rgmwa

Who's the `we' in this, and where do you get the idea that people with left wing views `hate' Australia? That's the kind of stuff that Trump and his cohort say to whip up anger among their supporters. I don't believe that anyone on this forum hates Australia, no matter what their views are.

My dad served in the Dutch army as an anti-tank gunner before Germany invaded Holland. He and his crew actually derailed one of the returning German troop trains on its way back to the border after delivering troops to the Rotterdam area on the morning of the invasion. They were also involved in a number of rearguard actions before Holland capitulated. In his later years he decided that despite not being a naturalised Australian he should be entitled to walk in the Anzac parade and take part in the Dawn Service as an allied soldier even though he wasn't an Anzac, so he did. One year he was very proud to be able to march with his grand daughter who was in uniform. She is currently a captain in the Navy. At his funeral in 2016 some local RSL volunteers played the Last Post in accordance with his wishes. Many years ago I went with him on a trip back to Holland, my first time going overseas. We were in a museum in Eindhoven one day and there was a photo among the exhibits of a wrecked locomotive and carriages lying on their sides. He pointed to it and said; "I did that".

Well, in that case I'm not in the tribe then either, although I know about Gelignite Jack, Jack Sue (his old dive shop is not far from me), and CKS. Does that make me more eligible?

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What Trump meant by respect was not admiration, but more like the `respect' a Mafia mob boss wants.

Half the rowers are pulling on imaginary oars in the wrong direction. Does that mean the country is going nowhere?

Cleaning up the mess he’s created will be a major headache for whoever comes after him. He has knocked the US off its perch in terms of how the rest of the world sees it now, and it will never fully recover. Not much of a legacy to brag about. The reason he’s erecting so many monuments to himself is that he knows nobody else will.

Yes, I think the Nation part is pretty questionable. First inhabitants would be more accurate and traditional Australians seems OK to me as a differentiator if you needed one.

You will have to ask GON what a Traditional Australian is. I guess First Nations people should qualify given the length of time they have been here.

In my previous company, we once did a quick headcount and came up with 14 different nationalities. We are a multicultural country and by and large a pretty successful one, but not without associated problems such as crime and gangs. However, the vast majority of immigrants are good people who just want to get on with their lives and be decent citizens. As Jerry said, the only traditional Australians are the First Nations people. The rest of us are all new arrivals by comparison.

What does a `Traditional Aussie' look like in your view?

There's been speculation about who might succeed Trump when he finally goes, or who he might endorse. Vance or Rubio would be the obvious choices, but there is a view that he doesn't want anyone to replace him because he couldn't stand the thought of not being at the centre of things. I think there's some merit in that view and that he would rather take the ship down with him than have somebody else take over the Republican side. He might even be happier to see a Democrat as president than someone from his own side who would replace him as the centre of the universe in the US.

Thanks to my parents I'm a post war immigrant from Holland so the impact on me personally has been quite significant. Likewise, I think our family's impact on Australia has been quite significant, but that's just my opinion.

Do you include European immigrants as Traditional Australians, or does your definition just describe the descendants of the colonial era immigrants (some might say invaders) who were born here (except for the Chinese, I suppose).

There's zero chance of him being awarded a Nobel prize of any sort.

Mark Kelly seems to be generally well liked. At this stage it’s anyone’s guess who ends up running for the Democrats. My comment was more about what the Democrats are for. They are all united in their opposition to Trump and his regime but their vision for the country is less clear at this point.

The problem the Democrats have is that they aren't organised and don't have an obvious plan for what they want, apart from getting rid of Trump's mob. They need to work out their version of a Project 2025 type manifesto that makes sense for the country and that they can sell to the public before the 2028 elections. I think Project 2025 was a disaster for democracy in the USA, but it unfortunately showed what can be done if you get organised.

Those kinds of scripts - short sentences, lots of padding, trying to build up drama are common in many internet videos. Unless I've missed something in the link, if all he said was "Let's call it what it is", then I've just wasted a few minutes.

They don't need to anymore. Trump is doing it all by himself.

The real concern is that AI might make the contributors to this forum obsolete.

Yes, and I agree with you.

The US is in the Middle East because of the oil. The US supports Israel because of the influential Jewish lobby in America. There is no doubt Israel is threatened by its neighbours in the region and needs to protect itself, and it does this very effectively by preventative maintenance - striking first. America’s support and weapons are crucial in this although they also have a large defence industry themselves. America’s dependence on Middle Eastern oil has reduced almost entirely in recent years because they have figured out how to extract their shale oil and rob Venezuela. They are still interested in the Gulf oil because it’s essential to their global competitors which includes their allies.

Yes the US has been in the Middle East for decades ‘helping’ the Arabs extract their oil and gas reserves. I’m sure they would like to get their hands on the Iranian oil too but the regime there doesn’t want their help, Iran is a disruptor in the region, and a threat to Israel and US interests, especially if they get nuclear weapons. I don’t think the oil is a reason for this war starting. It is about the threat to Israel generally with or without nuclear weapons but especially with them. That’s Trump’s stated aim for getting involved but he’ll grab anything else he can get.

I agree with that. He certainly didn't go into it for Netanyahu or Israel. He went into it for himself because he thought the Iranian leadership would fold in a couple of days and he'd be famous as the President who had the nerve to take on the Iranians and show the world how weak his predecessors were. He wanted the world to applaud how smart and amazing he is. All he's managed to do is demonstrate how vain and stupid he is.

You're giving him far too much credit for forward planning. Trump is an opportunist, not a thinker. He's had it in for Iran for years and Netanyahu gave him the hard sell a couple of weeks before the war. Hegseth was for it, Vance was against it, and Rubio was on-board but only for getting rid of their missiles, while John Ratcliffe told him straight out that Netanyahu was pulling the wool over his eyes. Trump went for it anyway. Now that he's created this mess, he's latched onto the idea of going into partnership with the Iranians to charge a toll on ships using the strait. I don't think the Iranians will be very interested in that, nor in handing over their oil. If Trump did somehow try to grab the oil, Xi would be on the phone to the White House.