Imagine Trump seeing the future
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Nice to see Merkel openly criticise Trump’s ban. That is what a leader who sticks to their principles does. Other European leaders, and even some MP’s, are showing our own PM what real leadership is.
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He is the president of the USA a country we need far more than it needs us . There is no need for Theresa May to make any comment on his directive except seek clarifications on those British citizens it affects which is very few !
Much ado about nothing here ,move on theres nothing to see.
So Prime Ministers or Presidents should never comment on events happening in other countries aside from to the extent that it effects their own citizens?
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We ‘need’ him for a free-trade deal. One that wouldn’t really increase our GDP, and would only open up our market to American pharmicuticals and food products. I’d much rather our PM had a backbone than going cap in hand to the President.
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Yeah Euro leaders are between a rock and hard place - is the “populist” revolution real or is this short-term bluster that will come crashing down after people realize that Trump and the rest of these characters around the world are out of touch?
If they bet wrong, they lose their position… smart ones should be betting against Trump, but a lot of people have been doing that for a while and are now scared to.
Not going to disagree on your May, but calling Merkel a “leader who sticks to their principles” is just utterly incorrect, I’m afraid. She has u-turned on so many issues, from Nuclear engergy to conscription, to Greek debt crisis and, of course the refugee situation. If there ever was a power-hungry politician willing to throw all principles overboard to stay at the top, it’s her.
@ljungbergkamp
I do not have much hope for Europe, to be honest. What is needed in this time, is solidarity among the states and a population that clearly opposes these right-wing tendencies. Both does not exist. Authoritarian governments in Eastern Europe (Poland, Hungary) flat out refuse to take their share of refugees in, Germany vigorously enforces a financial policy destined to split the Union and countries like France and the Netherlands are very close to putting bonafide neo-nazis in power.
Even before the election of Wilders and LePen, the damage is already done. Hatred and xenophobia have become part of most countries again and political discourse has reached the American level of partizanship, where issues do not matter, but what side you’re on.
Anyone who’s followed history for a wee bit, knows that nationalism leads to nothing but misery. One of the first steps towards authoritarian regimes is a brutalization of language and we have that already. Our very own German brand of right-wing populist parties, the AfD (about to get ~20% of the vote come next election) just decided NOT to expel one of their leading politicians, after he called the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin a “memorial of shame” in a recent speech. At the same event, a German judge and also member of the AfD, said Germany needed to be "defended from a creation of “Mischvölker”. I did not translate that into “mixed races”, because as any German will tell you, this rhethoric carries much more weight in German, as it is chillingly familiar.
This book is as relevant today, as it was when it was written (for everybody, regardless of nationality):
Just one example:
Verschärfte Vernehmung (“Intensified interrogation”): torture
I think the US calls it “enhanced interrogation”.
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but then again, anyone who followed history for a wee bit should’ve figured back in 2008 when the global financial crisis struck, that an absolute history classic 101 first episode would tell of how widespread tough economic times lead to fingerpointing leading to far right wing populism, and of how a crisis hitting western countries make them vulnerable to for example a migration crisis happening shortly after, which is exactly what happened (incl. arab spring events).
Then again, most people in my country spent 10 years in school taking history classes about what year some fat king married some fat queen and the names of all the wars and got bored to death, learned to despise history and learned exactly nothing about important overlying chain of events like these that occur almost cyclically and amost everywhere across the planet, yet funnily the main reason it works in countries like mine is that 10 years later when these people grow up and earn their voting right they understand nothing when shit hits the fan because they didn’t get it in school and now they fall for simpleton opportunist populism sweet talk in trying times. I mean, they… those guys… they took our jerrbs. lol.
Actually, I want to lol, but I want to cry more.
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Is he talking about himself?
Jakey I wasnt saying that,but theres enough people throwing shit at Trump as it is why should we get uppity .
But in the grand scheme of things its not so huge and its their issue .
Im more upset that we didnt make noises at the evil Obama when he destroyed and abandoned Libya ,Syria ,and Yemen and urged the Ukraine to revolt before melting when they needed help ,
and helped regime change in Egypt .
I value life more than I value temporary travel bans !
That describes what Trump and people like Farage talk, almost perfectly.
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Their mental cousins run rampant here in Sweden as well, you’re not alone in the US+UK.
No. Look at the date at the bottom. August 2013 
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You’re dead right. I sometimes find myself defending politicians/ideologies that I do not support merely because of the alternatives available. On the issues of refugees I find her position commendable, but I went too far in insinuating that she is principled in other domestic/euro zone policies.
@ljungbergkamp Europe is in a very difficult position right now. I hope that the elections in 2017 provide hope and a new, better, vision for Europe. I somehow doubt it will though. I think populist forces will lose in France and Germany (Netherlands I’m not so sure about), but the issues surrounding Europe will not vanish, especially with Trump in the Whitehouse.
I saw a bit of Guy Verhofstadt talking at Chatham House earlier on. In short; Europe must change or die. I just hope people see this and act in the interests of cooperation and prosperity and not on the short-termism that continues to lead the thinking in the EU
Says it all really about the truth of his motivations.
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I understand the point the graph is making but how exactly have Iraqis not been responsible for any US citizens deaths?
Has anyone seen where those figures are supposed to have come from?
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I understand the rightful uproar caused by any right thinking person against this ban…however, we trade with countries like Saudi Arabia & China, who have awful human rights records…think banning trade with them should be higher up the ladder than banning Twatty Trump is…
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Cretin. I can’t believe I came back into this shit. There are a lot pissed off liberals right now, but guess what? They’ve done it to themselves for staying home and not going out to vote. I hope this idiot gets impeached soon because Pence is at least a little bit more sane.
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Pence is awful too… maybe in different ways. He is a zealot who believes in conversion therapy, etc. for gays and super conservative. Hard not to be better than Trump, but man…
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