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Stop Dancing: Milo Isn’t Dead! – dagblog (blog)

...it doesn't matter if people love you or hate you, as long as they feel strongly one way or the other. The worst place you can be is in the middle.

Eric Bischoff, Controversy Creates Cash

For years, I thought the worst byproduct of the conservative media and blogosphere bubble was the habitual misinformation or "fake news" thats made political dialogue virtually impossible. I was wrong; in my newly revisedopinion, the normalization and profitabilityofbigotry has been far more damaging than the propaganda disseminated by these outlets. Limbaugh, Hannity, OReilly, and a plethora of lesser known radio personalities built large audiences (and larger fortunes) by manipulating the fear and (sometimes) hatred of racial, religious, or cultural others. Milo Yiannopoulos is the natural evolution of normalized bigotry. The most successful conservative talking heads use promotional strategies that have more in common with professional wrestling promoters than the politicians trying to gain access to their audience. Milo, Tomi Lahren, and Tommy Sotomayor are picking up where Ann Coulter, Michele Malkin, and Glenn Beck left off. This is the third generation of this brand of vitriolic media conservatism.

Social media is full of people tap dancing on the proverbial grave of Milo Yiannopoulos; sadly, they dont understand that this isnt the end of him or his brand of bigotry. Milo is likely to be more powerful next year because of the attention hes receiving. Rush Limbaugh built his EIB network andGlenn Beck built the Blaze in spite of being hated and receiving negative media coverage for their controversial statements. Milo is every bit as capable of setting up his own production and distribution networks; he has the most important thing any media personality needs to be successful: a core audience willing to financially support his ideas. Hes not dead! He will still give the kind of talks he was giving before he lost his book deal. Speaking at CPAC would have helped legitimize him, but it wasn't going to make him anymore influentialamong his most loyal supporters.

The right to report, dissent, or satirize without criminal prosecution is often confused with the right to do so without facing any consequences. If Milo is smart he will learn that insulting and dehumanizing black people, brown people, feminists, and Muslims is far more profitable than engaging in the sort of sexual dialogue that caused his corporate sponsors to pull their support. Theres a segment of America that will always support his kind of bigotry. If he self-publishes his book, sets up his own monetized blog or podcast, continues touring, and remembers to limit his attacks to the kind of people corporate America doesnt mind offending he will be just fine. Pedophilia was a bridge to far for an industry built on pushing the lines of decency.

Long before Frank Luntz and Republican think tanks were crafting the language Republican politicians use to convey their message, Rush Limbaugh was dropping conservative thought bombs on the mainstream media, intelligentsia, and college campus culture. Many on the left still foolishly believe we are one clever campaign slogan away from winning the hearts and minds of the mythic working-class white voters and young college libertarians who are the core of Milos base. This kind of thinking has been around since Dr. George Lakoff wrote Moral Politics in 1996. Heres a news flash: people who use terms like Cuck, Libturd, or Libtard arent worried about cogent arguments. I know this feels pretty good for some on the left who were the victims of Milo's verbal assaults, but this isn't his end. I can assure you we will be dealing with his brand of hate for a long time!

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Stop Dancing: Milo Isn't Dead! - dagblog (blog)

American flag contains 51 stars for Pence visit to European …

United States Vice President Mike Pence, left, and EU Council President Donald Tusk pose for photographers as Pence arrives at the European Council building in Brussels, Belgium, on Monday, Feb. 20, 2017. (AP)

BRUSSELS The Star-Spangled Banner looked more starry than usual during one of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's appearances in Brussels.

A background picture of the American flag that went up alongside the European Union flag as Pence and EU leader Donald Tusk spoke on Monday had 51 stars instead of the usual 50, one for each state.

The Brussels version of the flag had three rows of nine stars and three rows with eight stars each. American flags typically feature a total of nine alternating rows of five or six stars

The EU flag featuring 12 stars in a circle against a blue background was configured correctly. And the American flag had the right number of stripes 13.

The EU Council did not immediately respond when asked about the error with the misplaced star-state.

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American flag contains 51 stars for Pence visit to European ...

European Union Threatens To Fine Italy For Deficit Caused By European Union – Forbes


Express.co.uk
European Union Threatens To Fine Italy For Deficit Caused By European Union
Forbes
The inherent contradictions of the euro and the eurozone system are on display here as the European Union threatens to fine Italy for the size of the national debt. That size of the national debt not being something under the control of the Italian ...
European Union CONGRATULATES members for its economic performances despite eurozone CRISISExpress.co.uk
European Union Warns Italy of 133% Debt to GDPFinancial Tribune
EU says Germany should do more to help economyEurActiv

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European Union Threatens To Fine Italy For Deficit Caused By European Union - Forbes

Brexit could help India-European Union FTA: report – The Hindu


The Hindu
Brexit could help India-European Union FTA: report
The Hindu
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Theresa May share a lighter moment ahead of the India-U.K. 'Tech Summit' in New Delhi in this November 7, 2016 file photo. There is a overwhelming sense among Members of the European ...

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Brexit could help India-European Union FTA: report - The Hindu

Bannon, Pence send contradictory messages to EU – CNN

Diplomats said that Pence's message of reassurance fell flat on European officials who are concerned about contradictory messages from Washington regarding the future relationship between the US and the EU. And it adds tothe list of subjects about which President Donald Trump and administration officials are confusing allies.

Bannon told Peter Witting, the German ambassador to the US, that the Trump administration wants to strengthen bilateral ties with individual European countries rather than deal with the entire bloc, the sources said.

In what was described as a "combative" conversation, the sources said Bannon spelled out a nationalist world view and citeda wave of anti-EU populism as evidence of the bloc's flaws, a similar refrain to the one he had previously articulated as the chief of the right-wing website Breitbart News.

"It is my privilege on behalf of President Trump to express the strong commitment of the United States to continued cooperation and partnership with the European Union," he said at a meetingwith European Council President Donald Tusk. "The United States' commitment to the European Union is steadfast and enduring."

A senior Trump administration official denied that Bannon disparaged the European Union during what they said was a "quick meeting"with the German ambassador.

Separately, a White House spokesperson said the conversation being described as confrontational was "not an accurate account" and that the conversation "was just a quick hello."

The vice president's office did not respond to a request for comment.

"There is no one in the administration who really understands the EU's important role and certainly nobody who will defend it," one diplomat told CNN, adding, "Pence and others are saying basic reassuring things that we aren't sure square with not only the policy, but also what where the President sits."

The official continued, "We don't want to jump to conclusions. We don't know whether Bannon will be able to carry through with his vision and we don't know what Trump thinks."

The conversation between Bannon and Wittig was first reported by Reuters.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault pointed out the omission on Twitter following Pence's speech to the Munich Security Conference ahead of his Brussels stop.

"In Munich, Vice President Pence renewed the U.S. commitment to the Atlantic alliance. But not a word about the EU," he wrote.

Speaking after meeting with Pence Monday, however, Tusk stressed Pence's expression of backing for the EU during their private session.

"We are counting, as always in the past, on the United States' wholehearted and unequivocal -- let me repeat, unequivocal --support for the idea of a united Europe," Tusk said. The world would be a decidedly worse place if Europe were not united," Tusk said. "In this respect we will not invent anything better than the European Union."

A senior White House official involved in foreign policy told CNN that the Trump administration's European policy is neither "pro-EU" nor "anti-EU."

The official explained that the administration would focus on cooperation with the bloc without advocating for it overtly, adding that if a country decides to hold a referendum on exiting the union, the White House will remain neutral.

That's a shift from the administration of President Barack Obama, which vocally advocated against Britain's decision to leave the EU this summer, a campaign that included a presidential visit to London in April 2016.

Decisions on whether to remain a member, the official said, should be left to the countries themselves, without US interference. The official added that while the US will seek to cooperate with the EU in already-existing areas of collaboration, it is not seeking to bolster the union by preventing further disintegration.

Trump himself praised the Brexit vote during the presidential campaign, calling himself "Mr. Brexit" following the result of the referendum.

And days before his inauguration Trump called the EU "basically a vehicle for Germany" in an interview with German and British newspapers, adding, "That's why I thought the UK was so smart in getting out."

In Brussels, Pence was extremely cautious in his language on the EU. While he vowed "cooperation" with the bloc, he never explicitly said the US "supports" the EU.

Both Wittig and the German government declined to comment for this story, citing the private nature of the conversation.

But one of the diplomatic sources CNN spoke to said that Wittig gave a passionate argument about the importance of the EU and felt his views were heard by Bannon.

Pence repeatedly stressed the defense spending issue during his European tour -- as did Defense Secretary James Mattis, who also attended the Munich conference -- something German officials called a "fair demand." But both men also repeatedly stressed America's support of NATO.

CNN's Kevin Liptak, Dan Merica and Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.

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Bannon, Pence send contradictory messages to EU - CNN