Orban’s victory sends a warning to the west (1 Viewer)

[NWRatCon]

Orban’s victory sends a warning to the west (Financial Times)

By his words and deeds, Orban has positioned himself as an international spokesman for an ideology that he calls “illiberal democracy”.

What this means in Hungary is a political system that preserves the trappings of democracy while hollowing out much of the substance. The voting in this weekend’s election seemed fair. But Orban has rigged the political system in his favour for more than a decade. The courts have been packed, the civil service purged and the electoral system gerrymandered.

Above all, there has been an assault on media freedom. Peter Marki-Zay, the Hungarian opposition leader, was given all of five minutes airtime on state television — during the entire election campaign. All of Hungary’s newspapers are Orban-friendly. It is this political environment that explains why Hungary is the sole EU country rated only “partly free” by Freedom House, a think-tank.

Despite this record — or perhaps because of it — Orban is a favourite of the pro-Trump right in the US. Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, labelled the Hungarian leader a “hero”. Tucker Carlson of Fox News moved his whole show to Budapest for a week last year — to showcase Orban’s Hungary as a possible model for the US.

The far right in the US and Europe see Orban as a model because of his assertive nationalism, his hard line on refugees and his embrace of populist themes on cultural issues. During the recent election campaign, Orban portrayed his problems with Brussels as stemming from the EU’s desire to impose “gender insanity” on Hungary.

Or, more accurately, Viktor Orbán, Hungary's pro-Putin prime minister dictator, claims "victory" in national "vote". "Opposition parties and international observers have noted structural impediments to defeating Orbán, highlighting pervasive pro-government bias in the public media, the domination of commercial news outlets by Orbán allies and a heavily gerrymandered electoral map." Viktor Orbán, Hungary's pro-Putin prime minister, claims victory in national vote (USAToday)

The GOP sees Orbán's strategy as its blueprint for upcoming elections.

 

[Lutherf]

With the exception of support for Putin (self-preservation?) Orban is doing EXACTLY what the Democrats here do. I figure they support him silently while calling him out publicly (as they do with Putin).

 

[j brown's body]

With the exception of support for Putin (self-preservation?) Orban is doing EXACTLY what the Democrats here do. I figure they support him silently while calling him out publicly (as they do with Putin).

Democrats changing election laws? Boy, you are confused.

 

[Nomad4Ever]

With the exception of support for Putin (self-preservation?) Orban is doing EXACTLY what the Democrats here do. I figure they support him silently while calling him out publicly (as they do with Putin).

Really?

Above all, there has been an assault on media freedom. Peter Marki-Zay, the Hungarian opposition leader, was given all of five minutes airtime on state television

Ahh yes. I too remember the 2016 and 2020 election cycle where Trump famously received almost no media coverage after the Democrats shut down Fox news.

What exactly @Lutherf do you think Orban has done that is comparable to the Democrats?

 

[Loulit01]

Really?

Ahh yes. I too remember the 2016 and 2020 election cycle where Trump famously received almost no media coverage after the Democrats shut down Fox news.

What exactly @Lutherf do you think Orban has done that is comparable to the Democrats?

I'm waiting to hear Lutherf back this up. The floor is yours, buddy.

 

[Luce]

A warning of what?

Hungary chose to stick with a nationalist asshole. What a shock!

 

[Lutherf]

Are you shitting me!?

Social media across the board banned people for so much as mentioning the Hunter Biden laptop. Zuckerberg handed something like $400M to groups that pushed changes in elections rules regarding ballot harvesting and voter verification. Congress diverted something like $300M of Covid relief money to these same causes. Outright propaganda regarding the Trump administration's handling of Covid was promoted and opposition to that propaganda was banned.

Yeah, the Democrats spent most of 2020 working to "secure democracy" and Molly Ball wrote a huge TIME magazine piece praising their efforts. That article was actually available to the general public for at least a year but now, going right along with the scheme, it's behind a paywall.

 

[Nomad4Ever]

The far right in the US and Europe see Orban as a model because of his assertive nationalism, his hard line on refugees and his embrace of populist themes on cultural issues. During the recent election campaign, Orban portrayed his problems with Brussels as stemming from the EU’s desire to impose “gender insanity” on Hungary.

Honestly that's putting it lightly.

Orbán said "We must state that we do not want to be diverse and do not want to be mixed: we do not want our own colour, traditions and national culture to be mixed with those of others. We do not want this. We do not want that at all. We do not want to be a diverse country."[140][141]

In his 2021 speech, Orbán said “The challenge with Bosnia is how to integrate a country with 2 million Muslims”. (Source)

The report's authors write that over the past decade, "Orbán's government implemented a new cultural policy in order to advance a single nationalist narrative and define alternative viewpoints as anti-Hungarian. This has had the effect of limiting creative expression and diminishing plurality in the arts." (Source)

As the Hungarian leader steps up his embrace of anti-Semitic imagery, the country’s Jews are becoming more and more uncomfortable. András Heisler, leader of the Jewish community in Hungary, personally appealed to Orbán to end the Soros poster campaign. Orbán rejected the appeal and suggested that Hungarian Jews do more to oppose Muslim immigration to Europe.(Source)

“The Hungarian government is minimising its country’s participation in the genocide, rehabilitating war criminals, and introducing anti-Semitic writers into the national curriculum,” the Holocaust Revisionist Report noted. (Source)

The Amendments to the Child Protection Act, the Family Protection Act, the Act on Business Advertising Activity, the Media Act and the Public Education Act, often mentioned in English-language media as Hungary's anti-LGBT law are legislative amendments that were approved by the Hungarian Parliament on 15 June 2021, on a 157–1 vote....submitted legislative amendments to the law that banned sharing information with minors that are considered to be promoting homosexuality or gender reassignment and to restrict LGBT representation in the media by banning content depicting LGBT topics from daytime television and prohibiting companies from running campaigns in solidarity with the LGBT community. (Source)

The Orban government has downplayed the holocaust, rewritten their history books to be more positive of Hungary's Nazi nationalist collaborators, is openly anti-semetic, openly hates Muslims, banned art he doesn't like/'promotes degeneracy', is openly a White supremacist, outlawed gay marriage, and has called all gay people pedophiles. That's on top of all the anti-democratic measures he has pushed through. The opposition leader was even right wing, but it didn't matter because Orban only cares about suppressing people who oppose his power.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Orban’s victory sends a warning to the west (Financial Times)

By his words and deeds, Orban has positioned himself as an international spokesman for an ideology that he calls “illiberal democracy”.

What this means in Hungary is a political system that preserves the trappings of democracy while hollowing out much of the substance. The voting in this weekend’s election seemed fair. But Orban has rigged the political system in his favour for more than a decade. The courts have been packed, the civil service purged and the electoral system gerrymandered.

Above all, there has been an assault on media freedom. Peter Marki-Zay, the Hungarian opposition leader, was given all of five minutes airtime on state television — during the entire election campaign. All of Hungary’s newspapers are Orban-friendly. It is this political environment that explains why Hungary is the sole EU country rated only “partly free” by Freedom House, a think-tank.

Despite this record — or perhaps because of it — Orban is a favourite of the pro-Trump right in the US. Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, labelled the Hungarian leader a “hero”. Tucker Carlson of Fox News moved his whole show to Budapest for a week last year — to showcase Orban’s Hungary as a possible model for the US.

The far right in the US and Europe see Orban as a model because of his assertive nationalism, his hard line on refugees and his embrace of populist themes on cultural issues. During the recent election campaign, Orban portrayed his problems with Brussels as stemming from the EU’s desire to impose “gender insanity” on Hungary.

Or, more accurately, Viktor Orbán, Hungary's pro-Putin prime minister dictator, claims "victory" in national "vote". "Opposition parties and international observers have noted structural impediments to defeating Orbán, highlighting pervasive pro-government bias in the public media, the domination of commercial news outlets by Orbán allies and a heavily gerrymandered electoral map." Viktor Orbán, Hungary's pro-Putin prime minister, claims victory in national vote (USAToday)

The GOP sees Orbán's strategy as its blueprint for upcoming elections.

This model is pretty much text book fascism.

 

[Nomad4Ever]

Outright propaganda regarding the Trump administration's handling of Covid was promoted and opposition to that propaganda was banned.

Was it banned? Again I have to ask...do you think media outlets editorializing is the same thing as the government controlling all the media and limiting opposition media air time? Was Fox news banned? Is InfoWars banned? The Daily Wire? PragerU? Is the most watched cable TV show not Tucker Carlson?

Yeah, the Democrats spent most of 2020 working to "secure democracy"

If you have evidence what they did was unconstitutional I suggest you bring it forward to the courts.

That article was actually available to the general public for at least a year but now, going right along with the scheme, it's behind a paywall.

Oh god oh lord. The evil totalitarian Democratic scheme of...monetizing journalism...

Those monsters. That reminds me of the time when audio was leaked showing the Orban government regime forced media outlets to put out anti-Muslim pro government propaganda.

Reporters at Hungary's public broadcaster have been forced to toe the line of the government of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, according to leaked recordings and testimonies revealed by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

obtained leaked instructions to staff to amplify the anti-migrant messages which form a key theme for Orban's Fidesz party.

"If these are said many times, even those who are otherwise critical of Fidesz's immigration policy will begin to believe it," one internal email reads. (Source)

Yep, this is just like putting a paywall on a new article.

 

[Lutherf]

Was it banned? Again I have to ask...do you think media outlets editorializing is the same thing as the government controlling all the media and limiting opposition media air time? Was Fox news banned? Is InfoWars banned? The Daily Wire? PragerU? Is the most watched cable TV show not Tucker Carlson?


If you have evidence what they did was unconstitutional I suggest you bring it forward to the courts.


Oh god oh lord. The evil totalitarian Democratic scheme of...monetizing journalism...

Those monsters. That reminds me of the time when audio was leaked showing the Orban government regime forced media outlets to put out anti-Muslim pro government propaganda.


Yep, this is just like putting a paywall on a new article.

Social media, broadcast media and most of cable media was entirely in bed with the Democrats in 2020 (and since 2016) and still is. Nobody in those arenas questioned "Russiagate". Nobody questioned Hunter Biden and nobody questioned Fauci. Even today we are only seeing the most tentative of signs that ANYTHING related to institutional government corruption will be questioned by the media. Meanwhile, every cockamamie Democrat conspiracy is touted as the unimpeachable "truth".

 

[Nomad4Ever]

Social media, broadcast media and most of cable media was entirely in bed with the Democrats in 2020 (and since 2016) and still is.

There are millions of pro-Trump and anti-Biden social media accounts. I see posts about Hunter Biden, the 'globohomo agenda', and sleepy Joe Biden literally every morning. Facebook was specifically cited as being Trump friendly because it generated more clicks.

Nobody in those arenas questioned "Russiagate". Nobody questioned Hunter Biden and nobody questioned Fauci.

More 'Russiagate' documents set for release, Senate source says

The declassified documents will include depositions, transcripts and interviews.

www.foxnews.com

Lawyer Who Has Examined Hunter Biden’s Finances Predicts President’s Son Will Be Indicted

The lawyer representing the mother of Hunter Biden's three-year-old daughter said the president's son will likely be indicted in a tax fraud investigation.

news.yahoo.com

Fresh proof the Russiagate ‘scandal’ was created by the Hillary Clinton campaign

A federal grand jury handed up an indictment requested by special counsel John Durham — and it’s fresh proof that the entire Russiagate “scandal” was manufactured by Hillary Clinton’s campaign.…

nypost.com

Fauci and subjective scientists

By now, many Americans have had it with medical experts, and for good reason.

www.washingtontimes.com

Even today we are only seeing the most tentative of signs that ANYTHING related to institutional government corruption will be questioned by the media.

NRA spent $1.6 million lobbying against background check expansion laws in months leading up to latest mass shootings

Calls for tougher background checks and gun control in general have increased yet again in the wake of three mass shootings in California, Texas and Ohio that have left more than 30 people dead.

www.cnbc.com

Illegal Government Surveillance: It's Not Just For Foreigners

Tuesday morning, Congress passed a 15 day extension to the Protect America Act. While it would have been better if Congress had called Bush's bluff on the so-called "surveillance blackout" and allowed the act to expire altogether, we are glad and relieved that they're at least taking time to...

www.eff.org

ACLU of Louisiana’s Justice Lab Sues City of Eunice, Police Chief After Whistleblower Exposes Corruption Within Police Department | American Civil Liberties Union

www.aclu.org

Biden Promised to Stop Supporting Saudi Aggression in Yemen. He Lied.

Biden continues to sell the Saudis and Emiratis massive amounts of arms. In December, Congress approved a $650 million arms sale to Saudi Arabia that Biden had proposed. That was small change compared to a $23 billion arms sale to the UAE which had been negotiated by the Trump Administration...

www.counterpunch.org

Big Oil on Trial in Massive Corporate Bribery Scandal - Citizen Truth

Global oil giants Shell and Eni face trial in one of the biggest corruption cases in corporate history for effectively stealing $1.1 billion from Nigerians.

citizentruth.org

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/05/our-courts-also-have-big-corruption-problem/

The political bribe that turned prisoners into profits

Always follow the money.

represent.us

 

[NWRatCon]

This model is pretty much text book fascism.

As I said....

 

[Gateman_Wen]

a political system that preserves the trappings of democracy while hollowing out much of the substance. The voting in this weekend’s election seemed fair. But Orban has rigged the political system in his favour for more than a decade. The courts have been packed, the civil service purged and the electoral system gerrymandered.

Republican wet dream.

 

[Manc Skipper]

Seems "Illiberal Democracy" involves toatal control of the media, and democracy in measured doses.

Orban's ruling party had 'undue advantage' in campaign -OSCE report

Ubiquitous government advertising paid by the state gave Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz party an undue advantage in the run-up to Sunday's vote, which gave Orban a fourth consecutive term in office, the OSCE election monitor said on Monday.

www.reuters.com

 

[Manc Skipper]

Meanwhile closer to home, (both sides of the Atlantic)

 

[NWRatCon]

Was it banned? Again I have to ask...do you think media outlets editorializing is the same thing as the government controlling all the media and limiting opposition media air time? Was Fox news banned? Is InfoWars banned? The Daily Wire? PragerU? Is the most watched cable TV show not Tucker Carlson?


If you have evidence what they did was unconstitutional I suggest you bring it forward to the courts.


Oh god oh lord. The evil totalitarian Democratic scheme of...monetizing journalism...

Those monsters. That reminds me of the time when audio was leaked showing the Orban government regime forced media outlets to put out anti-Muslim pro government propaganda.


Yep, this is just like putting a paywall on a new article.

It reminds me of Sinclair broadcasting.

 

[joluoto]

Right now Orban is the one pulling the break for EU sanctions on oil and gas, when many countries that previously were against it reluctantly now agrees some kind of sanction package is necessary. But not Orban of course, he is still pulling the breaks hard.

 

[EMNofSeattle]

Right now Orban is the one pulling the break for EU sanctions on oil and gas, when many countries that previously were against it reluctantly now agrees some kind of sanction package is necessary. But not Orban of course, he is still pulling the breaks hard.

As he should, because really there’s no need to make Hungarians suffer on Zelenskys behalf, especially when Zelensky is oppressing ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine.

While not realistic for now, it would be morally justified for Hungary to forcibly retake the land stolen from them and put into the ukranian SSR while Ukraine’s military is in shambles and immobile from fuel shortages