International elections

[watt price tully]

Now we have it: the real reason why Boris Johnston won the election:

https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/r1ffsEXlI

[roar]

Starkey's a sharp guy, no doubt, but his "Rule Brittania" views are too much to sit through to get the interesting bits.

[pietillidie]

The Labour Party in the UK are taking the piss again. Have a listen to this cringeworthy lot:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jan/18/long-bailey-we-must-become-salespeople-for-socialism

What is it with the left of the party embracing the term 'socialism' as if the word has any chance of being reclaimed and capturing the contemporary imagination? Sanders is making the same mistake with his use of the phrase 'democratic socialism' in the US. Is it that hard for them to come up with a new term that leaves the Cold War behind? The fact they make such a point of this leads me to wonder if we're dealing with a stubborn cluelessness, not merely a bad sense of PR.

[David]

I think you’re mistaken on this, PTID – socialism may have once been a dirty word in Anglo politics, but that is rapidly changing. Not only do many under-40 voters not see it as a boogeyman, they are veritably flocking to its banner.

https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/socialism-booming-popularity-among-young-people-survey-finds/11655582

Of course we can debate what does or doesn’t actually constitute socialism (and I know some on the far left think that Sanders and other social democrats have corrupted the term), but I think it’s a highly effective label that signals that something is fundamentally wrong with the way capitalist society is structured, and that what is being offered is not business-as-usual technocratic liberal-managerial politics. I certainly don’t think it’s hurt Sanders’ cause at all, and I suspect that he would be a far less popular candidate if he were saying the same things without his outsider, revolutionary branding.

[stui magpie]

Yeah nah, somewhere between David and Ptiddy.

The reason Sanders uses the term Socialism is simple, better to claim it than be labelled it.

Trying to avoid being termed socialist would just result in others picking at his policies, calling them socialist and forcing him to defend his labeling.

Adding in "Democratic" is a pisser though, as it's clearly meant to imply that Bernies version of Socialism is democratic, unlike all those other versions in places like, ummmmm, The Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

[Wokko]

Bibi romping it in in round 3.

http://dlvr.it/RR6bL7

[David]

Someone needs to send Van Helsing down to the Knesset ASAP.

[Pies4shaw]

Netanyahu doesn’t have a majority. Israel faces weeks of uncertainty at best and a fourth election at worst. In the meantime, Netanyahu may find it difficult to get to all the political appointments he’d like to keep, because his fraud trial starts in about 9 days.

[Jezza]

Meanwhile in Slovakia...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51693527

[roar]

^^ That's great news.

[Jezza]

Jeremy Corbyn suspended from the British Labour Party.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-30/former-leader-jeremy-corbyn-suspended-by-uk-labour-over-comments/12829208

[David]

^ I was too pissed off to post about that. #&€% Starmer and all his Blairite cronies.

[David]

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has just received a three-year sentence over corruption charges.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/01/former-french-president-nicolas-sarkozy-sentenced-to-three-years-for-corruption

Also, while I'm bumping this thread, how the hell is Netanyahu still in power!? Israel has yet another election – its fourth in under two years – happening on 23 March, and he's still in charge, despite still being on trial for bribery and fraud charges himself, one of which relates to our own squeaky-clean businessman James Packer.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/08/world/middleeast/benjamin-netanyahu-trial.html

[Pies4shaw]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/23/israel-election-results-netanyahu-ahead-in-exit-polls

[David]

Pretty dark stuff, that's for sure.