Funny events in anti-woke world

Thaluikhain

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We've had a doozy of a day again in dutch politics. Apparently a news site called Voice of Europe, which Geert Wilders praised as "an antidote against fake news" is actually a Russian run propaganda group that has been paying dutch politicians.
Name like that, I'd not be surprised if there was a supervillain in a volcano lair somewhere.
 
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Hades

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We've had a doozy of a day again in dutch politics. Apparently a news site called Voice of Europe, which Geert Wilders praised as "an antidote against fake news" is actually a Russian run propaganda group that has been paying dutch politicians. Thiery Baudet's name was menioned obviously, but seeing as Wilders has loved Russia and Poetin even throughout their invasion of Crimea, and shooting down MH17, he's on the suspect list as well. And he knows it because he immediately went into the offensive calling for an investigation and how we need to find out whose responsible for this. :sneaky:
If Baudet or at least some Forum members aren't on that payroll its going to be the biggest surprise of the year. While I wouldn't put it past Geert to be in the pocket of the Kremlin I think these days he's got too much to lose to really go that route anymore. He has magically turned into Geert Milders after all and is hoping to govern.
 
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Casual Shinji

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He has magically turned into Geert Milders after all and is hoping to govern.
Has he? From the looks of it he's not going to be prime minister, and I have a sneaking suspicion it's so he can't get called on his bullshit, which he can then continue to spout to get those populist votes.

And I think I read he was part of this European rightwing braintrust that le Pen is also part of, some of whom including le Pen got donations from Russian organisations. Considering how much Wilders had been cozying up to the Kremlin, it'd be impossible that some of their money didn't find itself donated to him. Maybe not directly, but...
 

Ag3ma

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Has he? From the looks of it he's not going to be prime minister, and I have a sneaking suspicion it's so he can't get called on his bullshit, which he can then continue to spout to get those populist votes.
Many more extreme right politicians realise that even though the rising tide of voters backing them has got them to significant electability, they still can't rule unless they moderate themselves. Marine Le Pen, for instance, has very obviously watered down the one-time rhetoric and poicies of the one-time National Front, realising that without doing so it would forever condemn her and the party to be also-rans.

The problem really comes with what they do when they take power - because although the public rhetoric might soften for votes, that could all be lies. And we can hardly fail to understand that behind every single one of these is someone who would have very few qualms about suppressing democracy even to the point of outright making themselves dictator, and that they are primarily backed by a wide swathe of right-wing authoritarian voters who would cheer them on as they did it.

And I think I read he was part of this European rightwing braintrust that le Pen is also part of, some of whom including le Pen got donations from Russian organisations. Considering how much Wilders had been cozying up to the Kremlin, it'd be impossible that some of their money didn't find itself donated to him. Maybe not directly, but...
Of course. What many on the further right and left feel is that they are constrained by the general European (/world?) order. In order to enact their fantasy policies, they must therefore break that order. Putin also wants to break that order, because it constrains Russia, so they are allies of convenience. The far right are relatively weak on what you might call "institutional political money" - they tend not to have many big money backers. So they're not going to look too hard when it comes their way, even from the Kremlin. Although the ties clearly go further, though: right-wing authoritarians look at someone like Putin and might not outright approve, but they assuredly have a sense of affinity or admiration, that he's "their kind of guy".
 

Hades

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One unfunny event in anti woke world is that the right is very good at doing crippling damage to a country and bizarrely enough managing to sell themselves as the solution and solidify their power so they can do more harm.

Brexit is about the best example out there. Anger about austerity has been described as a driving force behind the Leave vote despite Austerity being a Torie policy. Brexit became a way to consolidate conservative power which means that those that hated conservative rule the most were instrumental to continuing it.

Dutch politics is another example. We've had a near uninterrupted right wing rule of forty years which resulted in all sorts of problems. Everyone in the country is sick to death of politics as usual and the result of that was....an overwhelming right wing victory. Out of the four political leaders of our new coalition two originate from the liberals who have been in power for 15 years, one came from the Christian Democrats who reigned for decades before that, and the other is a puppet from the corporate world that's been attaching itself to power for decades as well. And somehow these intensely establishment figures are supposed to create a new political culture?

Its even a fixture of politics on a global level. The failings of Neo liberalism is becoming more and more harmful, and its driving people to the right. But neo Liberalism was the pet project of Thatcher and Reagan. It originates from and has always been championed by the right, and they don't even want to get rid of it, yet they get the votes from people who have been most affected by neo Liberalism.
 

PsychedelicDiamond

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Imagine thinking Black Panther was a bad movie, a solid 9/10 ruined only by a cheap Disney who didn't fund it enough due to a lackluster CGI budget.
Had its moments, but it was a very "This is how Americans envision Africa" movie. It's not for me to say that anything about it is offensive, nor to say how much of it was on the movie and how much of it was on the comics it's based on, but... I don't know, seeing an American production take a concept like "futuristic African nation" and interpreting it as "laser spears" and "sky scrapers with straw roofs" and "Here's a tribe that worships a hindu god, for some reason" left a weird taste in my mouth. Again, I'm not in a position to call any of that out as being offensive, and I am sure they consulted people from the general region it's set in but I will say it's kinda... kitsch at least.
 

BrawlMan

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Thaluikhain

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Yeah, not a fan of Black Panther either. It wasn't bad by the standards of modern superhero movies,I guess, but the bar has been set pretty low.
 
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Ag3ma

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Had its moments, but it was a very "This is how Americans envision Africa" movie. It's not for me to say that anything about it is offensive, nor to say how much of it was on the movie and how much of it was on the comics it's based on, but... I don't know, seeing an American production take a concept like "futuristic African nation" and interpreting it as "laser spears" and "sky scrapers with straw roofs" and "Here's a tribe that worships a hindu god, for some reason" left a weird taste in my mouth.
Yes and no.

For instance, if you relied on American media for what the UK is like, it's basically London, idyllic countryside with quaint villages with stately homes, plus some desolate Scottish highlands. So yes, it's perhaps a bit crude and stereotyping, but on the other hand it's pretty normal stuff for how any media tends to approach foreign places.
 
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