Very clear body language. I would feel the same if somebody was enjoying and benefiting from security they are paying very little for.

I have to admit that for me the idea of Germany vastly increasing their military budget and their armed forces is quite frightening!!

Only five of NATO’s 28 members have reached their goal of 2% GDP — the U.S., Britain, Poland, Estonia and, strangely, Greece

I know plenty of people who find that he's doing a great job.

Tom

It is not so difficult to spot the level of outrage:

Or does a different opinion justify this lack of manners? Some members who call for good manners leave the least palatable comments in reputation sector...chase members across the board, bait and antagonize.

Let's focus on diverse opinions here if we can. Cherish your oponents. It will keep the quality up, echo chambers are useless. Name calling is unconstructive, let alone ill mannered.

I don't think that word means what you think it means.

I think the Rochdale Herald website has got to the bottom of the Trump/Merkel handshake controversy:

I hate seeing humanities getting screwed on funding. But. I hate seeing people with no talent nor desire to chip in with others to improve the society, stretching their hand with entitled money requests justifying with talent that hasn't shown yet. Arts is a product of smart and creative, eccentric mind. That kind of mind needs zero entitlement.

A disclaimer - gotta do this, unfortunately - if anyone is willing to discuss this with me, do not stoop down to personal mockery, ridicule, etc etc. Let's keep it impersonal and respectful here.

Why do you think I called him a dick?

I could have called him a total .

love your sense of humour here

No, she is think.... this idiot was too busy last November to notice we changed the rules! EU parliament approved plans for EU army - EDA has the right to over rule NATO and act were NATO refuses, battle groups to be complete by year end... 2018/19 NATO looses 27 members...

And Trump himself will be the catalyst!

Nice one, Rob.

I also saw this earlier today

Lol.

Are we in the semantic pettiness zone again..

I see some circle chant here - pretty intense language (probably being worried or hurt) by DT perceived immorality and lack of manners. The horrors! Especially when on personal level, there is a lot worse going on here. DTdid nothing so offensive merriting this amount of ridicule.

I think why misinterpret the meeting - it was not lack of manners, it is a deliberate choice to ignore the protocol. I think he thinks those two countries are beyond that. He will do the same with others who contributed to the world being where it is now. Look at his attitude to Obama et al. Merkel is one of them. Clinton, dtto.

If people just start calling DT names because they have noticed that symbolic thing, and they start interpreting it as just as another idiotic thing, how are they really grasping him. It seems too schemaic. Simplistic.

I can question my own pov the same way - looking for depth where there is just inconsideration. But I really do not think so. He did not win by accident.

__________________
"L'homme ne peut pas remplacer son coeur avec sa tete, ni sa tete avec ses mains." J.H. Pestalozzi

“The only difference between a rut and a grave is a matter of depth.” S.P. Cadman

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." A. Einstein

Ironically, all applicable to Obama as well!

Tom

As it happens I agree with your first sentence. For the rest, i think your idea of entitlement is dead wrong. Arts need support and freedom. Lots of people can create on different levels and there need to be opportunities to do so.

Kids, for example need time to just experiment and daydream. But if they're hungry, or not in a safe space, it is that much harder. Schools and caretakers need to make time and space for creativity. You don't need a lot of stuff but you need a bit of an environment and encouragement. So there is a need for support and maybe that's what you consider an entitlement. I don't.


I don't see opportunities for this happening in the current administration.

Moreover, who is the arbiter of taste and talent?

I will try very hard to not engage in personal attacks on individuals here, and if you want to defend or explain away Trump's behavior, have at it. i will not and I cannot. I think many of us see different things in his behavior. Sometimes the schematic fits.

Yeah. No. Whatever.

I don't do all that fancy pants intellectual stuff that you seem so fond of.

I just think Mr Trump is a dick.

You're seeing it all wrong.

He's a democratically elected dick.

So is Robert Mugabe.

He's a dick too.

As were most US presidents in my lifetime.

Tom

So are Hollande and Merkel, among others.

Actually, the only non-dick is Putin.

Tom