The Most Powerful Woman in the World

Yesterday, the most powerful woman in the world took time out from her vacation to campaign for Donald Trump.

Having persuaded Great Britain to vote itself out of the European Union, German Chancellor Merkel is now hard at working trying to convince Americans that women are unfit for major leadership positions.

After all, Merkel is the most powerful woman in the world. And her open arms policy-- welcoming over a million Muslim refugees-- is widely considered to have persuaded the British public—but certainly not the British ruling class, both left and right—that they no longer wanted to belong to a union that had such weak leaders.

In some sense, Merkel is just following the lead of our own president. The Obama administration and many within the Democratic Party embrace an open-borders policy in America. Each time there is a terrorist attack in Europe the chances of a Trump presidency increase.

Thus, I have taken special care to report on recent events in Europe, especially on the wave of terrorist assaults. Even more than campaign advertising, balloon drops and ill-considered tweets these events are influencing our own politics, profoundly.

Like France, Germany has increasingly been the object of attacks by Muslim extremists. Some Islamists have murdered people. Others have threatened, harassed, molested and abused women.

The situation has become so bad that Merkel had to return from her vacation. Sadly, she has not changed her tune and has not been willing to change her policy. Even more sadly, neither she nor the woman leaders in Scandinavian countries has expressed outrage about the way the refugees are treating women.

One notes that Merkel offered her remarks while sitting at a dais between two other women. One notes that Margaret Thatcher made a habit of surrounding herself with men. One imagines that the Iron Lady understood that the perception of female weakness can be mitigated by a sufficient number of male aides. Merkel does not seem to have gotten the point. 

One might say that, on the left and on the right, there are two kinds of political leaders. Some change policy when they see that their policy is not working. Others double down on failed policies.

It is true that no one knows how a policy will work until it is tried. But once it is tried and fails, only the most obdurate and egotistical soul will continue to insist that it is a good thing.

The Daily Mail reports on the press conference Merkel gave yesterday:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday rebuffed calls to reverse her welcoming stance toward refugees after a series of brutal attacks in the country.

Merkel, who interrupted her summer holiday to face the media in Berlin, said the four assaults within a week were 'shocking, oppressive and depressing' but not a sign that authorities had lost control.

The German leader said the assailants 'wanted to undermine our sense of community, our openness and our willingness to help people in need'.

'We firmly reject this,' she said at a wide-ranging news conference.

Merkel repeated her rallying cry from last year when she opened the borders to people fleeing war and persecution, many from Syria, which brought nearly 1.1 million migrants and refugees to Germany in 2015.

'I am still convinced today that "we can do it" - it is our historic duty and this is a historic challenge in times of globalisation,' she said.

'We have already achieved very, very much in the last 11 months.'

So, wet note, have the terrorists.

One remarks, with considerable chagrin, that Merkel, a right-of-center politician is here channeling Barack Obama, the man who famously intoned, in Spanish, Yes, we can.

While Obama is consciously trying to transform the culture by allowing in as many non-white refugees as possible, Merkel does not even understand the import and the impact of her policies. She thinks that she is showing German compassion for the weak and the downtrodden.

In schoolmarmish fashion Merkel also declared that the terrorists were mocking German culture and hospitality. How much time did it take her to reach that conclusion? It ought to be obvious to everyone that the new wave of terrorism is not just an everyday crime spree. It cannot be grasped by comparing the number of victims to the number killed in automobile accidents.

Islamist terrorists are at war against Western civilization. They want to change the way people speak, where they can or cannot go, how they dress, and where they worship. Young women in Merkel’s Germany now feel threatened if they go out along at night. They feel threatened at swimming pools. They assume that they risk assault for going to a music festival. And they know that the government does not have their backs. Their government is hard at work covering up the incidence of refugee violence and refugee rapes. Just like they do in Sweden.

Strangely, Merkel took another page out of the Obama playbook when she said that Germany would bring the terrorists to justice. She was saying that the problem can be solved by the criminal justice system, thus that it is not a culture war against the foundations of Western civilization, our freedoms and our way of life.

Of course, Merkel wants to preserve Germany’s way of life. It’s a noble sentiment, made ignoble by the fact that the flood of refugees she has allowed into the country wants nothing more than to destroy Germany’s way of life.

Yesterday, she said:

Merkel said that she would not allow jihadists, following a series of deadly attacks in France, Belgium, Turkey and the US state of Florida, to keep her government from being guided by reason and compassion.

'Despite the great unease these events inspire, fear can't be the guide for political decisions,' she said.

'It is my deep conviction that we cannot let our way of life be destroyed.'

Merkel said those who carried out attacks 'mocked the country that took them in'. 

She vowed Germany will 'stick to our principles' and give shelter to those who deserve it.  

'The terrorists want to make us lose sight of what is important to us, break down our cohesion and sense of community as well as inhibiting our way of life, our openness and our willingness take in people who are in need,' she told a news conference for which she interrupted her vacation.

'They see hatred and fear between cultures and they see hatred and fear between religions. We stand decisively against that,' she added.

The terrorists are breaking down Germany’s sense of cohesion and community. They are inhibiting Germany’s openness and generosity. They are doing so because Chancellor Merkel invited them to do so, and continues to allow them to do so.

They fear nothing because in Angela Merkel they have nothing to fear.

They will continue to do so until politicians like Merkel summon up the courage to face the mess that they have created, to stop the madness of allowing millions of new refugees who want to destroy the culture that has welcomed them, and to begin a deportation movement.

We are not dealing with a crime wave. We are not dealing with a few disgruntled outliers. We may or may not be dealing with terrorists who are being directed from a bunker in Raqqa. But we are dealing with a major assault on Western civilization. The people who have been entrusted with leading the fight for the civilization now reveal themselves to be weak and ineffectual, more comfortable defending their own failed policies and apologizing for terrorism.

The whole world is watching what is happening in Merkel’s Germany. The weaker she seems, the less she understands what is happening, the greater the chance that after November 8 she will still be the most powerful woman in the world.