13 ms·
As an American citizen please Germany don’t be submissive in your response to this. Publish the emails, the phone calls, sanction us, go to the press. We deserv
by tmpz22 7y ago
As an American citizen please Germany don’t be submissive in your response to this. Publish the emails, the phone calls, sanction us, go to the press. We deserve it.
- jszymborski 7y agoI don't know. I think the answer in a crisis is less finger-pointing and more visible displays of willingness to cooperate with one another. There'll be plenty of time after the crisis to bring out the guillotines.
- soared 7y agoIMO a better outcome might come from the odds of the entire world without the USA, rather than than solely the USA getting the vaccine and distributing as we see fit.
- jszymborski 7y agoIndeed, but Germany achieving that outcome by making this a PR war will just make global cooperation less likely. This needs to be achieved by the EU leveraging as much cash as it can from other countries with an agreement to distribute the vaccine by some WHO index of need. In this way, you outbid the US by showing collaboration works. We can't waver on global health priorities, but let the USA admin shout its way into darkness alone and not drag in global cooperation with it.
- stainforth 7y agoYou'd let the marauder escape, like always.
- luckydata 7y agoFinger pointing is definitely required. Turning the other cheek doesn't work when interacting with a psychopath.
- DonHopkins 7y agoEspecially when the one whose incompetence and malevolence needs to be pointed out is himself doing nothing BUT finger pointing and lying, when he should instead be working on solving the problem.
- saturday14 7y agoPublish the emails, the phone calls, sanction us, go to the press Agree with the rest, but sanctions don't hurt the people who actually came up with this shitty idea. It ends up hurting the normal guy on the road, who will probably not endorse the idea in the first place.
- wizzwizz4 7y agoIt hurts the metrics of the people who came up with the idea, and might therefore reduce the chance they get re-elected. Plus, it adds weight to the (perceived) severity of the crime. But collateral damage is high, so it might not be the best of plans.
- Fjolsvith 7y ago> Plus, it adds weight to the (perceived) severity of the crime. What law was broken? Its like saying HBO breaks a law by having their shows exclusive to their subscriber base.
- jimhefferon 7y agoMoral law?
- Fjolsvith 7y agoMorals are subjective.
- Pfhreak 7y agoAnd yet, we generally agree on some baseline human standards. Sure, maybe you can find examples of people who would think this is morally reasonable, but I would guess they are a pretty extreme minority.
- whatshisface 7y ago
- whatshisface 7y agoWhat would you find in the emails, Trump saying that he prioritizes American wellbeing over everybody else? That might be harsh diplomatically, but that's going to be taken as evidence that he's living up to his promises. That's what he said he was going to do, and almost everybody outside of America disliked him from the beginning of his campaign because he was promising to be not nice to other countries.
- hedora 7y agoEven better, Germany could call in Trump’s debt, and seize his assets: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/09/30/trumps-unthinkable-conflict-millions-in-debts-to-german-bank-now-facing-federal-fines/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/09/30/trump... Weaponizing vaccine development in the middle of a public health crisis must violate some German law or another.
- gamblor956 7y agoAs am American citizen, that is quite possibly the stupidest thing Germany could do. Please, for the sake of the world, keep this information confidential until after the election. Publishing the emails, calls, and efforts Trump made to secure an exclusive virus would just play into his hands and provide a huge boost to his political campaign. As past scandals have shown, there is no such thing as bad press for him. So deny him the press and the coverage and let this blow over quietly until Nov 4. And then go nuts publishing all the details.
- nicehat 7y agoBullshit. "As an American citizen" - buddy we are not known for our intelligence or our honor so I don't know what relevance you think that has. And yes there is such a thing as bad press before an election. That's why politicians go to huge lengthsto bury stories before elections.
- linuxlizard 7y ago""As an American citizen" - buddy we are not known for our intelligence or our honor so I don't know what relevance you think that has." Speaking as an American citizen, that cracks me up.
- gamblor956 7y agoIf the revelations that Trump has fantasized about incest with his own daughter, cheated on all of his wives, had sex with pornstars and paid them off, bribed government officials, has gone bankrupt multiple times, has been sued by fraud multiple times, is enriching himself using public funds, is accepting money from foreign governments and making political decisions based on that, has attempted to coerce a foreign government into acting against a US citizen, has interfered with criminal investigations, has covered up and destroyed evidence of criminal actions, and is possibly suffering early on-set dementia isn't enough bad press... What do you think are going to be the actual repercussions, in the US, of learning that the US president is trying to secure exclusive US control of a vaccine for COVID19 for priority distribution in the US? They aren't going to be any. Indeed, to his base, stuff like this is exactly why they voted for him. (If Trump had succeeded in securing that vaccine solely for the US, he would win in November in a landslide.) And that's pretty much the extent of the calculations that went on in his head when he attempted this stunt. It's a good thing he failed. But let's be responsible about disclosure and time it so that he can't derive any political benefit from it.
- ALittleLight 7y agoSanctions seem extreme. This article alleges Trump offered to buy a vaccine exclusive to the US. That seems like it merits a "No" more than a punitive response.
- samsonradu 7y agoSeems to be going as you say: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/15/coronavirus-germany-tries-to-stop-us-luring-away-firm-seeking-vaccine.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/15/coronavirus-germany-tries-to...