Wednesday 24th of April 2024
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this is america: popeye biden is in front...

america has a major toothache...

Does Moscow want a Biden or Trump victory? For Russia, it really makes no difference who wins the US election. Here’s why

 

By Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs, chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, and research director of the Valdai International Discussion Club

After a century in which Moscow and Washington effectively dominated the world, the political establishment in both countries clings to the past. But the public has moved on, and these nations are now less important to each other.

US presidential elections are known to cause quite a stir around the globe – and in 2020, this notion would be an understatement. Russia's media has been no exception, falling prey to the hype along with the rest of the planet.

The press here is overflowing with stories and discussions about America; political figures have been actively voicing their views on the matter, including top officials. This is in stark contrast with what the general population feels about the contest.

According to a poll by the Levada Center, a Moscow-based pollster which has received Western funding in the past, only 11 percent of Russians are closely following the presidential race. 51 percent have heard bits and pieces, and 36% know nothing about it. Compared to 2016, the decline in the public's interest is quite noticeable.

In fact, the people's view reflects the situation – unlike the position of the Russian establishment. The tradition of 'Americocentrism' in Russian politics has its roots in the Cold War, when relations between Moscow and Washington formed the lynchpin of global politics, guiding the actions of both sides. But these are things of the past.

Nowadays, developments in the US have very little impact on Russia, and the reasons are threefold. First, the old agenda of US-Russia relations has long expired, and there is little cause to expect a new one to take its place. Second, shifts in the global political landscape are changing priorities both in Washington and Moscow, making them view each other as less important, compared to before.

This is something that is objectively happening in global politics, at least at the current stage. Third, whatever the outcome of the election, domestic political polarization in America will prevent either candidate from carrying out an active and coherent foreign policy.

Let's start with the current agenda. In the past, no matter the circumstances, the focus was invariably on the issues of strategic stability and nuclear arms control. Between them, Russia and the US possess over 90 percent of the world's nuclear arsenal, and both have the ability to physically annihilate one another – along with the planet. It was the need to manage these risks that gave rise to a system of special arrangements between Moscow and Washington.

Developed in late 1960s, this system was preserved, with some adjustments, until modern times. And while the risks haven't gone anywhere, the overall international landscape has changed dramatically. With the emergence of other major players on the global stage, Russian-American relations have ceased to be the sole deciding factor – even in the sphere of nuclear arms control. There is little value in having a ‘dialogue’ anymore, in the strict sense of the word. Surely, there will be attempts to formulate a new model – but it is going to be a long-term endeavor with no guarantee of success.

 


Read more:

https://www.rt.com/russia/505369-moscow-biden-trump-difference/

they make us laugh...

It is somewhat anachronistic to see Miranda Devine, in the Daily Telegraph (from New York) wince at the prospect of Joe Biden winning this contest. In her "editorial" of Wednesday 4 November, she sees Donald as a patriotic president*, while Joe has gone Gaga. Now Devine, a devout Catholic but a conservative soul "fights" against Joe who is also a Catholic but a progressive** for the Democrats...

 

devinedevine

 

Notes:

 

* Donald was lying his head off...

 

** Joe isn't a progressive but a CONSERVATIVE in the Democratic Party.

 

 

Here we need to adjust our headbands and pray (whoops, Gus is an atheist) that the Hawks in the democratic party won't push Joe to do something silly, under false pretences, like the war on Saddam — or bomb Damascus "because of a red line"... Here we suggest that the USA let Russia/Germany finish the NordSea 2 pipeline quietly and let Crimea be Russian as it should be. As well, Biden now has the opportunity to "understand" China, not as a foe but as a LARGE decent country that protects its needs and its future. This would be a good start. I am not hodling my breath, though... Then we can go GREEN for the planet...

 

Picture at top from America's Great Comic Strip Artists. The personae of Thimble Theatre are shown in a newspaper promotion, 1931. Drawing by Elzie Crisler Segar... Some artists like Sidney Smith, are not featured (Andy Gump, 1917) in the book. One wonders why...

 

See also: 

donald trump nach der us wahl der hausbesetzer....

our dream has come true...

dream

 

After the massive success of Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor in 1936 … Popeye promptly beats back using a combo of Asbestos and Spinach power!



 

Since asbestos has been found to be a nasty substance it appears as if reference of this product has been expunged from all Popeye “toons” (see image at top)… Olive Oyl was the first character that E C Segar devised, probably because E C was born close to an olive tree plantation... 

“Castor Oyl came next. He invented coal that would last forever. It was FIREPROOF. He also invented “non-parkable chewing-gum” and "safety dynamite” — it woud not explode.”


Definitely a better world with Popeye... If only...


Trump looks a bit like Jabbo...


Meanwhile:

The morning after the polls closed in the United States presidential election, Niels Annen found himself answering questions in fron of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German parliament. "In 2016, none of us was prepared for Trump,” said Annen, a senior official at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin. This time, though, the government in Berlin has prepared itself for both possible election outcomes. "What do you plan to do in the event of a constitutional crisis in the U.S.A.?” asked Bijan Djir-Sarai, the foreign policy point person for the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP). Annen, a member of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) answered that it’s not his job to speculate on possible scenarios.

But this is precisely the scenario causing the most concern in Berlin right now: a prolonged saga of legal disputes and recounts in various states that could result in a weakened election winner assuming the presidency once it is all over. "We already expressed our concerns about the integrity of the election process during the election campaign," Annen told DER SPIEGEL. "We expect that the basic principles of democratic elections will be accepted and observed, especially from our close partners and allies," he said.

After a long election night, a sense of helplessness also prevailed in the German Foreign Ministry, where officials had been overly optimistic that there would be a crystal-clear and quickly counted election victory for Joe Biden. "People believed right up to the end that Trump had been some kind of freak accident in American democracy,” said one top official. It took until early Wednesday evening before German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas finally spoke about the election, albeit cautiously at first.

 

Read more:

https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/reactions-in-berlin-and-brussels-to-the-u-s-election-a-a8f9e771-13da-4061-8b89-8d163fa52960

 

 

Is Gus too satirical? Of course...