nationalist – R&R – Reachout and Rebuild

Green Tsunami in Switzerland!

David Posnett — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 01:49:49 +0000

Across the globe there has been a sweep by nationalistic, right-wing and even far-right movements large enough to win elections, and form governments: Jair Bolsonaro in Brasil, Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Matteo Salvini in Italy, Andrzej Duda in Poland, Erdogan in Turkey, Boris Johnson (the Brexiteer) in the UK, Donald Trump in the USA, etc.

As of 2017 the rise in the percentage of voters supporting these authoritarians seemed inexorable: https://qz.com/1027518/populist-authoritarian-leaders-are-still-on-the-rise-across-europe/

I have Swiss roots. So I am naturally interested in electoral results from ‘back home’. Switzerland also has its xenophobic nationalistic party: the Swiss People’s Party (Volks Partei; SVP). Under Christophe Blocher the party gained popularity and now has 65/200 seats in the national council and is the largest party.

However, election results from this week indicate a major change:

The historic gains made by the left-wing Greens exceeded expectations, turning the 2019 elections into a bellwether moment on climate change and environmental issues. The Greens gained 17 seats, overtaking the Christian Democrats, to become the fourth-largest party in parliament. This was the largest leap by a political party in Swiss politics since 1919. The centrist Liberal Greens gained nine seats. https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland-election–2019-results-maps/45312474

I clearly needed a primer on the many Swiss political parties:

SP: is the Socialist Party or Social Democrats. (They lost)

The Greens: self-explanatory. (Gained big time)

GLP: Green liberal party, a split-off, more centrist than the Greens. (Gained)

CVP: Christian Democratic People’s Party. (Share of vote remains stable)

FDP: Radical Liberals, right of center, bourgeois party, a traditionalist. (They lost)

SVP: is the right-wing Swiss Volks Partei. (They lost big)

Here are some maps. The arrowheads pointing down represent a loss of votes. Those pointing up represent votes gained.

Is this the first election result from Europe showing a major left-ward shift and green shift? Possibly suggesting that voters are turning away from the far-right, populist and authoritarian politicians? As such it merits widespread attention.

Both Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are currently dealing with push back. And Greta Thunberg seems to be on fire. I wonder whether there is a theme here.

As reported by John Hooker in Switzerland:

The recent federal elections held in Switzerland last Sunday show that the Swiss are on the move! The average age of the elected officials is 49 and the representation by women has increased to 42%. And the young are demonstrating in the streets to demand that environmental studies be mandatory in all universities…!

Anti-Semitism never goes away, but it really flares up with a truth-attacking nationalist in the White House

David Posnett — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 01:47:55 +0000

Submitted by Steve Ludsin:

Letter published in the Los Angeles Times

NOV 14, 2018 | 4:00 AM

People hold up placards during a demonstration in London organized by the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism on April 8. (Tolga Akmen / AFP/Getty Images)

To the editor: Steve Oney’s op-ed article on Jewish industrialist Leo Frank’s lynching in 1915 amid anti-Semitic hysteria and attacks on journalism provided clarity.

Demagoguery is thriving due to the irresponsible rhetoric of a nationalist president. The knee-jerk reaction that mainstream media are fake news provides a basis to avoid facts and incite people to commit acts motivated by bias.

Anti-Semitism will be part of society, particularly in times of flux because people need scapegoats. There has been progress in America, but complacency is not in order. The horror of the murder of 11 innocent worshipers in Pittsburgh reminds us that we are all vulnerable to misguided people armed with hatred and ammunition.

The need for vigilance starts with each one of us. We must do something to fight this form of domestic terrorism. Rants about fake news and attacks on the mainstream media as enemies of the people do not help.

Steven A. Ludsin, East Hampton, N.Y.

The writer is a former member of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust.

Trump’s Use of ‘Nationalist’

David Posnett — Sun, 28 Oct 2018 18:46:50 +0000

LTE in the New York Times from my neighbor (!)

A reader says the president is “rolling out the dog whistles.” Oct. 25, 2018

CreditCreditDoug Mills/The New York Times

To the Editor:

“‘You Know What I Am? I’m a Nationalist’” (news article, Oct. 24) was sobering. We see that President Trump has enthusiastically embraced words and ideas such as the slogan “America First,” which was used by the isolationists and Nazi sympathizers before World War II, to describe his foreign policy.

He repeatedly calls some journalists the “enemy of the people” despite the association with Stalin’s mass murders.

We need to counterpunch as aggressively as this pugilistic president does. He is coddling up to dictators today and reviving the tactics of dictators from the past. He is pitting people against one another and rolling out the dog whistles.

The time has passed for us to shrug our shoulders and just dismiss the rhetoric as drumming up his base. We must pay heed.

Steven A. Ludsin, East Hampton, NY

…and Lee Zeldin? Complicit. So sad. David Posnett MD