Donald Trump Picks the Wrong Scottish Farmers to Brawl With

[marmar]

from YES! Magazine:


Donald Trump Picks the Wrong Scottish Farmers to Brawl With
When Donald Trump tried to develop a stretch of pristine Scottish seaside into a golf course, the feisty local community pushed back. A new documentary film tells the story.

by Chris Francis
posted Mar 29, 2013


When British indie film director Anthony Baxter heard that real-estate baron Donald Trump was planning to build a luxury golf resort near the Scottish farming town of Balmedie, he thought the news coverage was suspicious. The glowingly positive buzz around the course couldn’t be telling the whole story.

“The media coverage around the golf course didn’t have the skeptical angle you’d expect, which seemed very odd,” Baxter said. So he decided to provide that angle himself. He set off for Aberdeenshire, the county where Trump was building the course, and the documentary You’ve Been Trumped began to take form.

Spanning the year-long construction of Trump’s first Aberdeenshire golf course—Trump plans to eventually build three courses and a 450-room luxury hotel—the film provides the critical inspection missing from mainstream media accounts. It exposes irreparable environmental damage to an area of pristine seaside dunes designated as a “Site of Special Scientific Interest”, suspiciously complicit government action, and shameless bullying by the Trump Organization.

The documentary has no narrator. Instead, the Aberdeenshire farmers living at the edge of Trump’s course, and other locals, tell the story themselves. Baxter’s film juxtaposes footage of the simple reality of the farmers’ lives shot on handheld cameras with the glossy, pre-cooked media promotion of Trump and his project. “David and Goliath” meets “The Little Engine That Could” as families carry on a drawn-out struggle of increasing difficulty against a monolithic corporate force willing to manipulate and harass in pursuit of its goals—disputing property lines, cutting off water, and Trump himself publicly insulting locals who resisted the project. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/donald-trump-picks-wrong-scottish-farmers-to-mess-wish

[NYC_SKP]

1. K/R, more:

;

Trailers:

http://vimeo.com/45591729

[Curmudgeoness]

25. Why do I sit here and cry

when I see so much injustice against people and the environment.

I know that the area did not look "pristine" in the eyes of people like Trump, but it took my breath away. And the people are not the peacocks that Trump associates with, but they are real....we are people like that or we know people like that.

When will people like Trump get their just reward? It makes you understand the feelings people had when they invented the guillotine.

[djean111]

2. Looks like Trump, so far, has gotten away with all he wants to - except stopping the wind farm.

If Trump does end up having three golf courses and a luxury hotel, having wreaked havoc on the farmers and the land - of what use are documentaries that win awards? The documentary will just be more of a triumph, in the end, for Trump.
Can his golf course building be stopped or undone?

[xtraxritical]

6. The farmers should start collecting, for future use, gophers, groundhogs and

dandelion seeds!

[drm604]

10. Maybe it could stop him in the future.

Maybe local communities will be more skeptical when Trump or others like him come along. Maybe it could lead to pressure for new laws. Maybe it could lead to support for just compensation for those affected by this. Conceivably, it could stop or limit the expansion of what he's currently doing (although admittedly it's unlikely).

Exposing injustice is always a good thing, even if it doesn't stop the current injustice. I don't see how exposing evil is ever a triumph for the evildoers.

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. The local council voted against it; the Scottish government (SNP) overruled them

THURSDAY 29 NOVEMBER, 2007

Aberdeenshire councillors make the unexpected decision to reject the £1bn resort.

Trump's £1bn golf plan rejected
...
TUESDAY 4 DECEMBER, 2007

The Scottish Government makes the unprecedented move to decide whether the golf resort goes ahead, despite the plans being rejected.

Ministers to decide Trump plans
...
MONDAY 3 NOVEMBER, 2008

The Scottish Government announces that Mr Trump's controversial plans for the Aberdeenshire coast have been approved.

Trump's £1bn golf resort approved

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7443884.stm

[malaise]

3. Go Bravehearts

Devour this scumbag for the rest of humanity

[ZRT2209]

4. who is the maker (farmer) and who is the taker (Trump)

[mountain grammy]

5. little by little, grass roots activism pushes back..

It's not all about the money. Watch out, soon everyone might feel powerful!

[HiPointDem]

39. except they lost.

[young_at_heart]

7. Donald Trumps's facial expressions....major arrogance

He has become a cartoon character!

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. he is a racist pig.

[Historic NY]

8. Good on them !!

Trump is a pox.

[shenmue]

9. Yay!

Woohoo.

Thank you Scots.

[DirkGently]

11. KNR

[siligut]

13. I didn't realize until now that Trump is a bully

From the comments:

One of the *most* unpleasant of men, Trump. Those in the local government
and media who are proven complicit should be deeply ashamed - and brought to justice.

I have lived in the area all my life and Donald Trump has been the worst thing to have happened to this part of Scotland in my 42 years.

Maybe Trump thinks that the money that comes in from his enterprise will change the attitude of the locals, but it will be interesting to see how visitors to the resort are treated around town.

[TeamPooka]

14. K&R!

[pipi_k]

15. I hope they

beat the shit out of him with their haggis!

[Skidmore]

16. Scottish people stopped the Roman empire cold and I'm sure they can

handle a pissant like Donald Trump.

[RiffRandell]

18. I first read about this in Vanity Fair magazine in 2008.

Journalist interviews Trump who comes off as the major arrogant asshole that he is, and the locals that were battling him. Some Trump quotes from the article:

“Where does all this energy come from?,” I ask.
“Genes. It’s given by the genes. I know smart people who don’t have energy, and if you don’t have energy, it’s hard to compete. My son Barron has incredible energy. You know why? Because his father is a fucking genius."

Trump says, “Do you think manatees know they’re alive? They’re like huge amoebas, constantly getting hit by boats. I don’t think they’re 100 percent there.”

Entire article: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/05/trump200805

Thanks for posting. Very interested in seeing this.

[Jackpine Radical]

19. There's another story here at least as deserving of investigation--

“The media coverage around the golf course didn’t have the skeptical angle you’d expect, which seemed very odd”

What pressures did Trump bring to bear here? How did the media get corrupted in this instance? Wouldn't that be an interesting thing to find out?

[Cleita]

21. Ruppert Murdoch still wielding influence, maybe?

[Jackpine Radical]

22. Could well be.

I just think if I were into investigative journo, I'd have a little look at this one since it was identified as being peculiarly uncritical.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

20. Historically, the English prevailed by setting Scots against Scots. Trump will do the same.

[Joey Liberal]

23. Trump is an evil fool.

He's rich and evil. A bad combination.

[baldguy]

24. No "Local Hero" then, huh?

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

35. Exactly what I was thinking

[amuse bouche]

26. Creepy Trump

needs a good ass kicking

[Initech]

27. But is he the son of an orangutan?

[lob1]

30. That's maybe the funniest bit Maher has ever done.

[joelz]

28. Poster child

for ugly American,hope he keeps his grubby little paws off of Canada

[whathehell]

37. Is this to say that

you have no "ugly Canadians"?

[Generic Other]

29. It's rentable on Amazon

It really makes Trump look like a lowlife.

[jmowreader]

31. Hang on a second here...

Isn't Donald Trump building a golf resort in Scotland like Disney building a Revolutionary War Battlefield theme park on an actual Revolutionary War battlefield? You know he's not planning to respect the traditions of the game.

[Initech]

32. Donald Trump has become a professional troll.

[supercats]

33. Donald Trump Is Just A Despicable Human Being

He needs to be put down...for good. I am not suggesting killing him, I mean put down so harshly and thoroughly that even he will be too embarrassed to speak in public again.

[Marie Marie]

34. I wish that too but it will never happen.

The man has zero self-awareness and has proven time and time again that he has no shame. Must be "in his genes".

[riverbendviewgal]

36. i been to Scotland

It is so beautiful and the trump is not. I will see the doc. And I like that magazine.. Thanks for posting.

[raouldukelives]

38. Greed, personified. nt