To think the anti trump marches are a waste of time

[yearyeahyah]

I don't like him or agree with his policies, but what good is it going to do walking around with a giant helium balloon of a baby?

Loads of horrible world leaders from the middle East that are doing far far woorse and they get a royal visit over here with no one batting an eyelid. Just smacks of double standards to me.

Trump is displaying behaviour used by fascists and the fascist movement.

Marching is an expression against facism.

America sets itself up as the leader of the free world. Facism is not freedom.

Marching may make no difference but neither will not marching.

He's an odeous man for sure, I kind of liked him sitting in that room, blatantly bollocking the Germans yesterday. Very undiplomatic, but he was standing up for his country, like he said he would. I also see what he has done with North Korea as a job well done.

Now his policies regarding immigration are beyond harsh. His tweeting is childish. He is a misogynist.

I think he'll only serve one term, we're already nearly half way through.

I don't think he'll give a flying fig about the balloon or protestors. He'll enjoy is visit with the Queen enormously too.

The balloon is pathetic, Khan allowing it to be moored by Westminster is wrong and petty. This is America visiting the UK and it should be welcomed.

Protestors should be allowed to protest though, obviously. There are a huge amount of Americans counting on us protesting. There are also a huge amount of Americans who will feel insulted by it.

Topcat I resented Obama weighing in on Brexit - none of his business whatsoever, as the U.S. aren't an EU Member State. Trump, as a U.S. Citizen presumably had the right under the American constitution and legal system to query Obama's right to hold office, otherwise he would have been forced to desist. He may have thought Obama demeaned the Office, as I considered Clinton to have done so, and which is why I was surprised that Hillary Clinton won the Democratic nomination.

People are allowed to have different opinions to you. Doesn't make me a gammon; we don't yet have hate thought, though I can see it coming.

Ok -

The Sadiq Khan blimp is being crowd funded along the same lines as the Trump blimp. I suppose it is to protest against what they see as poor Mayoral performance by Khan and also because it is their right to free expression. I am sure Khan will be fine about it, he is a grown up and approves of free expression .

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/giant-sadiq-khan-baby-balloon-to-fly-over-london

YABU, no one is forcing you to join in.
Abortion rights are under threat in the US, again. Don't kid yourself that its a good thing, or that it cant happen here.

Fieryginger could you enlighten me as to what exactly he has done with North Korea please? All the analysts say the agreement is actually agreeing sod all - I'm curious as to what you know that they don't. The last agreement, made during Kim Jong Il's reign, actually agreed to more than this one did! Kim has NOT agreed to complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, Trump is just telling his followers that he has. Have you drunk the Kool Aid too?

It's just going to be full of "right on" people wanting a selfie with a ballon.

Well this, really.

@topcat1980
"Democracy!" But only when it agrees with me.

Aren't you a frequent visitor on Brexit threads moaning about the result?

Trump has said horrid things about Sadiq from the moment he was elected. I’m quite glad he’s allowed the blimp.

Sadiq hasn't 'allowed' the blimp - he can't object to the features of the blimp, on the size/safety issues if there were any.

We like to 'behave well' in the UK as if there's some external arbitrator who will give us points for sitting nicely with our arms folded when the time comes. Newsflash - there isn't. When you see activity that threatens what you believe in you should say so. Peacefully, of course.

But critique and dissent is part of democracy.

"Democracy!" But only when it agrees with me. Is a very Brexiteer thing to demand. Notice how the Lords and Judges and any remain MP's are traitors?

Our media focus our attention on trump to distract us from what our own government is doing to our country. We will wake up to this once it is too late.

"Topcat I resented Obama weighing in on Brexit - none of his business whatsoever,"

Except for the fact that the leave campaign kept citing the fact that we would get a beneficial trade deal with the USA, you know the country he was President of.

"Trump, as a U.S. Citizen presumably had the right under the American constitution and legal system to query Obama's right to hold office"

Yes but his queries had no basis in reality and were actually based on racism, which of course appealed to his base.

If Trump had flown a big blimpy balloon of Obama, it would have been viewed as proof of his ghastly, childish attention seeking behaviour. Why should a blimp of Trump be any different? Protest is fine, but I don’t think the blimp shows us in a good light.

Crikey, I’m agreeing with Piers Morgan! Enough of that!

I don't think the blimp shows us in good light either. But it wasn't Sadiq Khan's idea, and it wasn't my idea. They are entitled to fly it just as I am entitled to march.

I couldn’t care less if people are offended by the protests and the trump baby. No one died from a bad case of taking offence.

Trump is a disaster and as for democratically elected, there are some who think that might not be the case.

If I was in the U.K. I would be marching too.

The balloon will get media attention so if Trump claims he was warmly welcomed there is something to refute that. Shows the protest is not a welcoming committee. That’s the good it will do.

I am attending because when history looks back on the babies in camps and asks, “What did you do?” I don’t want to say, “I sat quietly respecting the office of POTUS.”

Of course Khan has a say on the balloon. His office represents the capital. There isn't a work-experience girl in the back office saying "well the size meets guidelines so it's ok ."

It's not just the size but the appropriateness of it. It's being flown in protest not in fun. Khan should have considered the consequences of it.

I'm embarrassed by it as a British citizen.

As an American, I actually appreciate the protests. It helps to have a reminder that there are people who feel as I do. I don't know what it will do in the grand scheme of things, but I find it heartening. I'm not sure about the balloon specifically, but I can't say it greatly upsets me either.

It just tells me there is a contingent that only sees what's placed in front of it, or what they are told to think.

It's brilliant of course they can protest but it's easy to hate trump, feel part of a tribe.
I wish the same people who have this time on thier hands could do protests against, China, and particularly kim john ung. Etc and North Korea the world's largest prison camp. Trump is an easy target.

"I'm embarrassed by it as a British citizen."

I'm embarrased by your lack of understanding of how this works.

If Khan's office had not approved it on political grounds ( cause they can't on saftey) that is literally suppression of freedom of speech and the right to protest.

The protests might be a waste of time, in that they won't necessarily achieve anything. However, I understand the need that people feel to stand up and be counted. I would be there myself if I could.

I'm not a big fan of the baby balloon, personally. I think it trivialises the much more serious concerns about Trump's presidency, and it makes him seem more harmless than he actually is. However, people have a democratic right to protest as they see fit.

Sadiq Khan had no reason not to authorise the balloon. It is not his role to stifle legal political protest, whether he agrees with it or not. He (or his team) merely had to establish whether there were any legal and/or health & safety reasons for blocking it.

All the people saying Khans office had to approve it and he had no say in it.

You do know the first time it was requested it wasn't allowed as it's art not protest and he's been talking on LBC that he did approve it.

The right to protest isn't the same as the right to have a blimp when you protest. We all know blimps for other people wouldn't have been allowed but he's backed himself into a corner and will have to allow the blimp of himself.