The news of Viktor Orbán’s endorsement of Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States stunned the world. Orbán is the first and most likely the last European political leader to extol the virtues of Trump. As BBC noted a few months ago, “the international reaction to Donald Trump is so forceful and so unanimous in its condemnation” that it is unprecedented. Earlier Libération ran the headline “Donald Trump—The American Nightmare.” The article described him as a “provocative clown,” a “malign buffoon” whose “constituency is ignorance.”
But there is also a growing fear in Europe of the spread of right-wing populism because “in nearly every European country they are on the move now, the little Trumps,” Evelyn Roll wrote in Süddeutsche Zeitung, warning against the dangers of nationalism. Le Monde pointed to “our Marine Le Pen” as the French equivalent of Trump, while Der Spiegel compared him to Viktor Orbán. Only a few days ago in The Washington Post Anne Applebaum suggested that a Trump presidency would destabilize Europe because of his “direct and indirect links to a foreign dictator, Vladimir Putin, whose policies he promotes.” Applebaum then listed the names of Trump advisers who in one way or the other supported Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Franklin Foer in Slate called Trump Putin’s puppet.
And now comes the Hungarian prime minister who praises and endorses a man who has been described as an ignorant sociopath and a danger to the United States and the European Union. Vladimir Putin’s goal is the destruction of the European Union and the re-creation of a Russian Empire that would definitely include the Baltic States and Ukraine. Trump’s references to the European Union and NATO leave no doubt that he is playing into Putin’s hands. His remarks send chills down the spines of those who know anything about Russian designs and the threat Putin poses to Europe and consequently to the United States. When his fellow Republicans, like Mitch McConnell, tried to reassure allies of the United States that “if any of them get attacked, we’ll be there to defend them,” Trump immediately called McConnell “100% wrong.” And what does he think of the European Union? He claims that the European Union was created simply to “beat the United States when it comes to making money.” I guess he figures that if the EU disappeared, it would be good for American business.
It is this frightening man whom Orbán finds to be an “outstanding” politician who is best fit to be the next U.S. president. He himself is surprised at his own conclusion, but “in the current situation” he is certain that Trump “is the best for Europe and for Hungary.” Naturally, Orbán didn’t dwell on any possible threat from Russia and Trump’s infatuation with Putin, whom he has praised profusely over the years. And, of course, Orbán didn’t talk about Trump’s isolationism and his threat of a military abandonment of Europe. Instead, he emphasized three items from Trump’s program: his conviction that immigration carries a security risk, that national security forces must be strengthened, and that the West must end its export of democracy. He agrees fully with Trump. He himself “couldn’t have said it better.”
MTI / Photo: Zoltán Máthé
Orbán’s speech delivered in Tusnádfürdő/Băile Tușnad in Romania, which included the endorsement of Trump, was long and more filler than substance, but there was one paragraph that should give one pause:
Nowadays when we choose a certain language to describe our worries and troubles we must count on being branded, downgraded, excluded and, in general, being exiled from mainstream Europe. Of course, when the mainstream is in trouble then a timely exile is rather advantageous. Earlier we wouldn’t have thought that to be the case, but now it is increasingly likely that Hungary is being squeezed out from the European mainstream and everything we had done [the European politicians] considered not a part of the accepted norms of European politics—be that our constitution based on Christian foundations, our ideas on demographics, our national integration across borders—but all that today, after a few years, seems to be more of an advantage than a drawback. In this very moment no one can exclude the possibility that in the next few years the European mainstream will not advance the way imagined and so the black sheep will become the flock, from the exception the mainstream.
In brief, Orbán predicts the collapse of the European Union and strongly indicates that this would be a vindication of his policies and hence his personal triumph. I believe this statement is the strongest indication to date of his hope that the European Union will collapse. Therefore, the joint effort of Putin in the east and Trump in the west to weaken the institutions, values, and culture of the EU by strengthening populism in European countries and the simultaneous weakening of the Union itself by former communist countries infected with strong nationalism fits perfectly into Orbán’s plans.
As I reported earlier, at the beginning of July Tamás Bauer, a professor of economics and politician (SZDSZ and later DK), wrote an opinion piece in HVG with the title “Orbán would like to unbutton it,” which refers to Ferenc Deák’s famous figure of speech about the hussar’s dolman which was buttoned incorrectly. In it Bauer charged that “Viktor Orbán wants more than Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage. He doesn’t want simply to remove his country from the Union but he wants to eliminate the Union itself.” The politicians of the democratic opposition all believe that the meaningless referendum is the first step in this direction, and seen in the light of this crucial paragraph they may be right. That’s why support for that referendum is a cardinal sin against Hungarian democracy and against the European Union and an endorsement of a new Europe under heavy Russian influence.
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/qsna4j7ha5sxgbhk6s23.jpg
Good news: The Democratic Convention for nominating Hillary Clinton the party’s nominee for president opens in Philadelphia Monday weighed down with snags. The party forced Debbie Wasserman Schultz to resign as party chairwoman at the last minute to save face, after WikiLeaks released nearly 20,000 DNC emails, which show the supposedly neutral arm of the party campaigning to discredit and mock Bernie Sanders. The defeated candidate’s supporters are planning a mass protest. Then too, the CNN poll rating the Republican’s nominee Donald Trump has bounced to 44% past Clinton’s 39% since he won the party nomination.
The World would have been a better place today, if some people were hit by a streetcar while they were little. Such people were and are Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and Szálasi, Rákosi, Orbán and now we have Trump.
There’s still time for a less dramatic solution with the last two: Vote Orban out and don’t vote Trump in. (Needless to say, this means disregard “1956,” below…)
My sentence is not a solution, it is not about the present, just a utopian wish, that something should have happened many decades ago.
and ye
Disregard Orban, but vote Trump.
Watch the new movie Hillary’s America, by Dinesh D’Souza.
“I’m leaving some parts out, but Hillary’s America is a film essay (I won’t call it a documentary) so demented that no synopsis could do it justice. It concludes that Obama and Clinton are the ones keeping African Americans poor in the inner cities, and that the only real Americans are Republicans. ”
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jul/18/hillarys-america-review-dinesh-dsouza-racist-democrat-super-villains
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Dinesh_D%27Souza#Criminal_mastermind
We were warned in Obama 2016.
Why have we not listened?
Ignore the Guardian and others if it is disinformation.
This isn’t a partisan jab, but is anyone else alarmed by photos of Orbán over the past 5-6 months or so? Like that photo in the post – he looks very troubled.
And how about this one, from the same event:
http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/WireAP_537a7e3249ab426a87ee1dc6b85db0fb_16x9_1600.jpg
He looks unbelievably troubled in this one. I have never seen any leader anywhere look like this. It is simply not how a healthy person looks, and I find it disturbing. He literally looks as if he’s about to cry or something.
He seems to look this way in nearly every photo nowadays, either exhausted or miserable. I even asked a journalist friend of mine about it, and he told me that Hungarian journalists have definitely noticed this too, and many of them suspect that Orbán is suffering from overwork and exhaustion.
If so, I hope he gets better soon. I want the leader of my country, whoever it is, to look confident and sure of himself, and not always look as if he’s on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
If the leader is a menacing megalomane and psychopath who has brought his country to its knees, I’d rather he show his pathology. What an idea, to wish health on someone doing this much damage!
Good point, I didn’t really mean it that way though, I just meant that it’s worrying to have a leader who always looks like he’s having a breakdown. Maybe I shouldn’t write comments at 3am.
I agree with most everything Eva wrote in her post. I don’t however agree with Anne Applebaum that Trump is fully under the Putin tutelage, Trump believes he has gotten the better end of his business dealings with the Russian oligarchs and can out fox Putin. But to use a brutal phrase Trump is a dumb-ass because the Russian oligarchs are crazy like foxes. Trump was given the deals he was given as a loss leader to open the door for far better things for the oligarchs and Putin. His experience of besting the Russians in his dealings is effectively a KGB mind game. At the business level the Hungarian oligarch Lajos Simicska understands how Putin and his oligarchs work far better than Trump ever will, in fact Simicska has been involved with crooked dealings with them. Even though Simicska is himself a crook he understands that Putin’s greed along with those of his Russian oligarchs have no boundaries and Orban’s flirtations with Putin have to lead to political and economic domination of Hungary. Possibly Trump doesn’t give a good damn about ceding Central Europe to Putin in a manner similar to Roosevelt’s Yalta deal with Stalin. So Roosevelt in… Read more »
What is this nonsense, “Putin and his oligarchs”? It’s Putin and the KGB, dumbkopf! It’s the KGB and the armed services who run Putin.
The oligarchs are instruments who do their bidding, like Abramovich and that joker in NY who owns the NBA team.
Oufox the KGB? That moron called Trump? Vote in Trump and you’ll see the Red Army move on Europe, and the Chinese take India, Japan and southeast Asia…But Trump won’t mind: he’ll be safe at mal el lago..
Of course, Hillary-Billary won’t be much better. When Putin moves on the Baltic states, she’ll be frantically banging the Reset button…
In all the hubbub over the e-mails now, we should take notice of one comment, to whit: “….when Hillary implodes…”
That bears some examination and questioning.
There is also a possible Russian link to the emails leaked from the DNC see http://observer.com/2016/07/wikileaks-dismantling-of-dnc-is-clear-attack-by-putin-on-clinton/
Nonsense. Her move to reset as Sec. of State was based on a commonly held belief in foreign policy circles at the time that Putin was moving in a positive direction. I do think she will be strong on defense and her VP pick reflects that.
So, let me see…your contention is that Hillary is easily mislead, right?
Hardly a qualification to be president…
The survivors of the KGB are often the oligarchs Petofi, case in point Igor Sechin. Sechin is widely regarded to be the head of the Kremlin’s siloviki clan, made up of nationalist hardliners with a security or military background. He is a proponent of strong state control, especially in the energy sector. The siloviki are at odds with a modernising camp inside the Kremlin, who favored greater economic liberalisation and Russia’s integration with the west economically. Both factions want to destroy NATO and the EU. Both factions have members who could be called oligarchs.
Putin, in my opinion meanwhile, plays the role of intra-elite arbiter, balancing the interests of both factions. Putin rules like Stalin, he pulls all the strings. None the less I think you, Eva, and I are in agreement on the dangers of a Trump election.
I agree that Sechin is the point man. I’d wager that the army and the KGB are the controlling factors in the background…
@shoopy I hope the moron dies as soon as possible. You wish him well. Have you any idea how many people in Hungary died, literally, because of the state of healthcare. And how many people don’t have a future because of the state of the educational system.
Sadly enough half of the Hungarian constituency is either as moronic or extremely misinformed. In a one man one vote democratic system the ignorant peasants will be able to keep the more intelligent minority hostage due to their sheer numbers. The Belgian historian Davis van Reybrouck wrote an excellent article explaining how to remedy this in The Guardian following the disastrous outcome of the English referendum.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/29/why-elections-are-bad-for-democracy
Apparently the situation isn’t much better in the US where an equally misinformed American constituency wants to elect Donald Drumpf (yes Drumpf, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnpO_RTSNmQ). To get a real insight in who Donald Drumpf is read this interview with the author of Donald’s biography “The art of deal”
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all?src=longreads
And share it as much as possible.
Fair enough!
Tnx for the article links. They sort of build on each other.
you’re most welcome
It is an unenviable choice. Trump wins by a whisker over the toxic HC.
@palika
What the … is toxic about HC?
Isn’t it pretty obvious that Trump is poison wrapped in colorful cheap populism?
How can one in hh right mind put a pathologically egocentric guy, without a day in public office, in the White House? Not to speak about international power politics – he will be like a big spoil brat throwing tantrums with the nuclear button in his hands.
I hope he looses big.
It is all very subjective. She does not resonate with me at all. DT is not much better, but wins by a nose.
You don’t strike me as the type to play Russian roulette, but that’s what you will be doing.
Well Palika then you support a racist, homophobic, and misogynistic candidate. Think about whether that reflects your values. In addition, his foreign policy is declined by some as pro-Putin and anti-EU.
I question the accuracy of DT’s description. However there is limited choice. HC bombed out Bernie who was my favourite. If there is a third candidate, another story. HC no, so it leaves DT. Incidentally I do not have a vote, so this is academic.
Then you are either ignorant, stupid, or support his racism and misogyny. I doubt a Bernie supporter would be blind to his dangerous character flaws – but it takes all kinds.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-racist-examples_us_56d47177e4b03260bf777e83
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/donald-trump-sexism-tracker-every-offensive-comment-in-one-place/
You mean question the accuracy of Reality Check’s description of DT but he sure sounds racist, homophobic and misogynistic. Totally without knowledge of experience of the world and even the US constitution.
I understand that you liked Bernie but I don’t think that he could have been elected. Far too thethe left for the USA. Also, some of his promises were simply unrealistic.
Eva, alas you are right about Bernie. A really good man, deserved to win.
I take DT with a pinch of salt. He has no political or administrative experience. Works both ways for me.
He does know the world. Most Presidents do not on taking office. I know HC does too. DT at least knows where Slovenia is.
Presidential performance depends much on the quality of advisers and the cabinet. It’s limitations are implicit in the great wisdom of the Constitution.
Even if elected DT will not turn into a latter day King George. Because he cannot.
He may have some initial problems with establishing truly effective government. In the UK the Tories have struggled to do so for the last 6 years and their biggest challenge is about to hit them.
I would give him a go. I simply do not like HC and I never did. Sorry, I do not mind what she stands for or not. She jars with me.
Let us wait for the fun of the debates. Maybe it will look different then.
As for Trump. Please read an excellent article about Trump by Jane Mayer of the New Yorker. It is about her conversation with Trump’s ghostwriter.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all
It is a must. As for Hilary. She is not a person who has a large fan club but those who know her talk about her real personality which is apparently warm and generous. She is just buttoned-up apparently.
Thank you Eva, I will do so and respond
The Americans are surely stuck between a rock and a hard place – just imagine how it would feel if we had to choose between József Torgyán and Ágnes Vadai…
On a more serious note, there’s no way Hillary Clinton could win this battle now.
Wanna bet? I will send $100 to Eva against your 100.
I said this before the primaries, beware of DT. DT is a huckster who knows how to play to his audience, he knows how to win. He won that contest with very little fact checking. Now, that problem has been (mostly) fixed. The next problem is DT won’t have a clue on what to do the day after. I fear the only way HC wins is if people come to their senses.
Your statement is ignorant of the electoral college probabilities.
http://election.princeton.edu/todays-electoral-vote-histogram/
I expect a temporary small post-convnetion bump for Trump that will decline over time and be overshadowed by Clinton’s post convention bump.
Another predictor here: http://election.princeton.edu/history-of-meta-analysis/
A reminder that during this whole race Hillary has never been behind Trump in the tracking polls. Occasionally an individual pol or two will popup that show Trump ahead, but these are outliers that are lost in the running average.
My money is on Clinton. I expect her to slaughter Trump in the debates.
False equivalency between HRC and DT. They are worlds part on policy and the experience needed to conduct a sound domestic and foreign policy. Trump would be disaster.
So there is no between a rock and a hard place – Trump covers both.
Same post was on Hungarian Free Press. Have a look at the comments there – completely off the handle, but indicative for the state of mind of a large swath of Hungarian voters.
So, Orban endorsed Trump. Great, all his endorsees failed till now.
Note the three elements in Trump’s platform that he liked:
– the migrants issue (what else? never mind there aren’t any in Hungary),
– the expansion of the security apparatus (which has been growing anyway since 2010),
– the West must stop trying to export or support democracy to other parts of the world, definitely not to/in Hungary.
The endorsement is another fit by our sociopath who was “offended” by Clinton.
God save Hungary, because the Hungarians are rather going to burn down their own house.
Re:’God save Hungary, because the Hungarians are rather going to burn down their own’
‘I myself could not have drawn up better what Europe needs’. Orban commenting on Trump’s supposed ‘Rx’ for Europe.
With these ‘orvosok’ look for two kills if their current and potential prescriptions go through.
It doesn’t matter if Orbán has a personal affection for Trump or not. I think he’s simply come to terms with the reality that the next president of the USA will be called Donald Trump – Hillary really doesn’t stand a chance now. And if this is the case, it’s wise to endorse him before anyone else does, to ensure his goodwill. I agree that the thought of the US being helmed by someone like Trump should send chills down the spines of everyone – but the reality is that he will become President no matter what.
On the topic of European cooperation, I was surprised to learn of Orbán’s endorsement of a joint European army. It’s a brilliant idea and, with the demise of NATO being a frightening possibility – just look at the current Russo-Turkish rapprochement and indeed Trump’s isolationism – it should indeed be set up as soon as possible; but I would never have imagined that a known eurosceptic like Orbán would ever be endorsing (let alone championing) this project:
http://www.miniszterelnok.hu/europai-hadsereg-letrehozasara-van-szukseg/
I believe this is the most newsworthy statement he made in Tusnádfürfő and yet nobody seems to have picked it up yet.
Where is the data, poll showing “the reality” that “Hillary really doesn’t stand a chance” and that Trump ” will become President no matter what”?
Or you just habitually follow the parrot commando in their method of repeating a lie thousand times …
Or maybe the Clandestine Power has chosen Trump all of a sudden.
The European army is “a brilliant idea” of the 1970s and there is a Franco-German one, sort of.
Re how come “nobody seems to have picked it up yet” the Orban’s endorsement, more, championing of the idea – Orban has said by now everything and it’s opposite too, so nobody really pays much attention. Internationally he is largely irrelevant, but in the role of a scarecrow for naughty kids.
Éva is blaming Orbán for the rise of Trump in the US.
Trump represents the tip of the iceberg.
After all, the US is a Jobbik country, always has been. Even Michael Moore predicts a Trump win in November.
Éva is blaming Orbán for the rise of Trump in the US.
You really are a stupid lying troll, Joe!
Trump is close to winning. Just as with the UK Brexit vote, the utterly frustrated white middle and working classes have simply no other means of saying that they had enough of globalism and of the liberal elite. Only a Trump shock and the concomitant losses by the hitherto ruling liberal elite will wake them up. He is getting more and more popular. The media has been about Trump. He is totally teflon. Since half or close to half of America including most establishment Republicans support Trump and in any way do not date to criticize him, (meanwhile even Democrats are criricizing Hillary or least this is the image, the usual leftist disunity) Orban is pretty safe. If many establishment figures are behind Trump such as Johnson or the entire American Republican party then Orban cannot be criticized. If Trump wins, Orban thinks he will be left alone and he can transit much more clearly to camp of Putin and Erdogan, the camp of the winners. Neither the EU, nor NATO, nor the US ever understood how easy it is to divide a political bloc such as via Orban from within. How important it is to demand discipline (just as… Read more »
That insignificant small country Hungary is “winning” – what?
More riches for the Fidesz mafiosi and even less money for the poor majority – especially if/when the EU money dries up.
And Putin’s and Erdogan’s economies are so strong – really?
Артеша, отстань с етими глупостями.
Artesha, leave me alone with these nonsenses. (Google Translate)
I see that a lot of people from Hungary think that Trump will win but at the moment, at least according to Five-Thirty-Eight, Clinton is ahead despite the convention bump after last week’s Republican extravagance. At the moment Clinton is ahead (53.7% ) and Trump trails with 46.2%. After this week’s Democratic gathering the numbers will most likely turn in favor of Clinton. This is what usually happens in U.S. election campaigns.
I think you misunderstand Nate Silver. He says that Hillary as of today has a 53.7 % chance of winning the presidency, while Trump has 46%. This means that essentially both candidates have fifty fifty chances. In other words too close to call. According to his polls both OH and FL are now leaning Trump. A month or two ago, Clinton had over 66% chance of winning meaning she had double the chance of winning as Trump stood at 33% at that point. Clinton has been steadily losing steam in battle ground states and essentially there is no way she can win if she doesnt carry the two above states, hence the almost equal chances. Trump has the momentum and every day he offers something titillating like leaving WTO in order to get lost jobs back etc.. Clinton offers nothings important. She does not seem to be able to move the fantasy of voters. Obviously Clinton can win even if Trump will have 80% chances of winning (since even in such cases one out of five the underdog still wins), but her chances have been steadily eroding. Trump was written off at this blog and now he has almost as… Read more »
I don’t think so. Don’t forget this result doesn’t come from an ordinary nationwide poll. Silver is doing meta-analysis here where the 3 percentage point error doesn’t apply.
Actually, these figures, up or down, don’t really matter yet. We are too far from the election and an awful lot of things can happen between now and then.
Observer spotted the Russian troll perfectly.
Trump is Putin’s candidate.
Two things. 1) You do not understand how to interpret Silver’s model (its not a poll). A nearly 8 point deficit in his models is a healthy lead that will be hard to overcome. That the race is tightening is no surprise.
2) Other models posted today show a wider race. Clinton Nov. win probability: random drift 65%, Bayesian 80% (Princeton Election Consortium).
Their models relies on electoral college win probabilities and today have this spread Clinton 312 EV, Trump 226 EV (270 to win).
to Eva – I hope to God that 538 and you are right – I never heard of 538 and just read about it on wiki – thanks for posting the info.
I just read your reply to Artemy – I think we can count on Trump going off the prompter and then ” We are too far from the election and an awful lot of things can happen between now and then.” 🙂
I hope you saw Jon Stewart return on Steve Colbert’s show the other day
Trump, Putin and Orban. What a modern political trimuvirate who espouse similar ideas we have there. These political animals of our time do not speak to the minions of their nations as individuals with reason, intelligence and with a moral bent but rather to the crowds with all their hidden rage, anxieties, recriminations, sufferings and hunt for scapegoats. They are purveyors of what Huxley termed ‘herd-poison’. The result is an electorate who give up their minds to the claptrap. This has all been done before….. exceedingly well. To the EU, US and and all democratic nations upholding their traditions.: ‘En garde’.
EVA: “Vladimir Putin’s goal is the destruction of the European Union and the re-creation of a Russian Empire that would definitely include the Baltic States and Ukraine.”
Most of the world (outside Washington’s direct influence) sees exactly the opposite… decades of aggressive military expansion by NATO provocatively encircling and threatening Russia. The State Department’s preferred vehicle to this end are the virulently anti-Russian rightist, anti-Semitic and fascistic elements in the former Soviet republics, plus Poland and a few others – elements which often have a direct political interest in ratcheting up the conflict.
While holding Putin in utter contempt for his reactionary domestic policies, one can also recognize that the Kremlin has been, whatever its reasons, quite cautions and restrained in responding to Washington’s “gunboat diplomacy”.
Lumpy…. You are absolutely correct regarding Putin’s ‘restraint’. It is stunning in a way that after such opportunities Europe has afforded him namely migrants on the run, green men in Ukraine, democracies in retreat, Muslim jihadists, the Syrian war, dismal economics, Brexit and the rise of far rightist parties that he hasn’t bagged Estonia yet or even pressed the pedal to the metal in Ukraine. Go west young man go west! The old KGB boy seems to have not played some of his good cards. All the more for Europe, NATO and the US to watch that rubberband that’s always getting tightened from ‘unpredictable’ Vlad. And let’s add Trump as a possible enabler in taking Europe to places they really won’t want to go to.
It’s funny in a way:
The same people (trolls?) who have been telling us: O is invincible, the left has no chance …
are now telling us:
P is invincible, the West has no chance
and of course:
T is invincible, the left has no chance!
As if the US Democrats were “left” …
PS:
Whenever I hear “Putin” and “democracy” I have to think of our former chancellor Schröder who once called him a “lupenreiner Demokrat” (crystal clear democrat) – and then I have to decide whether to laugh hysterically or start crying …
Of course at that time Schröder was already paid by Gazprom …
‘I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy’……George W. Bush
Well you know Vlad sure can affect impressions….he’s good!….😎. He must have read Dale Carnegie’s ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’. It has to be one of those books that Vlad never puts out of print even in Russia. Rounds out the ‘rough edges’ with the KGB fellow. Come to think of it Viktor and his political acolytes should take a stab at it. Diplomats too….. ;-)…
Let’s hope DTT (‘Delirium Tremens’ Trump) doesn’t get too infatuated with his main outside competitor as they ‘chew the fat’ between them. ‘These are the times that try men’s souls’. Thanks Tom Paine. The EU just soon may have to publish that famous cut up snake poster from the 18th rallying and pushing the states to stronger democratic action in the face of tyranny and pushing limits: ‘Join or Die’.
For those who are not familiar with Five-Thirty-Eight.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FiveThirtyEight
mother useful resource to help follow the race. Electoral college probabilities mapped by state.
http://www.270towin.com/maps/princeton-election-consortium
Today HRC 317 to Trump 197, with 270 to win.
Putin and Trump. Among other ties, Trump gets a substantial amount of loans from Russian banks.
Is Donald Trump a Putin patsy?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/07/25/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/
Trump & Putin. Yes, It’s Really a Thing
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-putin-yes-it-s-really-a-thing
It Can’t Be Dismissed
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/it-can-t-be-dismissed
Orban is Putin’s point-man in the EU and throws his support behind Vlads favorite.
You liberals are worse than animals…
Animals are very splendid creatures. Just think of a lion, a tiger, an elephant or a crocodile sleeping, waiting for his dinner which might just a bit careless. Can you think of anything more beautiful than a blackbird in full song? Or a sea gull in flight? A cat suckling her litter?
So, which animals we worse? Let us have some fun. Animals versus liberals. Please let us have a serious debate,
…undoubtedly, but not as bad as the illiberals.
Since the animals are not bad and mostly beatiful, we liberals have little to worry.
Well, anyád is a troll.
Yes but challange him
Anyád.
Very funny, Observer! (After my partner explained!)
Trump will be the hands down winner. I don’t wish it; and, if forced, I’d hold my nose and go with Hillary. At least her presidency would be one by committee with her hubby playing a major role.
But Trumpy will win for one simple reason: the American mainstream–after 2008 and how the democratic president handled the banking fallout…no longer believes that the government is a ‘fair dealer’. After all, were was the punishment for the rating agencies? No, the system
works for the big wheels. So what for the small fry? ENTERTAINMENT!
And clearly, Trump will be a helluva lot more entertaining than dour,
man-hating, Hillary.
As a man of intellect, can you point to anything that would substantiate your “feeling” that the Americans are angry at the Democrats for their handling of the 2008 banking crisis in this election cycle? Eight years is a long time (Facebook didn’t even have ~95% of its current users in 2008) and since Americans have really bad memories and a growing anti-intellectual culture they consume less substantial and thought-provoking news than ever before. (thanks in part to social media) While I also have a feeling that polling methodologies could be flawed or antiquated (I was wrong in 2008-2012 but could be more correct in by views since 2014) and that a number different events could occur that to affect this election cycle which would turn the tides for Trump, at this point a person of intellect would have to reason that Hillary has a substantial lead. But even as 538 states that her lead is as safe as John Kerry lead was in 2004. Kerry, like Trump, at least looked like a winner after his convention too. If you truly believe your “feelings” I would advise you to put some money on it through the Iowa Electronic Markets as… Read more »
Petofi, you have some chutzpah. Where do you get off spouting your opinions on an American blog about what “the American mainstream” feels?
Apparently you don’t know who was in office until 2009, so I’ll tell you – it was G.W. Bush. Every American knows that. Everyone knows G.W. Bush was presiding when the economy went bottoms up. And who was in office when things began to turn around?
Please stop pontificating about America.
You are clueless.
I wouldn’t begin to comment on Canadian politics, because I know I don’t know. You’ve got to learn your own limits.
I don’t know exactly where my fellow American bloggers are on election prognosis but I do know that the American political environment right now is kind of really crazy. Through all my years I have never seen it respond in the way it has. Like political supernovas blowing up all over the place. It’s almost as if indeed democracy itself is trying to show that it is up to the task of slogging through the tumult which has come on thick and fast. Who knows what political depths or heights we will reach? I can understand going for idealistic utopias. But maybe we might get a visit from Dante as he brings up the Inferno. And the muckraking indeed is gearing up. It’s going to be a real dirty one folks. Baaaaddddd…..
wrfree:It is already violent, yes it will get worse, but the sunshines still, even though the dark clouds are hiding. It won’t rain always.
Here is an article about the psychology of Trump that is relevant to the discussions. I see a number of similarities with Orban and they seem to grow evident with time. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/donald-trump-s-real-ambition/?WT.mc_id=SA_FB_MB_BLOG#
Thank you – but reading that I got goosebumps!
So Trump is even worse than I thought.
Listen you all, Trump represents the top 1%, and he is a loud mouthed individual. Mitt Romney represented the top 1% and appeared as a quiet person, Do you really trust Donald Trump with our missle system, what will he do with our missile silos? Hillary is Upper Middle Class and has a sincere approach to humanity plus she is experienced. At least she paid attention to you all there.
Penny,
You are preaching to the converted. Many of us are doing what we can beyond this blog. Trump will loose, hopefully loose big.
Hillary, me-me-first person, betrayed, mislead, abandoned foes and friends all her life.
Do you think, she has got a shred a credibility?
Trump maybe the worst playboy, but does he owe anything to the top 1%.
He probably hates them since he knows them.
He may be the best friend of the ordinary American, and citizens of the planet.
Trump owes EVERYTHING to the 1%. He’s part of the 1%
Recall, he was bankrupt at one point, and they bailed him out under conditions they would not give to any but their own.
1956/He is no Ronald Reagan;without steorotyping men all politicians lack credibility, most are playboys, but Hillary has strong character. I believe she will win.
Trump has no friends besides himself …
Just look at the way he treated his wives!
Use them for his own advantage and then throw them under the bus.
And of course he always finds a new one who expects to profit from the relation …
How can any woman vote for this creture, I wonder?
Do you actually read the news? Who do you consider “ordinary American”? Women are not ordinary in your book? What phoney you are!
Observer/I am not preaching. Analytically speaking….we do not have time to train his mouth, he has no decorum. He will lose, I just do not trust him to push the panc red button on the hot phone.
Fideszniks should now shut their mouths when US government officials make comments about public affairs in Hungary, because by endorsing one candidate for the presidency Orban has intervened in American politics in the most direct manner possible. I cannot recall anyone in the US embassy or State Dept. ever endorsing any Hungarian party. (also posted elsewhere)
The PM probably got Trumps bio mixed up. He just does not like women in Power.
The PM wants Trump to win, as does the PM’s best friend, Vladimir Putin.
I’m sure that this is one of Orbán’s many problems with Hillary