Tag Archives: Germany

Musical Chairs in the White House, by Philip Giraldi

Posted on February 26, 2020 | Leave a comment

Richard Grenell is the spitting image of Neidermeyer in Animal House (1978 version). Will Grenell be as big a dork as Neidermeyer? Time will tell, most government types are dorks. From Philip Giraldi at unz.com:

Neidermeyer

Grenell and Trump

Here in the Land of Oz, otherwise known as Washington, one continues to run into people who should know better who insist that they have a friend in the White House who confirms that President Donald Trump is really a man of peace being obstructed as he seeks to withdraw the United States from senseless wars in Asia. They argue that the Deep State or Establishment, to include the media, are so blinded by Trump Derangement Syndrome that they cannot get behind his policies even when they would be good for Americans.

The problem with that argument is that there have been clear instances when the president could have followed through on pledges to reduce troop levels or withdraw completely from war zones before reversing himself and doubling down rather than doing the right thing. One need only cite the increases in numbers of combatants in both the Middle East and Afghanistan and the reversal of an initial decision to stage a complete withdrawal from Syria which instead turned into a move to occupy the country’s oil fields.

Others might argue that Trump reveals himself through his quixotic decision making and his willingness to play brinksmanship with powerful opponents as if he were upping the ante over a real estate transaction. Withdrawing with the JCPOA nuclear agreement with Iran was a major blunder, recognized as such by nearly every country in the world with the usual exception of Israel, while Trump’s repeated offers to talk with the Ayatollah reflect willful ignorance of Iranian political dynamics. The White House apparently considered the assassination of an Iranian Major General to be an inducement to the Persians to come to the table to discuss a broad range of disagreements.

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Posted in Cronyism, Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, Government, Intelligence, Politics

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The Long Shadow of World War I and America’s War on Dissent, Parts 1 and 2, Danny Sjursen

Posted on February 21, 2020 | Leave a comment

World War I was not just an unnecessary war for the US, it also sparked a dramatic diminution of Americans’ civil liberties, setting some of the precedents used to justify later abominations, including the Patriot Act. From Danny Sjursen at antiwar.com:

Part 1

“War is the health of the state.” So said the eerily prescient and uncompromising antiwar radical Randolph Bourne in the very midst of what Europeans called the Great War, a nihilistic conflict that eventually consumed the lives of at least 9 million soldiers, including some 50,000 Americans. He meant, ultimately, that wars – especially foreign wars – inevitably increase the punitive and regulatory power of government. He opposed what Americans commonly term the First World War on those principled grounds. Though he’d soon die a premature death, Bourne had correctly predicted the violations of civil liberties, deceptive propaganda, suppression of immigrants, vigilantism, and press restriction that would result on the home front, even as tens of thousands of American boys were slaughtered in the trenches of France.

This, the war on the free press, free speech, and dissent more generally, is the true legacy of the American war in Europe (1917–18). More disturbing, in the wake of 9/11 and Washington’s two-decade-old wars for the Greater Middle East, the dark, twisted, underbelly of World War I’s legacy has again reared its ugly head. Bipartisan, interventionist presidential administrations – unilaterally tyrannical in foreign affairs – from George W. Bush to Barrack Obama to Donald Trump have sought mammoth expansions of executive power, suppressed civil liberties, trampled on the Constitution, and waged outright war on the press.

All this was done – in 1917 and today – in the name of “patriotism,” what Oscar Wilde (perhaps apocryphally) labeled the “virtue of the vicious.” World War I produced the repressive and now-infamous Espionage and Sedition Acts, along with brutal vigilante attacks on Germans and other immigrants. The 21st century’s endless wars have engendered the equally autocratic USA PATRIOT Act, and their own reinvigorated brand of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim abuses. It is for this reason that a brief reflection on America’s troubled – and oft-forgotten – experience on the home front during the First World War is more relevant than ever.

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Posted in Civil Liberties, Government, History, Law, Military, Politics, War

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What Happens in Thuringia, Won’t Stay in Thuringia, by Tom Luongo

Posted on February 16, 2020 | 1 comment

The old order is melting away in Germany. From Tom Luongo at tomluongo.me:

Last week I outlined why Thuringia was ground zero for seismic shifts in German politics. The fallout from the bombshell dropped on Chancellor Angela Merkel continues this week.

First Merkel had to remove hand-picked successor Annagret Kramp-Karrenbauer from leading the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) because she is inept.

Now, the head of the CDU state party in Thuringia, Mike Mohring, has stepped down, another casualty of Merkel’s iron-fisted policies to deny parties outside of her purview from entering the German political mainstream.

Mohring understood that there was no coalition in Thuringia without the CDU climbing down off its high horse and making a deal with either euroskeptic parties which dominated the polls there — Die Linke or Alternative for Germany (AfD).

And, according to this article from Zeit Online (English translated version by Deepl is here) Mohring tried to work with everyone to come up with a solution which didn’t end in tears.

But none of those were acceptable to Merkel because not only did she make an alliance with AfD verboten for the local CDU, so was any alliance with Die Linke, who were the winners in the election.

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Posted in Government, Politics

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The Unexpected Consequences Of Germany’s Anti-Nuclear Push, by Irina Slav

Posted on January 20, 2020 | 1 comment

How about that, there are no free lunches in energy production. From Irina Slav at oilprice.com:

Nuclear plant Germany

Germany, the poster child for renewable energy, sourcing close to half of its electricity from renewable sources, plans to close all of its nuclear power plants by 2022. Its coal-fired plants, meanwhile, will be operating until 2038. According to a study from the U.S. non-profit National Bureau of Economic Research, Germany is paying dearly for this nuclear phase-out–with human lives.

The study looked at electricity generation data between 2011 and 2017 to assess the costs and benefits of the nuclear phase-out, which was triggered by the Fukushima disaster in 2011 and which to this day enjoys the support of all parliamentary powers in Europe’s largest economy. It just so happens that some costs may be higher than anticipated.

The shutting down of nuclear plants naturally requires the replacement of this capacity with something else. Despite its reputation as a leader in solar and wind, Germany has had to resort to more natural gas-powered generation and, quite importantly, more coal generation. As of mid-2019, coal accounted for almost 30 percent of Germany’s energy mix, with nuclear at 13.1 percent and gas at 9.3 percent.

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Did Macron and Johnson Negotiate a Hard Brexit in October? by Tom Luongo

Posted on December 29, 2019 | Leave a comment

A hard Brexit might be in both Macron’s and Johnson’s interests. From Tom Luongo at tomluongo.me:

Something odd is happening with Brexit. It looks like Prime Minister Boris Johnson is pushing for a hard Brexit much to my surprise.

Johnson’s strong showing in the recent election which secured the Tories its biggest majority since the days of Margaret Thatcher should have set the stage for the great Brexit bait and switch.

This has been my argument for months since Johnson became the front-runner to replace Theresa May. All Johnson had to do was manipulate events to get a majority which marginalizes the hard Brexiteers of the European Research Group (ERG).

Then he could undermine Brexit by giving back all the concessions during his subsequent negotiations with the EU over a trade deal.

This analysis should have been the correct one given the staunch opposition by the political elite in the U.K. to Brexit.

But something has changed.

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Posted in Business, Geopolitics, Governments, Insurrection, Law, Politics, Trade

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An End to the World as We Know It? by Philip Giraldi

Posted on December 25, 2019 | Leave a comment

There’s no end to the foreign policy stupidity coming out of Washington, especially policies designed to antagonize Russia. From Philip Giraldi at unz.com:

Congress and the White House compete in year-end stupidity sweepstakes

At the end of the nineteenth century, Lord Palmerston stated what he thought was obvious, that “England has no eternal friends, England has no perpetual enemies, England has only eternal and perpetual interests.” Palmerston was saying that national interests should drive the relationships with foreigners. A nation will have amicable relations most of the time with some countries and difficult relations with some others, but the bottom line should always be what is beneficial for one’s own country and people.

If Palmerston were alive today and observing the relationship of the United States of America with the rest of the world, he might well find Washington to be an exception to his rule. The U.S., to be sure, has been adept at turning adversaries into enemies and disappointing friends, and it is all done with a glib assurance that doing so will somehow bring democracy and freedom to all. Indeed, either neoliberal democracy promotion or the neoconservative version of the same have been seen as an overriding and compelling interest during the past twenty years even though the policies themselves have been disastrous and have only damaged the real interests of the American people.

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Posted in Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, Governments, History, Imperialism, Military, Money, Technology, Uncategorized, War

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Nordstream Sanctions a Sad Coda to U.S. Foreign Policy, by Tom Luongo

Posted on December 21, 2019 | Leave a comment

The US’s European satrapies are rebelling. From Tom Luongo at tomluongo.me:

The U.S. crossed the Rubicon this week. And I’m not talking about the ridiculous impeachment of President Trump for doing his job.

I’m talking about passing the NDAA with provisions to sanction ‘from hell’ anyone associated with completion of the Nordstream 2 pipeline. The U.S. is now openly dismissive as a matter of law any ally or partner who engages in economic activity it disapproves of.

We do this all the time with countries we consider rivals or who have committed ‘human rights abuses’ or contravened international laws or societal norms.

But this is about a simple commercial transaction. Yes, it has geopolitical implications, but those are secondary. No one will be harmed by Nordstream 2, The real harm is to the U.S.’s ability to bring political pressure on European countries to adopt its anti-Russian policies.

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US Concedes Defeat On Russia’s Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Even As Sanctions Passed, by Tyler Durden

Posted on December 19, 2019 | Leave a comment

The Russians and Europeans are refusing to dance to the US government’s tune. From Tyler Durden at zerohedge.com:

A new Bloomberg headline reads “U.S. Concedes Defeat on Gas Pipeline It Sees as Russian Threat” just following new sanctions included in the House and Senate passed 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week.

But two administration officials tell Bloomberg it’s too little too late, despite Trump’s heightened rhetoric of calling Germany “a captive to Russia” and charging Berlin with essentially giving “billions” of dollars to Russia:

Senior U.S. administration officials, who asked not to be identified discussing the administration’s take on the project, said sanctions that passed Congress on Tuesday as part of a defense bill are too late to have any effect. The U.S. instead will try to impose costs on other Russian energy projects, one of the officials added.

Image via nord-stream2.com/Unian

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Germany: All EU Members Must Take in Migrants, by Soeren Kern

Posted on December 5, 2019 | 1 comment

Germany wants its immigration policies in force throughout the EU, no exceptions. Several Eastern Europe states are resisting. From Soeren Kern at gatestoneinstitute.org:

  • The continuing debate over migration is, at its core, about European federalism and the degree to which the European Union will be allowed to usurp decision-making powers from its 28 member states.
  • If everything goes according to plan, the draft legislation would be adopted by the European Parliament in the second half of 2020 when Germany holds the presidency of the EU. It would then be ratified by the European Council, made up of the leaders of the EU member states.
  • “We fundamentally reject illegal migration. We also reject allowing smuggling gangs to decide who will live in Europe.” — Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.
  • “The V4’s [Visegrád group: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia] position is clear. We are not willing to admit any illegal migrants into central Europe. The success and security of central Europe is thanks to our pursuit of a firm anti-migration policy, and this will endure…. Hungarians insist on our right to decide whom to allow into our country and with whom we wish to live.” — Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has unveiled a new plan to reform the European asylum system. A leaked draft of the proposal shows that all member states of the EU would be required to take in illegal migrants. (Photo by Michele Tantussi/Getty Images)

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has unveiled a new plan to reform the European asylum system. A draft of the proposal leaked to the media shows that all member states of the European Union would be required to take in illegal migrants.

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Posted in Crime, Economy, Geopolitics, Governments, History, Labor, Law, Politics

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Germany is the Rotten Heart of Europe, by Tom Luongo

Posted on December 4, 2019 | Leave a comment

Germany has used the EU For its own ends. From Tom Luongo at tomluongo.me.com:

germany-rotten-heart-car-exports

The crisis in Europe will come from Germany. Germany has entered a period of political crisis that, as yet, has not exploded.

But the pyre is built, the torches lit and all that remains is dragging Chancellor Angela Merkel up and setting the whole thing on fire.

For those that want to understand the fundamental impulses which have led the European Union to where it is today and Germany’s central role one really needs to read Bernard Connolly’s “The Rotten Heart of Europe.”

It’s a book that damns pretty much everyone in their monomaniacal drive for the European Project but, Germany, in particular, to me, comes across the worst.

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