the US Govt to thank the workers for making shells for his country is actually exactly what Vance was demanding, ie gratitude. The issue is perhaps the Vance fantasises about the state as politicised against him. Vance's demands about "have you thanked us" are nonsense, the USA already having been thanked again at the start of the meeting. I say Vance's upset is entirely tactical.
The free speech stuff is weird. The examples in Vance's Munich speech were fabrications - whether because he's manipulating or because he's ignorant I cannot tell. "Facebook poster jailed for hurty words" claims I have seen have almost all been for far more serious offences, such as calling for hotels full of brown people to be burnt down with the brown people still in them. That's an attempted wedge issue by elements on the Right of our politics, in the hope of using talking points that used to belong to the BNP and similar to build a support base.
IMO it's all mainly Trump & Vance reacting to images they have projected on the inside of their own heads, or a deliberate political tactic. Vance gets seriously harsh when anyone refuses to kneel down and lick the boots.
Bollocks, people ARE doing jailtime for social media, and cops are knocking on doors for literally NON crime "hate incidents"
Free speech is under attack in the UK in a way we have not seen in many decades. Meanwhile we suddenly have a de facto blasphemy law that only protects Islam
There are many reasons to abhor Trump, one of them - for me - is this: his oafish, New Jersey Mafia Don impression is slowing the advance of the new right that will reverse all this shit. Cf Canada
It feels to me like Western Democracy - the amazing fruit of the Enlightenment - is dying.
What is clear is that Europe, plus Canada, Australia & NZ - these places will be the last bastions of Western Democracy, not the US.
The imminent failure of the US as key pillar of democarcy on the alt-right, no one else.
It really is dying. The stats don't lie
EIU’s 2024 Democracy Index: trend of global democratic decline and strengthening authoritarianism continues through 2024
Not much of a surprise. Full democracies has never been as numerous as people in the West think, and several places are backsliding. Any going in the other direction need to be celebrated.
I believe, long term, that democracy is dead
Well, we need to change that - pronto - because one thing linked to the death of democracy is a lack of respect for the sanctity of life.
Extra-judicial killings and violence is normal. And that could include you.
A lot of people like the idea of a strong man leader, a leviathan who who won't be constrained by the slowness of democratic systems and will do exactly what they want.
The problem is that one is equally likely to get a strong man leader who shares none of your views and values and who hates people like you: so @Leon ends up with a Jeremy Corbyn strongman, not a Marine Le Pen one.
And, then, of course: how do you get rid of them? The messiness of democracy suddenly looks a lot less unattractive.
What I think we need, though, is to tweak our democratic system so that politicians get the message they're making a mistake quicker. The Chagos deal, for example, is liked by (as far as I can tell) Starmer and... umm... Starmer's mum.
How do we introduce feedback systems around - say EU membership, or Chagos, or shooting up immigration, so that politicians can make smaller decisions quicker (incrementalism) rather than making massive changes (often over-corrections) every four years.
What really seemed to upset Vance and Trump was Zelensky campaigning in Pennsylvania for the Democrats and that wasn't, in fairness, the smartest move. Thank goodness none of our parties were stupid enough to send supporters to campaign for Harris.
I agree this was definitely a trigger. In that context it's funny that Starmer got away with Labour's actions. Once again it shows that this was a hatchet job on Z.
Starmer didn't get away with anything Trump and Vance are seriously harsh about Starmer's restricting free speech and the Apple backdoor nonsense
Watch the WHOLE press conference
I mean specifically the Labour representatives going to campaign for Harris. I didn't see Trump or Vance use that against Starmer; did I miss it?
I think that all of this is a series of tactical exaggerations / misrepresentations, tbh.
Here is an FT piece about a group of Republicans coming to the UK in 2015 to help the Tories campaign in marginal seats. Campaigning with sister parties over the pond is just normal, and has been so since the time of Mrs Thatcher, and perhaps earlier (I wasn't around). https://www.ft.com/content/48d94f08-e82b-11e4-9960-00144feab7de
The President of Ukraine visiting a US Munitions plant with a representative of the US Govt to thank the workers for making shells for his country is actually exactly what Vance was demanding, ie gratitude. The issue is perhaps the Vance fantasises about the state as politicised against him. Vance's demands about "have you thanked us" are nonsense, the USA already having been thanked again at the start of the meeting. I say Vance's upset is entirely tactical.
The free speech stuff is weird. The examples in Vance's Munich speech were fabrications - whether because he's manipulating or because he's ignorant I cannot tell. "Facebook poster jailed for hurty words" claims I have seen have almost all been for far more serious offences, such as calling for hotels full of brown people to be burnt down with the brown people still in them. That's an attempted wedge issue by elements on the Right of our politics, in the hope of using talking points that used to belong to the BNP and similar to build a support base.
IMO it's all mainly Trump & Vance reacting to images they have projected on the inside of their own heads, or a deliberate political tactic. Vance gets seriously harsh when anyone refuses to kneel down and lick the boots.
Bollocks, people ARE doing jailtime for social media, and cops are knocking on doors for literally NON crime "hate incidents"
Free speech is under attack in the UK in a way we have not seen in many decades. Meanwhile we suddenly have a de facto blasphemy law that only protects Islam
There are many reasons to abhor Trump, one of them - for me - is this: his oafish, New Jersey Mafia Don impression is slowing the advance of the new right that will reverse all this shit. Cf Canada
It feels to me like Western Democracy - the amazing fruit of the Enlightenment - is dying.
What is clear is that Europe, plus Canada, Australia & NZ - these places will be the last bastions of Western Democracy, not the US.
The imminent failure of the US as key pillar of democarcy on the alt-right, no one else.
It really is dying. The stats don't lie
EIU’s 2024 Democracy Index: trend of global democratic decline and strengthening authoritarianism continues through 2024
Not much of a surprise. Full democracies has never been as numerous as people in the West think, and several places are backsliding. Any going in the other direction need to be celebrated.
I believe, long term, that democracy is dead
Well, we need to change that - pronto - because one thing linked to the death of democracy is a lack of respect for the sanctity of life.
Extra-judicial killings and violence is normal. And that could include you.
A lot of people like the idea of a strong man leader, a leviathan who who won't be constrained by the slowness of democratic systems and will do exactly what they want.
The problem is that one is equally likely to get a strong man leader who shares none of your views and values and who hates people like you: so @Leon ends up with a Jeremy Corbyn strongman, not a Marine Le Pen one.
And, then, of course: how do you get rid of them? The messiness of democracy suddenly looks a lot less unattractive.
What I think we need, though, is to tweak our democratic system so that politicians get the message they're making a mistake quicker. The Chagos deal, for example, is liked by (as far as I can tell) Starmer and... umm... Starmer's mum.
How do we introduce feedback systems around - say EU membership, or Chagos, or shooting up immigration, so that politicians can make smaller decisions quicker (incrementalism) rather than making massive changes (often over-corrections) every four years.
No political system can give everything everyone wants from them. Including the 'strong man' theory - which is a non democratic theory and explanation for a simpler society of why we should respect the person who can command the top of the greasy pole - he can protect you when you can't protect yourself, essentially by command of a monopoly of lawful violence.
Democracy delivers the best balance known so far of the merits of the theory along with minimising the demerits. In particular it provides a possibility of a culture in which the 'strong man' ie the government can both protect us and hold a monopoly of lawful violence, and crucially be replaced non violently by another strong man. We are, I think, noticing that it has other effects, such as marginalising the significance of the 'warrior class'. Or subjecting a dim populace to high levels of manipulation as the easiest and cheapest way of gaining the greasy pole.
So, a nuclear armed non USA western world, 600,000,000 strong is terrified of facing 140,000,000 Russians without help.
Unfortunately Reeves is half a loaf short of a picnic.
Oh, it was a typo?
Has familiarity bread contempt?
A rye observation.
The original comment was a lot more sour, dough.
I can’t make khachapuri into a pun sadly, but I’ve just been to the local Ukrainian-Georgian shop and come out with some along with kinkhali, some Georgian wine and some over-priced curd cheese.
"Asian perspectives of the US have shifted from a country once perceived as a force of “moral legitimacy” to something akin to “a landlord seeking rent,” Singapore’s defense chief said on the sidelines of a security meeting," per Bloomberg.
That's quite an insightful comment. For example, the 'rent' Trump seeks in his business franchises is a payment to be associated with his name. So if he is running the US as a business, you have to pay to be associated with him (mainly) and the US as a power (as a secondary).
Coincidently the same model as the mafia.
In his enfeebled mind, he imagines Trump Ukraine alongside his Trump Gaza franchise.
I have a strong opinion that if it comes down to penalties, if you have had a player sent off in the game, you lose a pen. There should be a consequence of losing your head...
NATO chief: Zelenskyy must 'find a way' to fix ties with Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must "find a way" to restore his relationship with US counterpart Donald Trump, NATO chief Mark Rutte told the BBC on Saturday, a day after Zelenskyy and Trump clashed at the White House.
Rutte said that he had told Zelenskyy: "You have to find a way, dear Volodymyr, to restore your relationship with Donald Trump and the American administration."
Unfortunately Reeves is half a loaf short of a picnic.
Oh, it was a typo?
Has familiarity bread contempt?
A rye observation.
The original comment was a lot more sour, dough.
I can’t make khachapuri into a pun sadly, but I’ve just been to the local Ukrainian-Georgian shop and come out with some along with kinkhali, some Georgian wine and some over-priced curd cheese.
Was there an effort to make a pun? If so, it failed as I saw naan there.
"Asian perspectives of the US have shifted from a country once perceived as a force of “moral legitimacy” to something akin to “a landlord seeking rent,” Singapore’s defense chief said on the sidelines of a security meeting," per Bloomberg.
That's quite an insightful comment. For example, the 'rent' Trump seeks in his business franchises is a payment to be associated with his name. So if he is running the US as a business, you have to pay to be associated with him (mainly) and the US as a power (as a secondary).
Coincidently the same model as the mafia.
In his enfeebled mind, he imagines Trump Ukraine alongside his Trump Gaza franchise.
I have a strong opinion that if it comes down to penalties, if you have had a player sent off in the game, you lose a pen. There should be a consequence of losing your head...
Was just sent this nice example of grifting by an old school friend who lives in the US.
Corruption out in the open: the criminals becoming the oligarchs - by invitation. The Securities and Exchange Commission has stopped its prosecution of Justin Sun, a Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur who had been charged in March 2023 with securities fraud. After Trump was elected in 2024, Sun bought $30 million worth of Trump’s World Liberty Financial crypto tokens, putting $18 million directly into Trump’s pockets. Since then, he has invested another $45 million in WLF. Altogether, Sun’s investments have netted Trump more than $50 million. SEC also appears to have dropped its case against the crypto trading platform Coinbase after the platform donated $75 million to a political action committee associated with Trump and donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.
It's astonishing that in the land of supposed checks and balances this kind of fraud is flourishing so openly. It's like they genuinely have no idea why the US has been such an attractive investment destination and how easily that reputation can be trashed. In the weeks since Trump's inauguration we have seen the very idea of America dying before our eyes, it's incredible.
Isn't it famously the land of LACK of checks and balances?
Quite a few states have theoretically abolished the death penalty, but quite willingly carry it out without any form of judicial supervision. Ditto torture.
Much as I enjoy grimdark, dystopian, novels, I see them as depicting societies you don't want to belong to, not as a blueprint for government, unlike Vance & co.
Trump and Vance had got themselves into a pickle by imagining they could do a quick fix to an intractable situation they had not found out about, and this is their way of getting out whilst blaming another party. 10 minutes.
NATO chief: Zelenskyy must 'find a way' to fix ties with Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must "find a way" to restore his relationship with US counterpart Donald Trump, NATO chief Mark Rutte told the BBC on Saturday, a day after Zelenskyy and Trump clashed at the White House.
Rutte said that he had told Zelenskyy: "You have to find a way, dear Volodymyr, to restore your relationship with Donald Trump and the American administration."
Rutte is speaking with a forked tongue. Was he trained by the BBC? Did he not see the Oval Office mugging? Rutte is asking Zelensky to herd a bunch of particularly vicious cats. Rutte needs to wade in and earn his substantial salary.
What really seemed to upset Vance and Trump was Zelensky campaigning in Pennsylvania for the Democrats and that wasn't, in fairness, the smartest move. Thank goodness none of our parties were stupid enough to send supporters to campaign for Harris.
I agree this was definitely a trigger. In that context it's funny that Starmer got away with Labour's actions. Once again it shows that this was a hatchet job on Z.
Starmer didn't get away with anything Trump and Vance are seriously harsh about Starmer's restricting free speech and the Apple backdoor nonsense
Watch the WHOLE press conference
I mean specifically the Labour representatives going to campaign for Harris. I didn't see Trump or Vance use that against Starmer; did I miss it?
I think that all of this is a series of tactical exaggerations / misrepresentations, tbh.
Here is an FT piece about a group of Republicans coming to the UK in 2015 to help the Tories campaign in marginal seats. Campaigning with sister parties over the pond is just normal, and has been so since the time of Mrs Thatcher, and perhaps earlier (I wasn't around). https://www.ft.com/content/48d94f08-e82b-11e4-9960-00144feab7de
The President of Ukraine visiting a US Munitions plant with a representative of the US Govt to thank the workers for making shells for his country is actually exactly what Vance was demanding, ie gratitude. The issue is perhaps the Vance fantasises about the state as politicised against him. Vance's demands about "have you thanked us" are nonsense, the USA already having been thanked again at the start of the meeting. I say Vance's upset is entirely tactical.
The free speech stuff is weird. The examples in Vance's Munich speech were fabrications - whether because he's manipulating or because he's ignorant I cannot tell. "Facebook poster jailed for hurty words" claims I have seen have almost all been for far more serious offences, such as calling for hotels full of brown people to be burnt down with the brown people still in them. That's an attempted wedge issue by elements on the Right of our politics, in the hope of using talking points that used to belong to the BNP and similar to build a support base.
IMO it's all mainly Trump & Vance reacting to images they have projected on the inside of their own heads, or a deliberate political tactic. Vance gets seriously harsh when anyone refuses to kneel down and lick the boots.
Bollocks, people ARE doing jailtime for social media, and cops are knocking on doors for literally NON crime "hate incidents"
Free speech is under attack in the UK in a way we have not seen in many decades. Meanwhile we suddenly have a de facto blasphemy law that only protects Islam
There are many reasons to abhor Trump, one of them - for me - is this: his oafish, New Jersey Mafia Don impression is slowing the advance of the new right that will reverse all this shit. Cf Canada
It feels to me like Western Democracy - the amazing fruit of the Enlightenment - is dying.
What is clear is that Europe, plus Canada, Australia & NZ - these places will be the last bastions of Western Democracy, not the US.
The imminent failure of the US as key pillar of democarcy on the alt-right, no one else.
It really is dying. The stats don't lie
EIU’s 2024 Democracy Index: trend of global democratic decline and strengthening authoritarianism continues through 2024
Not much of a surprise. Full democracies has never been as numerous as people in the West think, and several places are backsliding. Any going in the other direction need to be celebrated.
I believe, long term, that democracy is dead
Well, we need to change that - pronto - because one thing linked to the death of democracy is a lack of respect for the sanctity of life.
Extra-judicial killings and violence is normal. And that could include you.
A lot of people like the idea of a strong man leader, a leviathan who who won't be constrained by the slowness of democratic systems and will do exactly what they want.
The problem is that one is equally likely to get a strong man leader who shares none of your views and values and who hates people like you: so @Leon ends up with a Jeremy Corbyn strongman, not a Marine Le Pen one.
And, then, of course: how do you get rid of them? The messiness of democracy suddenly looks a lot less unattractive.
What I think we need, though, is to tweak our democratic system so that politicians get the message they're making a mistake quicker. The Chagos deal, for example, is liked by (as far as I can tell) Starmer and... umm... Starmer's mum.
How do we introduce feedback systems around - say EU membership, or Chagos, or shooting up immigration, so that politicians can make smaller decisions quicker (incrementalism) rather than making massive changes (often over-corrections) every four years.
The one organisation in Western politics that has shown it has the ability to dispatch failing leaders quickly is the Conservative party, so perhaps we should expand the 1922 Committee model to national government.
We could let Graham Brady veto policies at his discretion if he receives an undisclosed number of letters.
Nit exactly been an unalloyed success for the Tories, has it ? Do you actually have a favoured electoral system, or do you just prefer shitposting ?
NATO chief: Zelenskyy must 'find a way' to fix ties with Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must "find a way" to restore his relationship with US counterpart Donald Trump, NATO chief Mark Rutte told the BBC on Saturday, a day after Zelenskyy and Trump clashed at the White House.
Rutte said that he had told Zelenskyy: "You have to find a way, dear Volodymyr, to restore your relationship with Donald Trump and the American administration."
Rutte is speaking with a forked tongue. Was he trained by the BBC? Did he not see the Oval Office mugging? Rutte is asking Zelensky to herd a bunch of particularly vicious cats. Rutte needs to wade in and earn his substantial salary.
Rutte is speaking the truth, whether you and I like it or not.
The pictures of Starmer and Zelensky are quite moving.
NATO chief: Zelenskyy must 'find a way' to fix ties with Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must "find a way" to restore his relationship with US counterpart Donald Trump, NATO chief Mark Rutte told the BBC on Saturday, a day after Zelenskyy and Trump clashed at the White House.
Rutte said that he had told Zelenskyy: "You have to find a way, dear Volodymyr, to restore your relationship with Donald Trump and the American administration."
But how useful? Suppose Rutte had said 'Dear Mr Trump, top NATO power POTUS, you must find a way to stop doing everything Putin tells you to'.
Or perhaps we might say 'Mr Rutte, head of NATO you must find a way of decisively winning WWIII if it starts next week with the USA on the other side'.
Or 'Mr Rutte, you are head of NATO, please get Trump into line by Tuesday'.
All easy to say. Could it be that Mr Z has enough to do, and twenty European heads of state (population 400,000,000) should start ganging up on Mr Trump and do some of the dirty work themselves?
NATO chief: Zelenskyy must 'find a way' to fix ties with Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must "find a way" to restore his relationship with US counterpart Donald Trump, NATO chief Mark Rutte told the BBC on Saturday, a day after Zelenskyy and Trump clashed at the White House.
Rutte said that he had told Zelenskyy: "You have to find a way, dear Volodymyr, to restore your relationship with Donald Trump and the American administration."
But how useful? Suppose Rutte had said 'Dear Mr Trump, top NATO power POTUS, you must find a way to stop doing everything Putin tells you to'.
Or perhaps we might say 'Mr Rutte, head of NATO you must find a way of decisively winning WWIII if it starts next week with the USA on the other side'.
Or 'Mr Rutte, you are head of NATO, please get Trump into line by Tuesday'.
All easy to say. Could it be that Mr Z has enough to do, and twenty European heads of state (population 400,000,000) should start ganging up on Mr Trump and do some of the dirty work themselves?
And should have been doing so from 2016 if not 2014.
Trump and Vance had got themselves into a pickle by imagining they could do a quick fix to an intractable situation they had not found out about, and this is their way of getting out whilst blaming another party. 10 minutes.
Yep, Trump talking a few weeks ago about ending the war in a day by threatening Russia with 'sanctions' showed laughable ignorance. He probably also only realised too late that signing a minerals deal with Ukraine wouldn't actually stop the fighting, so they had to blame Zelenskyy for Trump's abject failure to 'end the war in 24 hours'. Pathetic.
Zelenskyy is apparently going to meet King Charles tomorrow . I’m really pleased about that and good to see Starmer pushing the boat out to make Zelenskyy feel loved which is true of how the vast majority of Brits feel about him .
Hopefully the vast majority of British people don't feel anything so nauseatingly un-British.
A small nation standing up to a dictator is pretty much the origin myth of the British people.
It's all about 'owning the libs' for Luckyguy. Same can be said for JD Vance, to be honest.
JD Vance and Luckyguy1983 ever been seen in the same room?
I thought I recognised him in the OvalOffice during the frat-boy mugging of the President of Ukraine.
I have been fairly agnostic about Ukraine, but after this week I am flying the flag, something I don't believe disingenous Putin- Trump shill @williamglenn should be doing.
Zelenskyy is apparently going to meet King Charles tomorrow . I’m really pleased about that and good to see Starmer pushing the boat out to make Zelenskyy feel loved which is true of how the vast majority of Brits feel about him .
Hopefully the vast majority of British people don't feel anything so nauseatingly un-British.
A small nation standing up to a dictator is pretty much the origin myth of the British people.
It's all about 'owning the libs' for Luckyguy. Same can be said for JD Vance, to be honest.
JD Vance and Luckyguy1983 ever been seen in the same room?
I thought I recognised him in the OvalOffice during the frat-boy mugging of the President of Ukraine.
I have been fairly agnostic about Ukraine, but after this week I am flying the flag, something I don't believe disingenous Putin- Trump shill @williamglenn should be doing.
NATO chief: Zelenskyy must 'find a way' to fix ties with Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must "find a way" to restore his relationship with US counterpart Donald Trump, NATO chief Mark Rutte told the BBC on Saturday, a day after Zelenskyy and Trump clashed at the White House.
Rutte said that he had told Zelenskyy: "You have to find a way, dear Volodymyr, to restore your relationship with Donald Trump and the American administration."
Rutte is speaking with a forked tongue. Was he trained by the BBC? Did he not see the Oval Office mugging? Rutte is asking Zelensky to herd a bunch of particularly vicious cats. Rutte needs to wade in and earn his substantial salary.
Rutte is speaking the truth, whether you and I like it or not.
The pictures of Starmer and Zelensky are quite moving.
Trump's pitch needs to be rolled, but pressure should be brought to bear by others on Ukraine's behalf. Trump is lost in a foggy haze of "Zelensky disrespected me by not wearing a suit and is friends with Hunter Biden".
NATO chief: Zelenskyy must 'find a way' to fix ties with Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must "find a way" to restore his relationship with US counterpart Donald Trump, NATO chief Mark Rutte told the BBC on Saturday, a day after Zelenskyy and Trump clashed at the White House.
Rutte said that he had told Zelenskyy: "You have to find a way, dear Volodymyr, to restore your relationship with Donald Trump and the American administration."
But how useful? Suppose Rutte had said 'Dear Mr Trump, top NATO power POTUS, you must find a way to stop doing everything Putin tells you to'.
Or perhaps we might say 'Mr Rutte, head of NATO you must find a way of decisively winning WWIII if it starts next week with the USA on the other side'.
Or 'Mr Rutte, you are head of NATO, please get Trump into line by Tuesday'.
All easy to say. Could it be that Mr Z has enough to do, and twenty European heads of state (population 400,000,000) should start ganging up on Mr Trump and do some of the dirty work themselves?
And should have been doing so from 2016 if not 2014.
Yes. What looks like possibly the case - USA is not on the same side as the free west - is utterly tragic, and I hope it can be turned round. But this requires no more Mr Nice Guy from western heads of state, and a clear acceptance that even though it seems horrible and impossible, the biggest burden must if needed be borne by Germany, France, UK, Poland etc.
UK and France have nuclear defences not for use but for real reasons. What appears to be occurring now is one of them.
HMG should buy him a tailored Anthony Sinclair (Sean Connery's James Bond's tailor) suit for the meeting with Chas just to piss off the orange monster.
It’s time the media stopped calling the stain on humanity the leader of the free world .
Only today people are being fired from Voice of America because they’re not showing enough cowering to Trump .
This is how it all starts, the media become more and more frightened of repercussions and start sanewashing what’s happening .
The only free speech the far right like is one they agree with .
The media have been sane washing him a fair bit all the way through the campaign to be honest. He was treated as just another GOP candidate for POTUS and not the threat he literally told them he was.
"To the extent you feel you can define it, what’s the Trump doctrine?
Part of the problem with Trump is that he is so mercurial. He’s so idiosyncratic that, just when you think you figured out the Trump doctrine, he goes and says something that kind of sounds like the opposite of the Trump doctrine. But I do think that there is one coherent worldview that Trump seems to espouse and has espoused for a long time. The first ad he took out when he was a real estate developer was in 1987. It was an ad about how Japan was ripping us off economically and Europe was ripping us off by free-riding on security. And what that represents, fundamentally, is a rejection of the open international system that the United States and Europe have built over the last eight decades."
"To the extent you feel you can define it, what’s the Trump doctrine?
Part of the problem with Trump is that he is so mercurial. He’s so idiosyncratic that, just when you think you figured out the Trump doctrine, he goes and says something that kind of sounds like the opposite of the Trump doctrine. But I do think that there is one coherent worldview that Trump seems to espouse and has espoused for a long time. The first ad he took out when he was a real estate developer was in 1987. It was an ad about how Japan was ripping us off economically and Europe was ripping us off by free-riding on security. And what that represents, fundamentally, is a rejection of the open international system that the United States and Europe have built over the last eight decades."
Trump’s first visit to Russia was in 1987.
I know it’s considered paranoiac to claim that Trump is a Russian operative but he certainly behaves like it much of the time.
What really seemed to upset Vance and Trump was Zelensky campaigning in Pennsylvania for the Democrats and that wasn't, in fairness, the smartest move. Thank goodness none of our parties were stupid enough to send supporters to campaign for Harris.
I agree this was definitely a trigger. In that context it's funny that Starmer got away with Labour's actions. Once again it shows that this was a hatchet job on Z.
Starmer didn't get away with anything Trump and Vance are seriously harsh about Starmer's restricting free speech and the Apple backdoor nonsense
Watch the WHOLE press conference
I mean specifically the Labour representatives going to campaign for Harris. I didn't see Trump or Vance use that against Starmer; did I miss it?
I think that all of this is a series of tactical exaggerations / misrepresentations, tbh.
Here is an FT piece about a group of Republicans coming to the UK in 2015 to help the Tories campaign in marginal seats. Campaigning with sister parties over the pond is just normal, and has been so since the time of Mrs Thatcher, and perhaps earlier (I wasn't around). https://www.ft.com/content/48d94f08-e82b-11e4-9960-00144feab7de
The President of Ukraine visiting a US Munitions plant with a representative of the US Govt to thank the workers for making shells for his country is actually exactly what Vance was demanding, ie gratitude. The issue is perhaps the Vance fantasises about the state as politicised against him. Vance's demands about "have you thanked us" are nonsense, the USA already having been thanked again at the start of the meeting. I say Vance's upset is entirely tactical.
The free speech stuff is weird. The examples in Vance's Munich speech were fabrications - whether because he's manipulating or because he's ignorant I cannot tell. "Facebook poster jailed for hurty words" claims I have seen have almost all been for far more serious offences, such as calling for hotels full of brown people to be burnt down with the brown people still in them. That's an attempted wedge issue by elements on the Right of our politics, in the hope of using talking points that used to belong to the BNP and similar to build a support base.
IMO it's all mainly Trump & Vance reacting to images they have projected on the inside of their own heads, or a deliberate political tactic. Vance gets seriously harsh when anyone refuses to kneel down and lick the boots.
Bollocks, people ARE doing jailtime for social media, and cops are knocking on doors for literally NON crime "hate incidents"
Free speech is under attack in the UK in a way we have not seen in many decades. Meanwhile we suddenly have a de facto blasphemy law that only protects Islam
There are many reasons to abhor Trump, one of them - for me - is this: his oafish, New Jersey Mafia Don impression is slowing the advance of the new right that will reverse all this shit. Cf Canada
It feels to me like Western Democracy - the amazing fruit of the Enlightenment - is dying.
What is clear is that Europe, plus Canada, Australia & NZ - these places will be the last bastions of Western Democracy, not the US.
The imminent failure of the US as key pillar of democarcy on the alt-right, no one else.
It really is dying. The stats don't lie
EIU’s 2024 Democracy Index: trend of global democratic decline and strengthening authoritarianism continues through 2024
Not much of a surprise. Full democracies has never been as numerous as people in the West think, and several places are backsliding. Any going in the other direction need to be celebrated.
I believe, long term, that democracy is dead
Well, we need to change that - pronto - because one thing linked to the death of democracy is a lack of respect for the sanctity of life.
Extra-judicial killings and violence is normal. And that could include you.
A lot of people like the idea of a strong man leader, a leviathan who who won't be constrained by the slowness of democratic systems and will do exactly what they want.
The problem is that one is equally likely to get a strong man leader who shares none of your views and values and who hates people like you: so @Leon ends up with a Jeremy Corbyn strongman, not a Marine Le Pen one.
And, then, of course: how do you get rid of them? The messiness of democracy suddenly looks a lot less unattractive.
What I think we need, though, is to tweak our democratic system so that politicians get the message they're making a mistake quicker. The Chagos deal, for example, is liked by (as far as I can tell) Starmer and... umm... Starmer's mum.
How do we introduce feedback systems around - say EU membership, or Chagos, or shooting up immigration, so that politicians can make smaller decisions quicker (incrementalism) rather than making massive changes (often over-corrections) every four years.
The one organisation in Western politics that has shown it has the ability to dispatch failing leaders quickly is the Conservative party, so perhaps we should expand the 1922 Committee model to national government.
We could let Graham Brady veto policies at his discretion if he receives an undisclosed number of letters.
William the quality of your trolling comes and goes, but this is top notch stuff. Chapeau.
Zelensky should wear what he thinks is appropriate.
A tee shirt with **** off you orange **** printed on it?
Yes, nothing could help Ukraine more at this moment than pissing off the thin skinned leader of the most powerful military in the world so we can giggle about the LOLs.
"To the extent you feel you can define it, what’s the Trump doctrine?
Part of the problem with Trump is that he is so mercurial. He’s so idiosyncratic that, just when you think you figured out the Trump doctrine, he goes and says something that kind of sounds like the opposite of the Trump doctrine. But I do think that there is one coherent worldview that Trump seems to espouse and has espoused for a long time. The first ad he took out when he was a real estate developer was in 1987. It was an ad about how Japan was ripping us off economically and Europe was ripping us off by free-riding on security. And what that represents, fundamentally, is a rejection of the open international system that the United States and Europe have built over the last eight decades."
Trump’s first visit to Russia was in 1987.
I know it’s considered paranoiac to claim that Trump is a Russian operative but he certainly behaves like it much of the time.
Robert Harris wrote ‘The Ghost’, loosely modelled on the Blair’s, with the idea that the PMs wife was an agent of a foreign power and had been from the start. But that’s fiction. Does anyone seriously believe that Trump is a Russian agent? The more prosaic explanation is that he is a massive arse who wants the put USA first. Unpalatable as it is to us in Europe there is an element of truth to the idea that Western Europe has had an easy ride with the US playing role of global peacekeeper. Countries like Ireland, for instance, absolutely take the piss assured that Britain will defend them, and many Americans will say the same about Europe. Isolationism in the US isn’t a new thing, after all.
Zelensky should wear what he thinks is appropriate.
A tee shirt with **** off you orange **** printed on it?
Yes, nothing could help Ukraine more at this moment than pissing off the thin skinned leader of the most powerful military in the world so we can giggle about the LOLs.
It's not clear that kowtowing or imploring him helps either.
Perhaps we're better off admitting that US support for Ukraine is over, and working out how we can help move the frontline so that Ukraine is negotiating from a position of strength.
I do wonder if the right answer is simply for Europe - the US, France, Germany and Poland - to deploy troops to Ukraine. Now, sure, that means the end of NATO, but candidly isn't it over anyway? Does anyway truly believe that the US would send troops to defend Estonia?
Zelensky should wear what he thinks is appropriate.
A tee shirt with **** off you orange **** printed on it?
Yes, nothing could help Ukraine more at this moment than pissing off the thin skinned leader of the most powerful military in the world so we can giggle about the LOLs.
It's not clear that kowtowing or imploring him helps either.
Perhaps we're better off admitting that US support for Ukraine is over, and working out how we can help move the frontline so that Ukraine is negotiating from a position of strength.
I do wonder if the right answer is simply for Europe - the UK, France, Germany and Poland - to deploy troops to Ukraine. Now, sure, that means the end of NATO, but candidly isn't it over anyway? Does anyway truly believe that the US would send troops to defend Estonia?
"To the extent you feel you can define it, what’s the Trump doctrine?
Part of the problem with Trump is that he is so mercurial. He’s so idiosyncratic that, just when you think you figured out the Trump doctrine, he goes and says something that kind of sounds like the opposite of the Trump doctrine. But I do think that there is one coherent worldview that Trump seems to espouse and has espoused for a long time. The first ad he took out when he was a real estate developer was in 1987. It was an ad about how Japan was ripping us off economically and Europe was ripping us off by free-riding on security. And what that represents, fundamentally, is a rejection of the open international system that the United States and Europe have built over the last eight decades."
Trump’s first visit to Russia was in 1987.
I know it’s considered paranoiac to claim that Trump is a Russian operative but he certainly behaves like it much of the time.
Robert Harris wrote ‘The Ghost’, loosely modelled on the Blair’s, with the idea that the PMs wife was an agent of a foreign power and had been from the start. But that’s fiction. Does anyone seriously believe that Trump is a Russian agent? The more prosaic explanation is that he is a massive arse who wants the put USA first. Unpalatable as it is to us in Europe there is an element of truth to the idea that Western Europe has had an easy ride with the US playing role of global peacekeeper. Countries like Ireland, for instance, absolutely take the piss assured that Britain will defend them, and many Americans will say the same about Europe. Isolationism in the US isn’t a new thing, after all.
It would be much better if Trump wanted to put America first.
The problem is that Trump wants to put Trump first.
On another subject. The BBC has stated (is it true @Jim_Miller) that VP is a ceremonial position and as such has no political weight at all. If so, it appears to suggest that Vance has been promised something by the people behind the people and has shown his hand.
Wonder how Trump will respond over time to the threat from within.
Zelensky should wear what he thinks is appropriate.
A tee shirt with **** off you orange **** printed on it?
Yes, nothing could help Ukraine more at this moment than pissing off the thin skinned leader of the most powerful military in the world so we can giggle about the LOLs.
True, buts that’s the level of insight we now get here.
Zelensky should wear what he thinks is appropriate.
A tee shirt with **** off you orange **** printed on it?
Yes, nothing could help Ukraine more at this moment than pissing off the thin skinned leader of the most powerful military in the world so we can giggle about the LOLs.
I omitted to mention the printed picture of the Trump in his diaper inflatable. That should do the trick.
"To the extent you feel you can define it, what’s the Trump doctrine?
Part of the problem with Trump is that he is so mercurial. He’s so idiosyncratic that, just when you think you figured out the Trump doctrine, he goes and says something that kind of sounds like the opposite of the Trump doctrine. But I do think that there is one coherent worldview that Trump seems to espouse and has espoused for a long time. The first ad he took out when he was a real estate developer was in 1987. It was an ad about how Japan was ripping us off economically and Europe was ripping us off by free-riding on security. And what that represents, fundamentally, is a rejection of the open international system that the United States and Europe have built over the last eight decades."
Trump’s first visit to Russia was in 1987.
I know it’s considered paranoiac to claim that Trump is a Russian operative but he certainly behaves like it much of the time.
Robert Harris wrote ‘The Ghost’, loosely modelled on the Blair’s, with the idea that the PMs wife was an agent of a foreign power and had been from the start. But that’s fiction. Does anyone seriously believe that Trump is a Russian agent? The more prosaic explanation is that he is a massive arse who wants the put USA first. Unpalatable as it is to us in Europe there is an element of truth to the idea that Western Europe has had an easy ride with the US playing role of global peacekeeper. Countries like Ireland, for instance, absolutely take the piss assured that Britain will defend them, and many Americans will say the same about Europe. Isolationism in the US isn’t a new thing, after all.
It would be much better if Trump wanted to put America first.
The problem is that Trump wants to put Trump first.
Imagine a Federal Europe with a huge military under central command and control. Game changer.
It would be a disaster, we would have a single point of failure just like we do in America. Imagine that military being controlled by a European Trump, Orban or Schroder.
Why would you possibly want that?
Far better to imagine a coalition of European nations that actually spend a decent amount on their militaries each, who can work together.
Comments
Oh, it was a typo?
I really wish we could say to the US thanks for the initial attempt in peace talks but Mr Trump as you said yourself this really is Europe’s problem so we’ll take it from here !
At the same time freeze all those Russian assets and use them to help Ukraine .
In an ideal world we’d have the military resources to do that . We need to do something though to disempower Trump from shafting Ukraine .
European leaders need to step up tomorrow .
That's why they take criticism of the strong man so personally, and find a way to justify everything they do.
And to whoever flagged Leon's comment, if you were doing it to defend me then thanks but it really isn't necessary. I long ago got the measure of Leon's rather fragile ego.
https://x.com/rodneymarshall1/status/1895820854904438901?s=61
Well, it's a view.
Coincidently the same model as the mafia.
Take Zelensky on an impromptu tour of Aldermaston.
When the press asks, talk about exports.
-£90m per year with an equivalent discount from the US on military spending
- £18bn
Hard not to be leading the witness one way or the other here.....
Democracy delivers the best balance known so far of the merits of the theory along with minimising the demerits. In particular it provides a possibility of a culture in which the 'strong man' ie the government can both protect us and hold a monopoly of lawful violence, and crucially be replaced non violently by another strong man. We are, I think, noticing that it has other effects, such as marginalising the significance of the 'warrior class'. Or subjecting a dim populace to high levels of manipulation as the easiest and cheapest way of gaining the greasy pole.
So, a nuclear armed non USA western world, 600,000,000 strong is terrified of facing 140,000,000 Russians without help.
NATO chief: Zelenskyy must 'find a way' to fix ties with Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must "find a way" to restore his relationship with US counterpart Donald Trump, NATO chief Mark Rutte told the BBC on Saturday, a day after Zelenskyy and Trump clashed at the White House.
Rutte said that he had told Zelenskyy: "You have to find a way, dear Volodymyr, to restore your relationship with Donald Trump and the American administration."
https://www.reevethebaker.co.uk
Quite a few states have theoretically abolished the death penalty, but quite willingly carry it out without any form of judicial supervision. Ditto torture.
Much as I enjoy grimdark, dystopian, novels, I see them as depicting societies you don't want to belong to, not as a blueprint for government, unlike Vance & co.
Trump and Vance had got themselves into a pickle by imagining they could do a quick fix to an intractable situation they had not found out about, and this is their way of getting out whilst blaming another party. 10 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaCbUtTuLhA
Do you actually have a favoured electoral system, or do you just prefer shitposting ?
The pictures of Starmer and Zelensky are quite moving.
Or perhaps we might say 'Mr Rutte, head of NATO you must find a way of decisively winning WWIII if it starts next week with the USA on the other side'.
Or 'Mr Rutte, you are head of NATO, please get Trump into line by Tuesday'.
All easy to say. Could it be that Mr Z has enough to do, and twenty European heads of state (population 400,000,000) should start ganging up on Mr Trump and do some of the dirty work themselves?
I have been fairly agnostic about Ukraine, but after this week I am flying the flag, something I don't believe disingenous Putin- Trump shill @williamglenn should be doing.
Only today people are being fired from Voice of America because they’re not showing enough cowering to Trump .
This is how it all starts, the media become more and more frightened of repercussions and start sanewashing what’s happening .
The only free speech the far right like is one they agree with .
Should he wear a suit..?
Furthermore, Charles should go for the English Nobility on Sunday look- seventy year old tweed held together with string.
Show those upstarts across the Atlantic what proper class looks like.
Don’t think Chuck could pull off a onesie.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-fareed-zakaria.html
UK and France have nuclear defences not for use but for real reasons. What appears to be occurring now is one of them.
What i do find astonishing, though, is the extent to which suppressors of free speech parade themselves as champions of it.
Zelensky should wear what he thinks is appropriate.
Now it will just intensify.
"To the extent you feel you can define it, what’s the Trump doctrine?
Part of the problem with Trump is that he is so mercurial. He’s so idiosyncratic that, just when you think you figured out the Trump doctrine, he goes and says something that kind of sounds like the opposite of the Trump doctrine.
But I do think that there is one coherent worldview that Trump seems to espouse and has espoused for a long time. The first ad he took out when he was a real estate developer was in 1987. It was an ad about how Japan was ripping us off economically and Europe was ripping us off by free-riding on security. And what that represents, fundamentally, is a rejection of the open international system that the United States and Europe have built over the last eight decades."
I know it’s considered paranoiac to claim that Trump is a Russian operative but he certainly behaves like it much of the time.
Perhaps we're better off admitting that US support for Ukraine is over, and working out how we can help move the frontline so that Ukraine is negotiating from a position of strength.
I do wonder if the right answer is simply for Europe - the US, France, Germany and Poland - to deploy troops to Ukraine. Now, sure, that means the end of NATO, but candidly isn't it over anyway? Does anyway truly believe that the US would send troops to defend Estonia?
But that’s the current reality.
It is the right thing to do and to the credit of successive governments of different parties that it is the case.
The problem is that Trump wants to put Trump first.
Wonder how Trump will respond over time to the threat from within.
*Turnbull & Asser
Why would you possibly want that?
Far better to imagine a coalition of European nations that actually spend a decent amount on their militaries each, who can work together.