Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
For the past 16 years, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been the most powerful woman in the world. Yet the only thing most people outside Germany know about her impressive rule is what they saw of her interaction with the world’s most powerful men. And even then, three viral images probably account for much of… Read more.
A defining feature of the Trump presidency is the way the United States is alienating allies and embracing enemies. This was the case just weeks ago when the United States summarily betrayed the Syrian Kurds, leaving them to the crusading devices of Turkish frenemies and the mercenary devices of Russian and Syrian enemies. Therefore, one… Read more.
Reports about African migrants dying to breathe free have become normalized, so much so that they hardly register in public consciousness, let alone prick our collective conscience. At least 65 migrants have died after their boat capsized in the Mediterranean off the coast of Tunisia. … The incident is thought to be one of the… Read more.
If pollsters are correct, Angela Merkel will secure her place at the helm of German politics for what will be a total of 16 years following Sunday’s election results. The 63-year-old Chancellor has certainly provided the country with a sense of stability for more than a decade, but political apathy has gripped the nation and… Read more.
Foremost, with all the humbug about Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, bear in mind that American President Donald J. Trump might be a bigger danger to Westerner democracies. Putin must be laughing at his dumb luck. After all, he could never have imagined having an American president who seems almost as hell-bent as he is… Read more.
Just months ago, German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to assimilate as many Syrian refugees as can make it to Germany. She won near-universal praise for doing so. I, however, sounded this sobering, foreboding note: Unsurprisingly, liberal Germans are greeting this first wave of migrants with banners, cheers, and food. But don’t be surprised if these… Read more.
Fellow liberals upbraided me last week for arguing – in “Hello … China? Greece Calling,” July 6, 2015 – that: a) Greek leaders were delusional for holding a referendum on Eurozone bailout terms (i.e., instead of humbly accepting them); and b) Greek protesters were hopelessly misguided for expecting a no vote to lead to anything… Read more.
Here, in part, is how I pooh-poohed – in “I Spy, You Spy, We All Spy,” July 2, 2013 – the moral indignation Germans (and other Europeans) hurled at the Americans after Snowden’s leaks revealed that the NSA routinely spied on them, including Chancellor Angela Merkel: The Europeans are ‘shocked, shocked,’ and are expressing feelings of profound… Read more.
Putin clearly has no use for Snowden. But, as a perfectly understandable matter of form, he must avoid any appearance of caving in to American demands to return him immediately… There seems little doubt that Putin will eventually hand Snowden over to his ‘American partner.’ And I assure you, he has every intention of doing so… Read more.
