SuperMegaMonkey: Liberal Outrage: January 2016 Archives

Liberal Outrage

And Switzerland and Germay, too, apparently.

Following similar moves in Switzerland and southern Germany, Denmark's parliament voted on Tuesday to allow police to search asylum seekers on arrival in the country and confiscate any non-essential items worth more than 10,000 Danish kroner (about £1,000) that have no sentimental value to their owner.
The bill presented by the centre-right minority government of the prime minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, was approved after almost four hours of debate by 81 of the 109 lawmakers present, as members of the opposition Social Democrats and two small rightwing parties backed the measures.
...

The Danish government says the procedure is to cover the cost of each asylum seeker's treatment by the state, and mimics treatment of Danish citizens on welfare benefits.
Social Democrat Dan Jørgensen addressed opponents of the bill, demanding: "To those saying what we are doing is wrong, my question is: What is your alternative?
"The alternative is that we continue to be [one of] the most attractive countries in Europe to come to, and then we end up like Sweden."

I don't know what the solution is, but i can't see how searching refugees and confiscating their valuables can be the answer you ended up with. What the hell is wrong with you, Denmark? You're going to shake them down while they're asking you to give them a safe haven? Oh, and nice dig at Sweden, too.

But opponents of the law argue that while refugees can in general still expect to be treated humanely in Denmark, the new legislation is ethically unsound. Pernille Skipper, an MP and legal affairs spokesperson for Enhedslisten, a leftwing Danish party, said: "Morally it is a horrible way to treat people fleeing mass crimes, war, rapes. They are fleeing from war and how do we treat them? We take their jewellery."

Classy.

By min | January 26, 2016, 2:19 PM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (7)| Link

We're Entering Stage 6!

A little Morning Glenn Greenwald for you.

For those who observed the unfolding of the British reaction to Corbyn's victory, it's been fascinating to watch the DC/Democratic establishment's reaction to Sanders' emergence replicate that, reading from the same script. I personally think Clinton's nomination is extremely likely, but evidence of a growing Sanders movement is unmistakable. Because of the broader trends driving it, this is clearly unsettling to establishment Democrats - as it should be.
...
Just as was true for Corbyn, there is a direct correlation between the strength of Sanders and the intensity of the bitter and ugly attacks unleashed at him by the DC and Democratic political and media establishment. There were, roughly speaking, seven stages to this establishment revolt in the UK against Corbyn, and the U.S. reaction to Sanders is closely following the same script:
STAGE 1: Polite condescension toward what is perceived to be harmless (We think it's really wonderful that your views are being aired).
STAGE 2: Light, casual mockery as the self-belief among supporters grows (No, dears, a left-wing extremist will not win, but it's nice to see you excited).
STAGE 3: Self-pity and angry etiquette lectures directed at supporters upon realization that they are not performing their duty of meek surrender, flavored with heavy doses of concern trolling (nobody but nobody is as rude and gauche online to journalists as these crusaders, and it's unfortunately hurting their candidate's cause!).

Corbyn urged to curb online abuse by supporters as MPs are sent sickening tweets https://t.co/GYdg7D2USG pic.twitter.com/ZX6JVNnAjp
-- Sun Politics (@SunPolitics) December 3, 2015
I've written about every candidate this cycle & without fail Sanders supporters are the most consistently abusive & rude ...
-- Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) January 19, 2016

STAGE 4: Smear the candidate and his supporters with innuendos of sexism and racism by falsely claiming only white men support them (you like this candidate because he's white and male like you, not because of ideology or policy or contempt for the party establishment's corporatist, pro-war approach).
STAGE 5: Brazen invocation of right-wing attacks to marginalize and demonize, as polls prove the candidate is a credible threat (he's weak on terrorism, will surrender to ISIS, has crazy associations, and is a clone of Mao and Stalin).
STAGE 6: Issuance of grave and hysterical warnings about the pending apocalypse if the establishment candidate is rejected, as the possibility of losing becomes imminent (you are destined for decades, perhaps even generations, of powerlessness if you disobey our decrees about who to select).
STAGE 7: Full-scale and unrestrained meltdown, panic, lashing-out, threats, recriminations, self-important foot-stomping, overt union with the Right, complete fury (I can no longer in good conscience support this party of misfits, terrorist-lovers, communists, and heathens).

I read this and thought to myself "OOH! We need to start watching Prime Minister's Questions again!".

By min | January 21, 2016, 8:44 AM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (2)| Link

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