See earlier post: [spoiler]
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(post shortened)
I’m in favor of investigations. First, let’s get all of the facts out in the open. 2nd, we’ll see who’s bullshitting who. 3rd, we’ll know which news media outlets tried to convince the public/voters that their particular brand of bullshit was truthier than the other news media outlets. 4th, some politician may, or may not, lose their seat/ass/freedom/constituency. 5th, move on to the next alleged scandal.
That is total bollocks and I suspect that you know it. If there was any attempt at a military solution, it would tip Kim over the edge and he would unleash his enormous conventional firepower at SK. This would provoke a reaction and when he finally realises that all is lost, Kim would send a nuke to Seol. What happens after that is anyone’s guess.
Donald Trump would not be the first American to havea friendly visit go horribly wrong.
actually even before trump won the election didn’t parliament actually have a session on whether to ban trump in the uk and commonwealth?
And the ones who wanted to ban him almost pulled it off ?
When you have Tory MPs, who would normally be sympathetic to Republicans in general, as horrified as anyone from the left of centre, about his re-tweeting those videos from that source, and his continued insistence in response, then you can take it there will be any number of reasons to kick the whole idea of a state visit into the long grass - “too busy to give it our full attention”, what with the royal wedding and the upcoming royal baby, not to mention the Brexit negotiations entering an even more difficult phase, the prospect of another general election at any moment.
It’s not just general disapproval of him as a man and a politician, it’s the specific insult he’s offered to us and our hapless government. The official line doesn’t have to be more than mildly disappointed - but surely someone could tell him that if you want someone to make a fuss of you, you don’t tell them you know better than them what’s going on in their own country and cite a bunch of lying neo-Nazis as your source.
What Trump has done is re-tweet the caption editing propaganda of an organisation that is similar to the KKK in its politics. Giving oxygen to these hate-mongers.
If he visits the UK, he will be assured a very warm welcome by the large numbers of people who would relish the opportunity to express their opinion of him and his twittter nonsense. He would have to be kept well out of the way of the public. Much as many people here admire the US as a country and people, Trump seems to represent a very ugly side of US politics. While politicians are obliged to give him the honours expected of the head of state of a superpower and the royals will have to do their bit. It will be through gritted teeth.
On the other hand, there is a royal wedding to look forward to in the spring with a Prince marrying a nice American actress. That will be a welcome distraction from a US presidency that is being run like a bad reality TV show.
This. 1000 times this.
I do read Breitbart, not because I like it, but because I think I have a responsibility to make an effort to know what’s being said in different circles. So I tried an experiment. I made some comments on some of the stories where I asked some questions about policies and pointed out when something in the story wasn’t supported by the facts. I provided cites, and I went out of my way to be polite and respectful. I never criticized Trump directly.
It didn’t matter. The fact that I wasn’t 100% on board as a Trump zealot, that I didn’t treat it all with the deference of a religion, just got me called all sorts of names and attacked rather nastily. Now, this doesn’t bother me, but it actually is a little disturbing just how much their support is about the person himself, and what they like is when he’s a jerk.
No, I think you’re right. I report into the UK and most of my team is there. I’ve not met a single person there who likes him. Even a couple of colleagues who supported Brexit don’t like him.
A little disturbing?
This is what I see too. They actually like the man and look up to him. They like that he is a narcissistic clueless moron. But they don’t see him that way. They see him as some sort of hard hitting deal maker. Admiring a person like Trump speaks volumes about your own personality. And/or your complete inability to see beyond flash and bullshit.
Those who read Breitbart are waging a culture war, and Trump is their William Wallace.
I checked out Breitbart. This is “Crush your enemies under your chariot wheels and hear the lamentation of their women” stuff.
Remember: There’s No Such Thing as Facts.
You just have to have people believe you on election day.
Going back to the tweets, I think one thing to appreciate is just how much it took for the PM’s office to release that statement, mildly criticizing the US president.
The UK has always worked extremely hard on our relationship with the US, and with Brexit looming, it’s very important we keep the economic ties strong (if nothing else).
A PM is *never *going to just randomly tweet tough talk. Her statement would have been the result of several meetings in which the need to remain a close ally of the US was balanced against the possibility of civil unrest if the PM handwaved support for a neo-nazi group.
I’m sure now there will be discussions on whether we should rescind that invitation, and what Trump would need to do to force our hand on that. Plus how chummy we need to look to not annoy trump or conservatives vs not look like we’re on the wrong side of history.
The UK Parliament can certainly have a session, and vote on whether to ban Trump in the UK. But their power ends with the UK; they cannot dictate to the various independent countries of the Commonwealth.
And I believe it was just a debate triggered by the Speaker saying that if Trump came, he wouldn’t be invited to address the Commons. I don’t think it was an attempt to ban him.
I think the attitude to Trump will be quite hostile if he’s spending his time in London, there he’s going to get hammered. It’s quite out of touch with the rest of the country, and the Tories that are there will probably be busy working.
I hear he’s used to that.
In contradiction to my earlier post the trip is scheduled for February 26-27 with the opening of the new American embassy in London: