Gennifer Flowers.

[hollodero]

(10-12-2016, 12:20 AM)Dill Wrote: I confess I probably know more about the Austro-Hungarian Empire than I do about contemporary Austria.  But I have assumed Austrians were not appreciably less "informed" than Germans or English.

We might not be, but are they so informed? A Brexit - from all I know - doesn't seem to be a very informed choice. Which is hilariously underpinned by the fact that the leader of the Brexit movement immediately after the vote a) admitted that his campaign basically consisted of a big bus of lies and b) completely jumped ship.
Just saying.

(10-12-2016, 12:20 AM)Dill Wrote: Re: the allusion to Johnson--how likely is it that the leader of any Austrian party polling 9% would be unable to name the leader of a bordering country like Germany or Italy? How likely that he/she could retain that level of support if this were publicly known? 

Oh my, things like that would be so very likely, you have no idea what runs around here. I might give you a taste later if I'm in the mood.

Concerning Johnson. I admit mr. rotobeast has a point. I actually do not believe Johnson is a complete dummy and it might be kind of unfair to reduce him to these clips alone. (Even more in times when Mr. Trump says the most unbelievable things on a nearly daily basis.)
Then, the 9% might as well just reflect the utter desperation of many voters who simply cannot go for Hillary or Trump. Last election he was at 1% or even less, and I don't think the gap is just his momentum alone. That is just some unique kind of shituation you have here. Congrats, by the way.

(10-12-2016, 12:20 AM)Dill Wrote: Segue now to the puzzling "appeal of outsiders" you refer to; the failure to "grasp realities" you mention is an aspect of that general incuriosity and consequent low level of information regarding foreign policy I have been discussing.  Certainly every modern industrial nation has a substantial population (many rural) whose lives are secure and routine enough that what happens elsewhere doesn't much interest them, as well as proudly ignorant petit bourgeois nationalists and an unhappy portion of down-and-outs with Brownshirt tendencies, whose numbers can rise with stresses like immigration and recession.  I'm hardly implying such don't exist in European countries, and in greater proportion in some than others; I'm just pointing out that there seems to be 1) a larger number of "well-informed" to leaven policy discussions in European countries, and 2) I'll now add there is more deference (in general, despite exceptions) to knowledgeable leaders than one finds in the U.S.  

I can agree to the jist that. We just fell a bit different regarding the numbers of well-informed people in Europe. Truth might be in the middle maybe, just--- don't overestimate it, that's all I'm saying at this point