Our man Justin has put his foot in his mouth yet again by singing in a piano bar and it being a Queen song has created a strong backlash over here. I don't have a problem with him singing (although totally off key) but on a visit to England for the Queen's funeral is a bit off for me. He has had many stupid moments including a historical "black face", going on vacation when common sense said he should have been elsewhere for a major event and now this. I realize that world leaders are human and will make mistakes but how far can they go in the idiot stakes without creating bad press? Boris is a classic case in point and like Justin Trudeau he won't be the last. Tell of your own example of a top leader, not necessarily a politician, who made goofs worthy of note as we all are in need of some levity after the events of the recent past.
Sadly Mike I fear that there are only 5 leaders that would qualify as ‘statesmen’ in my book. Out of those 5, 3 of them are utterly detestable dictators: Putin, Kim Jong Un and Sturgeon. The other 2 are: Xi Jinping - borderline detestable but just neutral enough to remain in the ‘tolerable’ bracket - for now. And Zelensky - the only true hero statesman who has risen to the occasion. None of our traditional Western leaders are statesmen. Internationally we are weaker than I can ever remember. Truss and Biden are only in their jobs because they aren’t their predecessors. God help us - and the free world.
Agree about Zelensky and the Western leaders. But the corruption within Ukraine itself and the supposed links to certain US politicians and their families funnelling off millions from the proceeds, (which is why the US government is providing so much financial aid) is despicable and is corruption at its worst. But for me Biden is the biggest joke. Totally unfit for office. Have you ever seen or heard a world leader that needed flash cards to tell them what to say ? And yet he still got it wrong. Boris had the makings of being a world statesman and always saw himself as a bit of a Churchill character. But his behaviour and lies has put that firmly on hold, at least for now.
I define 'Statesman' as a leader (whether democratically elected or not), who the world takes notice of (not necessarily LIKES). When Putin speaks the world listens. He doesn't do 'gaffes', forget his lines or engage in other buffoonary. Kim Jon Un is a complete nutcase, but he's best mates with China and his country is still officially at war with South Korea - it's one of the world's flashpoints, so he has the ear of the world and he's mad and ruthless enough to carry out his threats. Sturgeon is punching WAY above her weight on the world stage, but citizens of many countries in the world know who she is - especially in Europe. She wants to turn Scotland into a one-party state. IMHO this woman is every much as big a threat to our country as Putin. Some people say she's ruining Scotland with her disastrous policies, but yet the Scots must like her because they keep voting for her. Horrible creature. One person I forgot in my earlier post is Macron. I don't like him - and despite his nice words about the Queen he doesn't like Britain, but he IS a 'proper' statesman IMHO who comes across as confident and at home walking the world stage. Merkel had it - she was a stateswoman (who I absolutely detested btw). I couldn't even tell you who the current German chancellor is without googling which shows the difference.. I'm sorry Angelic but I disagree with you on Boris. To me he was a bungling idiot - even from his days as London mayor. He was someone who lied, stabbed, twisted and turned and squirmed his way into the top job - and continued that trait whilst in office. He was extremely fortunate that Corbyn was in charge of Labour at the time he won the General Election - if Labour had fielded a decent leader back then then things might have been very different. We haven't had a 'proper' statesman running our country since Thatcher - love her or hate her she was truly a strong world leader. Blair came close for a while IMHO - until he blew it all up with the Iraq war - now he's an object of ridicule. I can't see Liz Truss putting people like Putin, Macron or even Sturgeon back in their boxes. I might be wrong (I hope I am wrong) but she seems to be yet another wishy-washy second-choice PM - a bit like May was.
When Liz Truss said that “the jury is still out” as to Macron being “a friend or foe to the UK”, I think she laid out her stall when you consider that France is supposed to be an ally to us!! Will be interesting to see what awaits us on the world stage with her in charge!!
Totally agree about Macron, he's a self serving President who doesn't like us or our people. To him, the Channel Crisis is his revenge for us leaving the EU despite all the money we've thrown his way. I detest Sturgeon and all she stands for and Scotland is essentially already a one party state. And is in a right 'state' in many respects, thanks to her and her policies. I hope the Scottish people who've been brainwashed by her took a few moments to reflect on what it would be like not to be part of the UK with recent events following the Queens death. I quite liked Boris when he took over from May, and delivered a Brexit of sorts, but any admiration I may once have had disappeared forever when he failed to do the right thing with Cummings trip to Durham and then things went Ski Sunday for him. Yet he's still apparently immensely popular. I get him as a jovial cheerleader but even his closest allies say he only does headlines and doesn't look at the small print Merkel I disliked as soon as she followed Blair with the open borders to any/all middle easterns a few years ago which led to a spate of rapes on a New Years Eve in Munich. 'Sir' Tony Blair. Could and perhaps should have been one of the great PM's but he also blew it with the Weapons of Mass Destruction lies, and his own open borders policy, that we're now starting to see the results of. He was too quick to go in support of George 'W' and took us into another war we had no right to be part of and that's without the cost and casualties we suffered. Like all of these failures who have directly or indirectly made massive mistakes on the part of their country or continent, there is never any real come back on them personally, and that's a shame. I even signed a petition requesting Blair didn't get his knighthood. I have faint hopes for Truss, and she does at least appear to have proper Conservative values which I didn't think Boris ever possessed, with his green policies and such like. But her time is very short to even start on the many messes we're in right now, before we'll be approaching another election, unless one is called in the meantime. For me, and despite the many Tory own goals, Starmer and co still offer no real credible opposition, and Labour is still tarnished with rumours of anti-semitism and is still too tied to the unions who people at the moment have little sympathy for in an economic crisis.
statesman noun states·man | \ ˈstāts-mən \ Definition of statesman 1: one versed in the principles or art of government especially : one actively engaged in conducting the business of a government or in shaping its policies 2: a wise, skillful, and respected political leader interpretation ............ 1 basically ministers and advisors 2 head of the pile .... thats putin and he doesnt fit the description
didnt have long enough! and is still alive! my sentiments exactly wrong use of the word to cover the best and the worst of leadership
That's fine - if you ignore the people/regimes you don't like/agree with and you're left with YOUR 'statesmen !!!! I can't be @rsed to argue over definitions. I've just given my own opinion - people are welcome to disagree. I didn't say I LIKED them - or the way they came to power - or the regimes they represent - but they ARE prominent on the world stage and they affect all of us.
Bolsanaro and Trump are 2 people you don't want to get another shot at running a country as they are both tarred with the same brush. Both of them essentially want an autocratic system where they rule the roost and change the rules to suit themselves at the expense of democracy. Did anyone watch the documentaries on the Bolsanaro family which to me highlighted the corrupt politics available to those who vote for basically insane and dictatorial candidates. I just hope that all of the legal problems being faced by both Trump and Bolsanaro rule them out of running for office ever again but as we all know money buys injustice. Trudeau and Johnson pale in comparison to those two and are numptys rather than corrupt. Lovely old world, isn't it? Fresh off the press is that Berlusconi has said that Russia's invasion was forced on Putin due to the need to put good people in charge in Kyiv. He is the epitome of corruption and another one who should never hold office again but you never know. Is Europe going down the road to apathy?
Here’s a question for you all. Would Plutin started this war if Trump was still president? Or would he think if I do this, he’s mad enough to retaliate
Pluton would still have started it, & trump would have nuked him by now. Seriously Putin would have still started it & Trump wouldn’t have done anything , he was looking to get out of NATO anyhow, he believes Europe is not his problem. That’s my take anyhow
It's becoming clearer that all politicians wanting ultimate power are built from the same DNA. In today's world social media is the way to reach the people you want but it is also a way of discrediting your opponents, especially in a negative almost vindictive manner, by posting lies and filth about their lives and beliefs. Putin's team don't understand the meaning of truth and Trump is travelling the same path both using social media to promote their lies and hatred. I almost think you're right bcfcred because we are fast learning of the depths to which Trump will go to get power back and if he does achieve that aim then who knows where he may try and inflict his version of democracy, including cuddling up to the most despised man in the world. The hate mongers are starting to take over countries such as Ukraine, Hungary, Italy, France and Brazil and I'm sure there are many others who are trying their best to become dictators of their individual states. It is starting to look a lot like the mid-thirties when hatred and subjugation were the order of the day and the only difference I see is that they now have truly grotesque weaponry that can destroy entire cities and populations at the push of a button. Putin is never going to back down for any reason, other than his assassination, and is more than capable of doing anything imaginable in the mind of a serial murderer. How many supposedly accidental falls of notable people and their families will it take for Russians to wake up to the idea that this tyrant is insane and has lost touch with reality, rather like Trump and his associates. I am coming to terms with the fact that the much-vaunted Russian military is not as advertised on the box and it is starting to look like a lot of the potential new recruits feel the same way. Putin is also trying to force captured Ukrainians to join the fight, or else, and how ironic would it be if all of those seconded to fight just picked up their arms and drove down the road a few miles and handed over all their kit and equipment to Zelensky. My mind is working overtime wondering what the response might be if indeed Putin chooses the nuclear option and perhaps he should read some real history books to help his decision because he will find that most, if not all, aggressors have not succeeded.
