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UCmeNdc

(9,650 posts)
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 04:07 PM Jan 2017

I am watching German News right now. They are reporting on Trump.

The ZDF German reporters are saying what a terrible time it is for the United States. They are reporting that Moscow has the Trump tapes. They are reporting that Trump may have things to hide and that is why Trump refused to show his Tax forms.

Now they are showing Trump dodging the CNN questions. The Germans watching TV here with me are laughing at Trump. They think he is stupid. They are especially laughing with Trump giving his "you're fired" line as he leaves the press conference.

The reporter is saying Trump is open to extortion. It is not looking good from here.

Well off to my room. Just could not help attempting to describe how the world sees Trump and the United States now.

95 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
I am watching German News right now. They are reporting on Trump. (Original Post) UCmeNdc Jan 2017 OP
Thank you so much. Hope you will continue to report in. riversedge Jan 2017 #1
Thanks, G-O-Pee, you've made America a weak laughingstock. FSogol Jan 2017 #2
G-O-Pee... calimary Jan 2017 #28
Drain the swamp? bucolic_frolic Jan 2017 #35
It's a great way to look at them. stage left Jan 2017 #37
Always trying to make a big splash with their friends. JudyM Jan 2017 #76
GOPee-- that's great! At least we can laugh... Fast Walker 52 Jan 2017 #77
The world is laughing at him. progressoid Jan 2017 #3
Can you please provide a link? nt jonno99 Jan 2017 #4
This was on German tv, doubt there is a link. monmouth4 Jan 2017 #7
Try this... 2naSalit Jan 2017 #27
Thanks! nt jonno99 Jan 2017 #92
This was a regular ZDF nightly news program over regular TV. There is no link. UCmeNdc Jan 2017 #90
How humiliating that we have this fat asshole as our President Elect. BigDemVoter Jan 2017 #5
And we wonder why Phoenix61 Jan 2017 #6
Even Africa is laughing at us. milestogo Jan 2017 #8
Same here get the red out Jan 2017 #9
Given Germany's history.. whathehell Jan 2017 #13
Perhaps, but I might trust Germany circa 2017 over Trumpy and Company. FSogol Jan 2017 #17
I'd pretty much trust anyone 2017 over Trump.. whathehell Jan 2017 #18
Yes, they are DFW Jan 2017 #20
Only with abbreviated memories,..The fact is, they brought whathehell Jan 2017 #52
why do you say that-- zero chance? Fast Walker 52 Jan 2017 #79
I say that because DFW Jan 2017 #83
I understand that you know germany very well and that's great-- nothing against you Fast Walker 52 Jan 2017 #86
You mean the historical events that ended over 70 years ago? Crunchy Frog Jan 2017 #68
No, I'm talking about the lingering effects of such a monstrous 'historical event' whathehell Jan 2017 #88
Given Germany's history, they are more alert to and in guard against the rise tblue37 Jan 2017 #71
EXACTLY! Fast Walker 52 Jan 2017 #78
They should be.. whathehell Jan 2017 #81
Yes, because they've always make such wise political choices.. whathehell Jan 2017 #14
Read the history of the world since 1980 DFW Jan 2017 #21
Also, some wealthy Americans aided Hitler's rise. raging moderate Jan 2017 #23
Not just Americans, British, too. LisaM Jan 2017 #29
None other than Prescott Bush, Henry Ford and the American Liberty League mitch96 Jan 2017 #38
You mean like GW Bush's grandfather? Crash2Parties Jan 2017 #42
Yes, the bank he worked for was like the Goldman Sachs of the 1930's Grey Lemercier Jan 2017 #60
Ah the things you will learn here, grasshopper. hedda_foil Jan 2017 #45
There's a book about IBM helping the nazis. area51 Jan 2017 #47
The Nazis got their ideas about eugenics from America. Crunchy Frog Jan 2017 #70
I don't have to -- I've lived it. whathehell Jan 2017 #51
Germany tried to warn us in January 2016 Cha Jan 2017 #53
We should include the reading of American history of that era too. hadEnuf Jan 2017 #25
You're speaking of the half million Americans who died on European soil whathehell Jan 2017 #54
Yes. hadEnuf Jan 2017 #73
You appear to predicate your entire narrative on one period LanternWaste Jan 2017 #58
"a 79 year old 'conflict' 'which has been wholly resolved" ? whathehell Jan 2017 #59
Many of the scars from Nazi Germany are still here and will be for a long time. hadEnuf Jan 2017 #74
Yes they are and, again, their "dismay" is whathehell Jan 2017 #80
Do you think Germany has learned from the Nazi years? hadEnuf Jan 2017 #84
Hey, Hey, Hey now, Big_K Jan 2017 #16
Welcome to DU, both of you - Big_K and hadEnuf! calimary Jan 2017 #30
I wish there were a like button. I'd click it. HurricaneWarning Jan 2017 #36
Thank you. I'm tired of us being as bad as Trump & friends when it comes to that stuff. Crash2Parties Jan 2017 #43
Good Point-- thanks! BigDemVoter Jan 2017 #85
The world is laughing at us. Or working on stockpiling nukes... Tatiana Jan 2017 #72
Oh boy, Wellstone ruled Jan 2017 #10
Holy hell! Golden Urinator!!!!! Bwaaahaaaahaaa! MontanaMama Jan 2017 #11
Got a million of em' Wellstone ruled Jan 2017 #12
My favorite not fooled Jan 2017 #39
I'll be sure to Maynar Jan 2017 #40
I did as I went dribbling out the back door. Wellstone ruled Jan 2017 #41
From der Spiegel alfredo Jan 2017 #15
I think you mean.. whathehell Jan 2017 #55
Merkin? alfredo Jan 2017 #82
Try an "L" at the end.. whathehell Jan 2017 #87
Merkinl? My spellcheck just tore an ACL alfredo Jan 2017 #89
Lame whathehell Jan 2017 #93
I would just slow you done. I'll do fine out here eating roots and berries until I can travel. alfredo Jan 2017 #94
I don't think this triron Jan 2017 #19
thanks. keep us posted. nt raccoon Jan 2017 #22
The comedians has had eight years of drought, now the flood comes. Jokes will be fast Thinkingabout Jan 2017 #24
Know what you mean. I love seeing people get under Trumpies thin skin. riversedge Jan 2017 #26
Was that a pun? world wide wally Jan 2017 #33
Oh, you're bad Ligyron Jan 2017 #62
thank you. barbtries Jan 2017 #31
This message was self-deleted by its author SleeplessinSoCal Jan 2017 #32
I heard him say the foreign countries will respect the US when he is President. kimbutgar Jan 2017 #34
My German boyfriend said his family and friends in Doreen Jan 2017 #44
Nonsense.. whathehell Jan 2017 #56
Nonsense.. Mc Mike Jan 2017 #63
Thank you! NewDealDemocrat Jan 2017 #46
Welcome to DU LittleGirl Jan 2017 #49
Thanks for making me welcome! NewDealDemocrat Jan 2017 #65
I like to watch NHK for obvious reasons... yuiyoshida Jan 2017 #48
I got back from Thailand about two weeks ago from a four week vacation. argyl Jan 2017 #50
Tip for everyone: keep your passports current. Vinca Jan 2017 #57
we are a cartoon democracy with daffy duck as the president. nt Javaman Jan 2017 #61
I guess it's time hells Jan 2017 #64
You're so lucky to be able to get real news. Crunchy Frog Jan 2017 #66
Republicans Have Made the United States the Laughingstock of the World dlk Jan 2017 #67
Sadly, it's worse than even they think. lark Jan 2017 #69
we are so screwed and most people won't realize until it's far too late Fast Walker 52 Jan 2017 #75
Please keep the coverage coming. MADem Jan 2017 #91
"They think he is stupid." JoshinUtah Jan 2017 #95

BigDemVoter

(4,544 posts)
5. How humiliating that we have this fat asshole as our President Elect.
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 04:19 PM
Jan 2017

We will never, never, never, never live this down. And we don't deserve to ever live it down. The country elected this asshat, although it WAS rigged. . . . The rest of the world doesn't see it that way. They only see it as those shallow fucking Americans have done it again and elected the most incompetent person they could possibly find.

DFW

(56,557 posts)
20. Yes, they are
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 05:23 PM
Jan 2017

They have been to the bottom of the abyss. We have not yet hit the bottom (give is another month).

I live in Germany, married to a German woman. The chances of a Trump being Chancellor are exactly zero.

whathehell

(29,802 posts)
52. Only with abbreviated memories,..The fact is, they brought
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 06:40 AM
Jan 2017

Last edited Thu Jan 12, 2017, 07:29 AM - Edit history (1)

that 'abyss'' on themselves, not to mention the rest of the world.

The chance of Trump, awful as he is, being able to replicate their horror in America is zero as well.

By the way, I understand that Mein Kampf.has been on the best seller list in Germany for at least two years. Interesting development.
..




DFW

(56,557 posts)
83. I say that because
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 03:02 PM
Jan 2017

I have lived in Germany for years, speak the language fluently, am married to a German and almost all of my best friends are German. I travel expensively throughout the country and talk to people of all political persuasions. It is nearly impossible to find ANYONE who thinks that Trump is any kind of a leader, or is the kind of person they want on their political scene. It is just about impossible to find anyone there who thinks Trump is something positive for the United States, Europe, NATO or the world. Germany has no flyover country. You can go from one end to the other by train, in any direction, leaving at breakfast, and be at the other end of the country before midnight, usually in time for dinner.

Today's Germany is comprised of people who are basically pacifist in political leaning, being obliged, from elementary school on, to learn what happened in the 1930s and 1940s. My girls were born there, grew up as Germans (only exception--we raised them bilingually so they would have no communication issues when visiting the USA), went to the Anne Frank Elementary School, which was purposely so named because the Gestapo had used it as their local building during the Nazi era.

If someone has lived in Germany for as long as I have and speaks the language as well as I do and wants to relate a totally different impression, I'm open to hearing it, but if someone wants to refute my observations with second-hand information, please don't bother. I had relatives who perished in the Holocaust, too, have plenty of Epsteins and Goodmans in the family. If had obsessed with that all my life, I wouldn't have had a 42 year relationship with a beautiful fabulous German woman, two of the coolest daughters a man could wish for, or some of the most loyal friends anyone could have anywhere. Of course, being from Texas, no one has to explain to me what it means to be under a blanket condemnation for nothing more evil than the address on my driver's license.

 

Fast Walker 52

(7,723 posts)
86. I understand that you know germany very well and that's great-- nothing against you
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 05:53 PM
Jan 2017

but I still don't understand why you think Trump couldn't take over more power here.

Crunchy Frog

(26,980 posts)
68. You mean the historical events that ended over 70 years ago?
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 12:13 PM
Jan 2017

And given our own country's history, (slavery, genocide, other shit) have we ever been in a position to criticize either?

whathehell

(29,802 posts)
88. No, I'm talking about the lingering effects of such a monstrous 'historical event'
Fri Jan 13, 2017, 07:51 AM
Jan 2017

You might want to ask a Holocaust survivor, and his or her children, whose inherited damage has been confirmed, how "over" it is for them.

After that, you might want to ask yourself why Mein Kamp is on Germany's Best Seller list again.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/02/23/hitlers-mein-kampf-is-now-a-best-seller-in-germany/?utm_term=.4bd9dc495749

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/03/world/europe/germanys-latest-best-seller-a-critical-version-of-mein-kampf.html.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35242523


tblue37

(66,035 posts)
71. Given Germany's history, they are more alert to and in guard against the rise
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 12:25 PM
Jan 2017

of fascism and neo-Nazis than most--certainly more on guard than the US is!

whathehell

(29,802 posts)
81. They should be..
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 02:27 PM
Jan 2017

but they could also be overensitive in seeing it in America too.

Please remember, and perhaps remind them, that Trump LOST the popular vote by the widest margin of any president elect in our history.

whathehell

(29,802 posts)
14. Yes, because they've always make such wise political choices..
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 05:00 PM
Jan 2017

Read the history of Europe in the first half of the 20th century. ...

DFW

(56,557 posts)
21. Read the history of the world since 1980
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 05:26 PM
Jan 2017

Reagan, Cheney, Trump. We don't have a lot of finger-pointing to do.

raging moderate

(4,502 posts)
23. Also, some wealthy Americans aided Hitler's rise.
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 05:41 PM
Jan 2017

I can't remember exactly where I read this, so it is uncertain, at least in the details. Some American Nazi types are said to have secretly bankrolled him. Some folks at IBM are said to have helped him set up surveillance and data processing systems. I read that at some point a little later some American Nazi types traveled to Germany to rejoice and consult with Hitler about taking over the US, but he rebuffed them in fear that the connection might become widely known.

LisaM

(28,604 posts)
29. Not just Americans, British, too.
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 05:58 PM
Jan 2017

There was a large contingency working hard to prevent World War II because of their business interests for a long time.

mitch96

(14,659 posts)
38. None other than Prescott Bush, Henry Ford and the American Liberty League
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 09:35 PM
Jan 2017

They loved hitler because he was pro business... think Krupps Bosch Seimens Benz, VW. Ford helped the nazis with their assembly line production and Prescott Bush helped with the bankroll. These assholes wanted to over throw Roosevelt in a coup and tried to get decorated General Smedly Butler to attack Washington DC with 500,000 troops but Butler did not do it.. I think he spilled the beans to Roosevelt and put these guys backs against the wall and testified to congress about the matter..

Rumor has it that Roosevelt told the members of congress if they did not pass his social security bill he would have them charged and shot for treason and insurrection..
Needless to say Roosevelt turned lemons into lemonade and got Social security passed...
(as Churchill said "never let a good crisis go to waste&quot
From what I've read, all this information.. albeit sanitized by 1930's standards is in the library of congress under the McCormick-Dickstein committee. I first heard about it on a BBC radio program.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007tbs0

As the saying goes, if we don't learn from history we are bound to repeat it..
m

 

Grey Lemercier

(1,429 posts)
60. Yes, the bank he worked for was like the Goldman Sachs of the 1930's
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 09:04 AM
Jan 2017

Brown Brothers Harriman

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Brothers_Harriman_%26_Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. (BBH) is the oldest and largest private bank in the United States. In 1931, the merger of Brown Brothers & Co. (founded in 1818) and Harriman Brothers & Co. formed the current BBH.

Brown Brothers Harriman is also notable for the number of influential American politicians, government appointees, and Cabinet members who have worked at the company, such as W. Averell Harriman, Prescott Bush, Robert A. Lovett, Richard W. Fisher, Robert Roosa, and Alan Greenspan.

hedda_foil

(16,503 posts)
45. Ah the things you will learn here, grasshopper.
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 01:52 AM
Jan 2017

The Bush fingerprints are all over the Nazi rise to power. Look up Brown Brothers Harriman, Nazis in Google. But many more industrialists were right in there with them, so keep digging. The piece de resistance is Prescott Bush's indictment for trading with the enemy in wartime, courtesy of DUer Dems Will Win from DU 1 or maybe 2.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132xcoo581610

Crunchy Frog

(26,980 posts)
70. The Nazis got their ideas about eugenics from America.
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 12:23 PM
Jan 2017

We were enthusiastic proponents in the early 20th C.

hadEnuf

(2,704 posts)
25. We should include the reading of American history of that era too.
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 05:48 PM
Jan 2017

Tens of thousands of American casualties trying to rid Germany of their dictator.

Then 71 years later, we elect a man like Trump.

It's understandable why today's Germans are dismayed at us.

whathehell

(29,802 posts)
54. You're speaking of the half million Americans who died on European soil
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 06:50 AM
Jan 2017

fighting both of their wars in the first half of the 20th century?

Germany's dismay is understandable to the extent they realize that the majority of Americans did NOT vote for him,
and that the margin of his popular loss was y 2.8 million.

hadEnuf

(2,704 posts)
73. Yes.
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 01:50 PM
Jan 2017

And also that we are possibly allowing what happened to Germans in 1933 to now happen to us in a way.

Given the history of the fist half of the 20th century, how can Americans NOT know better than to put a man like Trump into office?

 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
58. You appear to predicate your entire narrative on one period
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 08:28 AM
Jan 2017

You appear to predicate your entire narrative on one period-- a two generation removed, 79 year old conflict which has been wholly resolved. Is one then going to pretend the Franco-Prussian War, the Hundreds Year War, the Crusades, in and of themselves, are a valid reason in the here and now to dismiss a policy?

It is irrational to believe wisdom is denied to a nation due to one instance, else we'd be compelled to apply the same standard to you and the logical fallacy your using. No doubt, your bias requires you to use the fallacy, which may be a wee hint you should re-visit and re-examine your bias.

whathehell

(29,802 posts)
59. "a 79 year old 'conflict' 'which has been wholly resolved" ?
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 08:38 AM
Jan 2017

Is that how you would describe World War II? One little 'conflict" with a genocide of six million added to the miillions in war casualties?

Ask surviving Holocaust victims AND their children whose inherited damage has been confirmed, how "wholly resolved" it is.





hadEnuf

(2,704 posts)
74. Many of the scars from Nazi Germany are still here and will be for a long time.
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 01:59 PM
Jan 2017

And Germany of today is still fighting to crush any resurgence of Nazism tooth and nail. America helped teach them to do that.

Again, one can understand Germany's dismay at us letting a person like Trump get presidential power.

whathehell

(29,802 posts)
80. Yes they are and, again, their "dismay" is
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 02:23 PM
Jan 2017

valid only to the extent that they understand the electoral college and the fact that Americans by a large majority, did NOT vote for him.

hadEnuf

(2,704 posts)
84. Do you think Germany has learned from the Nazi years?
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 03:32 PM
Jan 2017

I would think they know a dictator when they see one (??)

Big_K

(237 posts)
16. Hey, Hey, Hey now,
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 05:02 PM
Jan 2017

Let's not fat shame. Asshole shaming, however, I endorse with all of my 226 pounds. Or 226 stone. Or 226 kilograms. Or 226 centimeters.

(Learning the metric system for soon-to-be get-the-F-out-of-here sometime after January 20 one-way trip SOMEWHERE).

calimary

(84,346 posts)
30. Welcome to DU, both of you - Big_K and hadEnuf!
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 06:00 PM
Jan 2017

The Donald has a way of bringing out the worst in people. It continues to be proven.

Tatiana

(14,167 posts)
72. The world is laughing at us. Or working on stockpiling nukes...
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 12:52 PM
Jan 2017

I never thought I'd live to see a day like this. Oh well, I guess you reap what you sow...

 

Wellstone ruled

(34,661 posts)
10. Oh boy,
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 04:29 PM
Jan 2017

this is not going to end well for sure if the German media starts to tease the Golden Urinator.

MontanaMama

(24,024 posts)
11. Holy hell! Golden Urinator!!!!! Bwaaahaaaahaaa!
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 04:34 PM
Jan 2017

That made my whole damned day. Thank you Wellstone ruled.

"I am the best urinator! The BEST! Belieeeeeeve me."

 

triron

(22,240 posts)
19. I don't think this
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 05:19 PM
Jan 2017

nation can have much credence anymore as being the beacon of hope
and a 'shining example of democracy'. NOT.

Thinkingabout

(30,058 posts)
24. The comedians has had eight years of drought, now the flood comes. Jokes will be fast
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 05:42 PM
Jan 2017

and furious, then the next day all hell breaks loose in tweets, love seeing Trump angry.

Response to UCmeNdc (Original post)

kimbutgar

(23,283 posts)
34. I heard him say the foreign countries will respect the US when he is President.
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 06:58 PM
Jan 2017

When in fact he has made us a laughing stock and foreign leaders are going to snub him disrectly. The only friend he has is Putin and Netanyahu.

Doreen

(11,686 posts)
44. My German boyfriend said his family and friends in
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 11:50 PM
Jan 2017

Germany think we did not learn from their mistake and now we have our Hitler. I must agree with them.

whathehell

(29,802 posts)
56. Nonsense..
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 07:22 AM
Jan 2017

Trump s no Hitler, and awful as he is, it's ridiculous to be jumping that gun as he's not even been inaugurated yet.

By the way,, you might remind your friends we not only "learned" from their mistake, we died helping them correctl it.

Mc Mike

(9,171 posts)
63. Nonsense..
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 10:20 AM
Jan 2017

He'll certainly do until a 'real' one comes along, your vaporous bald assertion to the contrary notwithstanding.

By the way,, you might want to not be so impolite to someone who's just relaying a personal observation you disagree with.

argyl

(3,064 posts)
50. I got back from Thailand about two weeks ago from a four week vacation.
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 06:11 AM
Jan 2017

The Thais were polite and didn't have much to say about the tub of orange goo unless someone,often me, brought him up, and even then didn't excessively berate him. It's just their nature.

I was there shortly after Dubya was elected and the Western tourists, primarily European,Australian,New Zealanders, and a few South Americans, were really boisterous and carousing with their contempt and overall low opinion of the man and I was only too happy to join in.

This time,however, the mood was quite somber. If Trump's name was brought up at all it was usually by me and the responses were of sheer comptempt,apprehension,and fear. These are Western Europeans,some of our closest allies,and they feared the creature foisted on us as our president.

I don't blame them,I feel the same way. Other than that Thailand was gorgeous,as always.

dlk

(12,380 posts)
67. Republicans Have Made the United States the Laughingstock of the World
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 12:09 PM
Jan 2017

In their quest to win at all costs and blinded by their zealotry, Republicans have made the United States the laughingstock of the world. Their extremist policies only benefit their billionaire overlords, with the remainder of our citizens are left hung out to dry. Sad to say, their 40-year war on public education, coupled with their ongoing, broad-based propaganda programs have succeeded. We have all lost because of it. It will take generations of work to recover, if ever.

lark

(24,164 posts)
69. Sadly, it's worse than even they think.
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 12:16 PM
Jan 2017

Just like shrub almost destroyed the economy of the world, Drumpf wants to actually take us down for the benefit of the oligarchs, especially Russian oligarchs. He personally will profit greatly from our destruction, which is the reason he's president in the first place.

MADem

(135,425 posts)
91. Please keep the coverage coming.
Fri Jan 13, 2017, 01:47 PM
Jan 2017

Any time there's a significant response or "attitude" from a major ally, it's heartening to hear.

Glad to know we're not alone in our disdain for this perverted pretender.

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