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Post by Nictoshek on Sept 22, 2015 5:26:41 GMT -7
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Post by Nictoshek on Dec 9, 2015 7:07:47 GMT -7
 The ChoiceBy Nancy Gibbs Europe’s most powerful leader is a refugee from a time and place where her power would have been unimaginable. The German Democratic Republic, where Angela Merkel grew up, was neither democratic nor a republic; it was an Orwellian horror show, where the Iron Curtain found literal expression in the form of the Berlin Wall. The shy daughter of a Lutheran minister, Merkel slipped into politics as a divorced Protestant in a largely Catholic party, a woman in a frat house, an Ossi in the newly unified Germany of the 1990s where easterners were still aliens. No other major Western leader grew up in a stockade, which gave Merkel a rare perspective on the lure of freedom and the risks people will take to taste it. Her political style was not to have one; no flair, no flourishes, no charisma, just a survivor’s sharp sense of power and a scientist’s devotion to data. Even after Merkel became Germany’s Chancellor in 2005, and then commanded the world’s fourth largest economy, she remained resolutely dull—the better to be underestimated time and again. German pundits called her Merkelvellian when she outsmarted, isolated or just outlasted anyone who might mount a challenge to her. Ever cautious, she proudly practiced what Willy Brandt once called Die Politik der kleinen Schritte (the politics of baby steps), or as we call it in the U.S., leading from behind. Then came 2015. Not once or twice but three times this year there has been reason to wonder whether Europe could continue to exist, not culturally or geographically but as a historic experiment in ambitious statecraft. Merkel had already emerged as the indispensable player in managing Europe’s serial debt crises; she also led the West’s response to Vladimir Putin’s creeping theft of Ukraine. But now the prospect of Greek bankruptcy threatened the very existence of the euro zone. The migrant and refugee crisis challenged the principle of open borders. And finally, the carnage in Paris revived the reflex to slam doors, build walls and trust no one. Each time Merkel stepped in. Germany would bail Greece out, on her strict terms. It would welcome refugees as casualties of radical Islamist savagery, not carriers of it. And it would deploy troops abroad in the fight against ISIS. Germany has spent the past 70 years testing antidotes to its toxically nationalist, militarist, genocidal past. Merkel brandished a different set of values—humanity, generosity, tolerance—to demonstrate how Germany’s great strength could be used to save, rather than destroy. It is rare to see a leader in the process of shedding an old and haunting national identity. “If we now have to start apologizing for showing a friendly face in response to emergency situations,” she said, “then that’s not my country.” And so this time, the woman who trained as a quantum chemist did not run the tests and do the lab work; she made her stand. The blowback has come fast and from all sides. Donald Trump called Merkel “insane” and called the refugees “one of the great Trojan horses.” German protesters called her a traitor, a sleeper; her allies warned of a popular revolt, and her opponents warned of economic collapse and cultural suicide. The conservative Die Welt published a leaked intelligence report warning about the challenge of assimilating a million migrants: “We are importing Islamic extremism, Arab anti-Semitism, national and ethnic conflicts of other people as well as a different understanding of society and law.” Her approval ratings dropped more than 20 points, even as she broadcast her faith in her people: “Wir schaffen das,” she has said over and over. “We can do this.” At a moment when much of the world is once more engaged in a furious debate about the balance between safety and freedom, the Chancellor is asking a great deal of the German people, and by their example, the rest of us as well. To be welcoming. To be unafraid. To believe that great civilizations build bridges, not walls, and that wars are won both on and off the battlefield. By viewing the refugees as victims to be rescued rather than invaders to be repelled, the woman raised behind the Iron Curtain gambled on freedom. The pastor’s daughter wielded mercy like a weapon. You can agree with her or not, but she is not taking the easy road. Leaders are tested only when people don’t want to follow. For asking more of her country than most politicians would dare, for standing firm against tyranny as well as expedience and for providing steadfast moral leadership in a world where it is in short supply, Angela Merkel is TIME’s Person of the Year. |
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Post by karl on Dec 9, 2015 7:32:00 GMT -7
If to dig past the extreme flair in written prose, non-the-less is very accurate informational wise. But then, it is not wise to tickle the lip of a lion, for the bite is very bad, and the consequences are not good.
Karl
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Post by Jaga on Dec 9, 2015 9:23:48 GMT -7
President Angela Merkel is doing great job accepting Syrian refugees. Trump said that she is ruining Germany. Some "Christians" like Trump believe that these people in Syria and Iraq should be left to die with their children and families. Are these Christian values? Is this what Jesus would do?
It seems that there is a pressure by old generals to start new war, send young people there and impeach, hung, kill anybody, including pres. Obama and pres. Merkel who try to find peaceful solutions.
SEND OLD GENERALS TO WAR AND LET THEM PAY WITH THEIR OWN RETIREMENT FOR IT!
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Post by Jaga on Dec 9, 2015 23:30:11 GMT -7
Here is article and video about Angela's life and her stand on refugees: time.com/4143244/angela-merkel-person-of-the-year-germany/The reaction in Germany to TIME’s choice of Chancellor Angela Merkel as 2015’s Person of the Year ranged from delight to disappointment on Wednesday. ti.me/1Y2H2nIThe Chancellor herself did not respond to the news, but government spokesperson Steffen Seibert told the media she would surely welcome her selection as “encouragement for her political work for a good future for Germany and for Europe.” Many in the media welcomed the choice too. The journalist and commentator Stephan Detjen, writing in the culture section of the German broadcaster Deutschlandradio’s website called the magazine’s article “just one among several panegyrics to Merkel that recently appeared in the Anglo-Saxon media.” Even in Germany, however, the media focused on runner-up Donald Trump’s reaction to the choice — especially as he dismissed the Chancellor as the “person who is ruining Germany.” “Ouch!” said newspaper the Münchner Merkur of Trump’s “full broadside” against Merkel. Germany’s leading weekly newsmagazine Der Spiegel added that “in the world of Donald Trump first place goes to Donald Trump, then to Donald Trump and then probably the same once more: Donald Trump … TIME sees it differently.” |
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Post by kaima on Dec 10, 2015 8:51:00 GMT -7
I have to hit the road again, so have not read the articles or reasons for the choice. But I immediately applauded the choice when I heard of it. She is a true leader, leading her country in the not-universally popular acceptance of refugees. It is a strain for the nation and takes a strong leader to see it through. i doubt that we have a single national leader in the US with the will or ability to extend such leadership. Obama would hit immediate hate and propaganda opposition if he were to try. America is too divided to take decisive action.
Congratulations to Merkel for doing what is right. (and doing the Christian thing, for you "Christians" who do not believe charity is a part of the faith and practice.)
Kai
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Post by Nictoshek on Dec 10, 2015 10:10:29 GMT -7
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Post by karl on Dec 10, 2015 11:59:55 GMT -7
On the surface with out the effect of cause and consequences, the currant and present situation with such vast numbers of Immigrant refugees presently on German soil, becomes now under the protection of law. This in turn, requires not just protection, but requirement of care and all things necessary for such families.
The financial burden will be layed upon the German tax payers as the expense of humain consideration that our Eastern neighbours have dodge for that very reason. There is though, the saving grace of affordability that is at the present, the financial ability to support this situation as it is at present. That is, if the will be the total numbers of refugee acceptance.
It is very much understood of once the emergency situation in their respective home lands as subsided. Many of these people will then return each their respective homes to begin the job of rebuilding. With this, will the certain number to stay and will replace what has been and expected in the near and far future, a work force that has been weakening over time.
This {new work force} then with resources gained from taxes payed through their generated income, should replace what was lost through expenditures consumed in past and present issues through support of the present numbers of immigrant refugees.
It is good to be humain, but then, what has to be done, is done, for what other avenue could have been considered?
Karl
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