Ok, not football at all, but it matters, eventually.

[spaldy]

Do yourself a favor. If you know all about the US and world political stage then don't bother to read my wandering dialogue. Just rest assured that you press and journalists feed you open, independent and well researched news that you are spoon fed. They will keep feeding it to you. It's the same worldwide and why schools are indoctrination centers and not incubators of independent thought anymore.




Mrs O, not picking on you. Just referencing your quote on Yank tourists visiting your country....


QUOTE=MrsORichSenior_;40595197]For me living in W. France.... we do not show enough consideration to the political debates and problems of other countries........ particularly the Trump/Biden ideologies which I do try to follow via the Euro press.
I also often speak and listen to American folks who arrive in St Nazaire by bus loads visiting WW2 sites..... so politics do often crop up when talking to Americans sat at waterside hangouts.

In my view, Trump appears not so much a fascist but rather part of a new 'authoritarianism'....... that subverts democracy from within and solidifies power through administrative rather than paramilitary means broadly speaking.

These new authoritarians do not necessarily take a sledgehammer to a nations institutions, for example, by doing away with elections....... they hollow out democracy from within, so it becomes a façade draped over a one-party state......... The new style authoritarians govern through the transformation of the civil service into their own personal political machines... is the way rightly or wrongly as I see it ?

More so..... as Trump keeps saying that if he is elected to a second term he will prosecute his political opponents [the enemies within]. On 22 October he stated, once again that as President he would use 'extreme power' …... stating 'We can’t play games with these people and these are people that are dangerous people … an enemy from within.'

In Europe, Spain’s socialist prime minister Sánchez described the recent French election results as a warning and a lesson for Spain..........stating....... 'you always beat the far-right by governing and bringing in progressive policies........ that one by one give the lie to all the fake news that the far-right movement often spreads'.

However, the French far-right Party share of the government votes offers a cautionary tale for European civil society to learn from if it is to hopefully help stave off the very real far-right threat.......
..... but in the context of a widening gap between French voters and the political elite then it actually fell to civil society to channel anger, fear and hope into a political force that countered the rise of the far-right in the end for French society in 2024, particularly from the vocal unified under thirty-five year old voters........

Ultimately......... French regional, as well as religious identity explained the far-right’s poor performances........ particularly in my Western France home region 'Brittany' with its strong Breton independent identity.......
so from that perspective it certainly weakened arguments from the Far-rights political party about supposed threats to French identity........ as shared Christian culture, including among those who do not consider themselves Christians, which has been perceived for a long time as a major obstacle to the far-right throughout Europe.

So I do see comparisons when I look out across my coastal bay outwards to my Atlantic friends and remember how ever changing politics led me on new journeys in life.

MOT[/QUOTE]

You do realize that Trump has been charged over 100 times in local, state and federal courts? Not one of which would have occurred if he was not a politician? Not sure if you realize that the "russian collusion" steele dossier where he supposedly colluded with the russians in order to get ***ual favors from Russian escorts was also 100% fabricated but covered endlessly for 3 years over hear by "journalists" without one shred of truth. Over 1 million hours/pages of coverage by the media and journalists without one shred of truth. They could give the Chinese and North Koreans lessons in propaganda.

Not sure what the definition of political persecution is across the pond but that sure seems to fit the bill



I do understand that we all tend to look at our home country as a really, really important place. It's a national pride that I hope all people feel about their home but, like any countries press these days, you are much better off assuming that you are being lied to rather than the truth unless you see and hear it with your own eyes.


The people you are running into in France are not your typical Americans. This is especially the case for anyone from the Washington DC area. The rest of the country works so that these elites `can tell us how to live, worship and think. They grant us the privelege of keeping half our paycheck so that they tell us how to live more fulfilled and productive lives. we should be honored and grateful that they know what's best for us and protect our children and us from ourselves. Many of us will never have the resources and time to travel overseas. Few Americans have pensions anymore. The only people that do have pensions are government workers and some of the old line Union factory jobs. if you take the time to research whats actually going on in the US economy you'd find the power and wealth is all coalescing in DC and the big cities while the rural areas are dying off. The regulation which is arbitrary and capricious based on who you support politically is choking out small business start ups (the key to US economic growth) and the education system is failing at all levels.

The polls that I have worked at this election season are jammed. I suspect this will be a record turnout vote in the US.

Trump is not a fascist. He's a New York real estate Baron that realized that the country is failing. A businessman in a failed state can't make the money that they can in a booming economy. His attitude, abrasiveness and overall obnoxious behavior is endemic in New York and the real estate industry. He is not a politician and he can't understand the millions of worthless bureaucrats that create no value to the citizens (his potential customers). He's a threat to the system and they will stop at nothing to make sure he does not change it or alter it in a way that they bureaucrats lose their power. DC doesn't even pretend anymore. The fact they ran a candidate that has not run on any policies, programs or items that she's going to change or implement (other than give aways on housing and school loans) shows just how much contempt they have for 1/2 of the country.