Maybe they’re not unified because they believe in a common good, but instead because it serves the interests of each of them to see Farage make a fool of himself and potentially lose support in the polls

Is he? I don’t think Newsom demonises immigrants as much as Trump does… and Newsom has talked recently about favouring federal taxes on very wealthy people, to fund things like healthcare, while Trump seems to be happy to allow the wealthy to keep getting richer and act however they want towards the American public.

I think it’s fair to say that you shouldn’t blindly vote for someone just because they’re a Democrat. You should definitely evaluate the person. But I think Gavin Newsom specifically is an alright guy and I think he would lead a fairer administration than Trump’s, if elected. But I guess most people, if elected, would lead a fairer administration than Trump’s.

If Newsom is the Democrat candidate in 2028, I think that’s an alright outcome. I think he would be a better president than Trump. Not just because he has a “D” next to his name, but instead because his viewpoints seem more rational and fair than those of Trump.

Some people might think that Newsom isn’t progressive enough, but whoever is the Democrat candidate, they need to have broad enough appeal to win a national election. If the candidate is someone who is very progressive then they might alienate a lot of centrist voters and fail to win a national election.

I don’t think the US blew up Nord Stream. There’s a Ukrainian man in Poland who is wanted in Germany for blowing up Nord Stream. But a Polish judge refused to extradite the Ukrainian man to Germany because he thought a Ukrainian attack on Nord Stream would have been a justified response to Russia’s “bloody and genocidal attack” on Ukraine:

If Ukraine and its special forces… organised an armed mission to destroy enemy pipelines – which the court does not prejudge – then these actions were not unlawful… On the contrary, they were justified, rational and just

As for your claim of a “coup”, I don’t think that can be considered true in any way. Ukraine’s parliament voted to remove Viktor Yanukovych from the presidency. That’s democracy at work.

I don’t like the current governments of the US or Russia, but let’s remember that Russia is currently waging an invasion of a European country while the US is not. I hope Europe can build sufficient defence capabilities to prevent further Russian aggression towards Europe, or indeed any future American aggression towards Europe.

I think it’s right for the UK and Europe in general to invest in defence. Europe is on its own; nobody else will defend the continent. If Europe can’t defend itself then it probably won’t be long until the US or Russia or China decides they’d like a piece of European land for themselves (well Russia is already trying to take European land of course).

Sure it looks unlikely that the US will become more humane soon. The best hope is that a more humane leader wins the US presidency in 2028.

As for a multipolar world, I don’t think it would necessarily be better. China is the most powerful nation after the US, and I don’t think China is a bastion of humane government, given their political repressions, such as their treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Then there’s Russia and their invasion of Ukraine.

Hopefully the world will become more humane but I guess that terrible things like wars and genocides may continue.

I don’t like the current government of the US, but I also don’t like the current government of Iran. I wouldn’t see either government as a “necessary evil” - I would rather see both countries have more humane governments.

Also I wouldn’t see the “weakening” of the US or Iran as a goal. I think they just need more humane leadership, who can wield power in a moral manner.

Iran killed civilian protestors, but yes it seems the US killed civilian children. I think both regimes are bad.

My view is that antisemitism is a very real issue, but yes I agree with your point that Israel’s current government uses the label of antisemitism to dismiss genuine, non-antisemitic criticism of Israel.

you “know” that “Russia has a pattern of this sort of behaviours” because the BBC told you so

No. Other reliable sources have also mentioned the stories I raised. Here is the UK police talking about the Russia-backed arson of a warehouse in London. And here on the UK government’s website you can find the report of the inquiry into the Salisbury poisonings (with a Russian chemical weapon) in 2018.

That inquiry which I mentioned was conducted by a senior judge, who concluded this:

Petrov, Boshirov and Fedotov were members of an operational team within the GRU – the Russian military intelligence agency responsible for foreign intelligence gathering. I am sure that, in conducting their attack on Sergei Skripal, they were acting on instructions. I have concluded that the operation to assassinate Sergei Skripal must have been authorised at the highest level, by President Putin.

My experience with them is that they get the facts right.

If the BBC thinks Russia was behind the arson attacks on properties and a car connected to the prime minister, I will believe the BBC, for two reasons:

1. The BBC is a reliable reporter of facts
2. Russia has a pattern of this sort of behaviour (like when they paid Brits to burn a warehouse in London, and when they brought a chemical weapon to the UK which killed an innocent British woman)

violent coup

Ukraine’s parliament voted to remove President Yanukovych in 2014 (see here). That’s not a violent coup.

I think “fascism” describes modern Russia quite well:

Fascism : a way of organizing a society in which a government ruled by a dictator controls the lives of the people and in which people are not allowed to disagree with the government

Putin is essentially a dictator who keeps giving himself more time in office. Russians can’t elect another leader because Russian “elections” are rigged. And in Russia you will be punished if you vocally disagree with the government: protestors who have voiced opposition to the invasion of Ukraine have been arrested, and in some cases imprisoned for long periods of time. And then there’s the fact that Alexei Navalny, an opposition politician who disagreed with the Russian government, was poisoned by the Russian government twice: once in 2020, and again in 2024.

You’re saying I support Israel but I have said I don’t support their current government.

You’re a moron, fuck off.

If you’re going to just throw around insults then there is no point in talking to you. I’ve been clear that what I oppose is harm to civilians. I’ve also been clear that I oppose Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, which is something we surely agree on, and yet you choose to throw around insults anyway. If you don’t like what I have said then okay, you can have that view.

I’m not endorsing any particular Israeli politicians. I was just pointing out that there are more views in Israel besides the views of Netanyahu and his far-right government.