Trumpism expands to Europe

AP is upset because voters in Spain on Sunday may elect a conservative government, which would repudiate 48 years of socialism. The once reliable news service said, “The center-right Popular Party emerged from the May 28 elections with the most votes. Polls for the general election have consistently put the PP in first place — but likely needing support from the far-right Vox party to form a government.

“Such a coalition would return a far-right force to the Spanish government for the first time since the country transitioned to democracy following the 1975 death of Gen. Francisco Franco, the dictator who ruled Spain for nearly 40 years.”

Whenever I read “far-right” in the media, I remember the time John Denver went on the Tonight Show and responded to every question from Johnny Carson with “far out” in the reply. Maybe journos should put the bong down.

AP said, “Led by former PP member Santiago Abascal, 47, Vox opposes abortion rights, denies climate change and rejects the need for government to combat gender violence. Election polling indicates the party could finish third this weekend, a showing that would put Abascal in a kingmaker’s role.”

Seldom is the media as open about its political bias than in that statement.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is a sloppy piece of work.

AP said, “Sánchez said he would never form a government with Podemos, deeming it too radical, but then he did in 2019. Sánchez also said he would not pardon nine separatists who were convicted of sedition after pushing for the Catalonia region’s secession — but then he did.”

He is the Joe Manchin of Madrid.

AP said, “But the Socialist-Podemos coalition’s biggest blunder came in what was supposed to have been one of its signature pieces of progressive legislation. A sexual consent law passed in October inadvertently allowed more than 1,000 convicted sex offenders to have their sentences reduced, and over 100 gained early release.”

Even California is not that nutty.

AP’s spin was “Sánchez apologized and the law was amended to close the legal loophole, but the episode provided invaluable material for the right-wing parties and right-leaning media outlets.”

Thank you for locking the barn after the horses moseyed out.

But it was AP’s lead that struck me, “Spain’s general election on Sunday could make the country the latest European Union member swing to the populist right, a shift that would represent a major upheaval after five years under a left-wing government.”

AP failed to mention who those other EU populist right — Trumpy — countries are, but just last month, Finland installed such a government.

Agence France Presse reported, “Finland's conservative leader and Prime Minister-designate Petteri Orpo said Thursday, June 15, a four-party coalition including the far-right Finns Party had agreed to form a government over two months after elections.

“Besides the Finns Party, which secured second place in April's general election, Orpo's coalition includes the smaller Swedish People’s Party (RKP) and Christian Democrats.”

A split on immigration reform slowed the formation of the coalition. The Finns Party opposes it. Opposition to the immigration of — invasion by — people of another culture is a common grievance from the middle class in the West. Communists and other socialists who denounce long ago colonialism now have no problem with the colonization of Europe.

The Sun reported, “A Muslim billionaire has won permission to turn a major London landmark into a mosque. Mega-rich Asif Aziz, 56, known as Mr, West End will take over the Trocadero in the center of the capital.”

Anyone who protests this absurdity is labeled an Islamophobic and condemned to carry the badge of racism for the rest of his life. If this happened in America, it would come with the QAnon leaf cluster.

The biggest threat to socialism never is from outside but by the patriots from within. The destruction of the middle class is the first goal because the middle class is self-reliant and independent, and usually Christian. When the middle class gets fed up and finally fights back, the media acts surprised.

Anthony J. Constantini is a PhD candidate at the University of Vienna, with a dissertation focus on populism. Last September, he wrote a piece for Politico, “Understanding Europe’s shift to the right: There remains a persistent unwillingness among EU leadership to reckon with exactly why populists and the far right are succeeding.”

After listing the rise of Trumpy governments in Italy and elsewhere, he wrote, “In each of these cases, there remains a persistent unwillingness to understand exactly why populists and the far right are succeeding.”

Constantini asked a few uncomfortable questions, writing, “For example, is it illegal to ban things like teaching LGBTQ+ rights? And how much power should the Commission have over the purse, like with its plan to restrict Hungary’s EU funds? Here, the Commission claims it’s responding to Hungarian corruption, but if so, then why aren’t practically openly corrupt member countries like Bulgaria getting an equally close look? And if it is ultimately because of Hungary’s treatment of LGBTQ+ rights, then where do those powers come from?

“On a broader scope, what should the EU even be? A primarily economic union that also exists to ensure some basic political rights, or an activist political and economic union that will seek to enforce modern interpretations of morality through the courts? These are enormous questions that need answering.”

The left has turned the abnormal normal by demanding that everyone accept abortion, illegal immigration and now transgendering children. The pseudo science of global cooling/ global warming/ climate change has reintroduced child slavery in Africa in the mining of materials to make the rechargeable batteries that will power our automobiles.

Constantini ended his piece, “It’s important to acknowledge that not every right-wing or populist election win is due to disinformation — such victories often occur because of real voter frustration. And if Brussels doesn’t try to listen to voters and figure out why a second populist wave is happening, there’s no telling what an almost inevitable third wave might bring.”

Oh the folks at the EU headquarters in Brussels understand Trumpism fully, which is why they are embracing Bidenism. Paris burned this month in protests over police killing some young immigrant lowlife who became the French George Floyd.

Edward Welsch wrote, “It is dismaying to see the horrific scenes from cities across France of large-scale rioting, looting, and street violence, with thousands of fires started and cars and buildings set ablaze in the three largest cities, Paris, Marseille, and Lyon. As I write, a full week of rioting has just subsided, having been triggered by the June 27 death of Nahel M., a 17-year-old ethnic Algerian, who was shot and killed by police while resisting arrest during a traffic stop. The damage from the fires and looting has been estimated by France’s Interior Ministry at $1 billion euros (US$1.1 billion).

“It’s troubling to see the cities of France destroyed because of their historical connection to the creation of European civilization, and because their progenitors, the Franks, were the foster fathers of Western civilization after the collapse of the Roman Empire. It was the Frankish kings of the Middle Ages who were handed the baton of Christendom and the lamp of Western civilization as its flame nearly flickered out. France is today known as the ‘eldest daughter of the Church’ because Clovis, who united the Franks into a single tribe, in 496 became the first king of what is now known as Europe to convert to Christianity. Europe and European civilization became a distinct reality when its lands were united in the eighth century under the rule of the greatest of Clovis’s successors, Charlemagne.

“Alas, ‘France is no longer France,’ as President Donald Trump proclaimed in July 2016, after an elderly French priest was murdered during one of a series of jihadist attacks that took place that year. ‘It’s only going to get worse, and it’s going to start getting bad in our country,’ Trump predicted.”

Trump’s genius is to see the obvious and state it perfectly. Socialism is a disease that destroys civilizations.

Real Americans are fighting back. We shall see on Sunday how many Spaniards will.