European elections 2019: LIVE results

[Lou2U]

Live updates containing quotations of the speeches made by Trump and the Queen:

Trump and First Lady arrive in Ireland - LIVE

Donald Trump has arrived in Ireland on the second leg of his tour.

www.standard.co.uk

The Queen’s:

"Mr president, I am delighted to welcome you and Mrs Trump to Buckingham Palace this evening, just 12 months after our first meeting at Windsor. Visits by American presidents always remind us of the close and long-standing friendship between the UK and US, and I am so glad we have another opportunity to demonstrate the immense importance that both our countries attach to our relationship. On that day, and many occasions since, the armed forces of both our countries fought side by side to defend our cherished values of liberty and democracy.

“As we face the new challenges of the 21st century, the anniversary of D-Day reminds us all that our countries have achieved together. Every year, there are almost four million visits by Americans to the UK. With your own Scottish ancestry, Mr President, you too have a particular connection to this country.
We are also bound by the strength and breadth of our economic ties. As we look to the future, I am confident our common values and shared interests will continue to unite us.”

 

[Lou2U]

And Trump’s:

"Melania and I are profoundly honoured to be your guests for this historic state visit. Thank you for your welcome, for this beautiful weather, your gracious hospitality and Your Majesty’s seven decades of treasured friendship with the USA. This week, we commemorate the mighty endeavour of righteous nations in one of the greatest undertakings in all of history.

"Seventy-five years ago, more than 150,000 allied troops were preparing on this island to parachute into France, storm the beaches of Normandy and win back our civilisation. When Britain stood alone during the Blitz of 1940 and 1941, the Nazi war machine dropped thousands of bombs on this country and right on this magnificent city. Buckingham Palace alone was bombed on sixteen separate occasions. In that dark hour the people of this nation showed the world what it means to be British.Through it all, the royal family was the resolute face of the Commonwealth’s unwaving solidarity.

"In April 1945, the papers pictured the Queen’s mother visiting the woman’s branch of the army, watching a young woman repair a military truck engine. That young mechanic was the future Queen: a great, great woman. The Queen’s beloved father, King George VI, delivered a stirring national address. That day he said: ‘After nearly five years of toil and suffering, we must renew that crusading impulse on which we entered the war and met its darkest hour.’

"This evening, we thank god for the brave sons of the UK and US who defeated the Nazis and the Nazi regime and liberated millions from tyranny. The bond between our nations was forever sealed in that great crusade. As we honour our shared victory and heritage, reaffirm the common values that will unite us long into the future: freedom, sovereignty, self-determination, the rule of law and reference for the rights given to us by almighty god.

"From the Second World War to today, Her Majesty has stood as a constant symbol of these priceless traditions. She has embodied the spirit of dignity, duty of patriotism that beats proudly in every British heart. On behalf of all Americans, I offer a toast to the eternal friendship of our people, the vitality of our nations and to the long-cherished and truly remarkable reign of Her Majesty The Queen.

 

[Vouthon]

Europeans have tentatively persuaded me that there are leftists in Europe who are not greatly different from leftists in America

You don’t have real “left-wing” politics in America - the pendulum is entirely positioned to ‘the right’ of Europe, Latin America, Canada, New Zealand and other regions. Your democrats are centre-right economically (but probably very culturally/socially ‘liberal’, from what I can tell, sometimes more so than in many parts of Europe), although this is beginning to change with the likes of Bernie Sanders and AOC (the latter is genuinely “left-wing” by European standards).

American mainstream “leftists” are akin to centre-right ‘Christian Democrat’ conservatives in Europe, like Angela Merkel, if we are speaking as to running the economy.

I find American definitions of “leftness” and “socialism” highly amusing, as with the term “liberal” (in Europe, Australia and other regions, a ‘liberal’ can mean a very right-wing person economically - believing in strong market freedoms, although we also have left-wing ‘social liberals’). Your mainstream conservatives strike most Europeans as really, really ‘right-wing’ - I mean (and I’m coining this word especially) ‘unvotable’, to put it mildly.

In Europe, a “social market economy” (as in Germany) inspired by Catholic Social Teaching is ‘moderate conservatism’ (i.e. CDU, Christian Democratic Union Party) whereas in the U.S., Republicans would label it “socialism” and “leftism”.

It’s hilarious, the gulf in meaning between terms. Sometimes it amazes me how “cocooned” a huge country like the U.S. can be, when it comes to its cultural particularisms and bizarre expectation that everywhere else conforms with them. Much of the rest of the world simply isn’t on the same playing field as the U.S. when it comes to politics.

 

[Vouthon]

Trump’s speech before the Queen was surprisingly measured, restrained and daresay I say it (relatively speaking) a bit elegant for a change.

He doesn’t usually stick to a planned speech, but this time he visibly tried not to put a foot wrong (a striking contrast to his Twitter account earlier this morning) and thankfully didn’t.

I guess Her Majesty’s presence there and watchful eye made him try extra hard to appear uncharacteristically well-behaved.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You don’t have real “ left-wing ” politics in America

it feels like it, though. I’m not sure there is any such thing as a center-right Democrat anymore in the U.S.

Sometimes it amazes me how “cocooned” a huge country like the U.S. can be, when it comes to its cultural particularisms and bizarre expectation that everywhere else conforms with them. Much of the rest of the world simply isn’t on the same playing field as the U.S. when it comes to politics.

Many Americans looking at the EU (which most don’t) have the same feeling.

 

[Ridgerunner]

So Johnson insulted the President of the U.S. during a state visit by projecting the insults on a big screen in the middle of London?

I wonder who is the more embarrassed; Trump or Johnson.

Too bad there aren’t better manners there. There might be protests of some foreign leader, but it wouldn’t be projected onto, say, the Lincoln Memorial.

 

[Vouthon]

Many Americans looking at the EU (which most don’t) have the same feeling.

Only that the European political spectrum (pardoning our unique supranational system) is little different from that in New Zealand, Canada, Latin America, South Korea in terms of left/right spectrum…

It’s the US that’s the real outlier. Not denying that each has cultural particularisms but the US is quite distinctive and very right-oriented (well until Sanders, AOC and Omar came along).

 

[Lou2U]

Trump’s speech before the Queen was surprisingly measured, restrained and daresay I say it (relatively speaking) a bit elegant for a change.

He doesn’t usually stick to a planned speech, but this time he visibly tried not to put a foot wrong (a striking contrast to his Twitter account earlier this morning) and thankfully didn’t.

I guess Her Majesty’s presence there and watchful eye made him try extra hard to appear uncharacteristically well-behaved.

I do get the impression Trump respects her. Probably due to her herself, and also because she is apolitical. I suspect that partly works in her favour, if he did try to criticise her or share what she’s said to him, he could get both barrels from everyone here and possibly also at home.

As for the Queen herself, I think he understands she is a person not to be crossed.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I do get the impression Trump respects her. Probably due to her herself, and also because she is apolitical. I suspect that partly works in her favour, if he did try to criticise her or share what she’s said to him, he could get both barrels from everyone here and possibly also at home.

As for the Queen herself, I think he understands she is a person not to be crossed.

And to my knowledge she didn’t publish an article calling him a fascist. That matters some.

 

[Lou2U]

Yep, it’s a group called ‘Led by Donkeys’ which are mainly crowd-funded. Johnson has nothing to do with it, and the projection itself is less about Trump and more about the hypocrisy of British politicians. The group has been going since December 2018.

 

[Vouthon]

I do get the impression Trump respects her.

It is sincere.

If my memory recalls aright, Trump’s Scottish mother was an ardent British royalist and this has passed to her son.

Ironically, he might be the first “royalist” U.S. president since American independence was declared in 1777 and achieved in 1783.

Edit: yep, see:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ny...d/europe/trump-mother-queen-uk-visit.amp.html

Trump’s Love Affair With the Royal Family Dates Back to His Mother​

LONDON — One of President Trump’s earliest memories, one he routinely recounts to journalists and biographers, is of watching his mother watch television, so enthralled that she barely moved for hours, on the day in 1953 that Queen Elizabeth was crowned.

He was only 6 years old, but he understood that the gilded spectacle unfolding more than 3,400 miles away inside Westminster Abbey struck a chord in his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, a poor girl who had immigrated from Scotland and who had worked for a time as a housemaid in a grand mansion. He also understood that, for some reason, the same spectacle offended his father…

The story also explains why this week’s visit to Britain matters to the president, who throughout his life has expressed a desire to be close to, or on an equal footing with, the British royal family. Though Mr. Trump met the queen for tea at Windsor Castle last year, the event was marred by a gaffe when he walked ahead of her while reviewing troops, and it lacked the pageantry of a state dinner at Buckingham Palace.

“This is more important than any piece of legislation he could get through Congress, greater than resolving problems at the border with Mexico,” said Michael D’Antonio, the author of “The Truth About Trump,” a 2016 biography.“I would think one of his dying thoughts will be of this. When he is about to leave this earth, he will think, ‘I was that person, standing with the queen.’ ”

 

[grotto]

According to the reports from earlier this day, the State Visit is going very well and the time spent reviewing artifacts in Westminster Abbey appeared to be a highlight of the trip. Hope everyone attending is having a memorable visit with one another. May the friendship be strengthened with communication and exchanges of good will.

 

[Vouthon]

According to the reports from earlier this day, the State Visit is going very well

The meeting with the Royal Family and state banquet with the Queen has, mercifully, gone well (especially in light of the fact that Trump called the American-born Duchess of Sussex, mother of the Queen’s latest great-grandchild, “nasty” before his arrival).

His entrance to the UK itself, however, got off to a poor and controversial start with Trump bad-mouthing (yet again) London’s mayor, in response to a video message that the latter had made in advance of the trip criticizing his policies (it’s been a long-standing transatlantic drama between them).

Tomorrow, 300,000 people (at least) are due to protest Trump’s visit to Britain and one of the speakers at the rally will be Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, who broke time-honoured convention protocol by refusing to attend the dinner with the President tonight.

A huge hot-air Trump “baby-blimp” is also going to fly again over London:

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

 

[abucs]

I haven’t yet read what Trump tweeted about Khan but if people are delusional enough in their thinking to state President Trump is any kind of a socialist, including Nazi National Socialist then it is a public duty for Trump to call that insanity out. Especially when this happens during a state visit by the mayor of the receiving capital city and Trump is celebrating in his speech his countries major efforts in saving capitalist England from National Socialist Germany 70 years ago.

The more forcefully he calls out that insane and derogatory thinking, the better.

Hateful and deluded people like Khan need to be stood up to. What many can’t stomach is that President Trump does exactly what he should do and calls out that insanity. Especially those that have been enculturated into that exact same insanity that Khan exhibits have a problem with this.

 

[PickyPicky]

This snippet from the Queen’s speech at the banquet has some relevance in this thread, perhaps:

"After the shared sacrifices of the Second World War, Britain and the United States worked with other allies to build an assembly of international institutions, to ensure that the horrors of conflict would never be repeated. While the world has changed, we are forever mindful of the original purpose of these structures: nations working together to safeguard a hard-won peace.”

 

[PickyPicky]

Ah, creaky old Blake’s 7. What an enjoyable programme that was.

 

[Kaninchen]

I liked Servalan best.

 

[Kaninchen]

She did her best to divert the “boys in the school playground” nature of Blakes 7.

 

[Kaninchen]

Perhaps the differences in our ages has something to do with our perceptions, I was around about 10+ at the time.

 

[abucs]

Here she comes.