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Victor Davis Hanson: Is Germany Becoming Germany — Again?
NRO ^ | Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on 06/05/2019 3:37:38 AM PDT by RoosterRedux

The more things change, well, the more they . . . So it is with the perpetual German resentments of the U.S.

Recently German chancellor Angela Merkel reminded us of that German fixation, when she made some astounding statements to the German media that revealed what many Americans had long ago surmised.

Merkel all but announced that Germany, or for that matter Europe itself, is no longer really an ally of the United States: “There is no doubt that Europe needs to reposition itself in a changed world. . . . The old certainties of the post-war order no longer apply.”

She insisted that Germany views the democratic United States as not much different from autocratic Russia and Communist China: Urging Europe to present a united front in the face of Russia, China, and the U.S., she said, “They are forcing us, time and again, to find common positions.” And Merkel concluded that therefore Germany must find “political power” commensurate with its economic clout to forge a new independent European path.

In other words, in the calculus of the supposedly sober and judicious Merkel, the democracy that saved Europe twice from a carnivorous Germany — and Germany once from itself and once from becoming a Soviet vassal — is now similar to the world’s two largest authoritarian dictatorships, nations that not so long ago murdered respectively 30 million and 70 million of their own citizens. And how odd a sentiment for someone who grew up in Communist East Germany, a nightmarish state whose collapse was largely attributable to the Reagan-era effort to bankrupt and roll back the Soviet empire.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...


TOPICS: Germany; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: europe; germany; vdh
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1 posted on 06/05/2019 3:37:38 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux

To paraphrase Churchill...the Germans are either at your throat or at your feet.


2 posted on 06/05/2019 3:43:05 AM PDT by albie
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To: RoosterRedux
Double post. It's over HERE.
3 posted on 06/05/2019 3:46:07 AM PDT by Jim Noble (1)
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To: All
There are some defenders of Germany here on FR (can't remember their names but they will pop up here shortly to announce themselves). They hold that Germany is just "one" of the many countries of Europe, not the alpha dog.

Here's what VDH says (and I wholeheartedly agree):

Merkel’s Germany is no doubt the acknowledged political leader of Europe, given that its huge economy accounts for well over a quarter of the aggregate 27-member EU annual GDP. But its leadership remains a funny sort, with a spirit now more attuned to its imperious past than to its supposedly enlightened future.

4 posted on 06/05/2019 3:48:06 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux

Then I guess it is time to close all the bases in Germany, stop our flow of money, and get out. There are plenty of other countries who want us and finding new locations is very easy.


5 posted on 06/05/2019 3:50:51 AM PDT by wbarmy (I chose to be a sheepdog once I saw what happens to the sheep.)
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To: RoosterRedux

The third time is the charm? Or are we going best of five?


6 posted on 06/05/2019 4:02:47 AM PDT by Vermont Lt (If we get Medicare for all, will we have to show IDs for service?)
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To: albie

As my history professor would say national character doesn’t change it just gets slightly modified. This will be the third time Germany strikes out in a hundred years.


7 posted on 06/05/2019 4:03:28 AM PDT by magua (Because itÂ’s being reported that a lot of this started in 2015.)
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To: wbarmy

This is exactly why the bases are in Germany. To put a check on any future aggressive acts.


8 posted on 06/05/2019 4:06:32 AM PDT by DownInFlames (Galsd)
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To: wbarmy
Then I guess it is time to close all the bases in Germany, stop our flow of money, and get out. There are plenty of other countries who want us and finding new locations is very easy.

I was stationed in Germany, from 1980 to 1984, and even back then, I kind of felt the same way.

9 posted on 06/05/2019 4:06:41 AM PDT by Mark17 (With Jesus, there is more wealth in my soul, than acres of diamonds and mountains of gold.)
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To: Vermont Lt
What is it with the Germans?

Perhaps someone should remind Merkel what happened to Carthage.

10 posted on 06/05/2019 4:09:08 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux

Watch out, Poland!


11 posted on 06/05/2019 4:10:15 AM PDT by Londo Molari
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To: RoosterRedux

Yes, and instead of spending their time understanding the geopolitical situation, and understanding the intentions of our potential enemies, our intelligence agencies are trying to unseat a duly elected American President.


12 posted on 06/05/2019 4:11:46 AM PDT by neverevergiveup
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To: RoosterRedux

the EU is the Fourth Reich controlling Europe now

the Nazis got just a bit smarter and they’ve seized control smoothly (and easily) by trying to hide their anti-Christian and anti-Jewish attitudes..........and by replacing their “Deutschland Uber Alles” rhetoric with the nice soft-sounding communist vocabulary of “peace” and “equality” in “Europe”

its worked, too.


13 posted on 06/05/2019 4:14:36 AM PDT by faithhopecharity ( “Politicians are not born; they are excreted.” Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 to 43 BCE))
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To: RoosterRedux

Kick out the commies, leave the EU, and deport every single invader.


14 posted on 06/05/2019 4:29:11 AM PDT by wastedyears (The left would kill every single one of us and our families if they knew they could get away with it)
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To: DownInFlames

Eh, not really. By the end of WWII, Germany was pretty much done for. It would not have taken much to keep them in check. The bases were to put a check on Soviet aggressive acts, with the concurrence of the West German government.


15 posted on 06/05/2019 4:34:01 AM PDT by wbarmy (I chose to be a sheepdog once I saw what happens to the sheep.)
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To: faithhopecharity

Exactly right. And pretended they weren’t in charge by buying off “faces” (face-men) like Macron, Tony Blair, Obama, Kerry, and the like.


16 posted on 06/05/2019 4:36:14 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: magua

Extend your timeline 50 years and it makes it the 4th time. The Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71 was arguably that same German militarism and expansionism expressing itself.


17 posted on 06/05/2019 4:47:28 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: RoosterRedux

Europe and Germany was

Collary: Russia isn’t

The future is East Of Suez.

Asia and the Pacific rim are ascendent. Europe is in decline


18 posted on 06/05/2019 4:53:02 AM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12)There were Democrat espionage operations on Republican candidates)
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To: albie

And when at your feet they’re staring at your throat and making plans.


19 posted on 06/05/2019 4:57:57 AM PDT by Vaquero ( Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: wbarmy

Poland has begged us to put American troops there.

Germany fails to pay its share of NATO


20 posted on 06/05/2019 4:59:20 AM PDT by Joe Boucher ( Molon Labe' baby, Molon Labe)
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