World Politics

[auscyclefan94]

The Liberals media blitz should be interesting. Saw one of the ads last night where all of the criticism of Rudd comes straight from the mouths of his Labor colleagues. Very effective ad.

I talked to a Liberal candidate about the ads the other night. She said that they had all been made for Rudd over 6 months ago.

 

[Galic Ho]

The Liberals media blitz should be interesting. Saw one of the ads last night where all of the criticism of Rudd comes straight from the mouths of his Labor colleagues. Very effective ad.

They are live streaming the ads on their Facebook page right now. They were prepared. Not long to go now till Labor is gone.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Rudd just said in his press conference that he believed an Abbott Government would start a war with Indonesia and that if we listened to business then this country would go broke. He is already stuffing up.

 

[movingtarget]

Rudd just said in his press conference that he believed an Abbott Government would start a war with Indonesia and that if we listened to business then this country would go broke. He is already stuffing up.

And this is the guy running the country. Off to a good start. And he lectures the Liberals about the politics of fear and negative politics. Dummy.

 

[Galic Ho]

Rudd just said in his press conference that he believed an Abbott Government would start a war with Indonesia and that if we listened to business then this country would go broke. He is already stuffing up.

Full *** day one. Great work Rudd! That's exactly what I expected.

 

[python]

eoropean bureaucrats are 'enraged' by the latest revelation of the us spying on its allies. the spineless talking heads threatened the us with consequences.
i had a hearty laughter reading that

i will stop laughing when germany retaliates with giving snowden political asylum...untill then, any talk is cheap.

 

[Cobblestones]

eoropean bureaucrats are 'enraged' by the latest revelation of the us spying on its allies. the spineless talking heads threatened the us with consequences.
i had a hearty laughter reading that

i will stop laughing when germany retaliates with giving snowden political asylum...untill then, any talk is cheap.

Can you read the comment sections in German newspapers? There's no more love left for the US and UK. Snowden apparently has been nominated for the Sakharov prize by politicians of the EU parliament. He will be in good company with Iranian and Chinese dissidents. I think asylum for him might be quite conceivable. Many commenters suggest to expel the US ambassador, put negotiations for a free trade agreement on ice to prioritize negotiations on limits on surveillance, plus refusing to send any data to the US concerning airline passengers etc. The more adventurous commenters suggest to leave NATO, to expel all the US soldiers and close all the US bases. There's a national election in September. I don't think the politicians can ignore these sentiments, in particular since government surveillance has been a very sensitive issue in Germany. We'll see how it plays out.

 

[The Hitch]

Comments sections are far from the best way to gauge public opinion. For instance, if in the US one only read forums, one would think Ron Paul is president for life.

 

[python]

Can you read the comment sections in German newspapers?

yes, of course, i can and i do each morning. one of the reasons for my ironic comment was stemming directly from reading the german media. all sorts of politicians made many statements to look concerned, but, when push comes to shove, they, as is germany's current prevailing state... they are inert and apolitical and lazy to move out of the existing COMMERCIAL comfort zone.

but here's what most of the world historically failed to understand about the germans. they are extremists and they are extreme loyalists regardless of geography or the prevailing politics . the prussians and the bavarians are perhaps as different as any north vs south stereotypes would imply. but they are GERMANS. the GERMANS in the sense that they REALLY, i mean REALLLY, value the law-abiding behavior and the respect for their next door villager... very much unlike most americans would...that is, having been aware of the american spying during the cold war is one thing, yet being spied upon by a western brother/'liberator' while another 'liberator' - russia - is bowing backwards to keep germany happy, this type of situation the 'slow' gemans is quite another thing and will be processed in due time.

the long story short - germany is not ready to look deep. but once it is, watch out !

...The more adventurous commenters suggest to leave NATO, to expel all the US soldiers and close all the US bases.

as much as i agree with the eventual benefit for germany to do so, TODAY it is simply impractical given the complexity of the intra-european politics. most germans, either from the left or right( one day) may very well agree regarding the us military expulsion from germany, the hard fact is - there is no alternative to nato today and for the next 10-20 years..

 

[Cobblestones]

as much as i agree with the eventual benefit for germany to do so, TODAY it is simply impractical given the complexity of the intra-european politics. most germans, either from the left or right( one day) may very well agree regarding the us military expulsion from germany, the hard fact is - there is no alternative to nato today and for the next 10-20 years..

The thing is that Germany and Europe will have to relate to the realities of the 21st century sooner or later. And the supreme reality is that it will be an Asian or Pacific century. So a 'pivot to Asia' will become necessary. Now if you look geographically, Europe needs to partner with Russia and the Middle East. Germany may have the unique role and opportunity to point the way for the rest of Europe. What needs to be done is to start a foreign policy towards these countries which is more or less the opposite of which is carried out by the US. The transatlantic idea is last century's thought and needs to be abandoned. The sooner Germany will lead Europe along that path, the better it will stand in 20, 50 and 100 years. That Snowden's leaks might accelerate that thought process makes him probably the most dangerous person for the US in this decade. (The person doing the most damage during the previous decade in that respect was of course Dubya.)

 

[Cobber]

If Rudd gets re-elected I may have to immigrate. Four more years of Labor would do me in.

You might want to emigrate then

Anyway, if anyone can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, it's this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXhbg80E2JE

 

[auscyclefan94]

You might want to emigrate then

Anyway, if anyone can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, it's this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXhbg80E2JE

I'm glad you are highlighting one interview.

I think the Coalition will win, but the population are stupid enough to trust Rudd. He started all the disastrous policies and waste.

 

[Cobber]

I'm glad you are highlighting one interview.

I think the Coalition will win, but the population are stupid enough to trust Rudd. He started all the disastrous policies and waste.

Oh there's more.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-cYst0cfpU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-WqnTrG204

Seriously, you want this guy to be PM? How the hell is Malcolm Turnbull not the opposition leader

 

[python]

The thing is that Germany and Europe will have to relate to the realities of the 21st century sooner or later. And the supreme reality is that it will be an Asian or Pacific century. So a 'pivot to Asia' will become necessary. Now if you look geographically, Europe needs to partner with Russia and the Middle East.

it is certainly the trend. most sober observers, including in germany, do realize that the world centre of gravity is moving east. one can argue that germany already has the pivot via russia. currently, the nature of the pivot is pure economics. most europeans know that germany has been de facto russia's commercial proxy... but there are no military or strategic ties ! interestingly, russia did try several times to engage germany in a longer term strategic alliance. but as i pointed earlier, germany is not ready, its focus is inward or europe-centric. everyone understands that nato has become a joke or the us foreign policy tool at best, but quitting it requires alternative alliances not in place yet despite several attempts by france. this leads me to your second very important point...

Germany may have the unique role and opportunity to point the way for the rest of Europe.

ever since the euro was introduced, i was convinced that europe will drift aimlessly without a strong leader. and so it happened...any coalition, be it economic or political or military, needs a dominant power. france or great britain, for a variety of reasons, could never coalesce europe. it was the post ww2, united and democratic germany's fate if not a duty. but it was also convenient and rational for europe, including germany, to surrender its security to the us.

it was an economic bonanza for germany to later become a golden cage and now a yoke over its neck.

to break from this yoke would require MASSIVE military, perhaps own nuclear weapons. needless to mention, most europeans are horrified by the prospect...

hence, anglo-american spying to guard against the transformation.

 

[movingtarget]

I'm glad you are highlighting one interview.

I think the Coalition will win, but the population are stupid enough to trust Rudd. He started all the disastrous policies and waste.

Rudd is a populist. When he beat Howard he had no policies of his own and only Work Choices won him the election. Now he will try and win the election on the back of Gillard's policies. Now we will see the real Kevin Rudd, the guy is a fraud, I'm surprised more people don't notice. Nine senior ministers resign just as Rudd appears, I wonder why.

 

[gooner]

Snowdon has applied for political asylum in Russia. This is interesting as only earlier today we saw Putin say he could stay only if he stopped leaking out info on the US publicly.

I bet public is one thing behind closed doors could be another.

 

[python]

Snowdon has applied for political asylum in Russia. This is interesting as only earlier today we saw Putin say he could stay only if he stopped leaking out info on the US publicly.

I bet public is one thing behind closed doors could be another.

it appears snowden withdrew the application after putin set a condition to stop hurting the us. But he applied to 19 other countries, 6 of which already rejected him on the grounds that he should be physically present on their soil.
Curiously, germany was among the 6 that speedily said no.

What's next and why would snowden go public about so many applications ?

 

[Bavarianrider]

it appears snowden withdrew the application after putin set a condition to stop hurting the us. But he applied to 19 other countries, 6 of which already rejected him on the grounds that he should be physically present on their soil.
Curiously, germany was among the 6 that speedily said no.

What's next and why would snowden go public about so many applications ?

Where did you get that Germany said no?
Snowden has to come to Germany to ask for asylm. That's all, you can not ask for it if you are not within the country.
Same for Austria, they said that Snowden's bid was not valid as he has to come to Austria first. However, they also said, if he comes they would NOT send him to the USA.

Snowden will end up in Austria, Switzerland or Germany, no doubt.
German politicans have no honor what so ever and they would send Snowden to the USA right away, if the could. However, the public opinion in Germany is so much in favor of Snowden that they simply can not do it. However, if i was Snowden i would go to Austria. He'd be safe there.

 

[python]

Where did you get that Germany said no?

what do you call an official statement within hours of receiving an application, 'your request is invalid and therefore rejected/not accepted'

 

[auscyclefan94]

Malcolm Fraser is campaigning for the Greens at the upcoming election. Fraser is caught with his pants down again.

 

[Bavarianrider]

what do you call an official statement within hours of receiving an application, 'your request is invalid and therefore rejected/not accepted'

Well i am emberrassed by my country What a disgrace.

 

[python]

Well i am emberrassed by my country What a disgrace.

Shamed or the better word is disgraced, should be the european countries that just closed their airspace to the president of a sovereign state - obviously under the us pressure out of unfounded suspicion that snowden was aboard.

france, italy, spain and portugal shamed all europeans...austria, the only european state so far showed that it has spine.

These political prostitutes in europe are some of the most disgusting human waste.

 

[BroDeal]

I don't get what Obama is trying to accomplish here. The best strategy would seem to be to let Snowden find sanctuary somewhere. The administration can then claim, "We want to prosecute him but, dang, we cannot get our hands on him." If Snowden is brought back to the U.S. then Obama has a political problem while he is being held. A jury trial will be difficult because there is a very good chance one or more jurors will refuse to convict. The espionage charges look very weak and will be challenged. Obama will be creating a cause celebre for many organizations that are traditional allies of the Democrats.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Shamed or the better word is disgraced, should be the european countries that just closed their airspace to the president of a sovereign state - obviously under the us pressure out of unfounded suspicion that snowden was aboard.

france, italy, spain and portugal shamed all europeans...austria, the only european state so far showed that it has spine.

These political prostitutes in europe are some of the most disgusting human waste.

Totally agree with this. An utterly shocking and disgraceful episode that makes you wonder what kind of behind the scenes leverage the US used on countries who are not feeling all that pro-American right now in view of the scale of US spying activities against European allies as revealed by Snowden.

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

...If Snowden is brought back to the U.S. then Obama has a political problem while he is being held. A jury trial will be difficult because there is a very good chance one or more jurors will refuse to convict....

Sound logic. This is why the U.S. Navy SEALs sent to "apprehend" UBL took the decision in advance they would kill him ...period. They weren't willing to run the risk Usama might be put on public trial and would hire O.J. Simpson's 'dream team' of lawyers.