<Fair City Amsterdam> Democratie?

[Natuurbescherming ZO]

Wall Street Journal:
"The Democrats Deserve Biden, Even if the Country Doesn’t
They’ve deceived and gaslit us for four years, all in the name of ‘democracy.’ That collapsed Thursday.

There is something fitting about the disarray in which the Democratic Party finds itself, a fearful symmetry in the now-fraught relationship between President Biden and panicking friends and colleagues.

Mr. Biden succeeded because he made toeing the party line his life’s work. Like all politicians whose egos dwarf their talents, he ascended the greasy pole by slavishly following his party wherever it led. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Democrats were a party of post-Vietnam peacenik activists, seeking accommodation with the Soviet Union abroad and appeasement of economic decline at home. And Joe was one of them. When that was discredited by three straight election defeats, the Democrats became the New Democrats, and there was Joe again, backing welfare reform, being tough on crime, and getting macho with America’s post-Cold War enemies. After 9/11 the party fell in for a while behind George W. Bush, and of course Mr Biden was right there too, leading from the middle, backing the war on terror and the invasion of Iraq—until it started to go wrong, when, as his party quickly deserted, so did our man of constant borrow.”

De NAVO als stortplaats voor afgedankte regeringsleiders?
https://theindicter.com/the-european-union-leadership-is-a-club-of-losers/ <https://theindicter.com/the-european-union-leadership-is-a-club-of-losers/>

"Why in Europe the same people remain in leadership positions?  Well, in the first place, because they are not elected by the voting people among the 448.4 million inhabitants comprising the European Union. Instead, they are practically elected in a meeting composed by 27 politicians in the cupola of the EU –as it happened last week in Brussels. And which they expect to be confirmed later.

Secondly, all of them on the highest cupola are ex-politicians who have served in different European governments, and in which they have a record of political failure. Take for instance Ursula von der Leyen, who performed disastrously as minister in a German government. Or the new appointed secretary general of NATO [Rutte], who newly lost the election in Netherlands. The same regarding the former NATO boss, or apparently boss, Stoltenberg, an ex-PM of Norway. All these people appear supporting each other in the continuation of previously failed careers.”

About the new features of modern Western democracy?  It is an interesting problem. Because what appears as most prominent nowadays in Europe it is precisely the absence of democratic fundamentals. One of these fundamentals is the freedom of expression. As defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in article 19 to be precise, freedom of opinion and expression refers both to the uttering of opinions and the receiving of opinions. I will quote, to be exact:
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
The phrasing “regardless of frontiers” means that any individual is entitled to receive information broadcast or published in another country outside our own perimeters.

Another fundamental of Western democracy is the use of referendum on crucial issues that compromises the economic or political, or national security of a country. In the “old times” –meaning before the von der Leyen era– in Sweden, for instance, we had referendum to enter or not the EU, to enter or not the Euro system, etc. But in the modern democratic Europe (I say democratic Europe in quotations marks), to decide in Sweden whether to abandon hundreds of years of neutrality and nonalignment, whether to enter the NATO alliance or not –which is a matter of utmost importance for the lives of each Swedish citizen– no referendum was called upon by the government.”

Ook de beslissing om ’s lands verdediging, de F16’s, naar Oekraïne te sturen, was ondemocratisch.
SP: "'Het besluit van demissionair premier Rutte om F-16’s aan Oekraïne te leveren is ongepast en ondemocratisch.' Dat zegt SP-Kamerlid Jasper van Dijk: 'De levering van F16’s aan Oekraïne is een ingrijpend besluit. Dat kan een demissionaire regering niet nemen zonder uitgebreid debat met de Tweede Kamer.’”
https://www.sp.nl/nieuws/2023/08/van-dijk-besluit-over-levering-van-f-16s-ongepast <https://www.sp.nl/nieuws/2023/08/van-dijk-besluit-over-levering-van-f-16s-ongepast>

RT: "In drei Jahren soll die Schweizer Luftwaffe ihre ersten F-35-Kampfjets erhalten. Doch schon jetzt ist klar, dass diese Maschinen bald nachgerüstet werden müssen. Ein Upgrade des Triebwerks und des Antriebs ist offenbar unumgänglich. Diese Nachrüstungskosten, so hat das Bundesamt für Rüstung Armasuisse nun erstmals öffentlich zugegeben, sind nicht im Kaufpreis enthalten.
"Die Weiterentwicklung wird während der Nutzungsdauer bezahlt. Und das ist die Luftwaffe, also die Schweiz", erklärt Kaj-Gunnar Sievert von Armasuisse. Die Beschaffung der 36 Kampfjets selbst kostet die Schweiz bereits satte sechs Milliarden Franken.
https://test.rtde.tech/schweiz/211792-f-35-schweizer-armee-an-der-nase-herumgefuehrt/ <https://test.rtde.tech/schweiz/211792-f-35-schweizer-armee-an-der-nase-herumgefuehrt/>

De eerste Nederlandse F35’s werden al in 2019 besteld, dus ruim voor het moment dat Rusland de Russische gebieden in Oekraïne binnenviel. Toen ging de siamese tweeling EU/NAVO al richting oorlog tegen Rusland. Nu komen er nog meer F35’s bij, over een aantal jaren.
https://www.rtl.nl/nieuws/artikel/4784866/f35-straaljagers-nederland-waarom?redirect=rtlnieuws <https://www.rtl.nl/nieuws/artikel/4784866/f35-straaljagers-nederland-waarom?redirect=rtlnieuws>
https://www.defensie.nl/onderwerpen/f-35-naar-nederland/feiten-en-cijfers <https://www.defensie.nl/onderwerpen/f-35-naar-nederland/feiten-en-cijfers>

"The U.S. and allies buying F-35 fighter jets could face added costs as problems emerge during long-delayed combat simulation tests, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).”
https://www.graphicnews.com/en/pages/42641/aviation-f-35-lightning-ii-problems <https://www.graphicnews.com/en/pages/42641/aviation-f-35-lightning-ii-problems>

Forbes: "Thanks to a compromised ability to render their fuel tanks inert, F-35A Lighting IIs can’t fly within 25 miles of a thunderstorm or other atmospheric electrical activity. Over two years after issuing the flight restriction, the F-35 Joint Program Office was expected to lift it. It hasn’t.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erictegler/2022/11/23/air-force-f-35-lightning-iis-still-cant-fly-within-25-miles-of-lightning/ <https://www.forbes.com/sites/erictegler/2022/11/23/air-force-f-35-lightning-iis-still-cant-fly-within-25-miles-of-lightning/>

Hetty

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