quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
I think Vance is right about many of the things he said in that speech. Especially about German immigration policy.

But is it any of our business?

It depends on whether we remain a member of NATO. If we are a member of NATO and we are responsible for the defense of Europe, I think it's our business. If we withdraw from NATO, it's no longer any of our business.

I don't think we can afford NATO anymore and the Europeans don't have much incentive to defend themselves as long as they think we will do it for them.

JD rocks.

I just went back a bit and found bansheeone's ...interesting posts re Trump and socialism, etc.
I can't really comment on what he wrote about former leaders of AfD, I'm not close enough to that.
But what I am more familiar with, incidents and events which he specifically cited, do not reflect the reality of Trump and his administration.
It's disappointing, but maybe not surprising. This may not be fair to him, but there is in my experience (a year as a graduate student at the Free University of Berlin, studying political science and international relations, all in the German language), there is a definite tendency among German academics toward what we would consider overintellectualization. The development and promulgation of theories that are only loosely connected with reality.
It's too bad, I was hoping he could give us a wormhole into the German political situation, but I now feel he is not a trustworthy source.

Finally, whatever flaws AfD has, the CDU, SPD, and Greens are hopeless in dealing with Germany's existential problems, which are ALL due to internal German political policies. Net Zero policies have destroyed the reliability, resilience and affordability of energy in Germany. Without that a massively industrial base cannot survive. The same Green policy pushed EV's; German car manufacturers are now (as in the US) having to retrench their plans and have wasted billions pushing EV's. The refusal of mainline German policies BOTH to recognize the crisis caused by massive Muslim immigration AND to allow discussion of the crisis will, I hope, result in their electoral defeat and the rise to power of AfD.

One day, they will create a Joan of Arc-type statue for Angela Merkel, riding a shetland pony, for allowing/encouraging Europe to import so many non-Europeans into their countries. The Europeans are now their own minority. England, France and Germany are lost. The invaders/guests are the victors.

A) We need to remember we are those who fled Europe. Europe is fundamentally, Tribal Africa, with better weapons.

Their cultural identities are rooted in war. Historically, their upper classes have disdained commerce - really, until…. Maybe the 1950s? Maybe still. Now, maybe they believe in profit by graft, rather than conquest, but they are culturally criminal. (Some nations more than others - and much of this may have been burned out of Poland/Croatia/other parts of Eastern Europe.)

B) They are headed for a hell of a war. They know they cannot afford democracy, because in 20-50 years, the democratic majority will be savages.

The real solution is mass deportation, now, while they still have a chance of survival, but I doubt they will do it.

C) What happens when upper classes, with a love of war, and a different culture, have to deal with an elected class of savage, with an ideology rooted in conquest…

Not sure. Hopefully, the savages will destroy the industrial base, before they get too far along.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
It is very interesting that JD Vance brought up the recent Romanian election and the nullification of the result by European courts.

And that's exactly where I stopped following him, because it's plain wrong. Now, the nullification looked strange and possibly misguided even from a European point of view; but it was done by the Romanian supreme court, allegedly based upon intelligence by Romanian agencies. No European authority had anything to do with it. Yet the usual suspects picked two sentences from an interview where Breton talked about enforcement of the EU's Digital Services Act, and claimed he had said the EU would nullify elections in Germany if they didn't like the outcome; though there is no legal basis or mechanism for it. Which was swallowed hook, line, sinker, rod and dick by the usual suspects' usual audience, because they don't bother to check sources. And from someone who is a heartbeat away from the US presidency, I really expect better.

I've in fact thought a great deal recently about how different cultural background and education shape our view of other countries. God knows that American practices can look strange to Germans, ranging from the humorously anecdotal to the fairly serious. Autobahn speed limits, not gun control remains the third rail of German politics; even the 85 mph limit in Texas is in violation of the rugged German sense of "freie Fahrt für freie Bürger". Beer is considered staple food in Germany, with legal drinking age for that and other non-liquors at 16; 21 looks damn near like a violation of human rights in comparison.

US abortion law looks like a mess oscillating between near-total bans even in cases of rape and incest, and permission until delivery; in Germany, abortion is technically illegal, but not punished within the first twelve weeks if following counseling by an officially recognized source, pacifing a long-lasting conflict in the 1990s (though US-inspired radicals on either side are trying to unravel that). Prostitution is legal by acknowledgement that it's gonna happen anyway, and legislating sexuality between consenting adults should be reserved to problems like incest (though some want to introduce the pseudo-feminist "Nordic Model" punishing the purchase of, but not offering sexual services).

Capital punishment is banned by the German constitution, and also the European Convention on Human Rights. The American electoral college system would never pass democratic muster here, because it assigns different values to individual votes, disregards some entirely, and blocks resident citizens in non-state territories from even voting for their national government. Obviously people also get slightly irked when the US ambassador states in a Breitbart interview what would amount to his German counterpart telling the media "I absolutely want to empower liberal leaders like Justin Trudeau in America" (hi, Richard Grenell).

Regarding socialism, the American Right has of course a fine tradition of parading immigrants and foreigners with personal experience of it who are warning they see it emerging in the US. Though on a more scientific level, outside amusing anecdotal similarities I don't actually think that and would even agree with Marxists who will likely term the emergent political change in the US as "Bonapartism". My default position also remains that the "socialism" in National Socialism is an empty term that was a catch-all for overcoming monarchism after WW I, and lost all meaning when Hitler got rid of the Strasser wing in the NSDAP which dreamt of a Querfront with the communists. Though my approach above is an honest attempt to reconcile with the American right-wing take on the Nazis, which I initially ridiculed when I first heard it. Sure got everyones attention though, right?

As for freedom of speech, sure there's a different interpretation and history behind it here. And as everywhere, sometimes authorities go to excess, though like many things such attitudes develop in pendulum movements. It's interesting to compare today's fear of the Right with fear of the Left in the 50s-70s under the threat of expansionist communism and terrorism, and see the similarities. Pro-Palestinian supporters have also complained of infringement since the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023, and arguably they have a point; the city and state of Berlin heavily restricted their demonstrations due to anti-Semitic chants, and Hamburg issued an outright blanket ban for half a year. The phrase of "from the river to the sea" has actually been banned as a verbal badge of a terrorist organization, similar to many Nazi phrases.

Last year a congress of Palestinian supporters in Berlin was shut down by police over anti-Israeli statements, and one invited speaker from the UK pre-emptively banned from entering Germany due to his known history of such. Only this week, there was a heavy police presence at another event with UN Special Envoy for the Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese for the same reasons, ready to pounce if she said some of her usual stuff (which would have been a sight); other appearances of her were cancelled by organizers. Of course if you want to say that Germany hasn't learned the lesson that if you're restricting people from slandering and calling for the death of Jews and other undesirables, you're a Nazi - be my guest.

In the end, it just doesn't concern people who don't go out of their way to make personal or ethnic insults and death threats in public. Just a couple hours ago, I published a commentary on our bimonthly's website calling pretty much everyone involved in the Munich Security Conference a midget, mental or otherwise: Vance, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the foreign ministers of the G7 including Marco Rubio and Annalena Baerbock, and all the European leaders who, quote, "had time since the original start of this war in 2014, but since 2022 at the latest, to grow out of the dwarf role vis-a-vis the US into at least somewhat battleworthy cave trolls", unquote.

Pretty sure that's covered by freedom of speech/press, though my editor-in-chief made me change all the dwarf pictures from the Nibelungen and Middle Earth I had selected, along with a video from Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet" to underline my point of "Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't" about Donald Trump's negotiation (non-) tactics, to actual images of the subjects. Which admittedly is more becoming a serious defense magazine, though not necessarily for the better of the article's adressees.

We spent hundreds of millions of dollars (1940s dollars, billions today) and lost hundreds of thousands of men to liberate and protect them from tyranny, only for them to go right back to it. If we pulled out of NATO (which would result in its dissolution since we put up the lion's share) and washed our hands of them tomorrow, I'd be just fine with it. More tax rebate for me.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
We spent hundreds of millions of dollars (1940s dollars, billions today) and lost hundreds of thousands of men to liberate and protect them from tyranny, only for them to go right back to it. If we pulled out of NATO (which would result in its dissolution since we put up the lion's share) and washed our hands of them tomorrow, I'd be just fine with it. More tax rebate for me.

Hear! Hear! 100%

Romania's Georgescu Banned From Appearing In Media As State Accuses Him Of 'Fascism, Attempted Coup'

Update(11:25ET): Prosecutors have revealed that police have raided nearly 50 addresses of people and associations connected with Romanian presidential front-runner Calin Georgescu, who has denied all wrongdoing and said state authorities are trying to block his candidacy.

Georgescu will reportedly be released from a hours-long detention by police for questioning. But emerging reports say he's been charged with 'attempted coup' and advancing 'false information'. Reuters has summarized the charges against him include forming an antisemitic organization, promoting war criminals and fascist organizations, and communicating false information.

A Romanian Court Press Release cites "attempted incitement against the constitutional order" (coup), "spreading false information," as well as "false statements on campaign funding," and links to "fascist, xenophobic, and antisemitic organizations."

Given how ambiguous and vague this laundry list of 'crimes' is, this does indeed look like a brazen persecution by the state for his political beliefs, also given he is widely labeled as 'pro-Russian'.

Mario Nawfal, who recently conducted an in-person interview with Georgescu, reports that he'll be released "under severe restrictions designed to silence him completely." The prosecutor's office has reportedly imposed the following restrictions on him and his campaign:

1) Barred from appearing on mass media

2) Forbidden from creating social media accounts

Nawfal comments, "This is nothing short of state censorship—a blatant move to crush dissent and silence a political voice that challenges the establishment."

A Reuters review has the following:

Ultra-nationalist Calin Georgescu's supporters rally
Raids uncover weapons, cash at associates' addresses, prosecutors say
Georgescu denies wrongdoing, accuses 'Bolshevik' government of 'heinous abuse' to block him from another election run
US officials have criticised Romania's annulment of election in which Georgescu was frontrunner

* * *

Romania's conservative populist presidential election front-runner Călin Georgescu has been arrested in a shock move by the state, which has left his supporters bewildered and outrage, as they mobilize to protest what appars brazen ongoing political persecution.

The detention and 'questioning' by police and the prosecutor's office is reportedly in relation to last November's canceled vote that he won, after unsubstantiated and vague claims of 'Russian interference' were claimed. Western media has commonly sought to portray him as a 'far-right, pro-Russian' candidate.

https://www.zerohedge.com/poli...russian-interference

Apparently, Georgescu was arrested on the day he was going to file election papers. And his attorney was denied access to him.

https://x.com/daily_romania/st...resistance-day-38%2F


This is what the Uniparty wanted to do to Trump- pin him against a wall under arrest. Georgescu's crime is "spreading disinformation". You know France, Germany, etc want to do this as well to the front runners of an election who represent the conservative populist side of the aisle. To the commies, it is easier and cheaper to arrest their opposition than win an election.

quote:

Originally posted by oddball:
Apparently, Georgescu was arrested on the day he was going to file election papers. And his attorney was denied access to him.
<snip>
Georgescu's crime is "spreading disinformation".

"spreading disinformation"

Sounds like George Orwell's newspeak.

Yep. Straight out of 1984. The ‘Ministry of Truth’ and ‘disinformation’.

War is peace
Freedom is slavery
Ignorance is strength

Romania Is At The Center Of The Struggle Between Liberal-Globalists & Populist-Nationalists
Andrew Korybko

What’s unfolding in this Balkan country is nothing less than the opening of another New Cold War front, albeit this time an ideological one which also interestingly pits nominal NATO allies against one another as the EU and the US take opposite sides.

Observers were shocked on Wednesday after former Romanian presidential front-runner Calin Georgescu was temporarily detained and charged on six counts amidst police raids against some of his closest supporters as he was preparing to file for his candidacy in May’s election redux. The first round last December was annulled on the basis that an unnamed state actor promoted him on TikTok prior to the vote but it was later discovered that this was just another party’s marketing campaign gone wrong.

It was explained here how Georgescu’s election could have ruined the US “deep state’s” escalation plans against Russia while this analysis here added more context after the annulment. The immediate run-up to the latest developments saw Vice President Vance lambast the Romanian government as anti-democratic for what it did last December. Wednesday’s events were then followed by Musk retweeting a video of State Department whistleblower Mike Benz describing the “deep state’s” interest in Romania.

Benz drew attention to how Romania agreed to host NATO’s largest airbase in Europe and has played a crucial role in clandestinely transferring Pakistani military equipment to Ukraine. These are important points, as is the “Moldova Highway” that’s mentioned in the two analyses cited above since it completes the last part of the corridor stretching from Greece’s Mediterranean ports to Western Ukraine, but there’s more to what’s happening that just geopolitics. Ideology is arguably just as significant of a factor.

Romania has been under liberal-globalist control for decades after these forces exploited its political dysfunction and endemic corruption to continually install their preferred candidates into power. Georgescu represents the most promising opportunity in years for a populist-nationalist revolution that could finally resolve the aforementioned systemic challenges and thus restore Romania’s sovereignty. His appeals to history, religion, and national interests genuinely resonate with many of his compatriots.

Georgescu can therefore be described as a “Romanian Trump”, but both figures are really just tapping into the populist-nationalist zeitgeist that’s been spreading across the West for years in reaction to the liberal-globalists’ socio-political and economic excesses. He’s his own man, as is Trump, and both simply embody the trend of the times. Like all revolutionaries (or counter-revolutionaries from the perspective of regaining the power that was seized from the people), however, they’re also facing lots of resistance.

It took Trump over eight years before he was able to neutralize the “deep state’s” subversive plots so it’s no surprise that Georgescu, who only just recently began his political career, is having a hard time. Trump was a trailblazer though whereas Georgescu is following in his footsteps so it’s possible that Trump could lend Georgescu a helping hand to greatly speed up the time that it takes for him to neutralize his own “deep state’s” subversive plots. It’s here where the ongoing struggle between the US and EU is relevant.

“Vance’s Munich Speech Vindicated Putin’s Summer 2022 Prediction About Political Change In Europe” and made clear that the US stands on the side of all populist-nationalist movements on the continent. The Romanian “deep state’s” latest attempt to take down Georgescu is essentially a gauntlet thrown at the Trump Administration by its liberal-globalist opponents in Brussels who fully back Bucharest. They want to test whether the US will do anything in response to the EU’s rolling coup in Romania.

What’s unfolding in this Balkan country is nothing less than the opening of another New Cold War front, albeit this time an ideological one between liberal-globalists and populist-nationalists, which also interestingly pits nominal NATO allies against one another as the EU and the US take opposite sides. It’s incumbent on the Trump Administration to do what’s needed to ensure that Georgescu is allowed to run as president in May’s election redux and that the vote is truly free and fair instead of flawed as usual.

To that end, targeted sanctions against Romanian figures, credibly threatening to withdraw its troops from Romania, suspending arms contracts, and extending full political support to populist-nationalist protesters could pressure the authorities into reconsidering the wisdom of doing Brussels’ bidding. At the same time, a comprehensive pressure campaign could also backfire if the German-led EU exploits it as the pretext for deepening its already immense control over Romania, though that could backfire too.

It was explained here in response to the likely next German chancellor’s pledge to “achieve independence” from the US that military, economic, and energy factors make that a lot easier said than done. If provoked, like could soon happen if the German-led EU pushes back against the US’ potentially impending pressure campaign on Romania, then Trump could weaponize each of them in his own such campaign against the EU and Germany that he stands a good chance of winning on both fronts.

Altogether, what just happened in Romania places the country at the center of the intra-Western ideological dimension of the New Cold War, which will determine the future of Europe. Liberal-globalists will either entrench their power in full defiance of Trump, possibly at enormous costs to their countries, or they’ll be democratically deposed by populist-nationalists who share the same worldview as his team. This struggle is historic and the consequences of its outcome will reverberate for decades.

https://korybko.substack.com/p...nter-of-the-struggle

Because of, you know, Democracy and all…


Romania Has Barred Leading Candidate Calin Georgescu from Postponed Presidential Election

There is a long and incredible backstory ... However, a Romanian “constitutional court” has now rejected the leading presidential candidate calin Georgescu from running for President.

As outlined by Reuters, “Romania’s central election authority said on Sunday it had decided to bar Georgescu’s candidacy, saying it was inadmissible after the Constitutional Court’s annulment of the December vote.”

Georgescu won the majority of the vote in December; however, after certifying the first round of the election, the court in Romania then heard a secret report from the EU intelligence system that claimed the candidate received some mysterious election support from Russia (never disclosed or validated), thereby establishing a predicate to annul the election outcome.

The court annulled the election outcome, set up a new election in May and now bans Georgescu from participating. Georgescu is a nationalist, and his ideological outlook is the exact opposite of what the EU want to see. As a consequence, appeals were made to Brussels to intervene and simultaneously inside Romania the election results were thrown out.

BUCHAREST (Reuters) -Romanian far-right presidential contender Calin Georgescu said on Monday he would challenge a decision to bar him from taking part in an election rerun in May, but analysts said his chances of standing were slim amid fears of Russian meddling.

The dispute over Georgescu’s candidacy is firing up tensions both at home and abroad. A small group of his supporters smashed pavements and set rubbish bins ablaze in Bucharest on Sunday, while Elon Musk, a key adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, branded the decision to bar Georgescu “crazy”.

[…] “It’s a disgrace to the leadership of this country. You see that Mr Georgescu has different opinions and that’s why they didn’t accept him,” said Bucharest resident Victoria who declined to give her last name.

Challenges to decisions by Romania’s central election authority must be filed within 24 hours. The Constitutional Court should rule on Georgescu’s appeal by Wednesday.

Analysts have said it is unlikely that the top court will allow Georgescu to run again for the presidency.

The court set a precedent in October when it blocked the candidacy of another far-right candidate, arguing that her anti-European, pro-Russian views made her unfit for office. (read more)

Vice-President JD Vance previously drew attention to the Romanian “democracy” decrying the ridiculous decision to throw out the election result just because a candidate the court deemed did not express the right thinking won the election.

“There is no security if you are afraid of the voices of your own people,” Vance said. Continuing, “if you are running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing the American people can do to assist you.”

https://theconservativetreehou...lection/#more-269970

Time for sanctions on Romania until an actual free and fair election takes place. I’m not sure if we are significant enough trading partners with Romania for it to make an appropriate impact, but I’d be in favor of an immediate 1000% tariff on anything from Romania until this gets sorted out.

From Churchill to Vance...Sounding Off About Tyranny
By Vince Coyner
***
Between 1929 and 1939 Churchill was a Member of Parliament but held no official position in the government. After a decade of consternation, he was finally returned as the First Lord of the Admiralty in September 1939. A large part of his “Wilderness” period had to do with his constant and vocal haranguing of the government—even of his own party—about the threat of the Nazis in Germany and his push to prepare the military for war. Mostly his warnings fell on deaf ears and to many he was considered a war monger.

But his warnings on Germany weren’t the only instance of his prescience. He was equally adamant about the evil of the Soviet Union. From the Russian Revolution until the day he died, Churchill was an adamant anti-communist. Although during WWII a pragmatic Churchill understood the necessity of working with the Soviets to defeat the Nazis, after the war he made his thoughts crystal clear in his famous “Iron Curtain“ speech at Missouri’s Westminster College.

There are two lines from that speech I find particularly compelling and relevant to our modern world. The first comes after he described the darkness overcoming much of eastern Europe: “Whatever conclusions may be drawn from these facts- and facts they are-this is certainly not the Liberated Europe we fought to build up.” He continued, “From what I have seen of our Russian friends and Allies during the war, I am convinced that there is nothing they admire so much as strength, and there is nothing for which they have less respect than for weakness, especially military weakness.” Churchill was seeking to animate the West about the emerging malignancy of communist tyranny.

If those two lines from Churchill ring familiar, they should. They were basically echoed last month when JD Vance went into the lion’s den and gave a speech in Munich.

He said, “…the threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor. And what I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values—values shared with the United States of America.” A bit later he continued, “And unfortunately, when I look at Europe today, it’s sometimes not so clear what happened to some of the Cold War’s winners.”

To this, he added,

If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you. Nor, for that matter, is there anything that you can do for the American people who elected me and elected President Trump.

[snip]

Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters. There is no room for firewalls. You either uphold the principle or you don’t.

Churchill was warning of an external threat while Vance was warning of an internal threat. And much as Churchill was lampooned for his forceful denunciations of the Soviets and the Nazis, Vance’s speech about upholding western values was met with shock and disdain across the Continent.

But the reality of Vance’s argument is sound. The United States has been a partner with most of Europe for a century and with parts of Europe from her very founding. That partnership has stood on a combination of shared values, from Christianity to individual liberty to free markets and democracy. Those values and that partnership have largely served both sides well, with standards of living and individual freedom exceeding anything in human history.

But the reality is, as one side drifts from those bedrock principles, should the partnership continue? To phrase it somewhat differently, why should it continue?

Economics? Sure, American companies sell lots of products in Europe and vice versa, but as is seen by American trade with China, we don’t have to share values in order to trade.

Security? Sure, Russia invaded Ukraine, but Europeans haven’t taken defense seriously, spending on average 1.45% of their GDP on it over the last 25 years. For eighty years the United States has provided an umbrella of security to Europe (spending 3.83% of GDP over the same period), allowing European governments to spend an extra 2.4% of GDP on creating cancerously generous social welfare states.

Culture? Peppered with castles, chateaus and extraordinary cathedrals, Europe was the leading light of culture for much of the last millennium, but what extraordinary, game-changing can’t-live-without advances has Europe given the world in the last half century?

At the same time, as Vance points out, from free speech to free elections, Europe is becoming a giant police state where insulting politicians, praying at home, sharing memes, reporting facts or calling someone fat can get you arrested or thrown in jail.

And not coincidentally, this is occurring just as the self-loathing Europe is finding itself willingly—at least from the perspective of the elites—overrun by armies of largely single military-aged men from third world dystopias. It would be one thing if those invaders were somehow contributing to Europe and assimilating the western values that made Europe great in the first place… But that’s not happening. Just the opposite.

The invaders have to be supported by the taxpayers, they’re committing crimes and are bringing a religion that is largely incompatible with @estern values of free speech, freedom of religion, and equal rights between the sexes. Indeed, in France, a nation that has been Catholic for 1,500 years, three Christian churches and monuments are targeted for arson or some other attack every single day.

In Romania, where the elections in November were thrown out by the elites, the conservative who won has just been banned from running again.

Add to that the draconian green energy laws that handicap European economies and the social program spending that obviates the ability to actually defend themselves, and it’s not a wonder that Americans question whether Europe is really an ally in the pursuit of prosperity and freedom.

Before the 20th century and two world wars that required American might to win, European history was largely one of near constant war between shifting alliances. With the emergence of an American-imposed peace, the second half of the 20th century brought unparalleled levels of peace and prosperity around the world.

The ironic thing is that that very peace and prosperity have dulled Europe’s senses and made them forget the very things that made prosperity possible in the first place, with Christianity, freedom of speech and free markets at the top of the list. Hopefully, with Vance, unlike Churchill, it won’t take a world war for people to start listening to him.

https://www.americanthinker.co...f_about_tyranny.html

The economic reich isn’t going to give up easily.