Politics & Stuff

[Vesper 28,880]

4 minutes ago, cosmicway said:

In the Arab world there are no democracies and the concept is alien.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_in_the_Middle_East_and_North_Africa

The state of Democracy in Middle East and North Africa can be comparatively assessed^[1] according to various definitions of democracy.^[2] De jure democracies in the Middle East and North Africa are according to system of government:

• Parliamentary republic: Iraq,^[3] Israel, Lebanon^[4]
• Presidential republic: Syria, Tunisia, Turkey
• Semi-presidential republic: Algeria, Egypt.

The V-Dem Democracy indices ranked in 2024 Iraq, Israel and Tunisia as the Middle Eastern and North African countries with the highest democracy scores.^[5] The Economist Group's Democracy Index rated in the region Israel as the only "flawed democracy" and no country as "full democracy" for year 2023.

[Fulham Broadway 16,869]

7 minutes ago, cosmicway said:

In the Arab world there are no democracies and the concept is alien.

Iran before the CIA coup was 100% democratic

[Fulham Broadway 16,869]

More journalists killed in Gaza than any other conflict.

6 left in the North have been labelled ''terrorists'' by Israel, and are now targetted as well, citing ''documents'' they found 

The only problem is the Journalists would have been 10 years old at the time

[Vesper 28,880]

Just now, Fulham Broadway said:

Iran before the CIA coup was 100% democratic

1953 Iranian coup d'état

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d'état

 

The 1953 Iranian coup d'état, known in Iran as the 28 Mordad coup d'état (Persian: کودتای ۲۸ مرداد), was the U.S.- and British-instigated, Iranian army-led overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in favor of strengthening the autocratic rule of the shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, on 19 August 1953, with the objectives being to protect British oil interests in Iran after its government refused to concede to western oil demands.^[5][6] It was instigated by the United States (under the name TP-AJAX Project^[7] or Operation Ajax) and the United Kingdom (under the name Operation Boot).^{[8][9][10][11]} This began a period of dissolution for Iranian democracy and society whose effects on civil rights are prevalent to this day.

Mosaddegh had sought to audit the documents of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), a British corporation (now part of BP), to verify that AIOC was paying the contracted royalties to Iran, and to limit the company's control over Iranian oil reserves.^[12] Upon the AIOC's refusal to cooperate with the Iranian government, the parliament (Majlis) voted to nationalize Iran's oil industry and to expel foreign corporate representatives from the country.^[13][14][15] After this vote, Britain instigated a worldwide boycott of Iranian oil to pressure Iran economically.^[16] Initially, Britain mobilized its military to seize control of the British-built Abadan oil refinery, then the world's largest, but Prime Minister Clement Attlee (in power until 1951) opted instead to tighten the economic boycott^[17] while using Iranian agents to undermine Mosaddegh's government.^[18]: 3 Judging Mosaddegh to be unamenable and fearing the growing influence of the communist Tudeh, UK prime minister Winston Churchill and the Eisenhower administration decided in early 1953 to overthrow Iran's government. The preceding Truman administration had opposed a coup, fearing the precedent that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) involvement would set,^[18]: 3 and the U.S. government had been considering unilateral action (without UK support) to assist the Mosaddegh government as late as 1952.^[19][20][21] British intelligence officials' conclusions and the UK government's solicitations to the US were instrumental in initiating and planning the coup.

Following the coup, a government under General Fazlollah Zahedi was formed which allowed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran (Persian for 'king'),^[22] to rule more firmly as monarch. He relied heavily on United States support to hold on to power.^{[13][14][15][23]} According to the CIA's declassified documents and records, some of the most feared mobsters in Tehran were hired by the CIA to stage pro-shah riots on 19 August.^[5] Other men paid by the CIA were brought into Tehran in buses and trucks and took over the streets of the city.^[24] Between 200^[3] and 300^[4] people were killed because of the conflict. Mosaddegh was arrested, tried and convicted of treason by the Shah's military court. On 21 December 1953, he was sentenced to three years in jail, then placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life.^{[25]: 280 [26][27]} Other Mosaddegh supporters were imprisoned, and several received the death penalty.^[15] The coup strengthened the Shah's authority, and he continued to rule Iran for the next 26 years as a pro-Western monarch^[14][15] until he was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution in 1979.^{[14][15][18][28]}

In August 2013, the U.S. government formally acknowledged the U.S. role in the coup by releasing a bulk of previously classified government documents that show it was in charge of both the planning and the execution of the coup. According to American journalist Stephen Kinzer, the operation included false flag attacks, paid protesters, provocations, the bribing of Iranian politicians and high-ranking security and army officials, as well as pro-coup propaganda.^{[29][6][30][31]} The CIA is quoted acknowledging the coup was carried out "under CIA direction" and "as an act of U.S. foreign policy, conceived and approved at the highest levels of government".^[32] In 2023, the CIA took credit for the coup,^[33] contradicting a previous scholarly assessment that the CIA had botched the operation.^[34][35][36]

[Vesper 28,880]

Donald Trump Suggests He Was Literally Anointed by God

The former president told a group of Christian voters that he was chosen by a “supernatural hand” and implied that his life was “saved” by divine intervention.

 

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/donald-trump-suggests-anointed-by-god

 

Seeking to shore up conservative Christian voters in North Carolina on Monday, Donald Trump cast himself as something of a religious warrior, anointed by the “supernatural hand” of God to win a second term in office. “I would like to think that God saved me for a purpose,” the former president told a gathering of conservative pastors in Concord, North Carolina, saying that his faith had deepened since the attempt on his life at a Pennsylvania rally in July. “And that’s to make our country greater than ever before.”

The remarks—which came a day after his vulgar rally rant about late golfer Arnold Palmer’s anatomy, and amid ever darker threats against his “evil” political opponents—were part of an effort to boost turnout among a voting bloc that had helped him to the White House in 2016, but that Trump said has a “reputation of not voting proportionately.”

“Christians and gun owners don’t vote,” Trump claimed.

Social conservatives had helped Trump win the presidency eight years ago, in no small part because of his vow to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. They got their wish—Trump’s three appointments helped form a six-member conservative majority that ended federal abortion protections—but one of the few promises Trump kept has proved a major political liability for Republicans, as reproductive rights continue to animate Democratic and moderate voters. Trump has tried to dance around the issue this cycle, boasting about having “killed” Roe while suggesting he’s actually a moderate on abortion. Just last week, despite only recently learning about IVF from Alabama Senator Katie Britt, Trump went so far as to call himself the “father” of the procedure, rankling some conservative Christians eager for him to enact a national abortion ban.

While he continues to obfuscate the extremism of his anti-abortion agenda, Trump has sought to court the religious right by portraying Kamala Harris and the Democrats as radical heretics—and by making other promises to Christians. One among them, as he noted Monday, was nixing the Johnson Amendment of 1954, which prohibits churches and other non-profits from endorsing political candidates. “The radical left is not going to leave Christians alone,” Trump said at the “11th-Hour Faith Leaders Meeting” in North Carolina, a swing-state in next month’s election. “It’s going to get worse and worse, and you’re going to suffer greatly.”

Trump has never shied away from casting himself as the savior of the supposedly persecuted Christian conservative. But he, his allies, and his supporters have done so with even greater fervor since he survived an assassination attempt this summer in Butler, Pennsylvania: “If you didn’t believe in miracles before [the rally], you better be believing right now,” Senator Tim Scott said on stage at the Republican National Convention days after the shooting. “There is a hand of God on my father’s shoulder,” son Eric Trump said on a right-wing Christian podcast Monday, framing the election as a battle in a “constant war in this country against God.”

[cosmicway 1,328]

29 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Hitler was elected by the Germans

That does n't make him dictator.
Later (not much later) he became.

[Vesper 28,880]

1 minute ago, cosmicway said:

That does n't make him dictator.
Later (not much later) he became.

same goes for Bibi

[cosmicway 1,328]

25 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said:

Iran before the CIA coup was 100% democratic

It was but not quite,
Also in Iraq after the Saddam war they hold elections.
But basically the concept is alien,
For the mulim religion there cannot be more than one righteous people. It's the righteous and the evil and vica versa - so the opponent must die.
 

[cosmicway 1,328]

2 minutes ago, Vesper said:

same goes for Bibi

No, he did not terminate elections !

[Vesper 28,880]

Mitch McConnell, Who Endorsed Trump, Called Him “Unfit" For Office

 

The Senate minority leader also said the former president committed an “impeachable offense” on January 6. McConnell voted against impeachment anyway.

 

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/mitch-mcconnell-thought-trump-committed-an-impeachable-offense-but-voted-to-acquit-him-anyway

 

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 05: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) holds a press conference after the Senate voted to acquit President Donald Trump on the two articles of impeachment brought by the House of Representatives to the Senate for trial on Capitol Hill on February 5, 2020 in Washington, DC. After the House impeached Trump last year, the Senate voted today on whether to acquit or convict the President on two articles of impeachment as the trial concludes. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)Samuel Corum

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell considered Donald Trump a “sleazeball,” “a narcissist” and “a despicable human being” who was “unfit” for public office and committed an obviously impeachable offense. And yet, the Kentucky Republican not only voted against impeaching Trump in 2021…but has also endorsed his current run for president.

McConnell’s unvarnished opinions of Trump, first reported by the Associated Press and CNN, appear in a forthcoming biography of McConnell by journalist Michael Tackett. Tackett based the book on both conversations with McConnell and the senator’s personal archive, including an oral diary dating back to 1995. McConnell did not mince words, calling Trump “erratic,” “stupid,” “ill-tempered,” “irascible,” “nasty” and “just about every quality you would not want somebody to have.”

Of Trump’s actions during the Capitol riots on January 6, McConnell declared: “I’m not at all conflicted about whether what the president did is an impeachable offense. I think it is.”

Of Trump’s hold over Republican voters, he added: “Trump is appealing to people who haven’t been as successful as other people and providing an excuse for that.” Also: “Unfortunately, about half the Republicans in the country believe whatever he says.”

McConnell—who has led the Senate Republican Conference since 2007—has famously had a rocky relationship with Trump. The senator defied Trump’s claims that he won the 2020 election and broke with the former president to congratulate Joe Biden. McConnell also denounced Trump on the Senate floor in February 2021, calling him “practically and morally responsible” for the attack on the US Capitol. (Per Tackett’s book, he cried in the aftermath of the riot.)

Despite those misgivings, however, McConnell has never quite broken ranks. He endorsed Trump for president in March, fulfilling a previous promise to support whomever the GOP nominated, and met with the former president over the summer as part of a gathering of Senate Republicans.

“Whatever I may have said about President Trump pales in comparison to what JD Vance, Lindsey Graham, and others have said about him,” McConnell told CNN on Wednesday. “But we are all on the same team now.”

[Fulham Broadway 16,869]

Just now, cosmicway said:

No, he did not terminate elections !

By keeping the genocide going he is avoiding elections, criminal prosecution and imprisonment

[Vesper 28,880]

Just now, cosmicway said:

No, he did not terminate elections !

He is refusing to hold elections atm, and he tried to illegally take away a massive amount of power from the Israeli courts (and has vowed to keep on trying to do so).

Give him time, he is well down the path to quasi (if not full) disctatorship.

 

this is from spring 2024 (and no elections since then):

 

Schumer: Netanyahu could prevent elections in Israel until 2026

https://www.axios.com/2024/03/19/schumer-netanyahu-elections-israel

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could prevent elections in Israel until 2026.

Why it matters: The highest-ranking Jewish lawmaker has continued to call for accountability of Netanyahu as he leads the offensive against Hamas in Gaza, where more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed.

• "I worry under his leadership, Israel would become such a pariah in the world and even in the United States, because I look at the numbers and they're rapidly decreasing," Schumer told the New York Times.
• "I had to speak out before it erodes."

Catch up quick: In a Senate speech on Thursday, Schumer called on Israel to hold elections for a new government to handle the threat of Hamas.

• He received a divided reaction.
• Netanyahu refused to commit to holding new elections when the war winds down and said Schumer's comments were "totally inappropriate."

The latest: In a meeting with American Jewish organization executives on Tuesday, Schumer defended his call for an election and the stance that Netanyahu is a danger to Israel, the Times of Israel reported.

• Polls published Friday in Israel found that the majority of Israelis want early elections and that Netanyahu would lose if they were held at this point.

Between the lines: Schumer only shared the content of his speech with a small circle of staff members and his wife, per the NYT.

• He alerted the White House the day before — just to ensure it wouldn't interfere with negotiations.
• President Biden backed Schumer's remarks, but told Netanyahu privately on Monday that he is not trying to undermine him politically.

Zoom out: For the first time in months, Israel and Hamas are negotiating deals to release hostages and prisoners and for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza.

Go deeper: Schumer calls for Israel elections and slams Netanyahu

[cosmicway 1,328]

6 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said:

By keeping the genocide going he is avoiding elections, criminal prosecution and imprisonment

This Serbian song should become no 1 hit in Israel:
 

 

[Fulham Broadway 16,869]

5 minutes ago, cosmicway said:

This Serbian song should become no 1 hit in Israel:
 

 

They dont need it

 

[cosmicway 1,328]

5 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said:

They dont need it

 

that is ημισούμπρια style
 

I like the Serbian better.
 

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,920]

1 hour ago, robsblubot said:

For the record, I really dislike Biden as president. He was a (career) politician for a different time… weak in general esp on immigration. Harris did not do a good job separating herself from some of his policies, mostly inactions of the president — I’m sure she’d act differently in certain cases.

inflation has little to do with Biden though. Perhaps a bit more with Trump and his tax breaks, but really it was the pandemic.

Democratic Party does not get how unpopular ID politics can be. Think there is plenty of evidence of that without needing to do any research.

Like I said, the issue I have with Trump is simple: he should’ve been disqualified from running.

it’s akin to a team in sports which lose then cheat to overturn the result. Say Chile fiasco at the Maracanan back then.

 

I agree with this, but what could she do?

 

If she comes out saying she would do so many things different, she risks offending the man who anointed her, and his fanbase. She's the nominee because, in their eyes, we wanted more of the same of Biden.

[Fulham Broadway 16,869]

2 minutes ago, cosmicway said:

that is ημισούμπρια style
 

I like the Serbian better.
 

Nah, this ones a banger

Greek Genocide Song

 

[cosmicway 1,328]

13 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said:

Nah, this ones a banger

Greek Genocide Song

 

Not so. 
It's a song against Turkish genocides.
Those were true genocides.
The present day Turks like to say "massacres" because they thing genocide is too heavy.
But those were committed against civilians in towns, not during fighting.
In Smyrna it was Karatheodory, the famous scientist, who escaped the last minute by pretending he was German.

The Israeli "genocide" talked about by the friends of Hamash is not genocide, or even the less terrible (?) massacres.
It's bilateral losses for which Hamas is responsible.
It is Hamas who decided to fight inside an inhabited area, use civilians as human shields.