R.I.P. Fidel

[dbphoenix]

Certainly, there are states that hold either more or less strongly to a democratic ideal. And foreign policy is ever something done by the powerful to the weak.

But there's no such thing as a good dictatorship.

And yet Ivan the Terrible's subjects begged him to come back.

 

[tomorton]

And yet Ivan the Terrible's subjects begged him to come back.

Ivan the Terrible was a good dictator?

 

[Pat494]

And yet Ivan the Terrible's subjects begged him to come back.

Like the Stockholm syndrome I suppose. People just aren't very rational. The Germans voted for Hitler and now Trump is in !
I think the Congress should make doubly sure that he doesn't embroil the US in any major wars without their prior consent.

 

[dbphoenix]

Like the Stockholm syndrome I suppose. People just aren't very rational. The Germans voted for Hitler and now Trump is in !
I think the Congress should make doubly sure that he doesn't embroil the US in any major wars without their prior consent.

Possibly. I never have understood the Russian mindset.

And Hitler didn't exactly pop onto the scene. He had been the leader of the NSDAP since 1921.

As for Trump, it helps to remember that a majority of the voters didn't vote for him. Congress will be reminded of that continually. And midterms are only two years away.

 

[dbphoenix]

Ivan the Terrible was a good dictator?

Totalitarianism is a trade-off. Some people apparently think it's great.

 

[Atilla]

Some people and regions need a strong leader.

ie Iraq and the old Yugoslavia under Tito.

Unification is always better than division.

There is the Swiss model too showing how it can work well.

 

[wackypete2]

The audacity to lecture the rest of the world on values of freedom and liberty coming from the US kind of sticks in ones throat if I may say so.

So now you are painting all american citizens with the same brush?
Maybe you are just jealous of not living here.

I'd still rather live in the USA than anywhere else in the world.

And to all those celebs (and anyone else) who want to leave just because Trump was elected.. good riddance.

Peter

 

[Splitlink]

All the capitalists that post on here and they, all, liked Castro!

I liked him, too, at a distance. He made a lot of Cubans poor and if any of you lot had tried your antics over there, he would have slapped you inside the cooler quicker than you could say Trump!

One thing I do say. The American Mafia and their dictator were much worse and something had to happen, sooner or later.

Now, it is being kept in the family. Not so bad as N.Korea but along those lines.

 

[Atilla]

So now you are painting all american citizens with the same brush?
Maybe you are just jealous of not living here.

I'd still rather live in the USA than anywhere else in the world.

And to all those celebs (and anyone else) who want to leave just because Trump was elected.. good riddance.

Peter

No not all American citizens just the administration and US foreign policy.

Not jealous at all and no need to personalise it. I have seen quite a bit of the East coast and never been to West. Big country indeed and everyone was super friendly and kind. Received exceptionally good service.

However, found most people to be enormous and ugly. Obese may be the word I'm looking for. Was expecting Bay Watch, Hollywood type super fit people and discovered quite the opposite. At the time I thought it was like the polar opposite of Paris, Rome or Madrid where people are well dressed, eat better and so much cooler. I reckon Europe has far more class and culture than US. There is simply no comparison. Each to their own I guess.

The point remains however, that the US meddles in all over the World in subverting the democratic process and implementing US friendly puppet regimes quite at liberty to kill, coerce or ruin those that get in its way.

 

[wackypete2]

However, found most people to be enormous and ugly. Obese may be the word I'm looking for. Was expecting Bay Watch, Hollywood type super fit people and discovered quite the opposite.

lol. I agree. I'm on the east coast and see that everyday

Peter

 

[tomorton]

Totalitarianism is a trade-off. Some people apparently think it's great.

Everyone proud of their nation likes it to be strongly led.

I used to have to visit a chicken farm in a previous life. It had 8 large broiler sheds in each of which tens of thousands of birds were fed from chicks to 6-7 week-old adults, when they went off for slaughter. Whenever anyone entered the sheds, the birds' universal reaction was to flee back into the depths of the building. It was inevitable that a small number would actually die each time due to the stress of people entering their environment and the sight of the outside world.

 

[Atilla]

Everyone proud of their nation likes it to be strongly led.

I used to have to visit a chicken farm in a previous life. It had 8 large broiler sheds in each of which tens of thousands of birds were fed from chicks to 6-7 week-old adults, when they went off for slaughter. Whenever anyone entered the sheds, the birds' universal reaction was to flee back into the depths of the building. It was inevitable that a small number would actually die each time due to the stress of people entering their environment and the sight of the outside world.

Might have helped to have one good old **** in there no? Maybe two even assuming they could get to share all those hens of course. :cheesy:

Having couple of good strong cocks may have just saved a few of those damsels in distress.

 

[gotu]

I wonder how many people know about the United Fruit Company (Chiquita banana) and Colombia?

Not enough, reading Garcia Marquezs 100 years of solitude should help, but neither do most seem to know about Costa Rica or Panama. They are the same people that don't know about Somoza, Batista, Pinochet, Suharto.... the list is so long but American exceptionalism prevails.

On the other hand, as Chomsky points out, history teaches us that it is anything but exceptional.

 

[Mr. Charts]

....and Mussolini made the trains run on time.
So big deal.
An allegedly good health care system and a high literacy rate so people can read censored material and commie propaganda doesn't justify torture, murder, suppression and all the other things. For those who google for their info, try reading the Amnesty International reports.
Makes Gitmo look a people's paradise.
....and oh yes, Hitler loved dogs.
On this I totally agree with our Trump loving posters.

A good indicator of a govt is whether people flee from it in large numbers...if they can.
So what we should say to all those boat people who fled Cuba? You were wrong? You've got to be joking.
May Castro rot.

 

[Atilla]

Do you know he visited US after over throwing Batista the US puppet?

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/castro-visits-the-united-states

Eisenhower chose to play golf and subsequently gave one or two lil orders to CIA.


Does anyone here think Batista was good for Cuba?

 

[Pat494]

Do you know he visited US after over throwing Batista the US puppet?

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/castro-visits-the-united-states

Eisenhower chose to play golf and subsequently gave one or two lil orders to CIA.


Does anyone here think Batista was good for Cuba?

Batista was a mafia stooge and no loss. But Eisenhower should have at least met Castro and not driven him into the arms of the Soviets.

 

[Atilla]

Batista was a mafia stooge and no loss. But Eisenhower should have at least met Castro and not driven him into the arms of the Soviets.

Yes exactly right. It's the cowboy way or highway.

Beat a dog to a corner and then cry he bit me.

Not to mention US plonking bombs on Russia's border much the same as now building NATO up to her borders.

The public in the West are just mind plucked and manipulated all the way to war adn destruuction whilst defence spending and contracts go through the roof making some people very rich.

US needs a common enemy to justify spending. One has to remember, all those military weapons made of steel and ammunition have a certain life span. If they don't get used it's just simply scrap metal.

Trying to bury nuclear waste is costly too. I'm sure some contractors somewhere will be itching to use it.

US people have no idea as long as it is used on others that'll be fine. :idea:

 

[dbphoenix]

It's helpful to understand the mindset after WWII. Many people were all for pushing against Russia after it showed its colors and containing it then and there (see the division of Germany and of Berlin). But many others felt that the public was sick of war and would not support such a campaign. So Russia was left to its own devices. And a few short years later, we were in Korea. Then there was McCarthy. And the Domino Theory. So it's not difficult to understand why Eisenhower would not be interested in becoming chums with Castro. Batista was at least easy to understand in terms of his motives, which weren't appreciably different from those who were running Las Vegas at the time.

 

[Mr. Charts]

"Everyone proud of their nation likes it to be strongly led."

I'm not so sure about that personally. I don't like the strong leader concept per se. I prefer a wise and judicious easily replaceable leader.

The stronger the leader the greater tendency to be a fuhrer or dictator.

 

[Mr. Charts]

The left always wants to blame the US for everything. The Russians called such people "полезные идиоты" Sure, the US has made plenty of mistakes, but hey, check the refugee flow from leftist totalitarian regimes...the Communists are infinitely worse.
Oh, and how many flee from the US ? Only the odd traitor like Snowden. Not a traitor some will say. And where did he end up exactly?