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… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

The problem people have with Biden’s age is the color of the VPs skin.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Washington Post’s Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

When we show up, we win.

Books are my comfort food!

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

I also would like a pony to improve my balloon juice experience.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

The jury literally has a bell they can ring to force Trump to show up on command. Greatest thing ever!

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It’s a doggy dog world.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Open Thread: #Not All American Politicians

Open Thread: #Not All American Politicians

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Best part, for me, is that we know how badly news pics like this will chafe Lord Smallgloves’ baggy boxers.

Per the Washington Post:

Thanks to an awkward coincidence, President Trump is in Brussels at the same time as predecessor Barack Obama is in Berlin. These two trips are certainly offering contrasting views of the United States’s relationship with Europe.

Obama was in the German capital Thursday morning to appear alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a biennual festival organized by the German protestant church. The two spoke in front of a large crowd at the iconic Brandenburg Gate, with Obama going out of his way to praise Merkel.

“Not only do I love this city, but one of my favorite partners throughout my presidency is sitting next to me,” Obama said with a smile…

“If you look at public opinion surveys, Barack Obama has retained a popularity in Germany that Donald Trump has not achieved,” said Karen Donfried, president of the German Marshall Fund and a member of the National Security Council during the Obama administration. “Given the political year that we have in Germany, with a national election in September, the chancellor could be well served by showing her relations with both the past U.S. president and the current U.S. president.”

Reader Interactions

66Comments

  5. 5.

    Davis X. Machina

    Merkel’s comment on the refugee/asylum seeker/immigrant problems Germany faced — “We can do this” (“Wir schaffen das“) — shows her to basically be the anti-Trump.

    But then, she probably reacts to the idea of a wall rather differently from him.

    She’s too right for my taste on economics policy, and on the treatment of other EU states and economies, but for that alone, mad props.

  6. 6.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Thanks to an awkward coincidence, President Trump is in Brussels at the same time as predecessor Barack Obama is in Berlin.

    I’m wondering just how coincidental this was. When was the Berlin event with Obama arranged? He must have known that the date coincided with the NATO meeting in Bruxelles. I think Obama is having a fine old time trolling Trump (that may not be his primary purpose, but I’m sure he’s enjoying whatever opportunities present themselves).

  8. 8.

    John Weiss

    Obama will be a thorn in the Trump hide forever. I hope it continues to work it’s way in.

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @John Weiss:

    Obama will be a thorn in the Trump hide forever.

    All shall be troll, and all shall be troll, and all manner of things shall be troll.

  13. 13.

    weaselone

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I suspect another reason for his visit was to provide a counterpoint to Trump. Sure, there’s a complete lout in the office now, but it won’t always be that way. There’s good reason for Germany, France and other countries to step up and maintain the NATO alliance until the US comes to its senses again.

  16. 16.

    trollhattan

    Holy fuck, I bet Poland gets shaky knees whenever they see that many Germans massed in one place.

    Remember when then-candidate Obama went to Berlin in 2008 and drew a yuge crowd and the Republican/Fox response was he secretly passed out free beer? There’s a real bond there (with my people).

  17. 17.

    Mike in NC

    Manhattan Mussolini is guaranteed to pitch one of his temper tantrums over that photo. Once the jet lag wears off, who’ll be the first person he fires? My money is on Spicey.

  20. 20.

    LurkerNoLonger

    Fake news! Photoshopped! Soros pays in Euros! Germans loved Hitler! (Did I miss any?)

  21. 21.

    trollhattan

    @Noah Brand:
    Much more sophisticated than my observation women lie about their weight and age, men lie about their height and gas mileage. :-)

    But I think it’s why he fired Comey.

  23. 23.

    Mary G

    I may have missed it, but has anyone linked to the <a href="

    1. Trump NATO meeting reminds me of a story I was never authorized to share, until now. His 1st call w/ Prime Minister of Denmark last year— Yashar Ali (@yashar) May 25, 2017

    “>tweetstorm of Trump’s call with the Danish prime minister yet?

    In short, he tells the Prime Minister that one of his daughters-in-law is of Danish heritage and gets her on the line. “Guess who we’re talking to! The King of Denmark.” Denmark has a queen, but no king.

    ETA: messed up the link, sorry, you can click on the date though.

  24. 24.

    Steve in the ATL

    @trollhattan:

    Holy fuck, I bet Poland gets shaky knees whenever they see that many Germans massed in one place.

    This is quality work.

  25. 25.

    amk

    the chancellor could be well served by showing her relations with both the past U.S. president and the current U.S. president.”

    Is there even a pic of her with the twitler monkey?

  32. 32.

    trollhattan

    Think I need to rename our puppeh Raymond. He’s been plowing through the backyard and is covered in burrs.

  34. 34.

    Uncle Ebeneezer

    @Baud: I was just fantasizing the other day about a huge march/event featuring the Obamas. Maybe on the Washington lawn. Maybe a concert with Beyoncé, Radiohead, Stones, Bruce etc. the A-listers. Guarantee it would dwarf even the Women’s March.

    Probably too dangerous, but my petty side can dream.

  36. 36.

    hovercraft

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    She invited him last year during his last trip there before the election, at the time she and the world assumed Hillary would win so it wasn’t a big deal, the timing couldn’t be helped, talk to someone 500 years ago. How much do you think she enjoyed having to tell the Shitgibbon about this nice little coinkydink ; )

    She already knew it was going to be a tough slough for her because of the refugee situation, so she wanted him there to help give her a boost .

  39. 39.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mike in NC:

    Once the jet lag wears off, who’ll be the first person he fires? My money is on Spicey.

    I actually hope Spicer quits first. I’m not a fan, but my respect for him would go up by orders of magnitude if he dropped an “I resign effective immediately” letter on the shitgibbon’s irresolute desk.

    Also, albeit I’m not in any sense a believer, I felt really sorry for him when Trump kept him from meeting the Pope. Petty and despicable.

  41. 41.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mary G:

    I think it was Lamh who linked to part of that twitter storm (or whatever it’s called) a thread or two down.

  42. 42.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    my respect for him would go up by orders of magnitude if he dropped an “I resign effective immediately” letter on the shitgibbon’s irresolute desk.

    “Fuck it. We’ll do it live.”

  45. 45.

    Shalimar

    What are the odds that Trump was really offended by Obama’s Berlin crowd size when he said “Germans are evil, evil people”?

  46. 46.

    hovercraft

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Lord Smallgloves’ baggy boxers.

    TMI, AL.

    Nah, references to bum(bung?) hole are TMI, but hey if the tapes exist, at least we won’t ever have to hear a conversation about needing extra room down there ; )

  47. 47.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @weaselone:

    Yup. In many ways, Europe is far more sensible, pragmatic and optimistic than some of our own BJ commenters.

  48. 48.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @hovercraft:

    Interesting. I didn’t know it had been planned so long ago.

    I wasn’t a fan of AM during the Greek crisis a couple of years ago, but have subsequently come to respect her a lot. She is one tough lady. I was glad to hear Obama say such glowing words about her this morning.

  51. 51.

    sm*t cl*de

    @trollhattan:

    Remember when then-candidate Obama went to Berlin in 2008 and drew a yuge crowd

    Among them my daughter (then 13). She did not report any free beer.

  52. 52.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SiubhanDuinne: Germany was and is a shit on the issue of the poorer countries in the EU. On most other issues, they are doing well. It depends how one balances those out.

  55. 55.

    sm*t cl*de

    Pro-tip to Trump: Do not shove Montenegrins around. Those fuckers are the Sicilians of the Balkans.

  56. 56.

    efgoldman

    @different-church-lady:

    Between that and Kushner, I wonder how he’s going to keep all his rage-plates spinning.

    He’ll dump Kushkie faster than he can say “Ivanka, honey, get Daddy a Big Mac, wouldja’?

  57. 57.

    Brachiator

    I love the photo of Obama in Berlin. I bet it won’t be covered on Fox News. Right wing nitwits eat up the lie that world leaders​ don’t respect Obama and yearned for a Great White Hope like Trump.

  58. 58.

    SgrAstar

    @SiubhanDuinne: Obama’s appearance at the event commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation was arranged months before the election.

  59. 59.

    Ladyraxterinok

    Would think her background in the former East Germany would make Merkel deeply mistrustful of Putin. Trump’s background and experiences are so different from those of Merkel and Putin. They had to deal with situations so much more difficult than anything he’s ever had to face.

  61. 61.

    Death Panel Truck

    Barack Obama has retained a popularity in Germany that Donald Trump has not achieved

    Trump isn’t popular with Germans because they know a Nazi when they see one.

  64. 64.

    Doug

    @Davis X. Machina:

    She talked yesterday about remembering when the Wall went up. Her father was a Lutheran pastor from the West, but who had been called to a parish in the East, so that is where she grew up. She said yesterday that she never expected it to come down, that she had been hoping to visit the US once she retired (which, by the 1980s, some GDR citizens were allowed to do, since the state didn’t mind losing people whose working lives had passed).

    Her leadership on refugees in 2015 made all the difference in the world, particularly because she heads the conservative party. Xenophobia in Europe would have been much strengthened if Germany had gone the other way, or even been mealy-mouthed about it. Merkel basically said, “Remember.” Because *every* German family has a refugee story from the war or soon after. An uncle who was a prisoner in the Soviet Union for years after, or a branch of the family that had to leave the Baltics, or Poland, or Czechoslovakia. Everyone in Germany is related to or knows people who were refugees at one point.

    And our policy of rebuilding Germany after the war, of allowing it back in to the family of nations — 70 years later that liberal approach is still paying dividends.

  65. 65.

    Doug

    @SiubhanDuinne: A lot of people in politics underestimated Merkel, and they all have one thing in common: not one of them is a three-term Chancellor of Germany. When the time came, she iced her mentor so thoroughly that he has not once stirred in the years since.

    If Germany has to have a conservative government, as apparently from time to time it must, then a scientifically trained, pastor’s daughter from the East is the way to go.

  66. 66.

    Doug

    @Ladyraxterinok: Merkel and Putin hate each other with a cold fury. It’s one reason reason Putin went all-in on Trump: Hillary and Merkel together would well and truly have had his number. A lot of the election interference machinery is now turned on Germany. On the one hand, big German media are not getting played the way that big American media let themselves get played. On the other hand, proportional representation means that the far-right party that has allegedly been getting Russian support could make it into parliament this time. That, in turn, could upset the coalition math and produce a different government. At least, that is the worry here.

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