Tag: Hungary

Hungaryfication Of The US

Most everyone that follows politics knows how much Trump admires the mini dictator of Hungary, Orban….he has even envisioned what would be nice for the US under his dynamic leadership…..let’s call it Hungaryfication by trump…..

This is an article I recently bookmarked for further review….

Regularly, Donald Trump is presented as a fascistic leader. Yet, he has no Italian-style Blackshirts roaming the streets and no Hitler-style SA or SS beating up opponents. Nor are there people rounded up and put in concentration camps or being tortured in a Pinochet-style football station.

There will be no Auschwitz in the USA. And, there weren’t even political assassinations under Trump’s first presidency (2017-2021) even though Trump’s far right presidency ended with a coup d‘état like storming of Capitol Hill which resulted in five deaths.

Perhaps, today’s fascism no longer comes in goose-steps. In fact, it may not come at all. Beyond all that, Donald Trump also lacks virtually all key ingredients of fascism.

Still, what Donald Trump might create is an even more sinister version of an anti-democratic far right populist regime.

Instead of outright fascism, Donald Trump is more likely to follow the rule book of Hungarian semi-dictator Viktor Orbán and his far right Fidesz party. Orbán’s right-wing populism created an autocratic and illiberal regime in which democracy became merely a facade.

Outward, it appears as if Hungary is still a democracy. Hungary has formal elections. Meanwhile, inwardly it shows all elements of a far right dictatorship in which democracy’s separation of powers – as outlined by Montesquieu – no longer exists and elections are downgraded to a manipulated process to certify Orbán’s authoritarian rule.

In short, Hungary’s parliament has been reduced to an appendage of Orbán’s right-wing populist party. Meanwhile, the previously independent judiciary and the legal system are under control of Orbán’s far right state.

Yet, there is more. Hungary’s crypto-democratic framework is concocted in such a way that it gives an awe-inspiring advantage to Orbán’s right-wing Fidesz party. In other words, democracy takes place but Orbán’s system ensures that his party wins

The Hungaryfication of the USA

Change is coming…..and change will not be for the betterment of the nation….in my opinion.

All we can do is when we smell shit then say something.

I will do my part…..will you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Trump/Orban Bromance

Hungary’s leader came to Mar-a-lago to visit with his American admirer…..Orban made a special trip to the US to meet and endorse Trump for president…..

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, praised Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Friday night for his authoritarian leadership during an event at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

“There’s nobody that’s better, smarter or a better leader than Viktor Orbán, who’s fantastic,” said Trump from a stage as he introduced his guest to the crowd. “He’s a non-controversial figure, because he says, ‘This is the way it’s gonna be and that’s the end of it,’ right? He’s the boss.”

Trump went on to call him a “great leader” and a “fantastic leader.”

“How many different ways does Trump need to tell you he’s going to rule as a dictator before you believe him?” asked political columnist Will Bunch in response to the remarks. In December, Trump admitted he would act like a dictator if elected in 2024, but only on “day one.”

Prior to his trip to down to Florida, Orbán—who has ruled Hungary as an “illiberal state” (his term) since coming to power in 2010—stopped in Washington, D.C. where he met with leaders of the far-right Heritage Foundation, a key ally of Trump’s and the architect of Project 2025, a “battle plan” for “authoritarianism” in the United States if the former president is able to win a second term.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-orban-2667471640

There should be no doubt about the future under Trump leadership….

A side note:  Orban told how a Trump president would end the Ukraine-Russia mash-up….

Donald Trump has promised to end the Russia-Ukraine war “within 24 hours” if elected president again, but he hasn’t said how. Viktor Orban, who met with Trump on Friday in Florida, has now provided an explanation, the BBC reports. “He will not give a penny in the Ukraine-Russia war,” Hungary’s prime minister said. “That is why the war will end.” Orban, who supports Trump’s candidacy, also told Hungarian TV that the former president has “pretty detailed plans” on stopping the fighting, though he provided no details.

“If the Americans don’t give money and weapons, along with the Europeans, then the war is over,” Orban said. “And if the Americans don’t give money, the Europeans alone are unable to finance this war. And then the war is over.” Orban has said repeatedly that he’s opposed to sending money and weapons to Ukraine to help it fight off the Russian invasion, per Politico Europe. Congress could approve aid to Ukraine anyway, but the legislation would then go to the White House for the president’s signature. After their meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Orban posted online that Trump “can bring peace.”

If true that news ought to give a sinking feeling in the pit of the interventionists stomach.  Plus it would be good news to the Freedom Caucus who have been trying to end the spending on this conflict.

Just so you know.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–24Aug22

We all, no matter where you live, tend to bitch and moan about the weather and the weather people…..it seems it gets louder the older we get…..and then there is the Weather Channel that most retired Americans live and breath by……

Then I read a story about Hungary….and thought it is a good answer to those that are habitually wrong day after day…..

The two top officials of Hungary’s meteorological service were fired Monday after an inaccurate rain forecast prompted the postponement of a fireworks display on the country’s most important national holiday, per the AP. The annual St. Stephen’s Day fireworks show along the Danube River in Budapest—billed as the largest display in Europe—was called off Saturday afternoon based on forecasts that said extreme weather was likely around the 9pm start time. By evening, the storms had not materialized in the capital, but the show, which typically draws more than a million spectators, already had been rescheduled for the next week due to safety concerns.

The firings were announced in a brief statement by Minister of Technology and Industry Laszlo Palkovics, a top cabinet member in the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The fired weather service chief, Kornelia Radics, had served in her post since 2013 and her deputy, Gyula Horvath, since 2016. While the minister did not provide a reason for the dismissals, the meteorological service had received harsh criticism in Hungary’s government-aligned media, which charged that the service’s “gravely wrong” forecast had caused a needless postponement of the fireworks display.

Critics of Orban’s government, which has been accused of corruption, nepotism, and anti-democratic tendencies, charged that the firings were politically motivated and reminiscent of Hungary’s communist past. In a Tuesday statement, the meteorological service demanded the reinstatement of its fired leaders. The agency described coming under “political pressure” concerning its assessments of weather models on the holiday and that those applying the pressure “ignored the scientifically accepted uncertainty inherent in meteorological forecasts.”

Think about it.

If that happened here there would be no one on TV to ‘predict’ our weather….and then what we have to bitch about?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Little Fascist Came To Town

Our Beloved Supreme Leader seems to have this unnatural love for authoritarian little toads….PDRK’s Kim, Putin, the Saudi killers and now Hungary’s little fascist, Orban….

Viktor came to town to meet another demagogue in waiting……Trump welcomes a leader that is having a war on democracy….something Trump seems to be trying here in the good old US of A……

President Donald Trump will welcome Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to the White House on Monday, in what sounds like a routine reception for a foreign head of state. In reality, it’s something else: a meeting between two like-minded illiberal leaders, men at the forefront of the campaign to undermine Western democracy from within.

Hungary today looks like a democracy — there are still elections, and dissidents aren’t jailed. But since winning the country’s 2010 election, Orbán has subtly consolidated power and rendered elections almost impossibly unfair. He and allies of his political party, Fidesz, control nearly all of Hungary’s media; he manipulates the state’s economic powers to weaken potential rivals and empower his cronies. Widespread anti-immigrant sentiment, kicked off by the 2015 refugee crisis, has become a key propaganda tool Orbán uses to legitimize his power grabs.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/5/13/18564378/donald-trump-viktor-orban-white-house-visit-2019

Or maybe this look at the dictator-in-waiting……

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/13/cozy-visit-far-right-autocrat-denounced-trump-praises-tremendous-job-hungarys-viktor

This is an interesting piece and food for thought……

What characterizes American government today is not so much dysfunctional politics as it is ruthlessly contrived governance carried out behind the entertaining, distracting and disingenuous curtain of political theater. And what political theater it is, diabolically Shakespearean at times, full of sound and fury, yet in the end, signifying nothing.

Played out on the national stage and eagerly broadcast to a captive audience by media sponsors, this farcical exercise in political theater can, at times, seem riveting, life-changing and suspenseful, even for those who know better.

Week after week, the script changes (Donald Trump’s Tweets, Congress’ hearings on Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, the military’s endless war drums, the ever-widening field of candidates for the 2020 presidential race, etc.) with each new script following on the heels of the last, never any let-up, never any relief from the constant melodrama.

D Is for a Dictatorship Disguised as a Democracy

Birds of a feather crap together!

Is Hungary Shaking The Pillars Of The EU?

There is a row going on in Central Europe among the member of the EU and NATO…..Hungary is in the process of having its elections……

With Hungarians headed to the polls on Sunday to vote in parliamentary elections, most analysis of the country’s political situation has revolved around the country’s alleged turn away from Western-style democracy. Yet while the debate rages on at institutional and political parties level, public opinion research indicates that the reality is far more complex.

While many assume that the turn toward populism and warmer relations with the Kremlin under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is bringing Hungary into Russia’s orbit, a recent poll by the International Republican Institute indicates that the majority of Hungarians continue to support key transatlantic institutions like the EU and NATO.Alhough the key to the country’s political alignment ultimately remains in the hands of its national elite, the preservation of the status quo is to some extent up to the West, which must redouble its efforts to keep Hungary in the transatlantic fold.

http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/hungarians-head-polls-will-european-allegiance-suffer

With the election finalized and the winner is Orban….what will there be for the future of Hungary?

Viktor Orbán’s victory in Hungary’s recent parliamentary election was not fair and he is not going to play nice in his third consecutive term. Those who are worried about the fate of democracy in Hungary have to get used to that reality and get to work quickly.

Protest marches in Budapest, like the one we saw on Saturday, might fulfil an important therapeutic role but they are no substitute for effective political action.

Although Mr Orbán is a talented and ruthless politician, his takeover has been more than helped by the opposition’s divisions, incompetence and lack of leadership. Mass protests ring more than a bit hollow considering that a few days ago Mr Orban’s Fidesz party gained a two-thirds majority in a free and non-fraudulent (though unfair) parliamentary election, at a record-high turnout.

https://capx.co/hungarys-opposition-face-an-uphill-battle-against-authoritarianism/

The EU is calling for sanctions against Hungary…….

The EU should launch a sanctions procedure against Hungary because of a “clear risk of a serious breach” of the bloc’s basic values, a draft report by a European Parliament (EP) committee published on Thursday (12 April) said.

The report detailed the curtailed rights of the constitutional court, stricter control over the courts, the curbing of freedom of expression, a biased media council, the financing of newspapers through state advertisement, the threat to academic freedom, and the rights of migrants as some of the issues where the report concluded a serious deterioration in fundamental rights and the rule of law.

http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/content/draft-eu-report-calls-sanctions-hungary

Hungary bears watching for future events and situations…..

It’s Not Who You Know……….

I believe that most adults will know the rest of that saying……..

I have railed against the Obama way of governance…..he needs yes men and political buddies to do his work…..let’s be clear he is not the only one this is just how business is done in the world of American politics……

About now I would imagine that some are scratching their heads and wondering what the Hell I am talking about, right?

The Senate confirmed a producer of the soap opera “The Bold and The Beautiful” today to serve as ambassador to Hungary, and Sen. John McCain is not happy about it.

Prior to the vote, McCain, R-Ariz., went on a tirade about how Colleen Bradley Bell, a soap opera producer and bundler for President Obama’s campaigns, is “unqualified” to represent the United States as an ambassador to Hungary.

“We’re about to vote on a totally unqualified individual to be ambassador to a nation which is very important to our national security interest,” McCain said on the Senate floor. “Her qualifications are as a producer of the television soap opera ‘The Bold and The Beautiful,’ contributed 800,000 [dollars] to Obama in the last election and bundled more than $2.1 million for President Obama’s re-election effort.”

“I am not against political appointees … I understand how the game is played, but here we are, a nation [Hungary] that is on the verge of ceding its sovereignty to a neo-fascist dictator getting in bed with Vladimir Putin and we’re going to send the producer of ‘The Bold and The Beautiful’ as the ambassador,” McCain continued. “I urge my colleagues to put a stop to this foolishness. I urge a no vote.”

Regardless of McCain’s urging, the Senate confirmed Bell to the ambassador post with a vote of 52-42.

I have said many times that we need professional people to handle our foreign policy…….not a bunch of people that are paid off with postings….so as much as I hate to agree with McCain on anything I will have to make an exception this time and agree with him.

Not even the White House can explain why this person was nominated….need I say more?

Who Said There Is No Justice?

You know I have a problem with windbags….you know those people that go on about something they have no idea of what they speak…..and then there are those blowhards that go off on the religious rants and accuse anyone who does not agree with them as the enemy….you know kinda like the old rants about Jews and their destruction of a society……you know those types, right?

Just  when I doubted that there was any justice in the world for these delusional meat socks….I find this story…….

(AP) – As a rising star in Hungary’s far-right Jobbik Party, Csanad Szegedi was notorious for his incendiary comments on Jews: He accused them of “buying up” the country, railed about the “Jewishness” of the political elite, and claimed Jews were desecrating national symbols. Then came a revelation that knocked him off his perch as ultra-nationalist standard-bearer: Szegedi himself is a Jew. Following weeks of Internet rumors, Szegedi acknowledged that his grandparents on his mother’s side were Jews—making him one, too, under Jewish law, even though he doesn’t practice the faith.

His grandmother was an Auschwitz survivor and his grandfather a veteran of forced labor camps. Since then, the 30-year-old has become a pariah in Jobbik and his political career is on the brink of collapse. Not helping: A recording has surfaced in which Szegedi offers money to a felon threatening to expose his ancestry. (He says he didn’t know until then.) Szegedi resigned last month from all party positions and gave up his Jobbik membership. That wasn’t good enough for the party: Last week it asked him to give up his seat in the European Parliament as well

One down and way too many to hope that justice will find them…….

Do They Have Buyer’s Remorse?

Inkwell Institute

Eastern European Desk

There are great speeches in history like Gettysburg Address, or FDR’s Day of Infamy speech…but the one I want to talk about is the “Tear Down This Wall” speech given by Reagan in Berlin in 1987…in case you are fuzzy…..he stood by the Berlin Wall and ask the Soviet premier to tear down the wall…there was lots more to the speech but that is the part that people, mostly Repubs want to remember…kinda like the “give me liberty” speech by Henry…all that is remembered by most Americans is some slogan fit for a bumper sticker……..

Reagan rambled on and on about the Cold War, the Iron Curtain, missiles, Asia….but the part that I remember most was when he was addressing the USSR and its lack of freedom………

Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor.

About two years after his speech the E. German authority opened the wall up and it was truly torn down……a great day…especially for Repubs they could claim their ideology was the cause of the collapse of the USSR………

Meanwhile back to the quote….with the fall of communism the whole region of Eastern Europe opened up to the idea of capitalism, which some equate with freedom……..but after about 20+ years of capitalism what has Eastern Europe learned?

Pick a country….any country…..say ….Hungary….what is happening there with all this freedom and democracy?  A Pew Research poll shows…….

With parliamentary elections approaching, Hungarians are in a funk. Nearly unanimously, they say the economy is in bad shape, and a stunning 72% say most Hungarians are actually worse off now economically than they were under communism. But Hungary’s malaise is not all about economics — most are frustrated with politics too. Overwhelmingly, Hungarians are dissatisfied with the way democracy is working and discontent with political elites, with about three-in-four saying political corruption is a major problem. A fall 2009 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project highlights the degree to which, even in a region where disillusionment is common, Hungarians stand out.

All of this bodes well for the electoral prospects of Fidesz, the right-of-center opposition party, which is expected to soundly defeat the incumbent social democrats in the upcoming elections.1 However, these findings do not mean Hungarians are rejecting democratic values. In fact, as the survey illustrates, they are more likely than other former Eastern bloc publics to say it is very important to live in a country with democratic rights and institutions. But few believe Hungary currently has these democratic freedoms.

In the 2009 poll, more than three-in-four (77%) said they were dissatisfied with the way democracy is working in Hungary, the highest percentage on the survey. In the other former Eastern bloc nations, there were notable generation gaps on this question, with people under age 40 — essentially, the “post-communist” generation — more likely to be satisfied than older respondents. Not so, however, in Hungary, where old and young alike tended to give the current state of democracy a grim assessment.

As with any so-called democratic country, Hungary’s new constitution is in contention……a report in the BBC……

The legal and constitutional experts said the charter was rushed through without proper debate.

They said the governing Fidesz party could use its two-thirds majority in parliament to push through laws which might prove impossible to overturn.

This meant, they said, “the principle of democracy itself is at risk”.

They also said other social issues – including the rights of the unborn child, marriage between a man and a woman, and the definition of life sentences – “should be left to the ethical debates within society” rather than enshrined in the constitution.the new constitution

Hungary has a right of center government…….actually it is more nationalistic…..and we know what that means….right?

There is growing resentment for capitalism in the Eastern bloc (to use an old Cold War term)….it is becoming more and more clear that the people are not better off with capitalism…that they may NOT be freer with capitalism…..and the population may NOT be more prosperous with capitalism…..one problem is that old hatreds are becoming more and more to the forefront of politics……..so some are having a bout with buyer’s remorse…..

Fascist To The Right

Inkwell Institute

International Group

European Desk

Since the death of the Soviet union and the birth of democracy in the counties that were controlled politically by the USSR, the  far right has been making in roads into the system……the most notable is Hungary…..but there is a saving grace there….the democratic process, elections if you will……..

Hungary’s Jews are worried following the stunning electoral success over the weekend of the far-right Jobbik party, which ran on an openly anti-Semitic and anti-Roma platform and accuses Jews of driving Hungary into a steep economic downturn.

“Today is a very dark time for modern Hungary,” Peter Feldmajer, president of the Hungarian Jewish community, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. “It is a very dangerous direction not just for Hungarian Jews, but for Hungarian democracy.”

Jobbik, which has ties to a nationalist, uniformed militia called the Hungarian Guard, took third place in the Sunday elections, winning 16.6 percent of the national vote, just short of the incumbent Socialists, who collapsed to 20% of the vote after eight years in power.
It said Jobbik’s electoral success proved “that acceptable anti-Semitism, xenophobia and racism are still alive and well in parts of Europe,”

This is a growing problem in European politics……the far right has made in-roads in Switzerland and Holland and even some of the more progressive democracies….and now with the economic crisis still looming, I look for it to continue to grow as people’s frustrations grow……Nationalism is on the rise and not just in Europe….the longer the economy sucks the more popular it will become……

I realize that most Americans could care less what happens in Hungary because it has NOTHING to do with the States…..think about that……..sounds kinda like the thinking in the 1930’s and that lead to a large international problem……