Italy’s foreign minister defends ICE attendance at Winter Olympics after outrage: ‘It’s not like the SS are coming’

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/italy-ice-winter-olympics-backlash-ss-b2909240.html

cross-posted from: https://lemmings.world/post/40450266

411 points · 84 comments · view on lemmy.world

84 Comments

unmagical@lemmy.ml · 201 pts · 212d (3 replies)

Buddy, it's like the SS are coming.

DivineDev@piefed.social · 73 pts · 212d

And even if it wasn't, when the SS is what first comes to mind when thinking "who is worse than ICE?", that's already enough of a problem on its own.

wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz · 24 pts · 212d

O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao

Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works · 14 pts · 212d

American here. Can confirm.

Typhoon@lemmy.ca · 157 pts · 212d (1 reply)

It's exactly like that.

j4yc33@piefed.social · 17 pts · 212d

It's weird how well they knew what to claim while claiming the opposite

papalonian@lemmy.world · 98 pts · 212d (9 replies)

You mean the country that invented fascism doesn't see the problem with ICE?

wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz · 39 pts · 212d (6 replies)

This is their current Prime Minister...

papalonian@lemmy.world · 29 pts · 212d (2 replies)

I see "Mussolini" and "buon politico" and feel like I can piece enough together.

wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz · 14 pts · 212d (1 reply)

I don't speak Italian either, but I know enough Spanish (not much) to figure out what it says...

YellowParenti@lemmy.wtf · 9 pts · 212d

Speak spanish

I think that mussolini was a good politician

smeenz@lemmy.nz · 5 pts · 211d

Jesus christ...I dread to think about what she thinks of Hitler .

This whole planet is doing a speed run to self destruction

ebolapie@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 212d

And here I was thinking that NOT getting strung up by an angry mob is what makes a good politician

Nikelui@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 211d

Up to not too long ago, the granddaughter of Mussolini was in the same political party.

AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 212d

To be fair, the SS used IBM and cocaine to achieve levels of efficiency that ICE can only dream of. ICE is using hallucinating LLMs and Sudafed, clearly.

Rothe@piefed.social · 10 pts · 212d

And also currently have a fascist government.

blitzen@lemmy.ca · 82 pts · 212d

Buddy, your grandpa got the same thing wrong 90 years ago.

T156@lemmy.world · 58 pts · 212d (3 replies)

Why is US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement even going to provide security for a sports event in another country, anyway? It seems bizarrely out of scope.

Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 35 pts · 212d

Honestly, it's a rare chance for us Europeans to organise a huge protest against ICE. Now I'm kinda dreaming this happens.

Jankatarch@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 212d

They will deport all the Italians in Italy, obviously.

Nikelui@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 211d

Maybe to justify the billions of budget they have been allocated.

slacktoid@lemmy.ml · 53 pts · 212d (16 replies)

I mean Italy has always viewed the SS in positive light, so makes sense they view ICE the same way

Akasazh@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 212d

Well not always, the Ardeatine Cave massacre did manage to change public opinion.

Deme@sopuli.xyz · -4 pts · 212d (14 replies)

That seems like quite a generalization to make. Care to elaborate?

slacktoid@lemmy.ml · 15 pts · 212d (13 replies)

Italy and Germany were allies during world war two. The word fascism was coined by Mussolini, an Italian. So making a joke referencing something based on history. And right now their stance is if not similar its rhyming.

Deme@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 212d (12 replies)

Would you make the same joke about all germans always, based on their history and the recent resurgence of the far-right?

I'll remind you that it was italian partisans who killed Mussolini and italians were the ones to beat the body up and hung it up on that square.

belastend@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 9 pts · 212d (2 replies)

Brother. The current prime minister of Italy thinks Mussolini was a good politician. Italy is run by neo-fascists.

Deme@sopuli.xyz · 8 pts · 212d (1 reply)

Sure, but to say thay Italy [as a whole] has always been like that discounts the efforts of a lot people, including former governments.

Sorry if I'm nitpicking. I just want to stay conscious of the fact that the forces opposing fascism never went away, and that as history repeats itself, the good parts can also be repeated.

bampop@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 212d

You're not nitpicking. It's like saying USA is all Nazis. A country is more than its current government. Unfortunately neither Italy nor the USA have a particularly well functioning democracy.

slacktoid@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 212d (6 replies)

And 2 generations later moussies grand-daughter came to power.

In germany the AfD, the Neonazi party, is rising in popularity.

So in conclusion, yes, yes I will. Also germany didn't pay shit for what they did to their Jewish population. So yes.. I will make jokes.

Deme@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 212d (5 replies)

As bampop said in a different branch of this convo, a country is more than its government. To declare an entire country nazis discounts the existence and in some cases the life's work of a lot of good people. I can appreciate a joke, but right now I really want to focus on the fact that anti-fascism is also everywhere, and that as history repeats itself, the good parts can also be repeated. If not, then all is lost.

My flatmate is german. He's a marxist academic writing a thesis comparing the far right parties of Spain, Germany and Finland. The AfD is getting more and more votes, but the vast majority hate their guts.

ohulancutash@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 211d (1 reply)

However it is well documented that the vast vast vast majority of Germans supported the Nazis of their own free will. The “good german” and “clean wehrmacht” concepts are myths brought about in the aftermath of the war due to political expediency and, though they were adequately discredited by the 1980s, it still stubbornly holds on because the inhumanity is still so unbelievable.

Those Germans who did stand up to the Nazis were minute in numbers, and did so in an atmosphere of extreme hostility from the general public. After all, the Gestapo was a very small agency, and the population was self-policing.

Deme@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 211d

Oh definitely. I just don't like it when conclusions are drawn that as such, all germans are nazi sympathisers due to their blood (something intrinsic that can't be changed), rather than just most of them and due to the societal circumstances that actually caused the widespread fervor. The former stance reeks of essentialism.

slacktoid@lemmy.ml · -1 pts · 212d (2 replies)

My brother in Christ its a joke, is that Bourgeois Decadence?

I have a hard time having sympathy for the Germans, with dumb jokes like this. Yes, I do feel for the Germans that lost their lives standing up to the Nazi government tho and have immense respect for them and anyone who stands up against fascism but I don't respect them cause they are German I respect them for standing up against fascism. It's hard to have that kind of sympathy for Germans when germany doesn't even recognize Palestine (the genocide of this century) and the Europeans have made Palestinians pay more for the Jewish Holocaust than the Germans ever did.

I make the jokes cause to me the underlying factors that led to that kind of apathy for an "outsider" community has not changed in Europe and the west. The same factors still exist though they like to pretend to be all civilized and past that. I call bullshit.

And cool i guess maybe i should talk to your flatmate more. He might understand my underlying anger and frustration better than you.

Deme@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 211d

Are you joking now? Because you seem to be contradicting yourself. You say that you feel for the germans who stood up, but then you say that you have a hard time having that sympathy for germans (including the ones in the previous sentence?).

The reason I took issue with this is that I'm scared. Fascism is capitalism in decay. A systemic symptom of a flawed and unsustainable system eating itself. That leaves only people and their capacity for good to have hope in. That hope is in short supply. Things will continue to get a lot worse before they get better again.

UnityDevice@startrek.website · 3 pts · 211d (1 reply)

Would you make the same joke about all germans

I'd say at least 80% of all jokes told about Germany and Germans in the last 70 years were in some way related to Nazis or Nazi stereotypes.

Nikelui@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 211d

Can we go back to jokes about Mafia? I'd rather prefer that.

Broadfern@lemmy.world · 47 pts · 212d (1 reply)

They already have no legitimacy in the US, fuck business do they have going to another country?

ohulancutash@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 211d

Many countries are sending police to help with the event. Mainly to advise on handling their own fans, so it makes sense border or immigration police are sent.

kokesh@lemmy.world · 41 pts · 212d

It IS exactly inviting gestapo to your country. Other country's hit squad having no jurisdiction whatsover.

SethTaylor@lemmy.world · 39 pts · 212d

This will age like milk

herseycokguzelolacak@lemmy.ml · 38 pts · 212d

It is like the SS is coming.

Ascendor@discuss.tchncs.de · 37 pts · 212d

Well, yes it is.

Smaile@lemmy.ca · 27 pts · 212d

yah it kind of is turning into that.

DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 212d

My boy Antonio really just went with the first comparison that jumped to mind.

Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 212d

Really? Explain how this isn't that exact situation.

phoenixz@lemmy.ca · 21 pts · 211d

it's not like the SS are coming

That is a strangely specific comment, especially about a group that constantly is compared to the SS .... Because they fucking behave like the SS!

So yeah, yes! The SS are coming and you're rolling out the red carpet

Fuck these Nazis, you should all block their entrance to the country. Hell, Europe should have a requirement that (ex) ice employees aren't welcome. They so the same for ex nazis, don't they?

RagingRobot@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 212d (2 replies)

I don't understand why they would go in the first place. They are homeland security. That's not our home land wtf

Frozengyro@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 212d (1 reply)

I was wondering what role they would be in as well.

bampop@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 212d

Well obviously they will be checking for illegal immigrants that might be hiding in Italy

Fedizen@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 212d (1 reply)

what "Immigrations Customs Enforcement" objective can it possibly serve to send ICE to italy?

It seems like they're trying to turn the olympics into some kind of fascist goon festival.

humanspiral@lemmy.ca · 10 pts · 212d

They're just there to keep the trains running on time.

sramder@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 212d (1 reply)

Wouldn’t it be the brown shirts?

Deconceptualist@leminal.space · 10 pts · 212d

Yeah. Sturmabteilung (SA) aka brownshirts is technically the more accurate comparison.

https://youtu.be/BYOeamkqHtc

Dremor@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 212d

More like the SA.

M0oP0o@mander.xyz · 16 pts · 211d

What an odd thing to say.

Why would of all groups of people the SS would pop into their head, unprompted? Hmmmmm.

Taleya@aussie.zone · 15 pts · 212d

And italy knows their fascists!

gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works · 15 pts · 212d (5 replies)

It is like the SS are coming.

I’ve taken to calling them ICEatzgruppen.

Madison420@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 212d (4 replies)

It's like the sa are coming. The ss were a military company, the sa were political police.

gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 212d (3 replies)

And einsatzgruppen were the extermination specialists of the SS. Considering the summary executions they’ve started to get enthusiastic about… well, you connect the dots/

Madison420@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 212d (2 replies)

You think that gaggle of uppity morons are execution specialists and not a mob of political police?

gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 211d (1 reply)

They’re paramilitary, and they are 100% going to avail themselves of the crazy lack of oversight and authority the regime is giving them and put anyone whose not enthusiastically trumpian on lists for harassment at the very fuckin least

Madison420@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 211d

So was the sa, you're describing the brown shirts.

grimpy@lemmy.myserv.one · 14 pts · 212d

“No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!” - Monty Python

fatalicus@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 211d

This is like some always sunny shit.

"it's not like the SS is coming"

Cue the always sunny title music and the text "the SS ruins the Olympics"

Tempus_Fugit@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 212d (3 replies)

In protest I won't even watch it.

dan1101@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 212d (2 replies)

This sucks though because the athletes have trained years for this, and then trump happened.

Tempus_Fugit@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 212d

There's always pirate stream sites. Plenty of them will be showing the games.

Smaile@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 212d

suck, shit happens. sorry if thats cold but it happens to all us from time to time.

lechekaflan@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 212d

Puttana motherfucker.

shithawk@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 211d

Yeah like that's never happened before

counterfactual@sopuli.xyz · 11 pts · 212d

Mussolini II

europhile@feddit.org · 9 pts · 211d

No but its like the SA is coming.

FelixCress@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 212d (3 replies)

Well, not yet. Maybe, not exactly. Early stage Gestapo perhaps?

archonet@lemy.lol · 8 pts · 212d (2 replies)

The Sturmabteilung (SA), also known as the brownshirts are more apt. ICE is far too bumbling, incompetent and obvious to be the Geheime Staatspolizei, or secret state police.

yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de · 3 pts · 212d

Yeah, FBI and or CIA would be (are?) the US's Gestapo. I mean, they already have torture facilities to get false confessions.

FelixCress@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 212d

Fair enough.

Treczoks@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 212d

No, it's the SA or GeStaPo.

xyro@morbier.foo · 7 pts · 212d

It kinda is ..

phoenixz@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 211d (1 reply)

So if this does happen, I expect the airport where they land to become a shit show of Europe protests... Let these motherfuckers see how real protests are done and how fucking hated these goons are.

Jerb322@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 211d

We'll be watching....

frustrated_phagocytosis@fedia.io · 5 pts · 212d

Ask ICE goons their opinions on Jews and other minorities, you'll change your tone. Italians are classic criminal aliens in the US.

Jerb322@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 211d

"They are the same picture"

green_red_black@slrpnk.net · 3 pts · 212d
[ removed ]