Quote:
Originally Posted by bobabode
"BERLIN — The unconventional administration of President Trump may be causing consternation among American liberals. But here in Germany, the anchor of the European Union, Trump’s rise is helping fuel an unexpected surge of the left.
What is happening in Germany is the kind of Trump bump perhaps never foreseen by his supporters — a boost not for the German nationalists viewed as Trump’s natural allies but for his fiercest critics in the center left. The Social Democrats (SPD) have bounced back under the charismatic Martin Schulz, the former head of the European Parliament who took over as party chairman last month and is now staging a surprisingly strong bid to unseat Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In a country that stands as a painful example of the disastrous effects of radical nationalism, Schulz is building a campaign in part around bold attacks on Trump. He has stopped well short of direct comparisons to Adolf Hitler, but Schulz recently mentioned Trump in the same speech in which he heralded his party’s resistance to the Nazis in the lead-up to World War II.
“We will never give up our values, our freedom and democracy, no matter what challenges we are facing,” Schulz said in a recent speech. He added, “That a U.S. president wants to put up walls, is thinking aloud about torture and attacks women, religious communities, minorities, people with handicaps, artists and intellectuals with brazen and dangerous comments is a breach of taboo that’s unbearable.”
His anti-Trump platform comes as Germans are questioning American power more than at any point since the end of the Cold War, illustrating an erosion of allied faith in the new era of “America first.” A recent poll found that only 22 percent of Germans see the United States led by Trump as a “reliable partner” — putting it only one percentage point above Russia." WP
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...=.f8eda3596e93
Thanks Trump. At least you're good for something. |
First of all - Happy Birthday, Bob!
The actual topic of this thread should rather be the - indeed - charismatic Martin Schulz, but a lot of Volldeppen already hijacked this thread by posting hair-raising bullshit about Germany.
Well, apart from being charismatic and the remarkable Anti-Trump character of Schulz it is the total weakness of Merkel that makes him so strong. She is weak, she is tired, she seems to suffer from a burnout, she tries to hide it, but she can't.
We are fed up to the back teeth with CDU chancellors Kohl and Merkel. Since 1982 (35 years!!!) we suffered 28 years from Kohl and Merkel chancellorship. It is enough. I am sure that Merkel would not have become candidate of the position of chancellor again if there would not have been the probable SPD candidate Gabriel (now secretary of state, a man with zero charisma) but actually Schulz, about three months ago...
Why are the Schulz polls so sensational? It also is because he brings back many many non-voters, like me. Schulz is magic, although he looks like a math teacher. He is a brilliant speaker, and one of his main topics during the election campain will be social justice.
Merkel and her CDU caused an immense, a huge vacuum. Now Schulz will finish our political apathy.
"Jetzt ist Schulz" - an SPD slogan, the great pun can't be translated into English, right, finnbow?