Portugal - Is This The Implementation Of The Brezhnev Doctrine?

[Khandro]

[Hypognosis]

@janbee

But, but, but... you'd be cutting off that nice Mr Farage's income stream.

//'Poor' Nigel Farage finds it hard to get by on £109,000 a year plus expenses. He once claimed his EU salary and expenses were worth £250,000 a year. His wife is also on the Brussels payroll, earning more than £30,000 a year. But Ukip's leader, Nigel Farage, has now claimed the couple are “poor”.4 Dec 2014//

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/poor-nigel-farage-finds-it-hard-to-get-by-on-109000-a-year-plus-expenses-9901390.html

[Khandro]

Hypo; //you'd be cutting off that nice Mr Farage's income stream. //

What on earth has N.F.'s income got to do with his political views? He often has said he is the 'turkey who votes for Christmas'. The very fact he would be prepared to loose financially for what he believes in, is to his credit and puts him above the majority of time-serving, gravy-train riders, in both Strasbourg and Brussels.

[Hypognosis]

@Khandro

//What on earth has N.F.'s income got to do with his political views?//

There was that ugly rumour that he was injecting most of his taxpayer funded EU salary into funding his party but the biggest wedge was from some Tory donor (according to cursory look at google results).

However, his anti-EU UK tour did show up (old news to ABers).

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3259590/Ukip-s-Nigel-Farage-faces-investigation-using-EU-money-campaign-Britain-leave-EU.html

[naomi24]

If you can’t attack the message, attack the messenger.

[Khandro]

Hypo; I can only reiterate; //What on earth has N.F.'s income got to do with his political views?//

What point are you trying to make, and can you answer the question please?

[Khandro]

Hypo; //How come you others all know what this is about? All on UKIP's press team? (Except Itchy, of course).//

How come you others all know what this is about? All on UKIP's press team? (Except Itchy, of course).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11954611/Why-Portugals-constitutional-crisis-a-threat-to-all-Europes-democracies.html

[ichkeria]

I'm struggling to see, having read that a few times, where the Brezhnev doctrine comes into it: other than Nigel Farage's extravagant claim in the UKIP video.
Nigel Farage a self styled 'turkey voting for Christmas'?
Scrub the 'voting for Christmas' bit lol

[Khandro]

ichy; //I'm struggling to see, having read that a few times, where the Brezhnev doctrine comes into it://

Then may I help you? At the end of his speech, in answer to the large lady from Estonia, he reads out "The Brehnev Doctrine", and here it is verbatim;

"When forces that are hostile to Socialism try to turn the direction of a socialist country to capitalism, it becomes not only a problem for the country concerned, but a problem for all socialist countries."

Farage then adds; "All you need to do, is exchange the word 'Socialism' for 'The European Union', and it fits like a glove! '

[Khandro]

"Brezhnev" and to paraphrase Winston Churchill; - some turkey!

[ichkeria]

Yes I understand where Farage is coming from
I'm talking about the Telegraph article

[Hypognosis]

@naomi24 (&@Khandro)

//If you can’t attack the message, attack the messenger.//

I don't want to attack his message, actually. He is right in many respects. I just don't like the way he would have no public platform at all were it not for the way he defrauds* EU taxpayers by taking a salary and spending his time telling us all how **** it is. He would just be some shouty bloke, on Hyde Park corner, without our money.

Right, all the time but disregarded by all and sundry.

*unless you agree with him, in which case you will approve of how much you are paying him (pennies each, really).

[Khandro]

Hypo; I think you've lost the plot. What you are suggesting is that because a person works for an organization, and is paid by that organization, they somehow forfeit the right to criticise it. What you appear to be condoning is a form of dictatorship which is the very thing he and lots of us wish to put a stop to.

[Hypognosis]

@Khandro

In any other walk of life, a person who criticises from the inside is described as "biting the hand that feeds them" or, in blunter language: a subversive.

That is all I am saying. If I were the rebellious type, he would be a man after my own heart and I would be paying him a compliment.

Did it register with you where I said I agree with his message?

[Hypognosis]

From Khandro's link

//Unlike the imposition of technocratic governments in Italy and Greece, Brussels does not have its fingerprints on the weapon in Portugal. The current maelstrom is one manufactured entirely by its own political elites, but one that has profound consequences for democracy in the rest of the eurozone.//

Presidential intervention. So why is Farage saying EU is going all Brezhnev on them? If the EU is, notionally, socialist ("EUSSR"), why would they intervene to support a right-of-centre party? One which, in fact, is busy complying with the EU's austerity plans?

Isn't austerity a right-of-centre measure, to begin with?

[Khandro]

Hypo; The issue here is neither about right nor left, it's about democracy being replaced by fascistic authoritarianism and the EU giving support to anything which consolidates that, its ultimate objective.

[ichkeria]

I'm still waiting for an explanation of how "fascist authoritarianism",whether applied internally or externally,applies to Portugal's political affairs, .
Given that the very first word of the question was : "Portugal" that would seem to be rather important.
I'm not saying it doesn't but I don't see how it does