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[BowieZ]

Two interrelated bits of news today as we face the dawn of the Trump-led "Year of the Patriots".

Yesterday, French "patriot" Marine Le Pen, and Dutch "patriot" Geert Wilders, among other "patriots" trying to win their national elections this year, tried to further piggyback on the successes of American "patriot" Donald Trump, at a joint extreme nationalist conference spouting familiar Trumpist populist rhetoric.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/21/politics/europe-far-right-conference/

It was the notoriously anti-Islam Wilders who spelled out the threat, as he saw it: "blonde" Europeans, he said, were in danger of becoming "strangers in their own countries" because of "islamization."

This is unfortunately not new from Wilders. Fortunately:

... just as in the United States against Trump's inauguration, large counter-protests were mobilized against the message of the conference. While delegates applauded Le Pen, Wilders and Petry inside the conference venue, thousands of protesters outside chanted "Neo-nazis out!" and promised to continue demonstrating throughout the elections this year.

Meanwhile, the Pope has today warned against the prospect that populist nationalism can lead to Hitler-like political figures.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/01/pope-francis-warns-populism-citing-hitler-170122151148535.html

"Of course crises provoke fears and worries," he said, but added that for him "the example of populism in the European sense of the word is Germany in 1933".

The pope added: "Germany ... was looking for a leader, someone who would give her back her identity and there was a little man named Adolf Hitler who said 'I can do it'."

"Hitler did not steal power," the pope said. "He was elected by his people and then he destroyed his people."

At the risk of sounding like I'm concern-trolling, I'm not quite sure that enough of GAF and the world at large fully appreciates the very real dangers posed by this "Year of the Patriots". In this muddy landscape of #fakenews, the real dangers ARE the fake dangers.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

The popes right.

Hitler didnt seize power. He was elected into it.

And now we have all the nationalistic politicians rising up. Which brings the question, if every country is getting their mini hitlers, than who fights against them?

 

[BocoDragon]

It is a good thing that the modern pope condemns facism rather than cozying up to it like the last time it bubbled up.

 

[Ogodei]

The popes right.

Hitler didnt seize power. He was elected into it.

And now we have all the nationalistic politicians rising up. Which brings the question, if every country is getting their mini hitlers, than who fights against them?

The people, in every country.

 

[Robot Carnival]

Dear French citizens,

don't repeat our mistake.

signed, people of the U.S.

 

[Gallbaro]

But I am ethnic Dutch and I am not blonde!!!!!

Spoiler

Just exceptionally tall

 

[Shard]

The popes right.

Hitler didnt seize power. He was elected into it.

Actually, no, he was not elected into power, he was installed by Governmental forces after the election of 1932 to ward off the threat of communism (among other things) and waited about a year for President Paul Von Hindenburg to die before truly sizing power in the Night of the Long Knives.

 

[RSP]

Don't think anybody here is thinking about voting Wilders in a couple of months, but if you know people who do: talk to them.

They might not see how he's full of shit.

 

[Wind's Howling]

I am starting to feel how sane Americans feel who didn't want Trump to be president. If Wilders becomes our prime minister in Holland we are not any better than Russia and we will have no right to laugh the US in their face over their presidential choices.

 

[ClosingADoor]

What is the obsession of these guys with being blonde. Wilders even paints his hair and looks like an idiot for it.

 

[KingK]

The popes right.

Hitler didnt seize power. He was elected into it.

And now we have all the nationalistic politicians rising up. Which brings the question, if every country is getting their mini hitlers, than who fights against them?

Germany?

The ironic thing is Germany seems to be the one nation doing the best at fending off this rise of nationalism and xenophobia, despite taking in the most refugees. I guess it's not that ironic, since they were also the nation that seems to have taken the lessons from WW2 more seriously than anyone else. I don't agree with Merkel on everything, but these last few years I've really gained a lot of respect for her.

 

[Back-In-Black]

Actually, no, he was not elected into power, he was installed by Governmental forces after the election of 1932 to ward off the threat of communism (among other things) and waited about a year for President Paul Von Hindenburg to die before truly sizing power in the Night of the Long Knives.

.

 

[theignoramus]

What is the obsession of these guys with being blonde. Wilders even paints his hair and looks like an idiot for it.

Its almost as if "islamisation" is being used here as a code word for race mixing with darker people from the global south. Because people from the Middle East can be blonde.

 

[Frankie Williamson]

That blonde gene is pretty resilient.

I'm part Jew, part native American, part English, Swiss, Norwegian, Danish, German and Irish.

I'm a solid dirty blonde guy.

SO, no need to worry racist, race mix fearing idiots, some blondes'll still crop up.

 

[Lost Fragment]

...why do so many people think that Hitler was elected? He was appointed chancellor. Hindenburg was under no obligation to do this. Then, when Hindenburg was on his deathbed, Hitler had laws passed that would give him full control over the German government when Hindenburg died.

Hitler rose to power through legal, though extremely shady, means, but he was most definitely not "elected" in the way that people think when they hear that word.

 

[UtterlyPerplexed]

Hitler did run for the presidency in 1932, but was beaten by Hindenburg. The Nazi party did make strong Reichstag gains early in 1932, but their number of seats did drop by the end of the year. They were still alarmingly the biggest party in the legislature however, and combined with the number of Communist seats, the majority of the Reichstag by early 1933 was comprised of parties hostile to democracy itself. Hitler was appointed chancellor because panicking conservatives felt they could control this man in an attempt to curb the political instability at the time in the midst of the ongoing Great Depression, but they ended up giving a Trojan horse the crucial leg-up. Hindenburg would not have appointed him otherwise.

That's probably just me being pedantic here, as it still doesn't detract from the horrific fact that the Nazis did command terrifying popular support, but technically Hitler was never "elected". It's kind of weird to see it brought up so often.

 

[Dalibor68]

Every german report I've read about it (and his speech was in german too) quoted him saying "Women are afraid to show their blonde hair nowadays". So it seems like a mistranslation / fake reporting from CNN.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyQc0Wh7E_E 9:37

 

[SecretSphere]

Every german report I've read about it (and his speech was in german too) quoted him saying "Women are afraid to show their blonde hair nowadays". So it seems like a mistranslation / fake reporting from CNN.

Wouldn't surprise me, considering he's part indonesian and has a Hungarian wife. He's deeply anti-islam/muslims, but in no way, so far as I know, a "blondes are going extinct, stop racemixing!" kind of guy.

 

[Kurtofan]

Hitler won the popular vote

 

[Dalibor68]

Hitler won the popular vote

Your point being what exactly? Changing democracies to only allow Left and Centrist candidates?

 

[Kurtofan]

Your point being what exactly? Changes democracies to only allow Left and Centrist candidates?

you know who else won the popular vote? that's right

 

[sphagnum]

What is the obsession of these guys with being blonde. Wilders even paints his hair and looks like an idiot for it.

"Aryans".

 

[BowieZ]

Every german report I've read about it (and his speech was in german too) quoted him saying "Women are afraid to show their blonde hair nowadays". So it seems like a mistranslation / fake reporting from CNN.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyQc0Wh7E_E 9:37

While the credibility of CNN's reporting should indeed be tested, let's not mince words: those two translations are essentially the same thing and evoke the same reaction.

 

[Lowmelody]

Dear French citizens,

don't repeat our mistake.

signed, people of the U.S.

France: Hold my baguette

 

[Dalibor68]

While the credibility of CNN's reporting should indeed be tested, let's not mince words: those two translations are essentially the same thing and evoke the same reaction.

It isn't. CNN's quote is giving the impression that he generalizes europeans as "blonde people" who are in danger of being outbred. What he actually said was that women nowadays are afraid of showing their blonde hair (blonde female hair being considered somewhat of a "special" element around the world) because of rising misogyny (see things like the recent video from the french suburbs) and subjectively felt increase in sex crimes.

Still a questionable and inflammatory statement, but there's definitely a difference of what CNN reported and what everyone else reported/what he actually said.

 

[Kthulhu]

A message to EU GAF from USA GAF and UK GAF.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Is Wilders even a natural blonde? His roots look very dark and his hair is quite obviously dyed.

 

[Dalibor68]

Is Wilders even a natural blonde? His roots look very dark and his hair is quite obviously dyed.

Nope, see

Wouldn't surprise me, considering he's part indonesian and has a Hungarian wife. He's deeply anti-islam/muslims, but in no way, so far as I know, a "blondes are going extinct, stop racemixing!" kind of guy.

 

[Weckum]

It isn't. CNN's quote is giving the impression that he generalizes europeans as "blonde people" who are in danger of being outbred. What he actually said was that women nowadays are afraid of showing their blonde hair (blonde female hair being considered somewhat of a "special" element around the world) because of rising misogyny (see things like the recent video from the french suburbs) and subjectively felt increase in sex crimes.

Still a questionable and inflammatory statement, but there's definitely a difference of what CNN reported and what everyone else reported/what he actually said.

There's absolutely a difference, the difference being that CNN's quote makes it seem like he wants pure blonde European blood, while his actual quote is more about how blonde women are afraid of showing their hair to men who don't see blonde hair as often (and by that Wilders means muslims/north-africans/Syrians/anyone not from Europe).

It's still racist AF, just a different kind of racist, like you say.

 

[Protome]

Hitler did run for the presidency in 1932, but was beaten by Hindenburg. The Nazi party did make strong Reichstag gains early in 1932, but their number of seats did drop by the end of the year. They were still alarmingly the biggest party in the legislature however, and combined with the number of Communist seats, the majority of the Reichstag by early 1933 was comprised of parties hostile to democracy itself. Hitler was appointed chancellor because panicking conservatives felt they could control this man in an attempt to curb the political instability at the time in the midst of the ongoing Great Depression, but they ended up giving a Trojan horse the crucial leg-up. Hindenburg would not have appointed him otherwise.

That's probably just me being pedantic here, as it still doesn't detract from the horrific fact that the Nazis did command terrifying popular support, but technically Hitler was never "elected". It's kind of weird to see it brought up so often.

That 1932 election was also the height of the Nazi's voter intimidation pre-power grab. They got a lot of votes but it wasn't entirely through popularity.

 

[White Wolf]

just saw this thread and i had to reply. the sweet, sweet irony is that wilders isn't even blonde. at least not naturally blond, so i'm really confused about his "arian first" vibe around him. dude's even half indonesian.

 

[JDB]

Fuck you Geert.

 

[BLAUcopter]

lol wtf?

 

[Dutch Gronk]

Wilders needs to fuck right off with his racist bullshit.

 

[Christhor]

The people, in every country.

But the people elect these people.

 

[Always-honest]

Dutch here. Not blonde, and no pale white skin.
Brown eyes. I hope your hair catches fire Wilders. You dumb fuck.

 

[Chuckie]

just saw this thread and i had to reply. the sweet, sweet irony is that wilders isn't even blonde. at least not naturally blond, so i'm really confused about his "arian first" vibe around him. dude's even half indonesian.

That is because it seems to be a faulty translation.

What he actually said was that women nowadays are afraid of showing their blonde hair (blonde female hair being considered somewhat of a "special" element around the world) because of rising misogyny (see things like the recent video from the french suburbs) and subjectively felt increase in sex crimes.

Still a questionable and inflammatory statement, but there's definitely a difference of what CNN reported and what everyone else reported/what he actually said.

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

Blondes were a mistake...

 

[Gurgelhals]

The thing I will never understand is how these people (regardless of whether we're talking about Wilders, Farage, Trump, Johnson, or some other fuckface) are getting away with this shit and manage to convince a significant percentage of the populace to vote for them while looking exactly (and when I say exactly, I really mean *exactly*!) like a fricking cartoon or Bond villain. How can you take this seriously, for Christ's sake?!?! It's so utterly absurd that I... I just can't even...

 

[hEist]

 

[oti]

just saw this thread and i had to reply. the sweet, sweet irony is that wilders isn't even blonde. at least not naturally blond, so i'm really confused about his "arian first" vibe around him. dude's even half indonesian.

Where have I heard that before? 🤔

 

[KarneeKarnay]

I read somewhere as a kid that at some point humanity will reach a point in social evolution that a confrontation will take place. This will be between the old world order and those that seek a unified global government.

Now this all sounds very pretentious to me. I don't know if this is true or what will happen. However and please stop me if I'm wrong, I feel like we are all standing on the precipice of something.

Like the whole world is slowly lining up and holding it's breath, waiting for whatever happens next.

When I was kid I thought my generation were going to become the new Forgotten Generation. Now I'm afraid of what might happen next.

 

[Harmen]

I hate that this guy has a significant amount of voters, but I think people need to realise that our government has 150 seats and even if Wilders is the "winner" of the election, it does not mean he has free reign at all. He was tracking as the largest party last year with projections somewhere in the range of 30 seats (he is tracking lower now). To form a majority in our second chamber, you need 76 seats. And then there is the first chamber that has 75 seats where you will need a majority as well to achieve anything drastic. While Wilders could gain in power, he will have to work with other parties as well to be able to do anything. And thankfully, other (mid)rightwing parties such as the VVD are pro EU.

We thankfully don't have a two party system nor do we directly vote for a prime minister. Winning the election does not guarantee becoming a governing party.

Not to say the rise of his party is not a probblem, however.

 

[Militant17]

Hitler won the popular vote

No he didn't. Even with widespread rigging and voter intimidation.

 

[Stereogatari]

As a Turk with blonde European looking relatives and friends, the Muslims = Brown thing always makes me lol.

 

[Nephtes]

As a Turk with blonde European looking relatives and friends, the Muslims = Brown thing always makes me lol.

Well they have to be all brown of course, how else can we claim "racism" when people (Trump) discriminate against Muslims by banning their travel to our country?

 

[manny10032]

Dear French citizens,

don't repeat our mistake.

signed, people of the U.S.

.

 

[ReplacementPelican]

As a Turk with blonde European looking relatives and friends, the Muslims = Brown thing always makes me lol.

This reminds me of the Fox News segment about the two Chechnyan brothers who committed the Boston bombings. I think the phrasing was something akin to 'they don't look like terrorists' because they weren't brown enough.

 

[Fantastapotamus]

I'm not blonde so I don't care. Screw you blondes. Stop looking better than me and maybe I will protect you.

Spoiler

Fuck this guy.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

As Pope you expect him to have a very profound first hand knowledge of how populism based on gross distortions of truth and Nazi collaboration works.