@micschw.bsky.social

Un torero sovrappeso.

[Jamie Metzl @JamieMetzl]

It’s painful to watch Donald Trump sign his surrender to the Iranian regime at Versailles, the site of France’s surrender to Prussia in 1871 and Germany’s surrender to the Allies in 1919.

The symbolism is extraordinary, not to mention the omen.

Hard to imagine what ignoramus on the Trump protocol team thought Versailles was the right backdrop for this humiliation.

[@micschw.bsky.social @MicSchw]

Come fare a darle torto?
Purtroppo finchè si trascina dietro tutto quel circo dei miracoli di cognati e cuggini resterà invotabile.

[D.Radka, #NAFO 🇨🇿🤝🇺🇦 @DakdaR22]

- Giorgia Meloni on Russia:

"The only way to guarantee peace is deterrence...
Deterrence comes from the Latin 'de' - via da - e 'terrere', to scare.

You must be strong enough to make the enemy desist from the possibility of attacking you.

It is strength that builds peace, not weakness..."

She is really great...😉

[Marcos Agustín @marcosagusstinn]

Carney: “The next world order will likely be built out of Europe.”

Europe is entering a geopolitical expansion phase:

Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans moving toward future EU accession, deeper agreements with the UK and Canada, and a European NATO defence budget that will exceed €800bn by 2030, surpassing Russia and China in nominal terms.

But scale alone is not enough.

Europe must complete the single market in services, finance and energy, reduce the innovation gap with the US, and build a unified foreign policy capable of defending European interests.

[@micschw.bsky.social @MicSchw]

@EmanuelePozzolo La guida in stato di ebbrezza, mettendo in pericolo altri cittadini utenti della strada "è solo ipocrisia" secondo il deputato senza vergogna.

[@micschw.bsky.social @MicSchw]

@ILENIALazzaro Tu conosci poco i cani.
Hanno le loro regole e possono anche apprendere quelle degli umani.

[@micschw.bsky.social @MicSchw]

@EFprocycling Oh! Look what “enormous respect” produces!
Scarcely credibile asserzione, one would say.

[ian bremmer @ianbremmer]

unpopular take:
i like the new electric ferrari

first one in years that looks like you don’t need to be an insufferable asshole to drive it.

[@micschw.bsky.social @MicSchw]

@ominodellaluce @Corriere Tanto stimavo Fosco, tanto disprezzo Dacia.

[@micschw.bsky.social @MicSchw]

@sfnnicita @gabrielevalmont Ti do una notizia: Persol o Reiban, sempre Luxottica sono.

[@micschw.bsky.social @MicSchw]

@StateDept You are in NATO for the purposes stated in the treaty. Try and read it!

[@micschw.bsky.social @MicSchw]

@GuntherEagleman Amateur dictator travels to meet professional dictator.

[Peter Girnus 🦅 @gothburz]

Oh this is a great opportunity to talk about diplomatic protocol. I love diplomatic protocol. You're absolutely right that contrast is everything and I want to help you understand exactly what you're contrasting because I think you'll find it even more interesting than you expected.

The Obama visit in 2016 was a G20 summit. That's a multilateral event where twenty heads of state arrive at the same airport within a forty-eight hour window. There is no individual red carpet at a G20. There is no personal welcome ceremony. There is no military band. Not for Obama. Not for Merkel. Not for anyone. Twenty leaders arriving in sequence get processed like boarding groups. That's not a snub. That's logistics. You wouldn't compare someone's hotel suite to someone else's Airbnb and call it a personality difference. That's a booking difference. Obama booked a G20. Trump booked a state visit. Different products entirely.

Now here's where it gets really educational. A state visit is the HIGHEST category of diplomatic reception in international protocol. The red carpet, the military band, the honor guard — that's not something China chose to do for Trump. That's what a state visit IS. It comes standard. Every visiting head of state on a state visit gets the red carpet. The President of Turkmenistan got one. The Prime Minister of Belgium got one. There are photos. The red carpet is stored in a closet at Beijing Capital International. It has a dedicated closet. The closet has a label. I looked this up. I've been looking things up for a while now.

The 300 kids waving American flags — I was SO excited about this detail so I researched it. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs organizes welcome delegations for every state visit. They coordinate with local universities and youth organizations. They hand out the flags. They position the groups. They did it for Macron in 2024. They did it for Merkel in 2015. They did it for the Prime Minister of Pakistan. I found a photo of Merkel's welcome in 2015. Same kids. Same corner. One of them is wearing the same jacket. I don't know if it's the same kid or the same jacket or both but I've been looking at this photo for a long time.

The "Vice President greeting him" part is my favorite because you listed it as evidence of respect and I think that's wonderful. The Vice President is Han Zheng. He's China's number two. You know who Xi Jinping greets personally? Putin. Xi walked to the top of the steps at the Great Hall of the People to greet Putin himself. Full bilateral photo line. MBS. Xi flew to Saudi Arabia. Macron. Xi personally received him in Beijing. For Trump, Xi sent Han Zheng to the tarmac and stayed home. In diplomatic protocol, the rank of the person who greets you IS the message. Vice President at the airport means "important bilateral partner we are managing." Head of state at the door means "equal I need to impress." You listed "Vice President greeting him" as a flex. In the protocol community, that line is circulating for different reasons.

So the contrast IS everything. You're right. Obama went to a G20 and got G20 protocol. Trump went to a state visit and got state visit protocol. The contrast is between two different event types, not two different levels of respect. And within the state visit protocol, Trump got standard ceremony and a Vice President on the tarmac, which is exactly what Belgium gets.

I've been studying diplomatic protocol for six hours now. I think I love it. Thank you for introducing me to this. The contrast really is everything once you know what you're looking at.

[@micschw.bsky.social @MicSchw]

@RasmusJarlov Hi Rasmus. This post deserves a follow.
Furthermore, I appreciate you calling the citizen of the United States as "US Americans", so to underline that there are many more other americans.

[@micschw.bsky.social @MicSchw]

@atrupar @mehdirhasan Equivalent to being against the rain.

[@micschw.bsky.social @MicSchw]

@RpsAgainstTrump @FrancoBassanini “Because of Trump”
Sorry. No.
Because a majority of americans (78 millions of them) voted for Trump.
Alas, it’s not going to be over when Trump will be over.

[@micschw.bsky.social @MicSchw]

@nonleggerlo Spunta la basetta!

[@micschw.bsky.social @MicSchw]

@allenanalysis @MalcolmNance There is no scientific evidence of glyphosate causing lymphoma.
There is only a terror campaign by ecologist orgs.

[@micschw.bsky.social @MicSchw]

Mah!

Dopo gli spari di Butler questa cosa qui, con il soggetto che in precedenza non partecipava mai alle cene dei corrispondenti della casa bianca.

Sto diventando complottista.

https://t.co/rL7o6X6QFF

[@micschw.bsky.social @MicSchw]

@FPanunzi Fossi il commercialista di Bocelli non so come mi sentirei.

[@micschw.bsky.social @MicSchw]

@ziobaffone L’alternativa sarebbe trovarci i russi in casa ed i cessi in giardino, secondo la migliore tradizione Putiniana,