Trump and the MAGA movement is the most dangerous politician and movement for the West since Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. — © Mark Alexander
Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 16, 2025
German AfD Courts MAGA as Europe's Far Right Surges | DW News
Trump and the MAGA movement is the most dangerous politician and movement for the West since Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. — © Mark Alexander
Monday, December 15, 2025
Zelenskyy Plays ‘Clever’ Security Card after Calling Trump’s Bluff | Michael Weiss
Post-Truth Is Pre-Fascism: Can We Still Save American Democracy?
Dec 11, 2025 | “Post-truth is pre-fascism.” In this conversation, we dig into what that actually means for the United States right now — the state of American democracy, the collapse of local news, tech oligarchs, social media, and even the impossible question: how do you know when it’s time to leave?
We talk about why democracy is not a thing you have but something you do, why facts are a form of protection for the least powerful among us, and how “both-sides” coverage and endless online outrage are quietly doing the work of authoritarians for them.
We talk about why democracy is not a thing you have but something you do, why facts are a form of protection for the least powerful among us, and how “both-sides” coverage and endless online outrage are quietly doing the work of authoritarians for them.
Pope Leo Strikes Back against Trump Inside USA
Sunday, December 14, 2025
Let Donald Trump See Inside My Phone? I’d Rather Be Deported
THE GUARDIAN: The potential demand that visitors to the US hand over their social media records, or even their phones, opens up a world of embarrassment
As someone with a child in the US, this new Trump threat to scrutinise tourists’ social media is concerning. Providing my user name would be OK – the authorities would get sick of scrolling through chicken pics before they found anything critical of their Glorious Leader – but what if I have to hand over my phone at the border, as has happened to some travellers already? I would rather get deported.
There’s nothing criminal or egregiously immoral on there; I don’t foment revolution or indulge in Trump trolling, tempting as that would be. But my phone does not paint a flattering picture of me. Does anyone’s? Those shiny black rectangles have become contemporary confessionals, and we would like to believe they abide by the same kind of confidentiality rules. » | Emma Beddington | Sunday, December 14, 2025
Quite right! WTF wants to visit that SHITHOLE anyway? The American regime thinks more of itself than it ought to! People in their droves are staying away from that awful country already. It is to be hoped that in the coming months even more people will decide to stay away from Trump’s SHITHOLE. America was once the HOPE of the western world. Since Trump’s re-election, its HALO has dropped into the sewer. Nobody in his/her right mind would want to visit that dreadful country. — © Mark Alexander
As someone with a child in the US, this new Trump threat to scrutinise tourists’ social media is concerning. Providing my user name would be OK – the authorities would get sick of scrolling through chicken pics before they found anything critical of their Glorious Leader – but what if I have to hand over my phone at the border, as has happened to some travellers already? I would rather get deported.
There’s nothing criminal or egregiously immoral on there; I don’t foment revolution or indulge in Trump trolling, tempting as that would be. But my phone does not paint a flattering picture of me. Does anyone’s? Those shiny black rectangles have become contemporary confessionals, and we would like to believe they abide by the same kind of confidentiality rules. » | Emma Beddington | Sunday, December 14, 2025
Quite right! WTF wants to visit that SHITHOLE anyway? The American regime thinks more of itself than it ought to! People in their droves are staying away from that awful country already. It is to be hoped that in the coming months even more people will decide to stay away from Trump’s SHITHOLE. America was once the HOPE of the western world. Since Trump’s re-election, its HALO has dropped into the sewer. Nobody in his/her right mind would want to visit that dreadful country. — © Mark Alexander
Friday, December 12, 2025
If the US Forces Me to Choose between My Two Nationalities, I Choose France – and Europe
THE GUARDIAN: Proposals to change US citizenship rules leaves dual citizens like me caught in the crossfire. If push comes to shove, I know where my loyalty lies
ast week, a Republican senator from my home state of Ohio, Bernie Moreno, introduced the Exclusive Citizenship Act. The proposed legislation would strip me of my American citizenship, because I chose to be French too. Just as Moreno seeks to bully me into choosing citizenship, the US is bullying Europe, trying to force it to pick between total submission to its erstwhile partner, or a break with it.
It is now official US policy that Europe is facing “civilisational erasure”, and that the US will actively support far-right, ethnonationalist, neofascist parties hostile to the EU. Standing by historic alliances is out, protecting Elon Musk and his fellow techno-nihilist broligarchs is in – as is reaping the Kremlin’s praises for it.
What should have been clear as early as November 2024 should, by now, be abundantly so. This version of the US is worse than simply “not our friend”: it is an actively hostile actor seeking to fracture European society in the same way that Russia sought to fracture British society by promoting Brexit, and US society by fuelling disinformation, Maga and Trump. And yet Europe (the UK included) has spent the past year coddling, backtracking, cajoling and capitulating. It has ignored insult after insult from the White House, punitive measure after punitive measure.
Have we not yet had enough of the humiliation? » | Alexander Hurst | Friday, December 12, 2025
Alexander Hurst is very wise. Were I to be he, I too would choose to be French over being American. France is a land of culture and refinement. America is a shithouse by comparison! Vive la belle France ! — © Mark Alexander
ast week, a Republican senator from my home state of Ohio, Bernie Moreno, introduced the Exclusive Citizenship Act. The proposed legislation would strip me of my American citizenship, because I chose to be French too. Just as Moreno seeks to bully me into choosing citizenship, the US is bullying Europe, trying to force it to pick between total submission to its erstwhile partner, or a break with it.
It is now official US policy that Europe is facing “civilisational erasure”, and that the US will actively support far-right, ethnonationalist, neofascist parties hostile to the EU. Standing by historic alliances is out, protecting Elon Musk and his fellow techno-nihilist broligarchs is in – as is reaping the Kremlin’s praises for it.
What should have been clear as early as November 2024 should, by now, be abundantly so. This version of the US is worse than simply “not our friend”: it is an actively hostile actor seeking to fracture European society in the same way that Russia sought to fracture British society by promoting Brexit, and US society by fuelling disinformation, Maga and Trump. And yet Europe (the UK included) has spent the past year coddling, backtracking, cajoling and capitulating. It has ignored insult after insult from the White House, punitive measure after punitive measure.
Have we not yet had enough of the humiliation? » | Alexander Hurst | Friday, December 12, 2025
Alexander Hurst is very wise. Were I to be he, I too would choose to be French over being American. France is a land of culture and refinement. America is a shithouse by comparison! Vive la belle France ! — © Mark Alexander
Planning to Visit the US? Take It from This American Citizen – Don’t
THE GUARDIAN — OPINION: I love many things about the land of my birth but Donald Trump’s America has become an unwelcoming country of deep divisions and waning trust
I’m in the US right now, but if I didn’t have family here (and a US passport), I wouldn’t be. My teenagers and I flew over the week of Thanksgiving from Australia, preparing ourselves for long lines and extra questions at customs. It took less than five minutes in the US citizens’ line.
With the news this week of the Trump administration planning to implement new invasive requirements for travellers from 42 countries, including Australia, that would require five years of social media history for visas, I would simply not travel here on another passport. There are plenty of places which welcome visitors without trawling their political opinions and family history.
The proposed regulations would require ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation) applicants to share their social media for the past five years, email addresses they have used for the past 10 years and phone numbers and addresses of immediate family members. US Citizenship and Immigration Services now consider whether benefit applicants have ‘endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused’ anti-American, terrorist or antisemitic views.
…
I love my country of birth for its diversity, innovation and opportunity, but in the time I’ve lived in Australia I’ve seen the US change. It has become a country of vast wealth and privilege in the hands of very few; of deeper divisions and waning trust. The Trump administration sows hatred and fear of the ‘other’, so it should come as no surprise that tourism numbers are dropping sharply. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the US was predicted to lose $12.5bn in international visitor spending in 2025. » | Eleanor Limprecht* | Friday, December 12, 2025
* Eleanor Limprecht is the author of What Was Left, Long Bay, The Passengers and The Coast. Her next novel, Cul de Sac, will be published in 2026 by Ultimo Press
I’m in the US right now, but if I didn’t have family here (and a US passport), I wouldn’t be. My teenagers and I flew over the week of Thanksgiving from Australia, preparing ourselves for long lines and extra questions at customs. It took less than five minutes in the US citizens’ line.
With the news this week of the Trump administration planning to implement new invasive requirements for travellers from 42 countries, including Australia, that would require five years of social media history for visas, I would simply not travel here on another passport. There are plenty of places which welcome visitors without trawling their political opinions and family history.
The proposed regulations would require ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation) applicants to share their social media for the past five years, email addresses they have used for the past 10 years and phone numbers and addresses of immediate family members. US Citizenship and Immigration Services now consider whether benefit applicants have ‘endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused’ anti-American, terrorist or antisemitic views.
…
I love my country of birth for its diversity, innovation and opportunity, but in the time I’ve lived in Australia I’ve seen the US change. It has become a country of vast wealth and privilege in the hands of very few; of deeper divisions and waning trust. The Trump administration sows hatred and fear of the ‘other’, so it should come as no surprise that tourism numbers are dropping sharply. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the US was predicted to lose $12.5bn in international visitor spending in 2025. » | Eleanor Limprecht* | Friday, December 12, 2025
* Eleanor Limprecht is the author of What Was Left, Long Bay, The Passengers and The Coast. Her next novel, Cul de Sac, will be published in 2026 by Ultimo Press
Thursday, December 11, 2025
Democracy Now! US Seizes Venezuelan Oil Tanker as Anti-Maduro Campaign Escalates
Democracy Now! can be supported here.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
The US Is Not Just Europe’s Unwilling Ally, But an Adversary Steeped in Far-right Ideology
THE GUARDIAN: Don’t say you weren’t warned: Trump’s new national security strategy seeks to destroy liberal democracy as we know it
On the same day that Donald Trump received his made-to-order “peace prize” from his newest pal, Fifa president “Johnny” Infantino, his administration published an equally gaudy national security strategy. The relatively short document oozes Trump and Trumpism. It starts out with the typically modest claim that the president has brought “our nation – and the world – back from the brink of catastrophe and disaster”.
Even if the strategy mostly formalises the ongoing actions and statements of Trump and his administration, it should be heeded as a warning for the world, and Europe in particular.
The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference in which the US explicitly sets itself the goal of “promoting European greatness”. Its language could have been directly lifted from Viktor Orbán’s speeches during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: “We want Europe to remain European, to regain its civilisational self-confidence.” Even more ominously, the document claims that Europe’s “economic decline is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilisational erasure”.
The whole section on Europe is steeped in decades of European far-right ideology and propaganda. The EU and migration policies are held responsible for “transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence”. According to the document, if “present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies”. Indeed, the Trump administration believes that “within a few decades at the latest, certain Nato members will become majority non-European”.
Expanding on this theme in an interview with Politico, Trump claimed this would make these countries “much weaker”. » | Cas Mudde | Wednesday, December 10, 2025
On the same day that Donald Trump received his made-to-order “peace prize” from his newest pal, Fifa president “Johnny” Infantino, his administration published an equally gaudy national security strategy. The relatively short document oozes Trump and Trumpism. It starts out with the typically modest claim that the president has brought “our nation – and the world – back from the brink of catastrophe and disaster”.
Even if the strategy mostly formalises the ongoing actions and statements of Trump and his administration, it should be heeded as a warning for the world, and Europe in particular.
The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference in which the US explicitly sets itself the goal of “promoting European greatness”. Its language could have been directly lifted from Viktor Orbán’s speeches during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: “We want Europe to remain European, to regain its civilisational self-confidence.” Even more ominously, the document claims that Europe’s “economic decline is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilisational erasure”.
The whole section on Europe is steeped in decades of European far-right ideology and propaganda. The EU and migration policies are held responsible for “transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence”. According to the document, if “present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies”. Indeed, the Trump administration believes that “within a few decades at the latest, certain Nato members will become majority non-European”.
Expanding on this theme in an interview with Politico, Trump claimed this would make these countries “much weaker”. » | Cas Mudde | Wednesday, December 10, 2025
U.S. Plans to Scrutinize Foreign Tourists’ Social Media History
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Even visitors from countries like Britain and France, whose citizens don’t need visas, would have to share five years’ worth of social media.
Travelers visiting the United States from countries like Britain, France, Germany and South Korea could soon have to undergo a review of up to five years of their social media history, according to a proposal filed on Tuesday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The change would affect visitors eligible for the visa waiver program, which allows people from 42 countries to travel to the United States for up to 90 days without a visa as long as they first obtain electronic travel authorization.
In a document filed on Tuesday in the Federal Register, C.B.P. said it plans to ask applicants for a long list of personal data including social media, email addresses from the last decade, and the names, birth dates, places of residence and birthplaces of parents, spouses, siblings and children. » | Christine Chung | Tuesday, December 9, 2025
Travelers visiting the United States from countries like Britain, France, Germany and South Korea could soon have to undergo a review of up to five years of their social media history, according to a proposal filed on Tuesday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The change would affect visitors eligible for the visa waiver program, which allows people from 42 countries to travel to the United States for up to 90 days without a visa as long as they first obtain electronic travel authorization.
In a document filed on Tuesday in the Federal Register, C.B.P. said it plans to ask applicants for a long list of personal data including social media, email addresses from the last decade, and the names, birth dates, places of residence and birthplaces of parents, spouses, siblings and children. » | Christine Chung | Tuesday, December 9, 2025
Tuesday, December 09, 2025
Friedrich Merz Challenges US Strategy, Calls Europe Fully Independent Now
Dec 9, 2025 | Friedrich Merz Challenges US Strategy, Calls Europe Fully Independent Now
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz strongly questions parts of the new US National Security Strategy, warning that Europe does not need American intervention to “save democracy.” His comments come after Washington referred to “civilizational erasure” in Europe, raising concerns across EU capitals. This video explains the debate, the political signals from Berlin, and what this means for Europe’s independence and transatlantic relations.
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz strongly questions parts of the new US National Security Strategy, warning that Europe does not need American intervention to “save democracy.” His comments come after Washington referred to “civilizational erasure” in Europe, raising concerns across EU capitals. This video explains the debate, the political signals from Berlin, and what this means for Europe’s independence and transatlantic relations.
Americans and Their FAKE Christianity — Christian Nationalism!
Monday, December 08, 2025
Steve Rosenberg: “Trump’s Not Their Daddy Anymore.” Russian Paper on Europe, over New US National Security Strategy
Friday, December 05, 2025
Somali Immigrants “Garbage” Says Trump: MN Community Responds to Racist Rant and Immigration Sweeps
Dec 5, 2025 | Federal authorities are carrying out intensified operations this week in Minnesota as President Donald Trump escalates his attacks on the Somali community in the state. The administration halted green card and citizenship applications from Somalis and people from 18 other countries after last week's fatal shooting near the White House. During a recent Cabinet meeting, Trump went on a racist tirade against the Somali community, saying, "We don't want them in our country," and referring to Somali immigrants as "garbage." Minnesota has the largest Somali community in the United States, and the vast majority of the estimated 80,000 residents in the state are American citizens or legal permanent residents.
"We have seen vile things that the president has said, but in these moments, we need to come together and respond," says Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of CAIR-Minnesota. He also highlights the connections between Trump's targeting of the community and foreign policy. "If you demonize Muslims, then you can get away with killing Muslims abroad. This has always been the case, from the Afghanistan War to the Iraq War."
"We have seen vile things that the president has said, but in these moments, we need to come together and respond," says Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of CAIR-Minnesota. He also highlights the connections between Trump's targeting of the community and foreign policy. "If you demonize Muslims, then you can get away with killing Muslims abroad. This has always been the case, from the Afghanistan War to the Iraq War."
Sunday, November 30, 2025
Thom Hartmann: Are We Watching Democracy Collapse?
Saturday, November 29, 2025
Brian Klaas: “The United States Is Now a Competitive Authoritarian System”
LSE: Is the United States still a democracy? In an interview with EUROPP’s editor Stuart Brown, Brian Klaas discusses Donald Trump’s impact on American and global democracy.
I would say the United States is now a “competitive authoritarian” system. This is political science jargon for countries that have the trappings of democracy, but without a level playing field.
In other words, there is genuine competition in the United States between political parties and democratic institutions persist, but the state is able to manipulate outcomes to its advantage, disadvantage its opponents and use state power in illegitimate or undemocratic ways with little to no recourse against it.
Political scientists continue to debate this topic, but few would classify the United States as a robust democracy. It is either a democracy in crisis that is barely clinging onto the label, or one that has tipped over the edge into competitive authoritarianism – and I believe it’s the latter. » | Brian Klaas | Friday, September 19, 2025
I would say the United States is now a “competitive authoritarian” system. This is political science jargon for countries that have the trappings of democracy, but without a level playing field.
In other words, there is genuine competition in the United States between political parties and democratic institutions persist, but the state is able to manipulate outcomes to its advantage, disadvantage its opponents and use state power in illegitimate or undemocratic ways with little to no recourse against it.
Political scientists continue to debate this topic, but few would classify the United States as a robust democracy. It is either a democracy in crisis that is barely clinging onto the label, or one that has tipped over the edge into competitive authoritarianism – and I believe it’s the latter. » | Brian Klaas | Friday, September 19, 2025
Thursday, November 20, 2025
Pope Leo Calls the Treatment of Immigrants in the US Disrespectful
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