The not so short lived non argumentative political thread.

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  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 26,417Chief of Staff
    Barbel wrote:
    BBC suggests the Conservatives have won, from the exit polls.

    And with the size of the defeat for Labour this means a minimum decade under Tory rule…I’m off to learn Mandarin :#
    YNWA 97
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    I also think it's terrible that the nation ignored the plea from the
    Multi Millionaire Celebs Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan who asked
    the nation not to vote conservative. What is happening to Britain
    when we ignore political advice from our Celebs ! :D
    The hard left Labour members are blaming everything and everyone
    but themselves for the defeat, I'm guessing Labour will continue to
    decline for years to come. :# That's bad news indeed.
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    Corbyn says he'll step down before the next election. I'dbe very surprised if the next party leader and program is more moderate than the current one.
  • LoeffelholzLoeffelholz The United States, With LovePosts: 8,988Quartermasters
    I also think it's terrible that the nation ignored the plea from the
    Multi Millionaire Celebs Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan who asked
    the nation not to vote conservative. What is happening to Britain
    when we ignore political advice from our Celebs ! :D
    The hard left Labour members are blaming everything and everyone
    but themselves for the defeat, I'm guessing Labour will continue to
    decline for years to come. :# That's bad news indeed.

    Yes, many of us Yanks are amused by the political 'expertise' of our celebrity elites, as well :)) But many take them very seriously. Ironically, the one they didn't take seriously got elected president :o
    Check out my Amazon author page! Mark Loeffelholz
    "I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
    "Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    I wonder where this culture exist and where it doesn't? Here in this little kingdom I can't think of anyone who's been elected to office after first being a celebrity or because they were celebrities. Sometimes celebrities comment on politics, but people don't care much about it and politicians don't bother with celebrity endorcements. I understand this is different in some countries such as the US and I belive India. What are the attitudes towards celebrities and politics around the world? I'd like to know.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Heard this one last night in a pub:

    It's terrible that there's only one man who knows if the light in a fridge stays on when the door is closed- but you can't believe a word he says....
  • carnwennancarnwennan FrancePosts: 26MI6 Agent
    Number24 wrote:
    I wonder where this culture exist and where it doesn't? Here in this little kingdom I can't think of anyone who's been elected to office after first being a celebrity or because they were celebrities. Sometimes celebrities comment on politics, but people don't care much about it and politicians don't bother with celebrity endorcements. I understand this is different in some countries such as the US and I belive India. What are the attitudes towards celebrities and politics around the world? I'd like to know.

    In France (and before the 2017 elections) it was quite usual for politicians to look for the support of celebrities (e.g. Sarkozy-Depardieu), as many voters are influenced by them. In 1981, a comedian (Coluche) even started a campaign as a joke, but was supported by so many people that he had to step down in order to get François Mitterrand more votes (and because he was receiving death threats). Politicians don't rely on celebs to win campaigns, but I'd say that -sadly- these kind of supports are still something that people look at to make their mind up.
    "Luck was a servant and not a master." - Ian Fleming, Casino Royale
  • carnwennancarnwennan FrancePosts: 26MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    Heard this one last night in a pub:

    It's terrible that there's only one man who knows if the light in a fridge stays on when the door is closed- but you can't believe a word he says....

    This is brilliant! :)) :)) :))

    ...and they still elected him. Sometimes I can't understand people!
    "Luck was a servant and not a master." - Ian Fleming, Casino Royale
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    Podcaster Dan Carlin on terrorism in his podcast Common Sense. Thoughtful and interesting. If you're interested in history and have some time on your hands I can recomend his podcast Hardcore History too.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1446&v=kZVSWfNZD44&feature=emb_logo
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    I don't know if other countries do this but I've just watched an election interview
    programme on Scottish TV ( On BBC I Player ) admittedly by accident as I thought
    It was " Scot Squad " a comedy Police show. In this the Inspector interviewed several
    Scottish politicians, as his character. It showed the human side of these politicians
    instead of the usual Political panel interviews, where they tend to talk over each other,
    or just shout at each other. I thought it was brilliant -{
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • LoeffelholzLoeffelholz The United States, With LovePosts: 8,988Quartermasters
    carnwennan wrote:
    Barbel wrote:
    Heard this one last night in a pub:

    It's terrible that there's only one man who knows if the light in a fridge stays on when the door is closed- but you can't believe a word he says....

    This is brilliant! :)) :)) :))

    ...and they still elected him. Sometimes I can't understand people!

    Wait until he's re-elected! :))
    Check out my Amazon author page! Mark Loeffelholz
    "I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
    "Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    edited December 2019
    So now Donald Trump is impeached. Is it a smart political move? Probably not. Many Republicans will see this as a desperate attempt by the Democrats to avoid losing another election and will rally behind their president.
    But I think it's the right thing to do in the long run. It's even the morally right thing to do. Several officials whom Trump hired himself ("the best people") have testified that Trump put pressure on the Ukrainian PM to investigate his most likely oponent in the election and his son. The Democrats had to put the foot down and make it clear that a president can't use the presidentcy for his own personal gain.
    This isn't about the president having sex with an intern. This is about the big issues.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Western Mass, USAPosts: 9,061MI6 Agent
    Number24 wrote:
    So now Donald Trump is impeached. Is it a smart political move? Probably not. Many Republicans will see this as a desperate attempt by the Democrats to avoid losing another election and will rally behind their president.
    But I think it's the right thing to do in the long run. It's even the morally right thing to do. Several officials whom Trump hired himself ("the best people") have testified that Trump put pressure on the Ukrainian PM to investigate his most likely oponent in the election and his son. The Democrats had to put the foot down and make it clear that a president can't use the presidentcy for his own personal gain.
    This isn't about the president having sex with an intern. This is about the big issues.
    Yes, he's the most blatantly corrupt POTUS ever, and had to be called on it at SOME point.
    Dalton & Connery rule. Brozz was cool.
    #1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    Not taking sides but didn't Nixon get a pardon from Ford the incoming
    President ? ( can't remember about Clinton ) . So will Trump even if
    Found guilty, just be pardoned by the next president, if a Republican
    Obviously ?
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    Clinton didn't have to be pardoned, but Nixon was protected from an obvious impeachement by Ford. At least that's how I remember it.
    The Senate will save Trump, at least as long as the evidence against him gets so clear and serious it gets impossible not to impeach him. If Trump gets re-elected and then has to step down because of an impeachment, the next president will be a Republican. Probably his VP. If that happens my Guess would be that Trump gets a pardon.
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    So, the new year started with a bang....

    The White House decided to toss a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox and kill another mean and evil leader in the Middle East...

    I am glad that the region and the world is a safer place now just like after the killings of Saddam and Gaddafi....
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    There's no doubt the target was one of America's main enemies, but that doesn't mean it was a smart idea to kill him. Soleimani has James Bond-like reputation in Iran (and a bin Laden-like reputation in Israel), so Iran will do something.
    My guess is using militias and terrorist organisations in Iraq against US interests. Possibly they'll make trouble in the for the oil traffic in the Strait of Hormuz too. A full-on war between Iran and the US is much more likely now. Not excactly what Trump said he would do in the Middle East. I wonder when Trump decided Soleimani had to be killed? A month ago? A week? I suspect a day or two before - lucklily he didn't order the assassination on Twitter…...
  • Charmed & DangerousCharmed & Dangerous Posts: 7,358MI6 Agent
    It’s not a stretch of the imagination to assume Trump ordered the assassination partly to take everyone’s eyes off the impeachment.
    "How was your lamb?" "Skewered. One sympathises."
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    It's possible. There's been good reasons to kill Suleimani for years. At the same time there's been better reasons not to do it.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    edited January 2020
    To be fair Trump's claim that Iran was planning major attacks on Americans in Iraq could be true. It's entirely within what that regime is capable of and no inteligence community or foreign service sources has contradicted Trump as they sometimes do when Trump just makes things up.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    Trump threatens to bomb 52 targets, “some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture.", if Iran retaliates. Targets of cultural significance are protected by the Geneva convetion, something the Defence Secretarey says. Yes, even his own Defence Secretary has to directly contradict him in public. Even Iran knows about the Geneva Convention and at least plays lip service to it when they threathen US military targets. Even as a private doing his national service I was instructed about the Geneva Conention, doesn't the US President know or care?

    BTW: Both Bush jr and Obama refused to give Israel the go-ahead to kill Suleimani because the risk of war was too great. Attacking militias in Iraq backed by Iran would be a much better response to Irans plans, especially since the plan was to use those militias against NATO forces. Must be why Trump's military advicers wanted him to do that.
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    Tragic news that the recent wargames very much likely costed the lifes of over 170 innocent passengers on the Ukrainian Boeing 737.

    I was very much surprised that both sides backed down after the harmless and unsignificant airstrikes from Iran yesterday, obviously both sides came to their senses for a short amount of time.
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    So, today Iran admitted that they shot the plane down "by accident".

    I hope that we can all agree on the "by accident" part - no matter which political camp we are in.

    I'd just want to imagine what would have happened if it would have been a US plane that they shot down by accident (and I am sure that they did not know when firing these 2 missiles that the plane was from Ukraine or from the US - we would be in a full blown war today.

    And that's exactly the risk of the "high pressure" policy from the US!
    If you put an evil and weak regime under pressure, someone may make a mistake. And mistakes lead to escalations and that's exactly why the european approach was right to put Iran in a regulatory frame and release the pressure on them.

    Let me repeat that this iranian general without any doubt deserved his destiny - but previous US administrations decided not to kill him (and there where several chances to do so) in order to keep the escalation down that we have seen in the last couples of days.

    Power always comes with a larger amount of responsibility.
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    It wouldn't have been a civilian US plane because they are boycotting Iran.
    Trump has gambled with world peace again and once again he was lucky. This time it was Iran, of al states, who decided to be the grown-up. They knew the Iranian people demanded revenge after the hit on Suleimani, but they also knew they couldn' risk an all-out war with the US. So they warned NATO ahead of time they were going to hit the bases with missliles. As a result the missiles didn't really kill anybody so the US doesn't have to retalitate, but Iran tells tells their home audience 80 Americans were killed so they feel they've had their revenge. Should US foreign policy and world peace depend on rogue regimes like North Korea and Iran being sensible?
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    I was actaully surprised, bordering on impressed, that Iran admitted they shot down the passenger airline. Even though it took them three days. Putin and his loyal media started out in the normal fashion, supporting any side that's anti-Western and pro- authoritarian. I guess it must be second nature to them. After Iran's admission of guilt they have been very, very quiet. :))
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    edited January 2020
    https://www.dw.com/en/iran-mass-protests-call-for-leaders-to-resign/a-51974255

    Iran: Mass protests call for leaders to resign, .. Seem some don't blame the US

    (Edited as to not be taken personally )
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    I blame the Americans for the Suleimai hit and the Iranians for shooting down the airliner. Tell me where I'm wrong.
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    * written before TP edited his post.

    And of course Iran is 100% responsible for shooting down that plane.

    But the US where having an active part in the rising tensions in the last week and the risk with these wargames is, that someone is making a fatal mistake - which can lead to something that noone really wanted to happen.
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    edited January 2020
    Number24 wrote:
    I blame the Americans for the Suleimai hit and the Iranians for shooting down the airliner. Tell me where I'm wrong.

    On the Suleiman assassination: Sometimes it's wrong to kill the right man. Bush jr, Obama and Trump's military advisers know this. The Americans should have hit the Iran-backed shia militias hard instead.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    Let's agree the death of the airplane passengers was a tragedy no-one wanted brought about by a very tense situation.
    The Iranians admitting they were responsible for it reminds me a little bit of when the Soviets admited the Chernobyl accident happened. Let's hope the Iranian government opens up more and their people sees the many negative sides of the regime more clearly because of it.
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