23 Comments

The end of NATO and the EU would be a good thing.

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IF trumps makes it he should end NATO and the un and pull all troops out of Europe. That’ll get their attention. The we can start over

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Joseph Caplan I agree 100%

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To convince people you will improve things, it usually helps to demonstrate that you have identified the problems, the solutions, have the financing available, and that other stakeholders are supportive.

Western Pols are polished in the promising and little else, and have a tenuous demonstrated grasp of reality, as your coverage of Macron shows.

Macron's speech and the idea of Project 2030 (predicting war with Russia after the current decade) appears to illustrate that the "believers" see no current danger from Russia, no matter whether and to the extent they (and NATO) cross Russian Red Lines.

It must be comforting to go to bed each night without any worry that WW3 is right around the corner.

Is it ignorance, or denial, that is the ultimate bliss?

BTW, I think you (accidentally) repeated part of the text more than once (or my computer is on the fritz)..

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Substack has a flaw, it happens to me in comment sections, paragraphs are repeated.

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author

yes I just found that out. I thought maybe it was something I did, but I checked my original and it did not have repeats. Anyway I think I cleaned it up. If you find more, please let me know. Thank you!

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"Without the US, NATO would probably disband and the European 'experiment' (if one can call it that, even though it is mostly wishful thinking) will end."

You said it three times... but NATO disbanding three times over sounds good.

And given that it's essentially the enforcement arm of American capitalism, it doesn't make much sense outside American economic and political leadership.

As for the 'European experiment', we mainly think of that as an attempt to move on from several centuries of intracontinental wars (when there wasn't much competition from outside) toward peaceful coexistence.

That doesn't make much sense to the Western MIC who need war to thrive, but many European citizens, if not the 'defense' sector of their shared economy would I think be happy enough without America's Forever Wars.

We're sort of done with colonialism.

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I just saw repeats.

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Ever see "Don't Look Up!"?

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No, never heard of the film and never saw a film with either of the 2 lead actors.

I do not live near a movie theater and a Google search suggests that revealed what it is about suggests I would watched the film on-line.

We prefer entertainment that is amusing.

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You may find it to be instructive.

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Sorry... search revealed I would not want to watch it on-line, even for free.

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TL;DR Europe will only continue to double down.

Anyway Macron will stay in power as long as any realistic successor is unacceptable to the Americans.

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Xi of China made similar grandiose yet empty speeches in the past. But Xi has noticeably quieted down to face realities, Macron has not.

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author

agree

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The third world invasion is the real threat to the people of Europe, not Russia. And the people have started to act accordingly.

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In the Onion humor magazine there was an article entitled "Famous Pedophiles". In it, Macron's wife (who is much older than him) was quoted as follows: "Emmanuel is not very smart, but you can bounce a quarter off his ass." Maybe that's the best summary of the man.

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It's hard to know which of Mr. Macron's ideas should be considered. The zigzag he makes is disconcerting. Shortly after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, he said Russia should not be humiliated. Two years later, he did not exclude the sending of troops to Ukrainian soil...

A writer (Radu Portocala) note in his book „Le vague tonitruant” (in translation: „the thunderous wave” or better „the resounding void”) that Macron was presented to the French, since 2017, as the providential man. The Savior, the one who will perform the Miracle. The press, he writes, „ made him president before he was a candidate”. An extraordinary „believer-making machine” was put into operation.

How much of the original fervor remains, only the French can say. To what extent they were saved, how much they prospered, how much their country matters in the European Union and how much in the world...

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The speech was actually a mish-mash of outworn ideas, but it sounds good in the French language.

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Thanks Stephen , it couldn't be summed better

And yes there is still a repeat from mid text at the end of text (because you wanted to be notified if glitch persists)

Cheers

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Macron's words are empty. Europe has been under US occupation since the middle of the last century. Europe cannot make a single serious decision without Washington's approval.

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Of course. Some minor US functionary will snap his fingers, and Macron will order the troops to Ukraine, delighted to be allowed the opportunity to show Master what a good boy he is!

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He won't even be the leader of France much longer, let alone Europe. Why would anyone take his pipe dreams seriously?

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