tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post6434562061850054181..comments2024-03-22T05:20:44.167-07:00Comments on The Disaffected Lib: Putin Couldn't Have a Better AllyThe Mound of Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-63371628041236594072017-06-02T19:45:39.576-07:002017-06-02T19:45:39.576-07:00PLG said: "Angela Merkel has been on board wi...PLG said: "Angela Merkel has been on board with all of that"<br /><br />Yup. Licking the boots of an Uncle. But, what goes around comes around. Million migrants in Germany, courtesy of... the Uncle! Karma...<br />A..non<br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-66644239376018745242017-06-01T12:15:14.823-07:002017-06-01T12:15:14.823-07:00Of course. Making genuine points is a waste of ti...Of course. Making genuine points is a waste of time, but nasty ad hominem is not. I think you've made yourself clear.<br /><br />Mound, while it's certainly true that I have social anarchist leanings, my assessment above doesn't really depend on those. That the European variant of neoliberal austerity has been a disaster is hardly a secret; realizing that alternative policies which up until recently were mainstream would have been far better requires only a smattering of Keynesianism. Germany has been the strongest force in the EU for some time and the key driver of those austerity policies, and Angela Merkel has been the boss of Germany through most of the financial crisis and its aftermath. That would make her, as I say, "more responsible than any other single person for the economic debacle of Europe for the past 10 years". One can talk about people like Schauble who are more obviously predatory, but he's in her cabinet; the buck doesn't stop with him.<br /><br />As to imperialism, all one has to do is look at the catalogue of NATO aggression over the last while to realize that the key driver of instability, refugee crises and simple mass death in the world over the last 20+ years has been the United States and its allies. Look at the death toll in Iraq and Afghanistan, Libya and Syria and Yeman and so on, and the widening shockwaves of instability radiating from them. Nobody else and no other factor (so far not even global warming itself) comes close. None of this is a secret that only radicals get to find out about, neither are the facts themselves controversial. One can be capitalist through and through and still, if one has a bit of moral courage, confront those facts and begin to think about their implications. It doesn't make her exceptional among statespeople, but Angela Merkel has been on board with all of that; like the rest, she reaches high office precisely because she's the kind of person who can go along (with crimes against humanity) to get along. Maybe she's actually unhappy about it; maybe she secretly wishes she had the guts of a Jeremy Corbyn. But she doesn't.<br /><br />Overall, as with Obama or for that matter Trudeau, I'm just ultimately not willing to accept horrible results because the purveyor seems competent, civilized and mild-mannered. Purple library guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01930984683714519212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-10616649449132270982017-05-31T15:35:34.978-07:002017-05-31T15:35:34.978-07:00I have neither argument nor time for you as both w...I have neither argument nor time for you as both would be a waste. Danahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12465953801145126160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-89868882803029281102017-05-31T10:15:44.886-07:002017-05-31T10:15:44.886-07:00Dana, if you have an argument, make it. If you...Dana, if you have an argument, make it. If you're just a coward smear-artist, well, you can leave those posts to speak for you I guess.Purple library guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01930984683714519212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-7596897858905159302017-05-30T14:29:25.563-07:002017-05-30T14:29:25.563-07:00No need to invoke Putin or Drumpf.
The useful idi...No need to invoke Putin or Drumpf.<br /><br />The useful idiots a.k.a. Europeans just woke to the fact that Uncle Sam was ALWAYS using them as just a tool to further his OWN interests. At the expense of Europeans of course.<br />United Europe was the SOLE competitor to the global domination of the Empire and had to be partially crippled...<br />A..non<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-30849987297058654862017-05-29T17:33:46.351-07:002017-05-29T17:33:46.351-07:00"He brings to mind Steve Bannon sometimes fra...<br />"He brings to mind Steve Bannon sometimes frankly." Bannon certainly has anarchist leanings, Dana. I think I'll leave it at that.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-7525440860933248912017-05-29T17:09:10.477-07:002017-05-29T17:09:10.477-07:00He's certainly easier to read than the majorit...He's certainly easier to read than the majority and that at least is a pleasure. <br /><br />I'm not very happy with the condition of the world and the biologicals trying to survive on it either but I'm pretty sure that reverting to unstructured chaos isn't going to improve anything for anyone. <br /><br />He brings to mind Steve Bannon sometimes frankly. Danahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12465953801145126160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-21453570145501455462017-05-29T16:44:52.021-07:002017-05-29T16:44:52.021-07:00He certainly contributes a fresh perspective, Dana...He certainly contributes a fresh perspective, Dana. Sometimes it's good to see the world through other eyes. To his credit, PLG is totally open as to his at times anarchist stance. I piss him off at times. Other times he pisses me off. Most of the time we can disagree without being disagreeable and that's good enough for me. The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-47575715813931514862017-05-29T15:56:50.526-07:002017-05-29T15:56:50.526-07:00PLG is a purveyor of chaos. PLG is a purveyor of chaos. Danahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12465953801145126160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-83334950700719625412017-05-29T14:00:59.357-07:002017-05-29T14:00:59.357-07:00If Trump actually causes the unravelling of NATO h...If Trump actually causes the unravelling of NATO he will have, unwillingly and unwittingly, done the world a great service. Still got my popcorn.<br /><br />As to Angela Merkel, she's much like Barack Obama: Intelligent, personable, in some ways no doubt well meaning, and willing to see the world ruined following the standard ideological line. She is certainly more responsible than any other single person for the economic debacle of Europe for the past 10 years, and hence in turn for the rise of European fascism and fascism-lite. Her benevolent stance in accepting many refugees to Germany is excellent (although the point is probably to put downward wage pressure on Germans); but she would never question the imperialism that slaughtered millions and created all those refugees in the first place. Ask a Greek what they think of Merkel . . . She is no doubt the most able and goodhearted statesperson today backing the insane ideology which is pushing the world over the edge. Trump on the other hand is possibly the <b>least</b> able or goodhearted statesperson backing that same ideology. In terms of results, there's less to choose between them than that gulf in personal qualities would imply.Purple library guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01930984683714519212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-57626943351586043252017-05-29T10:39:42.226-07:002017-05-29T10:39:42.226-07:00Anyong, I suspect you didn't read this post. T...Anyong, I suspect you didn't read this post. The Spiegel editorial you reference is quoted in the piece.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-91480065929413713472017-05-29T10:16:30.498-07:002017-05-29T10:16:30.498-07:00Anyong...German news magazine rips Trump, calling ...Anyong...German news magazine rips Trump, calling him 'unfit' and 'a danger to the world'<br />May 26, 2017 10:55am EDT by Jen Hayden<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com