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[Anarky]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-flynn-freedom-party-nazis_us_5859367ee4b08debb78af7c2?

General Mike Flynn, Donald Trump’s pick to serve as his national security adviser, met several weeks ago with Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of Austria’s anti-immigrant Freedom Party, which was founded after World War II by former Nazis.

Strache described the meeting, which was first reported by The New York Times, on his Facebook page, where he also announced signing a “cooperation pact” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Although the Times story focused on the Russia pact, the Flynn-Strache meeting is at least as significant. Austrians’ support for far-right parties has increased significantly over the past 15 years. Strache’s Freedom Party received 35 percent of the vote in this year’s parliamentary elections and narrowly lost the race for Austria’s ceremonial presidency earlier this month.

“This is not just any opposition party: It is one with Nazi sympathies,” said Daniel Serwer, a former state department official who’s now a professor at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. “Nor is Flynn any national security adviser. He is a documented conspiracy propagator. His long-term strategy colleague, Steve Bannon, is an ethnic nationalist and anti-Semite. The president-elect is an anti-Muslim and anti-immigration bigot.”

There’s no doubt that Strache, who worries about “inverse racism, “Austrian youths” being “beaten up in discos” and the “risk of Islamization,” has a lot in common with Flynn, who has also warned of the dangers of Islam and called the religion a “cancer,” and Trump, who called for banning all Muslims from visiting the U.S.

Although they’re proud of their positions on immigration and Islam, Strache and Flynn have denied that they’re anti-Semitic

.

 

[Euron]

Remimder: Michael Flynn was the Trump adviser who retweeted a PizzaGate article

And now he's getting involved in the far right wing European political attacks on Islam. I can't say I'm surprised by anything anymore.

 

[Deleted member 10571]

I for one am shocked. Shocked, I say.


Fuck I'm not. Nobody is. Voters made it pretty clear they don't care and they support this, so nobody on either side will be surprised about this.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

It serves to say we're utterly unimportant in Austria with just 8 million citizens.

Also while there are repeated ties between Nazis and the Freedom Party, it wasn't directly founded by Nazis after WW2. That was the VdU the predecessor of the FPÖ, who formed after NSDAP members who had their rights to vote rescinded were pardoned.

 

[Metaroo]

The world's flight to the right continues. Leftist leaders lost the reins completely this year. It's gonna be something to see if they are able to get it back anytime soon ...

 

[commedieu]

Hmm.. For not being a candidate that is the voice for white supremacists and bigots, trump sure does actively engage with white supremacists and bigots.

 

[Lights and Waves]

These roaches just keep proving how disgusting they truly are. Trump GAF must be so excited right now.

 

[jelly]

Is there any hope that people in positions of government who are below these nut job idiots, will actually steer the ships and basically block any stupid and dangerous things from happening? One person at the top of these departments surely can't be allowed to do bad stuff?

 

[Funky Papa]

Great, Strache must be feeling so fucking important. First Russia, now Flynn.

 

[Blader]

Flynn is the guy who worries me the most in a Trump administration. Bannon may be a neo-Nazi, but the tiniest fraction of a silver lining in his appointment is that he at least wants Trump to invest a ton of money into infrastructure. Flynn on the other hand is a complete lunatic who is going to make life devastatingly difficult for Muslims in the U.S. and abroad, and likely push us into a war at some point in the next four years. And he doesn't have to face Senate scrutiny at all.

 

[Sweeney Tom]

Is there any hope

Nope. This year proved that pretty definitively.

 

[Dalibor68]

Incredible clickbait headline OP. By that logic you might also call the social democrats SPÖ "Party that took in several Nazis". You are fishing for clicks.

 

[Salty Rice]

Incredible clickbait headline OP. By that logic you might also call the social democrats SPÖ "Party that took in several Nazis".

Exactly but Trump and the word Nazi together is just too easy.

 

[Polari]

"Leader of a party founded by former Nazis" seems pretty sensationalist and disingenuous, considering it's not like they're some fringe group in Austrian politics, recently receiving 46% of the presidential vote there.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Incredible clickbait headline OP. By that logic you might also call the social democrats SPÖ "Party that took in several Nazis".

true but at the same time this is the guy we're talking about

 

[Lightning_Roller]

Fuck this guy and fuck the people that voted in Trump too. This is just getting disgusting now.

 

[KibblesBits]

It's embarrassing that this man came from Rhode Island and is hailed as a good old boy by the boomers and local media.

 

[Dalibor68]

true but at the same time this is the guy we're talking about

Yes I know of that and the "paintball affair" but that doesn't excuse the clickbait title, you will recognize that aswell and also Strache didnt found the FPÖ as you also know.

 

[pigeon]

"Leader of a party founded by former Nazis" seems pretty sensationalist and disingenuous, considering it's not like they're some fringe group in Austrian politics, recently receiving 46% of the presidential vote there.

I mean I can think of another party that was very successful in Austrian politics

 

[Dalibor68]

I mean I can think of another party that was very successful in Austrian politics

Cheap shots like this post really give me a headache as it reeks of ignorance.

 

[WedgeX]

Man, Austria's Freedom Party sure seem like some winners.

What distinguishes Austria’s Freedom Party from other right-wing populist outfits in Europe is that it has worked for decades to hone its propaganda message. Initially founded as a postwar refuge for former Nazis, the party gradually transformed into a more respectable advocate of center-right economic liberalism. Then, in the 1980s, Jörg Haider reinvented it as a crusading populist party with a strong anti-immigration platform. Thanks to this new momentum, the party entered government in 2000 as the junior partner in a conservative coalition.

The Freedom Party today is Euroskeptic, anti-elite, anti-foreigner, anti-Islam and anti-globalization. But above all, it is anti-system — the established duopoly of the Social Democrats and the People’s Party, who, in the eyes of many Austrians, run a cozy cartel. It’s classic us-against-them stuff.

 

[OfficerRaichu15]

2016 just keeps getting shittier and shittier.
Fuckin Nazis in 2016

 

[JP_]

"Leader of a party founded by former Nazis" seems pretty sensationalist and disingenuous, considering it's not like they're some fringe group in Austrian politics, recently receiving 46% of the presidential vote there.

You think nazis can't go mainstream again?

 

[His Majesty]

Seems like Trump is courting the far-right parties in Europe.

Shame on that clickbait title though.

 

[BocoDragon]

I for one am shocked. Shocked, I say.


Fuck I'm not. Nobody is. Voters made it pretty clear they don't care and they support this, so nobody on either side will be surprised about this.

I've been talking to a lot of Trump supporters recently, less the die-hard "deplorables" and more the working class types who liked that a "tough talking everyman" was "taking on the system". I don't think many of them understand the alt-right, neo-nazi, conspiracy theorist angle of Trump and his cronies.

 

[pigeon]

Cheap shots like this post really give me a headache as it reeks of ignorance.

Hundreds of thousands of people gave their lives fighting against Nazis for that shot actually, it wasn't cheap at all

I think you're probably just being too lazy or complacent to consider the post appropriately

The story is pretty explicit that the Freedom Party is a far right nationalist party, it's linked to and cooperated with other far right nationalist parties

Their primary policy goal is shutting down immigration to "protect Austrian cultural identity" and they want less Muslims in the country regardless of how moderate they might be

Also I mean they spend a lot of time talking about protecting the Austrian homeland aka "Heimat" which was also very popular with a certain other party concerned about the German national character and it's erosion by outsiders

Maybe the problem isn't that I'm ignorant but that Europeans are in denial about the continued advance of right-wing nationalism across the entire continent because facing up to it would require acknowledging that they themselves or their friends and families are right-wing nationalists and it would be much easier just to let it take over and protect them from the bad Muslims

Just give it some thought

 

[Deleted member 10571]

I've been talking to a lot of Trump supporters recently, less the die-hard "deplorables" and more the working class types who liked that a "tough talking everyman" was "taking on the system". I don't think many of them understand the alt-right, neo-nazi, conspiracy theorist angle of Trump and his cronies.

Pretty sure anyone you'd ask directly would not say "yup, I'm racist and support the clearly racist stuff he does". I don't buy it, I'm sorry. They did support it, and they know fully well they did, even if they claim to not be racist themselves, whatever that means.

 

[PopeReal]

I have yet to hear one Trump supporter say they are racist or even that their vote helped a racist platform.

Not one. So good luck with that conversation we are supposed to have.

 

[JP_]

Yes I know of that and the "paintball affair" but that doesn't excuse the clickbait title, you will recognize that aswell and also Strache didnt found the FPÖ as you also know.

Slogans from FPO's 2010 election while Strache was leading:

Zu viel Fremdes tut niemandem gut. (Too many foreigners [or more literally: Too much foreign] does no one good)
Wir bewahren unsere Heimatstadt. Die SPÖ macht sie uns fremd. (We maintain our homeland. The SPÖ makes it foreign.)
Wir glauben an unsere Jugend. Die SPÖ an Zuwanderung. (We believe in our youth. The SPÖ in immigration.)
Wir schützen freie Frauen. Die SPÖ den Kopftuchzwang (We protect free women. The SPÖ protects the compulsory veil.)
Mehr Mut für unser Wiener Blut (More strength for our Viennese blood.)
Uns, geht's um die Wiener (To us, it's about the Viennese)

hmmmm

 

[jelly]

Pretty sure anyone you'd ask directly would not say "yup, I'm racist and support the clearly racist stuff he does". I don't buy it, I'm sorry. They did support it, and they know fully well they did, even if they claim to not be racist themselves, whatever that means.

Yeah, that's why polls are wrong so often now. If you ask someone do you support a racist, sexist, bigot they obviously are wise enough to say no because they know why it's bad but come voting time, they support him.

 

[Stinkles]

Pretty sure anyone you'd ask directly would not say "yup, I'm racist and support the clearly racist stuff he does". I don't buy it, I'm sorry. They did support it, and they know fully well they did, even if they claim to not be racist themselves, whatever that means.

I think the point is that most Trump supporters, even the redneck racist know nothings, have no idea that he's filling his party and platform with actual fascist stuff. They thought they were getting someone who could bring coal jobs back and maybe make it ok to say the "n word" again.

That's because our media is an embarassing shithole and didn't do its job, and the republican party doesn't care what it turns into as long as it wins.

We need the McCains and Romneys and Bushes to step up and kill this thing before it breaks America's back.

 

[Htown]

These roaches just keep proving how disgusting they truly are. Trump GAF must be so excited right now.

Acting like this isn't exactly what Trump GAF wanted

 

[Akuun]

Freedom Party. I love how all these shitty extremist groups always name themselves something so blandly nice-sounding to hide their shit.

There's probably a Public Happiness Party somewhere that builds gas chambers.

 

[pigeon]

I think the point is that most Trump supporters, even the redneck racist know nothings, have no idea that he's filling his party and platform with actual fascist stuff. They thought they were getting someone who could bring coal jobs back and maybe make it ok to say the "n word" again.

Frankly, I would like to believe this is true, because that would mean that we should easily win the next election since presumably they will all regret having voted for literal Nazis.

I guess we'll see!

 

[dr3upmushroom]

Acting like this isn't exactly what Trump GAF wanted

There's a Trump Gaf now?

 

[PopeReal]

Frankly, I would like to believe this is true, because that would mean that we should easily win the next election since presumably they will all regret having voted for literal Nazis.

I guess we'll see!

Lol yeah right.

They are still Republicans.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Yes I know of that and the "paintball affair" but that doesn't excuse the clickbait title, you will recognize that aswell and also Strache didnt found the FPÖ as you also know.

of course but Strache is the FPÖ like Haider was the FPÖ and he's a Nazi.

 

[kaching]

I don't think many of them understand the alt-right, neo-nazi, conspiracy theorist angle of Trump and his cronies.

What is there to understand, labels aside? Did they ever hear Trump speak? Did they not hear the petty, degrading way he speaks about women, blacks, Muslims, veterans, Mexicans or just about any other minority on any given day? It just takes a little basic human empathy to "understand" that angle.

 

[His Majesty]

The story is pretty explicit that the Freedom Party is a far right nationalist party, it's linked to and cooperated with other far right nationalist parties

Their primary policy goal is shutting down immigration to "protect Austrian cultural identity" and they want less Muslims in the country regardless of how moderate they might be

Also I mean they spend a lot of time talking about protecting the Austrian homeland aka "Heimat" which was also very popular with a certain other party concerned about the German national character and it's erosion by outsiders

Maybe the problem isn't that I'm ignorant but that Europeans are in denial about the continued advance of right-wing nationalism across the entire continent because facing up to it would require acknowledging that they themselves or their friends and families are right-wing nationalists and it would be much easier just to let it take over and protect them from the bad Muslims

Just give it some thought

That's a good analysis. I hope you also see that contributions like this are more useful to a discussion than just saying 'literally hitler' like the article title does.

 

[TestOfTide]

Pretty sure anyone you'd ask directly would not say "yup, I'm racist and support the clearly racist stuff he does". I don't buy it, I'm sorry. They did support it, and they know fully well they did, even if they claim to not be racist themselves, whatever that means.

I don't think you get what Boco is saying.

He's not talking about Trump's core fanbase that loved his racist proposals. He's talking about those desperate and stupid enough to vote for Trump hoping their jobs would come back.

Fuck the ones that actually LIKE Trump's bigotry, but let's not act like EVERY Trump voter is a lost cause. The following can be reached to varying degrees:

- Trump/Obama voters

- Trump voters that only voted for him as an anti-Hillary vote instead of a Pro-Trump vote

- Those desperate and stupid enough to make bad decisions (like voting for Trump)

- Voters that would have liked parts of Hillary's policy platform had they actually known about them

Frankly, I would like to believe this is true, because that would mean that we should easily win the next election since presumably they will all regret having voted for literal Nazis.

I guess we'll see!

I can guarantee that they following WILL cause Trump to lose some voters:

- Trump signs onto privatization of SS/Medicare
- Trump gets involved in an Iraq style war in Iran
- Trump fails to bring back those jobs he promised
- Trump hurts the US economy by getting into a trade war with China
- Trump fails to do the Wall and antiMuslim stuff (because the racists won't be as energized to vote)
- Trump DOES the Wall and AntiMuslim stuff (because there are Trump voters who thought it was just talk and were only interested in getting their old job back)
- Trump Admin tries to crack down on weed in states where it is legal
- Democrats run a New Blood democrat that the GOP doesn't get 4 years to slander (like they did with Hillary)

 

[pigeon]

That's a good analysis. I hope you also see that contributions like this are more useful to a discussion than just saying 'literally hitler' like the article title does.

Actually I just assumed you'd read the fucking article quote in the OP but my B

 

[Karsticles]

"Leader of a party founded by former Nazis" seems pretty sensationalist and disingenuous, considering it's not like they're some fringe group in Austrian politics, recently receiving 46% of the presidential vote there.

You could say the same about the Republican party in terms of voting popularity - it doesn't mean it isn't dangerous and foreboding, right?

 

[Heshinsi]

I don't think you get what Boco is saying.

He's not talking about Trump's core fanbase that loved his racist proposals. He's talking about those desperate and stupid enough to vote for Trump hoping their jobs would come back.

Fuck the ones that actually LIKE Trump's bigotry, but let's not act like EVERY Trump voter is a lost cause. The following can be reached to varying degrees:

- Trump/Obama voters

- Trump voters that only voted for him as an anti-Hillary vote instead of a Pro-Trump vote

- Those desperate and stupid enough to make bad decisions (like voting for Trump)

- Voters that would have liked parts of Hillary's policy platform had they actually known about them



I can guarantee that they following WILL cause Trump to lose some voters:

- Trump signs onto privatization of SS/Medicare
- Trump gets involved in an Iraq style war in Iran
- Trump fails to bring back those jobs he promised
- Trump hurts the US economy by getting into a trade war with China
- Trump fails to do the Wall and antiMuslim stuff (because the racists won't be as energized to vote)
- Trump DOES the Wall and AntiMuslim stuff (because there are Trump voters who thought it was just talk and were only interested in getting their old job back)
- Trump Admin tries to crack down on weed in states where it is legal
- Democrats run a New Blood democrat that the GOP doesn't get 4 years to slander (like they did with Hillary)

If what you're saying is true, then Republican's wouldn't continuously win state legislatures and governorships, but they do. Even after directly hurting the working class with the laws they pass, they keep getting elected. A good deal of these voters don't care what happens to any minority group regardless of who they are. And the things done to hurt them, they some how conveniently develop collective amnesia come election time.

 

[xnipx]

I just don't understand how a non self made billionaire can come off as an "everyman"

 

[JP_]

That's a good analysis. I hope you also see that contributions like this are more useful to a discussion than just saying 'literally hitler' like the article title does.

What exactly are you taking issue with? Reinthaller was FPO's first leader. Reinthaller was not just a nazi, he was an SS officer. He held several other positions in the nazi government as well. What's wrong with providing that context? Today's FPO takes a hardline anti-immigrant stance and campaigns on the purity of Austrian blood, so it's pretty hard to make the argument that there's no connection there. Maybe they're not openly anti-semitic now, but they're openly anti-islamic. Close enough. Pretending there's no connection to their nazi past or that they're not dangerous because they're mainstream is foolish.

 

[Fenderputty]

"I'm not a racist even though I voted for a racist" will be a common theme these next four years

 

[RPGCrazied]

Does this have to go through Congress? I really hope there is big push back on him and specially Tillerson. Lets not forget that EPA guy, Ugh.

 

[TestOfTide]

If what you're saying is true, then Republican's wouldn't continuously win state legislatures and governorships, but they do. Even after directly hurting the working class with the laws they pass, they keep getting elected. A good deal of these voters don't care what happens to any minority group regardless of who they are. And the things done to hurt them, they some how conviniently develop collective amnesia come election time.

There are many explainations for why that happens:

1) For 2010 and 2014, Obama was POTUS so the GOP could easily win by blaming Obama and running as an antiObama candidate. And for reference Democrats made big gains in 2006 and 2008 because Bush was POTUS and he was disliked enough that it was possible to win in even red areas by running as an antiBush candidate.

2) For 2016, we had very unique turnout where Trump was able to get conservatives rural areas energized to vote in record numbers while Hillary was struggling to get the Obama Coalition to even show up and vote in many areas.

Now do Most Trump voters actively hate minorities? Absolutely. But I very much doubt that every single Trump voter has hating minorities as their top priority. If that were true, then Obama wouldn't have such high approval ratings. There will be Trump voters who CAN be reached, it will just require finding out what issues they actually care about that can be used against Trump.

And again, lets not forget that most Trump voters say they were mostly just voting against Hillary. I doubt that the GOP is going to have the foresight to know who the 2020 D nominee will be, so they won't have the opportunity to spend 4 years attacking one politician like they did with Hillary right after Obama won reelection.

 

[kaching]

He's talking about those desperate and stupid enough to vote for Trump hoping their jobs would come back.

Sorry, but who are the people voting for a president - only elected once every 4 years, inclusive of a candidacy period of 18 months, not actually in power for another 3 months after the election and whose power is checked and balanced by two other branches of government anyway - as an act of true desperation? Stupidity I'll grant you, but real desperation isn't going to rely on and certainly not wait for the results of a presidential election.

Not to criticize you per say, just that I think assigning "desperation" as a voter motive strikes me more as a cover or euphemism for something else.

 

[TestOfTide]

Sorry, but who are the people voting for a president - only elected once every 4 years, inclusive of a candidacy period of 18 months, not actually in power for another 3 months after the election and whose power is checked and balanced by two other branches of government anyway - as an act of true desperation? Stupidity I'll grant you, but real desperation isn't going to rely on and certainly not wait for the results of a presidential election.

Not to criticize you per say, just that I think assigning "desperation" as a voter motive strikes me more as a cover or euphemism for something else.

Like I said, it's not just desperation, it's the combination of desperation and stupidity/ignorance.

I worked for Clinton's campaign. I met people like I am talking about through canvassing and phone banks. These are people who didn't even like Trump, but were in a shitty situation and hoped that voting for something new would fix the predicament they were in.

These are people who never got the chance to actually learn about Hillary's platform, and thus they don't get the chance to learn about the policy proposals that they agree with and want.

These are people who worked for a paper mill that has been steadily losing business for obvious reasons and they ended up losing their job at the worst possible time.

These are people who voted for Obama and still approve of him, but fell for the antiHillary propaganda that didn't work on Obama.