Busy Mr Trump

OUT OF HOURS BULLY'S TRUCKSTOP BAR (INTERACTIVE)
501

Well let’s unpick that a little since you ask.

why should trump/ america support nato.
Perhaps because they signed up to Nato recognising that it might just help them out too. That’s what honourable countries do, but Trump is not an honourable person so he is threatening to default on his country’s promise.
You might say that whoever signed up should not have done, in which case there is a proper way to retire from membership, but slinging all kinds of insults as Trump does is not the right way to go about it.

they have paid billions a year into it then have to sort out the europeans time and time again.

Yet when they call on europe to help them (911 afghanistan syria etc) they are shown two fingers pretty much.

Yes it has cost them money, but who said in the first place that it was going to be cheap, and they have the largest economy so it seems only right that they should pay accordingly.
As far as helping out time and again goes, I suppose you are referring to 2 world wars. Well, they did help out from the start with money (loaned to Britain btw, we only finished the last payment in 2003) and material but, quite sensibly in my view, they did not jump in with both feet like Britain (not sensibly, by which I mean we shouldn’t have promised in the first place) did in spite of being unprepared, but waited, building up war production until they were attacked themselves, in both wars.

Who showed 2 fingers? Certainly not Britain, she was on the coat tails of Bush right away. France refused, thank you Jacko, to join in an illegal war which was pursued even after the pretence for it disappeared, the death of Bin Laden

But Trump has got one thing right, and some European countries to their credit are putting it right, Poland, Denmark etc., more should be spent on defence. If that was done we wouldn’t need the clown, Russia has already proved it is a paper tiger, a so called super power that can’t subdue a much smaller neighbour after 3 years of trying, if it is stopped there it certainly can’t go further against Nato in Europe. It is a super power only because of its nuclear status, and, however small, there are 2 nuclear powers in Europe against it.

502

What if Trump and the IQ deficient trailer trash are right and the rest of us are wrong?
Goodness, won’t we feel silly?

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503

I am a fan of Jonathon Pie, and the independent roving reporter has been caught on a hot-mike again.

Warning!
Not suitable for snowflakes and those of a Trumpian disposition.

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504

do you feel silly about how you were all wrong about brexit?

505

Well he was being easy on Frogface i think

506

That article confirms my suspicions that Trump and Putin have a secret deal to carve Europe up between them.
I agree with Robroy, very few if any politicians can be trusted, but most have intelligent advisors to keep them in check. Trump has gotten rid of anyone with any intelligence, surrounding himself with subservient cowards who lack the backbone to keep him in check.

@robroy All politicians are likely to be unpopular with 50%ish of the public. Said politicians are generally self serving, regardless of which side of centre they lean, but they do have a genuine belief in the ethos of their leaning, whilst maintaining various degrees of consideration for the other side, in a democracy.
Now consider the US, the left side of their politics is right of centre, in comparison to Australia, UK and Canada. They have no universal health care, a person can die on a hospital step if they cannot produce health insurance documents, similarly ambulances that are privatized and monetized. Little to no worker protection creating a situation whereby tips are relied upon to make up a living wage. Trump wants to take the US further right, and the poorest are voting for him because he said he won’t tax tips, how magnanimous, what a champion of the poor.

@ all the Trump and hard right fanboys, do you use the NHS or pay for private healthcare? Are you going to collect a state pension or refuse it on ideological grounds.

The above ramblings are my views, no better or worse thananyone else’s. There is an old saying, “you get the government you deserve”, that is becoming less and less true, we are left to vote for the least bad candidate/party these days.
I prefer not to comment on other country’s politics, mainly due to ignorance, the fact that it is none of my business and it has little impact on me, but Trump’s actions have ramifications for the entire world. Trump is not acting as the responsible head of the world, he’s acting as the world’s next tyrant.

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507

:grinning:

He can be quite restrained at times…
A couple of years ago he was really very restrained…only 2 bleeps…doing a piece for the NYT. Similar subject matter, and could (almost) have been made yesterday.

508

Very true.
I don’t know about Aus, but in the US and certainly in the UK, there is a widening gap between left and right.
Twenty or thirty years ago there was not much “clear blue water” between the parties of the left and right, to the extent we had talk of “Blatcherism” and Cameron was the “heir to Blair”.
Now the main parties seem very different indeed.

Is that part of an almost inevitable swinging of a pendulum left/right? Or a symptom of society as a whole becoming more split? Social media exaggerating own views back to us in echo chambers?
I’m sure I don’t know.

I have seen some documentaries on the Aus system and found them very informative, but don’t claim much other knowledge at all.

509

The lunatics are now definitely in charge of the asylum.

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510

No, with good reason, I wasn’t, do you?

511

i didnt but ill bite…

not sure i agree but I do agree that If you want a 5* meal instead of mcdonalds then you have to pay 5* prices. So if america is getting bailed out all the time and using the service then yes they should contribute more if able to.

I didnt say anything about ww1 or ww2 but since you did what you claim about america holding back and preparing is not quite right. They were already at war with the german empire in the mexican border war 1910 - 1919. They were also occupying nicuagua 1912-1933, veracruz 1914 haiti 1915-1934 dominican republic 1016-1924 and fighting the bluff war 1914-1915. After 1918 they continued fighting the russians until 1923.
Do i need to continue with all the peace keeping they did after ww2 like n bosnian and croatian war and kosovo war?

I actually mentioned 9/11 syria and afghanistan all three wars the president went to the un and asked for help was told nope bugger off some countries did support various bits as a country but not the un and definitely not nato.

both hussain and bin laden were in breach of treaties and stock pilling chemical weapons both of which is firmly in the remit of nato and the un.They then had the utmost gall to approach obama and ask for help with iraq (2015)

512

Well, you did actually this

why should trump/ america support nato.
was your question.

Not specifically but what else could you mean, surely not private wars of their own on the American continent? The expedition in Russia after 1918 was not helping out Europe as you put it, it was in support of the outrageous Romanov family which ruled that country in a vile way for years and had had a revolution to get rid of them.

9/11 wasn’t a war but a terrorist attack and in revenge they dragged Britain and others into an illegal war in Afghanistan because the governing power there would not give Bin Laden up. But it was all a sham on their part because once they had killed him they did not leave, mission achieved, they stayed on for years, still illegally.

Bin Laden wasn’t a country he was a terrorist and very few like him make treaties with anyone, and he didn’t. Not sure about Saddam but that started because he invaded Kuwait. Still nowhere near your idea that they were

helping Europe out time after time.

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@star down under.
I’ll read that rather long post you adressed to me later, and get back to you.:smile:

@Franglais The other day you were explaining the ‘real world’ today you are calling people ‘snowflakes’
Save yourself further embarrasment, find a copy of a dictionary quick…and look up ‘ironic’.:joy:

Anyhoo…Seeing as I aint a one trick pony on either a love in, or a hate campaign (like most on this thread) and to show that at least I understand the concept of impartiality I will say this.
I find it a bit surprising and quite alarming that Trump the supposed ‘Leader of the Free World’ is codemning the victim of an illegal invasion …Zelensky.
I can only hope it is some kind of clever strategy and that in 12 months or so time we will look back at a peaceful Ukraine and say …Oh so that is why.
Farage (my hero) says you should take Trump as being forthright but do not take him literally…or words to that effect…paraphrasing.

Dont come back with the bile please ffs, try and control yourselves for a minute, I do get it…That I could be way off and wrong on that one.
But at least unlike at least one on here I will be man enough to admit it.:smile:

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I have my i heart trump t-shirt but its in the laundry I need a spare!

515

Under normal circumstances I would say something along the lines of " the gift that keeps on giving"… on this occasion though, one might wonder when this whole charade is going to stop.

516

The Plot thickens.
Donald Trump was recruited by KGB with codename ‘Krasnov’, claims ex-Soviet spy

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517

The pendulum is definitely swinging to the right all across Europe.
The upcoming elections in Germany could have a “interesting” outcome, not sure what that would mean to the EU as a whole.

518

Agreed, there has been a strong swing to the right in most of Europe, but I would argue that is not because everyone took one step that way, but that some took two steps that way.
(sorry about mixing metaphors)

If Musk spending a visit with Alice Weidel just a few weeks ago boosted her image in both Germany and beyond; will Musk’s more recent antics be a help or a hindrance to her now?
Will the German right now want to be seen as friends of the US right? Or not?
I suspect that the committed right wing voters will be perfectly happy, but that floating voters will be put off.

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519

Trump is a busy man.
He is personally carrying at least one Mexican immigrant worker on his back.

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Another very serious piece here.
Sir Alex Younger, ex-boss of MI.6 and Catherine Belton, FT Moscow correspondent talking to Victoria Derbyshire.
Sensible, calm, and worth a listen.