Dialog International

Trump's Weimar Moment

So President Trump has just declared a national emergency to build his border wall after Congress refused to allocate funds for this purpose.  In making this end-run around Congress Trump is establishing a dangerous precedence which, if upheld by the courts, brings the United States closer to autocracy.  What is truly pathetic, here, however, is that the leadership of the Republican Party essentially provided the president with a carte blanche to go ahead with his foolish plans, abdicating their responsibility of congressional oversight and sabotaging the separation of powers enshrined in the US constitution.  In failing to specify what constitutes a "National Emergency" , Congress has more or less given the Executive a "tool for tyranny":

But by failing to define crucial terms, legal standards and accountability rules, Congress has handed presidents an all-too-handy tool of tyranny commonly used by autocrats to amass more power, crush dissent and eviscerate democratic institutions. In Mr. Trump’s case, it has handed an unguided missile to an ignorant, impetuous man-child.

As has been pointed out, the Artikel 48 der Weimarer Verfassung ("Notverordnung" - Emergency Decree) allowed the Reichspräsident to take emergency measures without the prior consent of the Reichstag (parliament). The Nazis used the Reichstag fire (which they likely set themselves) to invoke Article 48 and hasten dictatorship in Germany. 

Das politische Gewicht verlagert sich mehr und mehr von den Parteien und dem Parlament auf den Reichspräsidenten und seine rechtskonservativen Berater. Nur mit Hilfe der Notverordnungen können die Minderheitsregierungen Gesetze durchsetzen, die zuvor im Reichstag keine Mehrheit gefunden haben. Die Innenpolitik in der Weimarer Republik ist nunmehr von der Diktaturgewalt des Reichspräsidenten und von Reichstagsauflösungen geprägt. Das Notverordnungsrecht ermöglicht die Bildung von Präsidialregierungen, die ohne Vertrauen des Reichstags regieren und charakteristisch für die Endphase der Weimarer Republik sind. So stehen 1931 den 34 vom Reichstag verabschiedeten Gesetzen 44 Notverordnungen gegenüber.

The problem with both Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution and The National Emergencies Act of 1976 is that the "emergency" is never defined.  Basically, the president has discretion to declare anything an "emergency" that he wishes.  Even though in this case - the situation on the US southern border - is clearly NOT a national emergency.

§1621. Declaration of national emergency by President; publication in Federal Register; effect on other laws; superseding legislation

(a) With respect to Acts of Congress authorizing the exercise, during the period of a national emergency, of any special or extraordinary power, the President is authorized to declare such national emergency. Such proclamation shall immediately be transmitted to the Congress and published in the Federal Register.

(b) Any provisions of law conferring powers and authorities to be exercised during a national emergency shall be effective and remain in effect (1) only when the President (in accordance with subsection (a) of this section), specifically declares a national emergency, and (2) only in accordance with this chapter. No law enacted after September 14, 1976, shall supersede this subchapter unless it does so in specific terms, referring to this subchapter, and declaring that the new law supersedes the provisions of this subchapter.

(Pub. L. 94–412, title II, §201, Sept. 14, 1976, 90 Stat. 1255.)

Hopefully, the courts will overturn Trump's bogus emergency declaration and put a check on the "ignorant, impetuous man-child."

Semi-literate / halbgebildet

While reading a history book I came across this description of a leader that also perfectly captures our very stable genius 45th president:

"Er blieb sein Leben lang der typische Halbgebildete - einer, der alles schon immer besser wusste und mit zusammengelesendem Halb- und Falschwissen um sich warf, am liebsten vor einem Publikum, dem er damit imponierte, weil es gar nichts wusste [...] Sein Charakter ist früh festgelegt - ein besseres Wort wäre vielleicht: arretiert - und bleibt sich auf eine erstaunliche Weise immer gliech; nichts kommt hinzu. Kein einnehmender Charakter. Alle weichen, liebenswürdigen, versöhnlichen Züge fehlen."

("He remained the typical half-educated person all his life - one who knew everything better and tossd around bits of half-truths and outright lies, preferably before of an audience whom he impressed because they themselves knew nothing [...] His character is set early - a better word might be: arrested - and incredibly always remained the same;  nothing is added. No engaging character. All soft, amiable, conciliatory features are missing. ")

(Quote from Sebastian Haffner : Anmerkungen zu Hitler (1978))

 

Full Video of Nazi Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia

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The Ugly History of Trump's "America First"

In his inauguration speech last week, President Trump stated "“From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first.”  "America First" is the rallying cry of the Trump Administration, and for students of history it recalls an ugly chapter in American history.  The America First Committee was formed in 1939 to keep the US out of the war in Europe.  Like Trump's presidential campaign the original America First movement was isolationist and centered in mid-west. Like Trump and his followers, the leaders expressed admiration for a dictator - then Adolf Hitler, today Vladimir Putin.  Like Trump's campaign, the America First movement was energized by racism and - most notably - anti-Semitism. The movement was led by Charles Lindbergh, who, in his speeches railed against the Jews:

Lindbergh made his infamous speech at an America First rally in Des Moines, Iowa, in September 1941. After charging that President Roosevelt had manufactured "incidents" to propel the country into war, Lindbergh proceeded to blurt out his true thoughts. "The British and the Jewish races," he declared, "for reasons which are not American, wish to involve us in the war." The nation's enemy was an internal one, a Jewish one. "Their greatest danger to this country lies in their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio, and our government." Lindbergh's unambiguous message was that Jews living in the United States constituted a wealthy, influential, conspiratorial foreign "race" that had seized "our" media and infiltrated "our" political institutions. They were the alien out-group, hostile to "us."

The great American novelist Philip Roth wrote a novel in 2005 - The Plot Against America (Deutsche Version: Verschwörung gegen Amerika ) which imagines an America under President Lindbergh.  I recommend that everyone read it to get a sense of what America is facing for (at least) the next four years. 

 

On the other hand, it would be a mistake to compare Donald Trump to Charles Lindbergh.  As Philip Roth himself wrote an e-mail to The New Yorker Magazine:

“It is easier to comprehend the election of an imaginary President like Charles Lindbergh than an actual President like Donald Trump. Lindbergh, despite his Nazi sympathies and racist proclivities, was a great aviation hero who had displayed tremendous physical courage and aeronautical genius in crossing the Atlantic in 1927. He had character and he had substance and, along with Henry Ford, was, worldwide, the most famous American of his day. Trump is just a con artist. The relevant book about Trump’s American forebear is Herman Melville’s ‘The Confidence-Man,’ the darkly pessimistic, daringly inventive novel—Melville’s last—that could just as well have been called ‘The Art of the Scam.’ 

Yet another instance of (to quote Marx) "history repeating itself, first as tragedy, second as farce?"

Fate of Deutsche Bank now in Trump's (tiny) hands

There's an old proverb in the world of finance : “If you owe the bank thousands, then the bank owns you. If you owe the bank millions , then you own the bank.”  In that case Donald Trump owns Deutsche Bank - and for the bank, that could be good thing.  Deutsche Bank and Trump for years have been partners in fraud.  But while the bank has had to pay $$billions in penalties for its misdeeds, ranging from illegally manipulating the LIBOR interest rate to selling worthless mortgage securities to unsuspecting investors, Donald Trump has never had to suffer any consequences (so far) for his fraudulent behavior.  Indeed, the American voters (with the help of the Russian government) rewarded Trump with the presidency.  Based on the information that has been disclosed, we know that - among the big banks - only Deutsche Bank was reckless enough to finance Trump's risky real estate ventures:

It is unlikely that Deutsche Bank will ever see repayment of any of these real estate loans, given Trump's creative use of the US bankruptcy code.  But Trump's election is still the best thing that could have happened to the German banking giant.  For Deutsche Bank is still under investigation by the US Dept. of Justice for other possible crimes and could face additional $billions in sanctions - or even lose its US banking license.  Trump will most likely terminate these investigations.  And John Cryan - DB's CEO - can rest easy now that Trump installing a know-nothing senator - Jeff Sessions - as the new US Attorney General.  Here is Sessions at his confirmation hearing last week:

Senator Richard Blumenthal, for example, asked Sessions about the conflict presented by Trump’s multi-million dollar loan from Deutsche Bank, a bank that has been the subject of investigation by the current Justice Department for “creating and repackaging bad mortgage products.” As one news outlet has explained, the Justice Department has been trying to reach a settlement with Deutsche Bank, but if that settlement is not reached by January 20, “a federal government run by Trump will have to decide how hard to push the bank that Trump owes so much to and that has been critical to Trump’s fortunes.” Somewhat inexplicably, given the many, many stories about this issue, Sessions told Blumenthal that he wasn’t “aware of that case” and was “totally uninformed” about its merits.

In fact, Deutsche Bank now has a new lease on life in the US, and can look forward to joining forces with Trump's sons - slated to run the Trump empire - on new schemes, perhaps creating a kleptocracy to rival that of his friend Vladimir Putin (see Putin's Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?  by Karen Dawisha).

Kurt Tucholsky on Love of Country

As I watch half of America go mad this week I was reminded of the a piece Kurt Tucholsky wrote in 1929 as he watched the rise of the Nazis in the country he loved. 

Nun haben wir auf vielen Seiten Nein gesagt, Nein aus Mitleid und Nein aus Liebe, Nein aus Haß und Nein aus Leidenschaft – und nun wollen wir auch einmal Ja sagen. Ja –: zu der Landschaft und zu dem Land Deutschland.

Dem Land, in dem wir geboren sind und dessen Sprache wir sprechen.

Und nun will ich euch mal etwas sagen:

Es ist ja nicht wahr, dass jene, die sich ›national‹ nennen und nichts sind als bürgerlich-militaristisch, dieses Land und seine Sprache für sich gepachtet haben. Weder der Regierungsvertreter im Gehrock, noch der Oberstudienrat, noch die Herren und Damen des Stahlhelms allein sind Deutschland. Wir sind auch noch da.

Deutschland ist ein gespaltenes Land. Ein Teil von ihm sind wir.

Und in allen Gegensätzen steht – unerschütterlich, ohne Fahne, ohne Leierkasten, ohne Sentimentalität und ohne gezücktes Schwert – die stille Liebe zu unserer Heimat.

(We have just written "no" on 225 pages, "no" out of sympathy and "no" out of love, "no" out of hate and "no" out of passion – and now we would like to say "yes" for once. "Yes" – to the countryside and the country of Germany. The country where we were born and whose language we speak. (...)

And now I would like to tell you something: it is not true that all those who call themselves 'national' and who are nothing but gentrified militants have taken out a lease on this country and its language just for them. Germany is not just a government representative in his tailcoat, nor is it a headmaster, nor is it the ladies and gentlemen of the steel helmets. We are here too. (...)

Germany is a divided country. We are one part of it. And whatever the situation, we quietly love our country – unshakably, without a flag, or a street organ, no sentimentality and no drawn sword.)

Replace the word Deutschland/Germany with Amerika/America and it captures what many of us are feeling today.

Read the entire Heimat by Kurt Tucholsky.

The Case for Hillary

Perhaps no US politician is hated as much by both the far-left and far-right in Germany as Hillary Clinton. I've already written about how a book highly critical of Hillary - or "Killary" as she in known on the left - became a best-seller in Germany.  The leader of the far-right party Alternative for Germany - Frauke Petry - came out for Donald Trump in a recent interview in the New Yorker Magazine:

“My impression is that Trump may become the American President, because the alternative to him, Hillary Clinton, is just so unconvincing. She is almost like a copy of someone like Merkel—someone who just keeps on with the same policies that led to the trouble in the first place.” She admired the American willingness to take risks: “It might not be better under Trump, but at least with him there is the chance to change.”

Likewise Jakob Augstein, the left-wing commentator for Der Spiegel, is hoping for a Trump victory, since Hillary is too much of a "security risk" (Sicherheitsrisiko):

Hillary Clinton ist genau das Produkt des amerikanischen Polit-Establishments, das Trump und seine Anhänger in ihr sehen. Sie genießt in Europa den Ruf, für außenpolitische Berechenbarkeit und Kontinuität zu stehen. Aber das bedeutet eben auch, dass sie die im wahrsten Wortsinne verheerende amerikanische Außenpolitik militärischer Interventionen fortsetzen würde.

But not everyone on the German left is in the pocket of Vladimir Putin.  Jörn Schulz, writing in Jungle World, makes the progressive case for President Hillary Clinton (H/T reader KR):

Clintons Einzug ins Weiße Haus ist nicht nur notwendig, um die Trumpocalypse abzuwenden. Ihre Präsidentschaft böte die Chance, den Sozialstaat auszubauen und eine nachfrage­orien­tierte Wirtschaftspolitik zu beginnen, die auch internationale Wirkung hätte. Nur die Chance – eine Gewissheit ist das nicht, denn jede Reform muss gegen die Republikaner durchgesetzt werden und bedarf eines ausreichenden Drucks von links.

Clintons Programm ist recht fortschrittlich: Stärkung der Gewerkschaftsrechte und des Arbeitsschutzes, Erhöhung des Mindestlohns auf 15 Dollar – umgerechnet 13,68 Euro, die Linkspartei fordert in Deutschland »schnellstmöglich« zwölf Euro –, ein Konjunkturprogramm, Stärkung der staatlichen Kranken- und Rentenversicherung, keine Erhöhung des Rentenalters, gleicher Lohn für gleiche Arbeit, bezahlte Elternzeit, neue Freihandelsverträge nur, wenn sie »hohe Standards« erfüllen, und ein sozial gerechteres Steuersystem inklusive einer Abgabe von vier Prozent auf Einkommen von über fünf Millionen Dollar pro Jahr.

("Clinton's move to White House is not just necessary in order to avoid a Tumpocalypse.  Her presidency would offer the chance to build out the social state and start a demand-oriented economic policy, which would also have a global impact. Just the chance, to be sure, for every reform would have to implemented against the Republican opposition and require sufficient pressure from the left. Clinton's policies are actually quire progressive: strengthening the rights of labor unions and workplace protections, increasing the minimum wage to 15 dollars (13.68 euros) - even the Left Party is asking for only 12 euros - a government stimulus program, strengthening health insurance and social security, no increase in the retirement age, equal pay for equal work, paid maternity/paternity leave, new trade agreements only if they meet the "high standards" and a fair tax system including a 4% tax on annual incomes over $5 million )

I realize these domestic US initiatives mean little to those in Germany who get their "news" from Sputnik and RT Deutsch, but they do mean something to the majority of American voters.  Here is Boston Globe columnist Michael Cohent: 

It’s not easy to find reasons for optimism about the 16-month slog that has been the 2016 presidential campaign. But here goes: this election, for all its ugliness, unpleasantness, and downright nastiness, has done something truly unexpected — it’s highlighted the nation’s extraordinary social progress.

Indeed, Hillary Clinton has run the most progressive presidential campaign in the history of the United States.

 

Cults and Tribalism

Contribution by Roger Strassburg, an American who has been living in Germany for over 20 years. Roger was a volunteer editor at the political Web site NachDenkSeiten from 2009 to 2015.  He left the NDS last October for reasons similar to those of Wolfgang Lieb. 

Roger was recently visiting the US with his family and provides his thoughts on the presidential election - as perceived on both sides of the Atlantic. 

"We just got back to Germany from two weeks in South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.  We managed to avoid political discussions for the most part, since most of the folks we visited are pretty conservative, disliking The Donald, but loathing Hillary even more for reasons that appear to me to have more to do with the Clinton hate-machine than with anything reality-related.

But hey, that's what it's like to come from a red state (South Dakota).  Being Republican means never having to say the other side has any virtues.  Facts aren't important, and, as it turns out, not even ideology is – it's all about tribalism, which means that your side is always right and the other side always wrong, regardless of the situation, regardless of the arguments.

These folks belong to a cult – a cult of "values voters" who listen to charlatans who always explain why they have to vote Republican in order to vote their values, even if that Republican is as contrary to their values as The Donald.  This is how it has been for decades, and it doesn't surprise me a bit that in spite of the disparity between the values of the candidate and the voters, this time is no different – I would have been truly surprised if were.

This is particularly true of the religious right.  If The Donald were to run against Jesus, leaders on the religious right, such as Falwell and Dobson, would opt for The Donald, since he's the Republican candidate, i.e. a member of their tribe, then condemn Jesus for his weakness, Socialist ideas, bad character and general lack of conformance to "Christian" values, and their followers would follow, all the while calling themselves Christians.

This is how the religious right works.  It's ugly, but very simple and predictable – once you understand that, you'll call it right every time.

Now we're back in Germany, and I'm once again confronted with a similar cult, one that considers itself leftist, but increasingly concurs with the American right that Hillary is evil and that Trump is somehow okay, the difference being that it demonizes the entire US instead of just Democrats.  And so we see this article http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/die-spd-und-ceta-us-konzerne-wollen-ihre-interessen-durchsetzen/14470112.html in the Tagesspiegel.

The thing that gets me about this article, and various other places, is that CETA is seen as dangerous not because companies from Canada could sue the EU (via ISDS) to weaken its regulation, but because US companies could do so via subsidiaries in Canada.  EU companies could do the same, of course, as could companies from anywhere else.  But who worries about them – they're altruistic and don't pursue their interests, only US companies do, and only the interests of US companies are contrary to those of poor Europeans, who themselves, of course, only want to do good in the world.

In both cases, tribalism (us vs. them) in the form of a cult, the latter implying that information that contradicts the "cult leaders" is rejected out of hand as being a form of enemy propaganda.

Beam me up, Scotty, and fast!  I can't stand it anymore!"

Trump Channels US White Supremacists in Attacking Angela Merkel

Donald Trump's constant attacks on German chancellor Angela Merkel in his campaign speeches have not gone unnoticed in the German media:

"Am Ende bekam auch die deutsche Kanzlerin ihr Fett weg, was inzwischen zum Standardrepertoire Trumps gehört. Er warf der demokratischen Präsidentschaftskandidatin Hillary Clinton vor, zu „Amerikas Angela Merkel“ werden zu wollen, und bezeichnete deren Politik der „massiven Einwanderung“ als „Desaster für Deutschland und das deutsche Volk“. Trump behauptete, die Kriminalität in Deutschland „ist auf ein Niveau gestiegen, dass niemand glaubte, jemals zu erleben“. Amerika hätte genug eigene Probleme und müsste sich nicht noch mehr davon einhandeln, meinte Trump im Hinblick auf die Bereitschaft Obamas und Clintons, mehr syrische Flüchtlinge aufzunehmen."

What is perhaps less well known in Germany is that Trump gets his talking points concerning Merkel from white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups in the US who demonize the chancellor as a "traitor to white people":

But there is at least one group of Americans well familiar with Merkel, her immigration policies, and her connections to Hillary Clinton: white supremacists.

To white nationalist communities that fervently support Trump, Merkel has been a popular villain. Sites like the Daily Stormer, the White Genocide Project, American Renaissance, and The White Resister have posted constantly about her since the Syrian refugee crisis began escalating earlier this year. They have accused her of making a “deliberate attempt to turn Germany from a majority White country into a minority White country.” They have called her a “crazy childless bitch,” “Anti-White Traitor,” and “patron saint of terrorists.” They have asked in articles about her, “Why would you allow a woman to run a country, unless you were doing it as a joke?”

This is an about-face for Donald Trump, who just a year ago had nothing but effusive praise for Merkel.  That, of course, was before he decided to make bigotry and racism the cornerstones of his campaign for the White House.

Donald Trump und "die guten alten Zeiten"

Donald Trump wants to "Make America Great Again".  He reminds Americans of the time when we were truly a GREAT nation!