despite all of the screeching and hysteria, Trump is having an oddly normalising effect on what I would call pragmatic populist politics in general. the Trump Effect.
That intimate NY schmoozer quality to his press conferences is so soothing (and of course for me familiar), and it was hilarious the other day--he mildly (!) rebuked a reporter who'd interrupted him and the guy took it like an instructable 12-year-old eager to become civilized. There was zero rancor on either side.
Though all of us have suffered so badly during the past four years, I think in political terms everything unfolded as necessary. No comfort for the dead but there never is, in this part of the universe anyway.
I disagree. That day in Butler when he finally met his moment and achieved nobility of manhood lasted maybe ten minutes. He was back to petty nonsenses before November rose over the mountains.
But he's done now with the mainstream GOP he surrendered to the first time around. He's assembled one ruthless crew of wreckers and rebuilders. And that was always what I'd hoped for--that he smashes both parties so they can never regroup again. Let's just hope we are seeing the era of the independent voter growing to be the dominant type.
I very much admire Massie as a guy who sticks to his principles, impervious to the fury of his peers.
But part of that is because he's another one o' them autistic geniuses whose value to society is in strictly delineated ways. They need to be surrounded with equally strong-willed but more normal colleagues who can yank 'em back from the precipice as necessary.
As I keep noting, I myself trashed my principles when it became necessary to do so. There are several positions I have that any honest person would note are inherently incompatible--nay, hypocritical!--with a belief in individual liberty, but life is like that.
Yes, I saw and enjoyed that as well. I'm not from USA but I totally understand what you mean about this being a return to 'business as usual'. USA is back baby!!
Well. I fer damn sure hope it's not business as usual but a little bit of justice and honesty. And the dominating force of the US is something our host has often examined with a not so favorable eye. Sometimes it's good, and often it ain't.
Of course, there's lots not to like. But under Biden, USA was like a damp squib. Now there's a feeling of hope that somethings are actually going to get done.
Biden and his whole administration became extremely dark and depressing. It's hard to explain, but things do feel different now. More happiness, positivity and hope, I would say. To some degree we feel like we are back on track after an aberrant interlude.
I disagree. I have noted the suffering for at least twenty years.
Before that I was interested in other things and did not notice the pain, despite having read Ayn Rand four decades ago.
In my present situation I am impressed and amused by the Trump effect. Our national newspaper of record, the G&M, had a headline the other day asking if we could welcome the LGBT93 like Vietnam draft dodgers because Donald Trump was so mean!
Same. Easier said than done, though. Bills for all of these measures will surely be introduced, and our Congressmen will reveal their position by voting one way or another. Keep an eye on that, and be prepared to hold them accountable.
Yes. Isn't that something when you go from not knowing who's running the country to basically a 24/7 livestream POTUS? Americans aren't the only ones watching and aware of this. There's something to be said about leadership.
None of this shit is hard. Trumps making it look easy because he's just replacing nonsense with common sense. I think the biggest cultural shift is now people are unafraid to say what they have known to be true, but we're worried about saying for fear of reprisal.
If you look at every poll in the US, since Trump won, it shows 55-64% of people want immediate mass deportations....compared to mid 30% just months before. So I think that somewhat supports my thesis.
The other factor is when "asylum" is used as a route to economic migration, it can cause deep resentment in the host community...especially when you're importing violence. Plus people are starting to see that mass migration gives a blank check to put anything the politicians don't feel like addressing in the memory hole.
Lastly if you do not put clear limits on migration its inevitable that people start to feel like strangers in their own land.
But I wouldn't trust, any these politicians, that are suddenly singing a different tune, who might as well be the spawn of serial killers and clowns.
That said, I'm starting to get bullish on the Trump effect (and Elon) and how it could make lasting changes in Germany.
Most men and women raised in tribal Afghanistan, in over-populated and war-ravaged Syria, or in a village on the Gambia river simply lack the BIOS (innate character and IQ) and basic operating system (socialization and education) to function in a Western society. This of course is precisely why they were imported by the millions: as cat’s paws to undermine established society, and to rub the noses of the hoi polloi in ostentatious displays of unfairness.
I remember going to the ladies swimming hour in my former country in Europe - my friend and I were the only Belgian Belgians - all the rest were Muslim girls and women who dare not go to mixed swimming. Strange enough, the girls were accompanied by their brothers, who sat cheering in the visitor's seats. We only went that one time, feeling indeed strangers in our own country.
The only people who could legitimately claim asylum by walking into the US are Mexicans and Canadians, unless either of those countries become *so* toxic that they can no longer be considered adequately safe. You know, a "shithole country". I recall Trump got lot of flak for referring to Mexico as such. Since in their own words it is not, anyone from Central or South America who has been in Mexico is required by the very treaty that everyone cites to insist that we allow unlimited migration to the US to request asylum in Mexico instead, if not much, much sooner. "First safe country". It's in there. I will absolutely grant that Venezuela is a miserable shithole. Anyone who has walked to the US from Venezuela has passed through a minimum of seven other countries before they got to our border. Am I supposed to believe that *all* of them are irredeemable hellholes? Am I supposed to believe that the *left* believes they are all irredeemable hellholes, and would admit that they believe that out loud?
Everything depends on the quality of the henchguys one chooses. He had no one of the right temperament before.
The charisma he has is something other than leadership. He remains the same deeply-damaged insecure man who has a very hard time restraining himself from fucking it all up.
I think it's significant that Melania's all in now. We should be real grateful about that.
Melania was with him on his visits to two disaster areas today...second one being L.A. fire areas. I don't remember seeing her participate with him in this way before. I was happy to see that, too.
The election was only the first step. And this time around he's drawn some very big personalities to his side and that will be an ongoing challenge. He will not be able to subordinate Elon to his will and Elon is not temperamentally suited to being the lesser one on a project.
This is not the least of the reasons I keep saying it's up to all of us now. If we don't master the terrain in all of our own localities--and most especially the school boards and permitting authorities--the guy at the top won't be able to force a generational change.
That was my impression too: "The centre-right CDU are suddenly – without warning – reconsidering their long-standing tabu against cooperating with the “extreme right” opposition". Is "suddenly -- without warning" translatable as "because Donald Trump won and he is playing a whole new ball-game of hard-as-it-gets hardball"? Bullies speak that language and therefore understand that language.
It's not just the bully aspect of everything they've done. It's when idiocy is confronted by someone big enough to say "fuck that shit" and not be forced to swallow it.
I agree with that, but also believe we have entered the Era of Warlords, and that Trump is, by the accident of his born nature and temperament, a warlord. I hope age will not have mellowed that aspect of him, because we (the honest, law-abiding public) NEED a warlord (what the Russians call "krisha" or roof) in our corner right now. Our enemies are the worst form of soulless, go-for-broke, Machiavellian-Alinskyite monsters. They will do anything, constrained by literally nothing.
QUOTE: “Our enemies … will do anything, constrained by literally nothing.”
Precisely. A civilized society depends very largely on a CONSENSUS OF SELF-RESTRAINT to function. Executive, Legislature and Judiciary (and individual citizens) must each act with conscious self-restraint. Laws only work if the overwhelming majority remain law-abiding.
Instead, we’ve been seeing an ideology-driven culture of UNRESTRAINED maximization of power by a functionary class spanning all branches and levels of government, and big enterprise.
I agree: a healthy, flourishing, self-reliant and DEMOCRATIC society would not require strongmen. But consider that our Western society has been quietly rendered weak, fractured, confused, and shockingly incapable of reason. In this climate of willed ignorance, we have been taught to sneer at "strong men", and all this while not-strong, but SOCIOPATHIC, men stealthily lay the groundwork for a moment in which the technocratic rules & structures they put in place will be revealed as our prison cell.
The appearance of Trump-the-Strongman cuts through the brain fog to remind us what is really at stake, and how a primitive fight will be required to defeat those trying to enslave us.
Well, he's far less a warlord than a "you can't make me" sort of guy, and we should not forget his weaknesses and deficiencies. I continue delighted that I whored out my integrity for the sake of my nation (and the world too, I guess) and I didn't imperil my dainties all for nothing, but I'd ripped 'em off not swooning but because the moment required it.
In a similar vein, 'However ineffectual, however cosmetic, however experimental, however likely to run afoul of the European Court of Justice'... The European Union is another bully that will likely crumple at the first sign of serious resistance.
Never forget that Friedrich Merz “has served on the boards of numerous companies, including BlackRock Germany.”
It is said that there is no such thing as “ex-CIA.” Once CIA, always CIA. Same goes for BlackRock.
As a good BlackRock boy, Merz will work hard and smart to run his country further into the ground, demoralize the native population, and destroy the productive economy, all so BlackRock can pick up land, property and enterprises for pennies on the dollar.
BlackRock will have cultivated a network of sleeper agents who will pop out of the woodwork the second they are summoned.
I don't trust them. Here's why. Just yesterday at the WEF, Spain's PM (yes, 'that' Spain that is part of BRICS 🤣 ), called for huge clamp down on internet usage/digital ID. The EU is counting on this as THE weapon, at least in the short term. There are 'work arounds' and they will soon go after those who use them. IMHO, if WE are clever they will be playing Whack A Mole for years to come. Controlling the masses with drugs, alcohol, factory food, porn, clicks and likes, all dopamine-rich rushes I might add, has not been nearly as effective as planned. Even the oncologic mRNA shots that Trump and American 'Captains of Industry" (don't call them oligarchs) keep pumping, didn't work as planned, but let's give that another 3-5 years.
If your opponent is showing their hand, there is a reason. It is a ploy.
Don't get too ahead of yourself. I just read a screeching article on MSN about how 2024 was the hottest year on planet Earth. They even rolled out the SG of the UN to tell us how we have to do something, NOW! Whether it's climate hysterics or open borders fanatics, these people will not go quietly.
Trump is rocking the boat. Several rats already flew overboard, or jumped ship. It seems ripples are getting all the way to Europe. All well, but is this Alice Weidel to be trusted? competent? I read a rather negative article last week about her. Not another Meloni?
And mind you, in the real world I do think vigilante justice has its place. You catch someone in the act of raping a child or torturing a cat...they've used up their right to life.
Do not accept the leftist lie that self-defense and the defense of others is "vigilante justice." They are not the same thing. Vigilante justice seeks revenge/justice for a crime after it has occurred, while self-defense seeks termination of a crime in progress.
I realize that it is very, very low of me, but I have long thought that it would be fitting if his entire family were killed, but *he* was left alive. He'd suffer more that way.
Wouldn’t Europeans watching ICE begin detaining illegal immigrants in Boston etc. not think to themselves “Well, why couldn’t we do that too?”, and the German government will be only too aware of this. That Fox News clip posted in yesterday’s comments was very revealing.
Strangely enough, the folks working in my group at a facility working on the *ahem* "Nuclear Deterrence Mission" manage to go into the office every single day.Of course, technically, we aren't actually "government employees" either.
Mannheim was the turning point. You could feel the difference. The media held its breath for quite a long time before the ritual worrying about the "backlash against peaceful M____s." Since then those have become very quiet indeed. If Mannheim was the turning point, was Aschaffenburg the tipping point? I am unconvinced. I think the normies will take a lot more pain before they will dare do anything "racist". If it is the tipping point, did come too early (or too late) to drive the complete policy reversal we desperately need? Ultimately Merz knows his proposal is largely for show. Much of what he wants is the (deliberately unenforced) law anyway. Or does he really mean it? Who knows.
We are now in totally uncharted territory. Both Merz and Weidel must be terrified of making a misstep at this point, but no one else's next move is predictable any longer. Neither is what impact their own choices will have. Personally I think Alice should have waited before offering cooperation to the CDU. This comes with the risk of not being able to hold the CDU's feet to the fire after the election, and also with the risk that the legislation fails and the CDU can then say for the next four years "The Bundestag already voted on this we must respect that decision, our package, therefore settled policy is to continue with Merkel's Million M____m Men a year". To play six-dimensional political chess, that might even be the AfD's game plan, with an eye on 2029. My hunch is the legislation gets tabled but oh unfortunately there is no time, or some procedural reason, so we can't quite get the vote done before the election. Maybe AfD will tactically propose an amendment, the Brandmauer goes straight back up, but that could backfire politically, as well as knowingly condemning Germany to another four years of this shit.
The normies heads must be totally spinning. Last week Eastasia was the enemy, this week Eurasia. Internal saboteurs must have been claiming the AfD are "far right", filling the government propaganda networks with this disinformation. Someone is going to have to feed them some soma soon, or heads will start to explode.
I am completely in favour of religiously doubting anything CDU says, but the words alone matter. They have crossed the rubicon in an important way here, admitted that you can indeed work with the AfD – and not only at the district or even the state level, but federally. Hard to undo that, whatever happens.
Stealing your enemies' ideas when they are catching up with you in the polls prior to elections and then ignoring them when you win is business as usual in politics. So this could be what happens here. The German system is so complicated though with the voters seemingly having little say in what government eventuates following the federal elections, its' hard to know what is going on.
Apropos of DJT, I asked Google's Gemini AI to list the living US Presidents who attended Jimmy Carter's funeral and DJT was not listed. The establishment is very invested in the status quo, so Germany is in for a long slog.
Gemini is entirely useless. A few friends asked it before 1/20/24 what day the inauguration was and its reply: Sorry, I can’t help with political topics right now. It’s utterly useless. Well, worse than useless if it can’t admit that Trump was at Carter’s funeral. Don’t even consider using it other than to show yourself how twisted it is.
What impact do you think this will have on the "Ban AfD" momentum? Probably no impact on ineffectual Green/SPD huffing, but this presumably totally and irrevocably derails the actual manoeuvering of the various Union-adjacent constitutional protectors. It also immediately opens the door to coalitions at the State level.
i was thinking about that – no idea, to be honest. the more CDU find achievable majorities with AfD convenient, the less the party will want to see anything like a ban happen. the most immediate impact has to be in the east, like here in Thüringen, where the CDU are forced into these awkward coalitions with BSW that nobody in the CDU really wants. I would think nobody can begrudge a CDU state faction doing anything with AfD votes now.
I was just tweeting about the very muted reaction from SPD and Greens to this development. I think they're desperate to get migration out of the campaign and perhaps even quietly gave the nod to this in advance. Ulf Poschardt at Welt is working overtime to sell this to the average CDU Springer enthusiast (if not the average Welt comment section enjoyer, all those guys seem to be on AfD side): The line is that they're taking a winning election issue away from AfD.
Everything suggests this is actually a real development and they want to pass some tough-sounding laws next week, actually with AfD votes. We'll see I guess.
"The line is that they're taking a winning election issue away from AfD." This notion makes sense to us with long memories in the U.S., as such an attitude was prevalent, and considered smart political advice, in the U.S. in the '90s. Bill Clinton was notorious for co-opting the winning policy preferences of his opponents, which turned the elections into personality contests, which he easily won against Perot & HW Bush and against Perot & Dole.
in the context of German politics, I'll take it. it is like when Merkel in the CDU spent years stealing Green issues and we had nothing but Green politics for years in CDU guise. now CDU is stealing AfD issues, it is anyway a start.
I wonder if Reform in the UK is in a similar position to AfD. Will either of these parties ever be large enough to dominate, or are they destined to be influential gadflies only? And does it matter?
For the past three months I have included a bootleg remixed techno version of “Ausländer Raus!” into my workout music at the gym every morning. Sending psychic power, you see.
But however much I might therefore claim credit for this welcome development, there is no need to thank me. I am a humble soul.
And isn't fate strange. The (now perhaps no longer neverending) Plague Era brought all of us, from everywhere, together as we endured the collective idiocies of our political morons and Cowards and Shills of Science, and it ruined any chance Trump might've had to be successful the first time, but he sure learned outside of the job and he's back now as the leader of the Golden Mar-a-Lago Hordes. And there's no one in the world's "liberal democracies" who can go chest-to-chest with him.
Excellent political analysis, as always. But I’m still confused as to whether there are economic underpinnings for bringing in the migrants. In the U.S., pro-immigration forces in both parties say they are needed to do jobs everyday Americans find too difficult or distasteful to do. Why are the migrants in Germany? What’s the rationale? Thank you.
Mass migration to Europe was at least sold to the centre-right as a scheme to forestall labour shortages and keep pension schemes solvent, but the nature of the migrants is totally different, dynamics aren't really comparable to the US. In Germany, they're very poorly integrated into the labour force, in part because of old certification rules from like 20 years ago intended to protect German workers from migrant competition, in part because of serious language and cultural dislocation. Also, we have an extremely generous social welfare system – much more generous than in America. So, migrants who don't work end up costing the state an enormous amount of money. Mass migration is a massive net drain on state budgets, there's really not much economic upside, and increasingly not even the hope of any. This has also served to turn political sentiment against it.
Americans watch this with a degree of puzzlement because America was built on migration.
The difference is, the average migrant that built America spent all he had on a one-way ticket. It was, to all intents and purposes, a life or death gamble. Moving into a system with essentially no welfare provision, stand on your own two feet. It self-selected for ambitious, brave risk-takers. 1800s America's selling point was "there is nothing here, come and build the life you want". 2000s Europe's selling point is "our taxpayers will give you a better standard of living for nothing than you have at home."
Totally different situation, and we essentially select for migration from the least able and likely to contribute from other societies, rather than the top end.
yes exactly this. "Migration" shouldn't be too easy, or else you are just importing people who, dare I say it, are lazy. That's why Dems use the cover story of "asylum/refugee" as if we are "rescuing victims" of a disaster and therefore must help them and can't afford to be too picky. Americans are generous and helpful by nature and would never say no to the genuine victims of an earthquake or to the defectors who escape an evil dictator. Our kind nature has been turned against in order to just bring in more people, any kind of people, from the worst places, for reasons totally unknown to us.
The problem is also family reunification laws, which were liberalised everywhere at different points over the past few decades. This has led to chain migration which consists of parents, siblings, and children all being brought in, perfectly legally. Migrants also frequently bring over a spouse from their home country, and eventually the spouse's family can also be brought over.
The UK has brought in tons of people from Africa and South Asia in the past few years to do low-paid work (known as the "Boriswave"). Within 5 years these individuals can apply for indefinite leave to remain and a year later they can get naturalised. And then they can apply to bring over family members.
A good starting point would be to tighten these laws.
I believe the reason is to create more grateful Democratic voters requiring no voter ID, and thus for an instant majority providing that they migrate to other states to swing states and even to red states.
"The difference is, the average migrant that built America spent all he had on a one-way ticket. It was, to all intents and purposes, a life or death gamble."
Not really, at least for some groups. For example, a fair percentage of Italian immigrants returned to Italy:
Thank you. It is what I gathered from afar but I’m grateful for the explainer. If there are stats on social welfare costs and migrant unemployment they only strengthen your case. But maybe what you’re really saying is that everybody knows the score but are unable or unwilling to do anything about it. Trump was elected to do something about it.
Have TPTB in Germany ever stated how many migrants they want to allow in? Do they even have a limit? The progs in the Biden administration would never stipulate any kind of number.
Way worse, CMCM. They denied there was ever a surge (a minimum of 8 million in 4 years). Mayorkas lies as effortlessly as he breathes. He should be in jail.
All Western countries have consciously and intentionally refrained from excluding “refugees” and outright illegals from eligibility for social “programs” paid for by the native working population.
Can we observe the US prompted wars in Libya, Syria, Afghanistan prompted this wave of migrants? In my opinion, the migrant wave was probably a foreseeable and intentional US policy. Perhaps a choice between either losing control of Europe or harming Europe was in play.
Trust, but verify. In other words unless and until something very concrete and tangible occurs with respect to this more muscular anti-migration proposals, BEFORE the election, I would not be convinced of its sincerity.
“Show me your faith by your works, not just your words.”
That being said, the news and images of Trump’s crackdown on illegals here in the USA, could help to deliver some gravely needed spine to the CDU, et al, to get with the program.
Great article! (as always). And no, it wasn't too long - it was an excellent read.
"In liberal democracies, policies have to be normie-friendly, and mass migrationism was normie-friendly only until enough migrants crossed our borders to make their presence felt socially and culturally. Mass migration isn’t normie-friendly anymore. It’s become a foul political poison."
Again this reminds me of the Phil Ochs lyrics from the song "Love Me I'm A Liberal": "...as long as they don't live next door."
I hope things turn out well in the Bundestag. If the "Liberal" parties crush the potential for migration legislation just before the February elections, we can hope for political cartoons showing the heads of such parties standing on the graves of the recent migrant murder victims, holding a bloody knife in one hand and a sign in the other saying "CDU party members are xenophobic, Islamophobic bigots!"
Your remark about outsourcing to international institutions is very much on the mark. What German leaders need to recognize, is that in fact none of these things matter - what matters is who commands actual force. Yes, I am sounding a bit fascistic but frankly I don't care, the tool for the job is what it is, and its an ugly job so it needs an ugly tool
Germany is also the dominant EU power, they have a lot of weight to throw around if they want to. But, that requires rock-solid political resolve nationally, which is precisely what the cordon sanitaire prevents.
'there is still, just sitting on the fucking shelf, a theoretical majority that could do something'
'The theoretical Bundestag majority to do something about mass migration already exists. Why wait until the new government? How many lives is the cordon sanitaire worth?'
That doesn't sound histrionic to me. It sounds sensible, and quite literally true ('literally' not used lightly).
The ridiculous name "cordon sanitaire" surely does not help with these things. There's nothing unsanitary about the AfD so why use that term? A better and more accurate term would be "refusal to cooperate".
A simpler and more accurate term would be CARTEL: existing operators conspiring against competition by a new entrant, and thus depriving consumers/citizens of better choices.
Yes I know, I speak German. I mean both terms whether you use the French or German are pretty stupid. The right is neither unsanitary nor an out of control fire. These are terms chosen by the left and then meekly adopted by everyone else. Never use left wing terms! That lets them set the tone of the engagement.
I mostly disagree: at least for those of us with some historical and international awareness, using the Left's ridiculous term just rubs in how ridiculous it is.
It's somewhat akin to things like the folks here in the US adopting Hillary Clinton's intended insult "deplorables" as a badge of honor.
Old cynic that I am, I regard this as a prime example of of the infamous 'dead-cat-on-the-table' electioneering strategy. The 'dead cat' is thrown by the CDU which, yes, is desperate to get more votes, their number having shrunk in the last poll, IIRC.
It also very nicely distracts from all the other important issues, such as the state of the economy, Dunkelflauten and other green madnesses, and the ever increasing EU "Richtlinien", for example regarding AI and the internet.
The aim is gain votes for the CDU from those who're fence-sitting regarding the AfD, because now that the CDU head honchos are saying this, surely it's no longer necessary to vote for the AfD?
And then, come the Monday after the elections, there'll be the same old black-red-green mafia at the levers of power...
I’ll come back and read the whole thing later.
Just wanted to say that Trump’s election victory might just actually manage to begin to save Germany too.
despite all of the screeching and hysteria, Trump is having an oddly normalising effect on what I would call pragmatic populist politics in general. the Trump Effect.
That intimate NY schmoozer quality to his press conferences is so soothing (and of course for me familiar), and it was hilarious the other day--he mildly (!) rebuked a reporter who'd interrupted him and the guy took it like an instructable 12-year-old eager to become civilized. There was zero rancor on either side.
Though all of us have suffered so badly during the past four years, I think in political terms everything unfolded as necessary. No comfort for the dead but there never is, in this part of the universe anyway.
I think Donald's brush with death put a fire under his ass and made him feel somewhat invincible. There's no time to play around.
I disagree. That day in Butler when he finally met his moment and achieved nobility of manhood lasted maybe ten minutes. He was back to petty nonsenses before November rose over the mountains.
But he's done now with the mainstream GOP he surrendered to the first time around. He's assembled one ruthless crew of wreckers and rebuilders. And that was always what I'd hoped for--that he smashes both parties so they can never regroup again. Let's just hope we are seeing the era of the independent voter growing to be the dominant type.
This. Smash 'em both. It's our only hope Obe One Kenobi...
Let's also hope we don't build back worser.
of course some decent candidates should pop up. Not much there now. Massie may be?
I very much admire Massie as a guy who sticks to his principles, impervious to the fury of his peers.
But part of that is because he's another one o' them autistic geniuses whose value to society is in strictly delineated ways. They need to be surrounded with equally strong-willed but more normal colleagues who can yank 'em back from the precipice as necessary.
As I keep noting, I myself trashed my principles when it became necessary to do so. There are several positions I have that any honest person would note are inherently incompatible--nay, hypocritical!--with a belief in individual liberty, but life is like that.
Yes, I saw and enjoyed that as well. I'm not from USA but I totally understand what you mean about this being a return to 'business as usual'. USA is back baby!!
Well. I fer damn sure hope it's not business as usual but a little bit of justice and honesty. And the dominating force of the US is something our host has often examined with a not so favorable eye. Sometimes it's good, and often it ain't.
Of course, there's lots not to like. But under Biden, USA was like a damp squib. Now there's a feeling of hope that somethings are actually going to get done.
Biden and his whole administration became extremely dark and depressing. It's hard to explain, but things do feel different now. More happiness, positivity and hope, I would say. To some degree we feel like we are back on track after an aberrant interlude.
Hence that whoring of mine, and why I continue to feel all sparkly.
... past four years.
I disagree. I have noted the suffering for at least twenty years.
Before that I was interested in other things and did not notice the pain, despite having read Ayn Rand four decades ago.
In my present situation I am impressed and amused by the Trump effect. Our national newspaper of record, the G&M, had a headline the other day asking if we could welcome the LGBT93 like Vietnam draft dodgers because Donald Trump was so mean!
I am speaking of Our Plague Era specifically.
It is not a bad thing to have Trump on your side after all. I'm happy to see him using all the power he can find.
it should be made into law though, otherwise a next president can turn it all around again, like was done 4 years ago.
Same. Easier said than done, though. Bills for all of these measures will surely be introduced, and our Congressmen will reveal their position by voting one way or another. Keep an eye on that, and be prepared to hold them accountable.
Fascinating to watch, actually. Not only in Germany, but also various other places.
That sounds like good news. Which other countries?
France, the Netherlands, and Sweden to name a few. Hungary, Italy and Argentina are ahead of the game, and so is India, in its own way.
Yes. Isn't that something when you go from not knowing who's running the country to basically a 24/7 livestream POTUS? Americans aren't the only ones watching and aware of this. There's something to be said about leadership.
None of this shit is hard. Trumps making it look easy because he's just replacing nonsense with common sense. I think the biggest cultural shift is now people are unafraid to say what they have known to be true, but we're worried about saying for fear of reprisal.
If you look at every poll in the US, since Trump won, it shows 55-64% of people want immediate mass deportations....compared to mid 30% just months before. So I think that somewhat supports my thesis.
The other factor is when "asylum" is used as a route to economic migration, it can cause deep resentment in the host community...especially when you're importing violence. Plus people are starting to see that mass migration gives a blank check to put anything the politicians don't feel like addressing in the memory hole.
Lastly if you do not put clear limits on migration its inevitable that people start to feel like strangers in their own land.
But I wouldn't trust, any these politicians, that are suddenly singing a different tune, who might as well be the spawn of serial killers and clowns.
That said, I'm starting to get bullish on the Trump effect (and Elon) and how it could make lasting changes in Germany.
Most men and women raised in tribal Afghanistan, in over-populated and war-ravaged Syria, or in a village on the Gambia river simply lack the BIOS (innate character and IQ) and basic operating system (socialization and education) to function in a Western society. This of course is precisely why they were imported by the millions: as cat’s paws to undermine established society, and to rub the noses of the hoi polloi in ostentatious displays of unfairness.
they "simply lack the BIOS (innate character and IQ) and basic operating system (socialization and education) to function in a Western society"
Yes yes yes...that really nails it.
Last sentence is so spot on.
I remember going to the ladies swimming hour in my former country in Europe - my friend and I were the only Belgian Belgians - all the rest were Muslim girls and women who dare not go to mixed swimming. Strange enough, the girls were accompanied by their brothers, who sat cheering in the visitor's seats. We only went that one time, feeling indeed strangers in our own country.
The only people who could legitimately claim asylum by walking into the US are Mexicans and Canadians, unless either of those countries become *so* toxic that they can no longer be considered adequately safe. You know, a "shithole country". I recall Trump got lot of flak for referring to Mexico as such. Since in their own words it is not, anyone from Central or South America who has been in Mexico is required by the very treaty that everyone cites to insist that we allow unlimited migration to the US to request asylum in Mexico instead, if not much, much sooner. "First safe country". It's in there. I will absolutely grant that Venezuela is a miserable shithole. Anyone who has walked to the US from Venezuela has passed through a minimum of seven other countries before they got to our border. Am I supposed to believe that *all* of them are irredeemable hellholes? Am I supposed to believe that the *left* believes they are all irredeemable hellholes, and would admit that they believe that out loud?
Everything depends on the quality of the henchguys one chooses. He had no one of the right temperament before.
The charisma he has is something other than leadership. He remains the same deeply-damaged insecure man who has a very hard time restraining himself from fucking it all up.
I think it's significant that Melania's all in now. We should be real grateful about that.
Melania was with him on his visits to two disaster areas today...second one being L.A. fire areas. I don't remember seeing her participate with him in this way before. I was happy to see that, too.
In 2018 she visited a migrant detention facility but she learned fast not to open herself up to media contempt any more than was absolutely necessary.
Now she is returned in triumph to the ashes on the heads of her enemies.
Hard to argue with success tho.
The election was only the first step. And this time around he's drawn some very big personalities to his side and that will be an ongoing challenge. He will not be able to subordinate Elon to his will and Elon is not temperamentally suited to being the lesser one on a project.
This is not the least of the reasons I keep saying it's up to all of us now. If we don't master the terrain in all of our own localities--and most especially the school boards and permitting authorities--the guy at the top won't be able to force a generational change.
Agree. Well said.
That was my impression too: "The centre-right CDU are suddenly – without warning – reconsidering their long-standing tabu against cooperating with the “extreme right” opposition". Is "suddenly -- without warning" translatable as "because Donald Trump won and he is playing a whole new ball-game of hard-as-it-gets hardball"? Bullies speak that language and therefore understand that language.
It's not just the bully aspect of everything they've done. It's when idiocy is confronted by someone big enough to say "fuck that shit" and not be forced to swallow it.
I agree with that, but also believe we have entered the Era of Warlords, and that Trump is, by the accident of his born nature and temperament, a warlord. I hope age will not have mellowed that aspect of him, because we (the honest, law-abiding public) NEED a warlord (what the Russians call "krisha" or roof) in our corner right now. Our enemies are the worst form of soulless, go-for-broke, Machiavellian-Alinskyite monsters. They will do anything, constrained by literally nothing.
QUOTE: “Our enemies … will do anything, constrained by literally nothing.”
Precisely. A civilized society depends very largely on a CONSENSUS OF SELF-RESTRAINT to function. Executive, Legislature and Judiciary (and individual citizens) must each act with conscious self-restraint. Laws only work if the overwhelming majority remain law-abiding.
Instead, we’ve been seeing an ideology-driven culture of UNRESTRAINED maximization of power by a functionary class spanning all branches and levels of government, and big enterprise.
A flourishing healthy society does not need strongmen. It's obvious that our society is anything but flourishing.
I agree: a healthy, flourishing, self-reliant and DEMOCRATIC society would not require strongmen. But consider that our Western society has been quietly rendered weak, fractured, confused, and shockingly incapable of reason. In this climate of willed ignorance, we have been taught to sneer at "strong men", and all this while not-strong, but SOCIOPATHIC, men stealthily lay the groundwork for a moment in which the technocratic rules & structures they put in place will be revealed as our prison cell.
The appearance of Trump-the-Strongman cuts through the brain fog to remind us what is really at stake, and how a primitive fight will be required to defeat those trying to enslave us.
Well, he's far less a warlord than a "you can't make me" sort of guy, and we should not forget his weaknesses and deficiencies. I continue delighted that I whored out my integrity for the sake of my nation (and the world too, I guess) and I didn't imperil my dainties all for nothing, but I'd ripped 'em off not swooning but because the moment required it.
In a similar vein, 'However ineffectual, however cosmetic, however experimental, however likely to run afoul of the European Court of Justice'... The European Union is another bully that will likely crumple at the first sign of serious resistance.
A considerable number of the type that goes into bureaucratic service are utterly flummoxed when anybody tells them "no."
Never forget that Friedrich Merz “has served on the boards of numerous companies, including BlackRock Germany.”
It is said that there is no such thing as “ex-CIA.” Once CIA, always CIA. Same goes for BlackRock.
As a good BlackRock boy, Merz will work hard and smart to run his country further into the ground, demoralize the native population, and destroy the productive economy, all so BlackRock can pick up land, property and enterprises for pennies on the dollar.
BlackRock will have cultivated a network of sleeper agents who will pop out of the woodwork the second they are summoned.
I don't trust them. Here's why. Just yesterday at the WEF, Spain's PM (yes, 'that' Spain that is part of BRICS 🤣 ), called for huge clamp down on internet usage/digital ID. The EU is counting on this as THE weapon, at least in the short term. There are 'work arounds' and they will soon go after those who use them. IMHO, if WE are clever they will be playing Whack A Mole for years to come. Controlling the masses with drugs, alcohol, factory food, porn, clicks and likes, all dopamine-rich rushes I might add, has not been nearly as effective as planned. Even the oncologic mRNA shots that Trump and American 'Captains of Industry" (don't call them oligarchs) keep pumping, didn't work as planned, but let's give that another 3-5 years.
If your opponent is showing their hand, there is a reason. It is a ploy.
Don't get too ahead of yourself. I just read a screeching article on MSN about how 2024 was the hottest year on planet Earth. They even rolled out the SG of the UN to tell us how we have to do something, NOW! Whether it's climate hysterics or open borders fanatics, these people will not go quietly.
No problem -- the way Democrats are lighting California on fire, 2025 will eclipse it.
Yes, we know that. It's on us now.
Trump is rocking the boat. Several rats already flew overboard, or jumped ship. It seems ripples are getting all the way to Europe. All well, but is this Alice Weidel to be trusted? competent? I read a rather negative article last week about her. Not another Meloni?
Ha! Today he revoked Fauci's security clearance and told him he could afford his own security detail.
Good luck, Fauci.
Better put your head on a swivel.
I want him humiliated and not taken out by vigilante justice--even as I...never mind.
I agree. Dragging his reputation through the mud would be even better than throwing him in prison. Vigilante justice would just make a martyr of him.
And mind you, in the real world I do think vigilante justice has its place. You catch someone in the act of raping a child or torturing a cat...they've used up their right to life.
Do not accept the leftist lie that self-defense and the defense of others is "vigilante justice." They are not the same thing. Vigilante justice seeks revenge/justice for a crime after it has occurred, while self-defense seeks termination of a crime in progress.
Of course. I'm just being goofy.
Ignominy is forever.
Oh Ryan, I'm fully in accord with your feelings. It's too bad even here on Substack we must mind our metaphorical musings.
Indeed. We're on the same wavelength
I realize that it is very, very low of me, but I have long thought that it would be fitting if his entire family were killed, but *he* was left alive. He'd suffer more that way.
I don't know about killed. But there is no shortage of sand fleas.
I'm no stranger to the temptation of very low thoughts indeed. But I'm also very very very respectful of karma.
So I limit myself to praying for justice, and it ain't up to me to suggest how that might shake out.
Yeah, I'm not going to hope for it, I'm just saying that if it happened, I wouldn't mourn his losses.
He did the same to Pompeo as well. Those two eliminations will save the taxpayer a LOT of money each year.
$2 mil/year for each person who has security detail
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
We should train ourselves at this point to stop admiring any politician and simply say "what you got for me?"
Wouldn’t Europeans watching ICE begin detaining illegal immigrants in Boston etc. not think to themselves “Well, why couldn’t we do that too?”, and the German government will be only too aware of this. That Fox News clip posted in yesterday’s comments was very revealing.
Here, get your laugh on. This is seriously hilarious. Tom Homan is a man amongst boys. Perfect guy for the job. Germany needs a guy like this:
https://x.com/FoxNews/status/1882582159107740159?s=19
Couldn't script it any better than this.
I loved it! (And not only Germany, but the UK too.)
homan kickin ass!
We're "healing".
In other good news...
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-ends-faucis-security-detail-175704076.html
ouch!
but tony's so tiny maybe he can hide in his wife's purse
Yeah, but you'd need a shipping container for his ego...:)
https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1882715912958333358?s=19
Lmao. I could go on all day.
It'll never get old...oh my, we're being treated like everyone else...OPprEsSiOn!
Strangely enough, the folks working in my group at a facility working on the *ahem* "Nuclear Deterrence Mission" manage to go into the office every single day.Of course, technically, we aren't actually "government employees" either.
cool shades!
Mannheim was the turning point. You could feel the difference. The media held its breath for quite a long time before the ritual worrying about the "backlash against peaceful M____s." Since then those have become very quiet indeed. If Mannheim was the turning point, was Aschaffenburg the tipping point? I am unconvinced. I think the normies will take a lot more pain before they will dare do anything "racist". If it is the tipping point, did come too early (or too late) to drive the complete policy reversal we desperately need? Ultimately Merz knows his proposal is largely for show. Much of what he wants is the (deliberately unenforced) law anyway. Or does he really mean it? Who knows.
We are now in totally uncharted territory. Both Merz and Weidel must be terrified of making a misstep at this point, but no one else's next move is predictable any longer. Neither is what impact their own choices will have. Personally I think Alice should have waited before offering cooperation to the CDU. This comes with the risk of not being able to hold the CDU's feet to the fire after the election, and also with the risk that the legislation fails and the CDU can then say for the next four years "The Bundestag already voted on this we must respect that decision, our package, therefore settled policy is to continue with Merkel's Million M____m Men a year". To play six-dimensional political chess, that might even be the AfD's game plan, with an eye on 2029. My hunch is the legislation gets tabled but oh unfortunately there is no time, or some procedural reason, so we can't quite get the vote done before the election. Maybe AfD will tactically propose an amendment, the Brandmauer goes straight back up, but that could backfire politically, as well as knowingly condemning Germany to another four years of this shit.
The normies heads must be totally spinning. Last week Eastasia was the enemy, this week Eurasia. Internal saboteurs must have been claiming the AfD are "far right", filling the government propaganda networks with this disinformation. Someone is going to have to feed them some soma soon, or heads will start to explode.
I am completely in favour of religiously doubting anything CDU says, but the words alone matter. They have crossed the rubicon in an important way here, admitted that you can indeed work with the AfD – and not only at the district or even the state level, but federally. Hard to undo that, whatever happens.
Stealing your enemies' ideas when they are catching up with you in the polls prior to elections and then ignoring them when you win is business as usual in politics. So this could be what happens here. The German system is so complicated though with the voters seemingly having little say in what government eventuates following the federal elections, its' hard to know what is going on.
We have reached that curtain pull moment where
CDU says:let’s do surveillance on the AfD because they are a danger to democracy
Also CDU: Let’s vote together to control this crazy immigration to repair Germany
Like
Democrats screech: Trump is a fascist
Also Democrat Obama at Carter funeral: Ok dude let’s share a couple of laughs
Apropos of DJT, I asked Google's Gemini AI to list the living US Presidents who attended Jimmy Carter's funeral and DJT was not listed. The establishment is very invested in the status quo, so Germany is in for a long slog.
Gemini is entirely useless. A few friends asked it before 1/20/24 what day the inauguration was and its reply: Sorry, I can’t help with political topics right now. It’s utterly useless. Well, worse than useless if it can’t admit that Trump was at Carter’s funeral. Don’t even consider using it other than to show yourself how twisted it is.
What impact do you think this will have on the "Ban AfD" momentum? Probably no impact on ineffectual Green/SPD huffing, but this presumably totally and irrevocably derails the actual manoeuvering of the various Union-adjacent constitutional protectors. It also immediately opens the door to coalitions at the State level.
i was thinking about that – no idea, to be honest. the more CDU find achievable majorities with AfD convenient, the less the party will want to see anything like a ban happen. the most immediate impact has to be in the east, like here in Thüringen, where the CDU are forced into these awkward coalitions with BSW that nobody in the CDU really wants. I would think nobody can begrudge a CDU state faction doing anything with AfD votes now.
I was just tweeting about the very muted reaction from SPD and Greens to this development. I think they're desperate to get migration out of the campaign and perhaps even quietly gave the nod to this in advance. Ulf Poschardt at Welt is working overtime to sell this to the average CDU Springer enthusiast (if not the average Welt comment section enjoyer, all those guys seem to be on AfD side): The line is that they're taking a winning election issue away from AfD.
Everything suggests this is actually a real development and they want to pass some tough-sounding laws next week, actually with AfD votes. We'll see I guess.
"The line is that they're taking a winning election issue away from AfD." This notion makes sense to us with long memories in the U.S., as such an attitude was prevalent, and considered smart political advice, in the U.S. in the '90s. Bill Clinton was notorious for co-opting the winning policy preferences of his opponents, which turned the elections into personality contests, which he easily won against Perot & HW Bush and against Perot & Dole.
in the context of German politics, I'll take it. it is like when Merkel in the CDU spent years stealing Green issues and we had nothing but Green politics for years in CDU guise. now CDU is stealing AfD issues, it is anyway a start.
I wonder if Reform in the UK is in a similar position to AfD. Will either of these parties ever be large enough to dominate, or are they destined to be influential gadflies only? And does it matter?
Once you've seen the Elephant you can't un-see it.
"If it is the tipping point, did come too early (or too late) to drive the complete policy reversal we desperately need?" Perfect question!
For the past three months I have included a bootleg remixed techno version of “Ausländer Raus!” into my workout music at the gym every morning. Sending psychic power, you see.
But however much I might therefore claim credit for this welcome development, there is no need to thank me. I am a humble soul.
And isn't fate strange. The (now perhaps no longer neverending) Plague Era brought all of us, from everywhere, together as we endured the collective idiocies of our political morons and Cowards and Shills of Science, and it ruined any chance Trump might've had to be successful the first time, but he sure learned outside of the job and he's back now as the leader of the Golden Mar-a-Lago Hordes. And there's no one in the world's "liberal democracies" who can go chest-to-chest with him.
100% Trump effect ...
Excellent political analysis, as always. But I’m still confused as to whether there are economic underpinnings for bringing in the migrants. In the U.S., pro-immigration forces in both parties say they are needed to do jobs everyday Americans find too difficult or distasteful to do. Why are the migrants in Germany? What’s the rationale? Thank you.
Mass migration to Europe was at least sold to the centre-right as a scheme to forestall labour shortages and keep pension schemes solvent, but the nature of the migrants is totally different, dynamics aren't really comparable to the US. In Germany, they're very poorly integrated into the labour force, in part because of old certification rules from like 20 years ago intended to protect German workers from migrant competition, in part because of serious language and cultural dislocation. Also, we have an extremely generous social welfare system – much more generous than in America. So, migrants who don't work end up costing the state an enormous amount of money. Mass migration is a massive net drain on state budgets, there's really not much economic upside, and increasingly not even the hope of any. This has also served to turn political sentiment against it.
Americans watch this with a degree of puzzlement because America was built on migration.
The difference is, the average migrant that built America spent all he had on a one-way ticket. It was, to all intents and purposes, a life or death gamble. Moving into a system with essentially no welfare provision, stand on your own two feet. It self-selected for ambitious, brave risk-takers. 1800s America's selling point was "there is nothing here, come and build the life you want". 2000s Europe's selling point is "our taxpayers will give you a better standard of living for nothing than you have at home."
Totally different situation, and we essentially select for migration from the least able and likely to contribute from other societies, rather than the top end.
yes exactly this. "Migration" shouldn't be too easy, or else you are just importing people who, dare I say it, are lazy. That's why Dems use the cover story of "asylum/refugee" as if we are "rescuing victims" of a disaster and therefore must help them and can't afford to be too picky. Americans are generous and helpful by nature and would never say no to the genuine victims of an earthquake or to the defectors who escape an evil dictator. Our kind nature has been turned against in order to just bring in more people, any kind of people, from the worst places, for reasons totally unknown to us.
The problem is also family reunification laws, which were liberalised everywhere at different points over the past few decades. This has led to chain migration which consists of parents, siblings, and children all being brought in, perfectly legally. Migrants also frequently bring over a spouse from their home country, and eventually the spouse's family can also be brought over.
The UK has brought in tons of people from Africa and South Asia in the past few years to do low-paid work (known as the "Boriswave"). Within 5 years these individuals can apply for indefinite leave to remain and a year later they can get naturalised. And then they can apply to bring over family members.
A good starting point would be to tighten these laws.
I believe the reason is to create more grateful Democratic voters requiring no voter ID, and thus for an instant majority providing that they migrate to other states to swing states and even to red states.
Unfortunately, 2000s America also has that “come here and partake of the largesse and riches” vibe, mixed with the original migration ethos.
"The difference is, the average migrant that built America spent all he had on a one-way ticket. It was, to all intents and purposes, a life or death gamble."
Not really, at least for some groups. For example, a fair percentage of Italian immigrants returned to Italy:
https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/voices/italian_immigration.cfm#:~:text=Overall%2C%2020%20to%2030%20percent,Slavs%20to%20the%20United%20States.
Thank you. It is what I gathered from afar but I’m grateful for the explainer. If there are stats on social welfare costs and migrant unemployment they only strengthen your case. But maybe what you’re really saying is that everybody knows the score but are unable or unwilling to do anything about it. Trump was elected to do something about it.
Have TPTB in Germany ever stated how many migrants they want to allow in? Do they even have a limit? The progs in the Biden administration would never stipulate any kind of number.
Way worse, CMCM. They denied there was ever a surge (a minimum of 8 million in 4 years). Mayorkas lies as effortlessly as he breathes. He should be in jail.
'old certification rules from like 20 years ago intended to protect German workers from migrant competition'
Did anyone point that out when they were selling migration as a scheme to forestall labor shortages and keep pension schemes solvent?
All Western countries have consciously and intentionally refrained from excluding “refugees” and outright illegals from eligibility for social “programs” paid for by the native working population.
Can we observe the US prompted wars in Libya, Syria, Afghanistan prompted this wave of migrants? In my opinion, the migrant wave was probably a foreseeable and intentional US policy. Perhaps a choice between either losing control of Europe or harming Europe was in play.
“Suddenly, then all at once.”
Trust, but verify. In other words unless and until something very concrete and tangible occurs with respect to this more muscular anti-migration proposals, BEFORE the election, I would not be convinced of its sincerity.
“Show me your faith by your works, not just your words.”
That being said, the news and images of Trump’s crackdown on illegals here in the USA, could help to deliver some gravely needed spine to the CDU, et al, to get with the program.
Yup. Times are a-changing
I say don't let the pendulum hit you on the way out.
Great article! (as always). And no, it wasn't too long - it was an excellent read.
"In liberal democracies, policies have to be normie-friendly, and mass migrationism was normie-friendly only until enough migrants crossed our borders to make their presence felt socially and culturally. Mass migration isn’t normie-friendly anymore. It’s become a foul political poison."
Again this reminds me of the Phil Ochs lyrics from the song "Love Me I'm A Liberal": "...as long as they don't live next door."
I hope things turn out well in the Bundestag. If the "Liberal" parties crush the potential for migration legislation just before the February elections, we can hope for political cartoons showing the heads of such parties standing on the graves of the recent migrant murder victims, holding a bloody knife in one hand and a sign in the other saying "CDU party members are xenophobic, Islamophobic bigots!"
Your remark about outsourcing to international institutions is very much on the mark. What German leaders need to recognize, is that in fact none of these things matter - what matters is who commands actual force. Yes, I am sounding a bit fascistic but frankly I don't care, the tool for the job is what it is, and its an ugly job so it needs an ugly tool
Germany is also the dominant EU power, they have a lot of weight to throw around if they want to. But, that requires rock-solid political resolve nationally, which is precisely what the cordon sanitaire prevents.
What Germany needs is a leader who really wants it.
Jack pot. Leadership counts
Someone who is the antithesis of Merkel. Alice Weidel has great potential in this regard.
'there is still, just sitting on the fucking shelf, a theoretical majority that could do something'
'The theoretical Bundestag majority to do something about mass migration already exists. Why wait until the new government? How many lives is the cordon sanitaire worth?'
That doesn't sound histrionic to me. It sounds sensible, and quite literally true ('literally' not used lightly).
The ridiculous name "cordon sanitaire" surely does not help with these things. There's nothing unsanitary about the AfD so why use that term? A better and more accurate term would be "refusal to cooperate".
A simpler and more accurate term would be CARTEL: existing operators conspiring against competition by a new entrant, and thus depriving consumers/citizens of better choices.
Yes that's a great suggestion.
"Cordon sanitaire" is the best translation, but the direct translation of "Brandmauer" is "firewall".
Yes I know, I speak German. I mean both terms whether you use the French or German are pretty stupid. The right is neither unsanitary nor an out of control fire. These are terms chosen by the left and then meekly adopted by everyone else. Never use left wing terms! That lets them set the tone of the engagement.
I agree. Cordon Sanitaire sounds like something to do with a dirty toilet. In the same vein, I don't use the word gender, always sex.
I remember those cordons from motel rooms from my childhood!
"Sanitized for your protection!"
"Never use left wing terms!"
Exactly.
I mostly disagree: at least for those of us with some historical and international awareness, using the Left's ridiculous term just rubs in how ridiculous it is.
It's somewhat akin to things like the folks here in the US adopting Hillary Clinton's intended insult "deplorables" as a badge of honor.
Wow -- a great thaw is happening?
'...and then I woke up'.
It's nice to see after spending 4 years looking up longingly to the sky and saying to myself "just waiting on the asteroid "
SMOD is still the ultimate solution ;)
"It was strange to watch a CDU politician make so much sense."
Welcome to my new world!
Really clear, really good.
Old cynic that I am, I regard this as a prime example of of the infamous 'dead-cat-on-the-table' electioneering strategy. The 'dead cat' is thrown by the CDU which, yes, is desperate to get more votes, their number having shrunk in the last poll, IIRC.
It also very nicely distracts from all the other important issues, such as the state of the economy, Dunkelflauten and other green madnesses, and the ever increasing EU "Richtlinien", for example regarding AI and the internet.
The aim is gain votes for the CDU from those who're fence-sitting regarding the AfD, because now that the CDU head honchos are saying this, surely it's no longer necessary to vote for the AfD?
And then, come the Monday after the elections, there'll be the same old black-red-green mafia at the levers of power...
Sad but plausible.