silasmcg.bsky.social
SNP activist, human rights activist, Eurovision fan, EU enthusiast, and much else besides. Views my own, etc.
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Blimey. Asked about Trump, Merz says he’s in close contact with European leaders about becoming “independent” from US (and confesses “I never thought I’d say that on TV show”). Casts doubt on value of NATO summit in June.
This from a die-hard Atlanticist. Things are moving fast.
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It was not clear to me that 'rise up' necessarily meant political violence, no. But if that's the case, it seems a very extreme take to me, that everyone in the US who does not oppose Trump with violence deserves whatever he ends up doing to them.
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Not clear on what you mean by 'rise up and stop what's happening', but there are plenty of reasons that some Americans may not be politically active and in any case, nobody 'deserves' to have their human rights violated
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I get that all this is easier said than done, but it is possible and it's certainly worth trying. The status quo certainly doesn't seem to be working in many cases!
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Strongly disagree with this take on immigration, though. Harsher immigration rhetoric, arbitrary targets, and rightwards drift on the issue is what most establishment parties have been trying for a decade or more and it's rarely worked. Labour and Tories haven't even tried pro-immigration arguments
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On Scottish welfare - especially the child payment - given the cost and bureaucracy involved, not to mention the considerable evidence of significant impact, it doesn't sound like we agree on what 'radical' means here.
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I get that, to a degree. But in times of austerity and economic difficulty, with a largely fixed budget, there are limits to what can be done. I'd say (tho I am biased) that SG have done more and been bolder than they get credit for
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This seems a little simplistic. It's surely possible for a government to be radical in some areas and less so in others. Being less radical on local govt doesn't make their achievements in areas like childcare, welfare, or energy any less bold
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I don't think that's true to say. There has never been a UK equivalent of the Scottish child payment, for example, and my understanding is that the new Scottish disability benefits were pretty much wholly redesigned. It's not just mitigating UK backsliding at all.
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The things that the Scottish government have been doing on welfare and tax are quite radical surely, no?
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Where are you referring to, in that case? My wife and I bought a nice two bedroom flat in Edinburgh this year for a combined salary of well under 80k. I'm sure I'm biased, but surely the likes of Glasgow or Edinburgh count as 'popular places'?
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I agree to a point, but Biden has challenged anti-trans state-level laws, appointed trans people in visible senior positions, and taken other pro trans rights stances. I know that's not enough in many ways, but surely hyperbolic to call that "immediately surrendering to the right"?
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I suppose I'm thinking of national and presidential positions, which unless I'm mistaken, have been largely pro-trans. But I suppose it differs wildly depending on what sort of democrat you ask.
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I mean to say, I'm not a huge fan of the Democrats generally, but your original post suggests that Democrats have been institutionally very anti-trans rights of late, which by my again flawed perspective I think in the mainstream isn't the case. But again, perhaps I'm not paying enough attention.
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I do take your point and certainly there's a danger there in terms of election analysis, but it seems unfair to say that Democrats generally are doing this on the back of a small minority of congresspeople? Perhaps I've missed the scale of the issue, but Dems seem to have been mostly supportive
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Though I'd never claim to be an expert in US politics, it's not been my experience that US Democrats in general participate in or support attacks on pro-trans issues. Are you referring to someone specific?