Trump Champions Democracy While Europe Tries to Stifle Opposition

Tomorrow we will review the Judge Kavanaugh hearing and general situation. TODAY -- WHILE PRESIDENTTRUMP IS TRYING TO MAKE IRAN A LESSER THREAT TO THE WORLD, Europe is doing its best to support the terrorist ayatollah regime. • • • EU TRIES TO BYPASS US IRAN SANCTIONS. Money and Markets' JT Crowe reported on Tuesday that : "As a way to rescue the Iran nuclear deal scrapped by US President Donald Trump, Germany’s foreign minister proposed a new payments system, a European Monetary Fund, to bypass meddling from Washington DC that would seek to sink the deal. The EU announced Tuesday it is moving forward with the plan, sending a clear message to the Trump administration that Europe will try to save the 2015 deal." • The Wall Street Journal wrote : "Under the agreement announced Monday by EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini, the bloc agreed with other parties to the 2015 nuclear deal that it would set up a legal entity 'to facilitate legitimate financial transactions with Iran and this will allow European companies to continue trade with Iran.' The special purpose vehicle would be open to all other countries to participate, including Russia and China, who helped negotiate the agreement." • The EU mechanism is in direct opposition to President Trump’s efforts to isolate Iran via diplomacy. Hoxever, experts said Tuesday that the EU mechanism would do little to blunt US economic pressure on Teheran, and wouldn’t prevent European companies from abandoning Iranian oil imports. EU officials, who have been looking for a way to soften the impact of US sanctions, haven't announced a launch date yet for the new system or any details about how it would work. The US gave countries six months to curtail their dependence on Iranian oil, and Trump again called for a united front against Iran at the UN meetings and in his General Assembly speech on Tuesday. • Many large companies in Europe have left Iran’s market rather than risk losing access to the $20 trillion US economy, while Iran’s economy has faltered against the US dollar. The establishment of a Euro-denominated payments system is aimed at allowing companies to send and receive money from Iran by eliminating links to the US financial system so that the payment system would be protected from the main US sanctions threat of barring a firm doing business wiht Iran from US markets. • European officials have also looked at a barter system that would allow Iran to sell oil, for example to China, and use the proceeds from that sale to purchase goods or technology from Europe. • But, experts say any new EU mechanism wouldn’t remove the risk of further US sanctions, which could ensnare individuals and companies taking part. Money and Markets quotes Mark Dubowitz, chief executive of Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank supporting tougher sanctions on Iran : “US sanctions apply to every company and person involved in the SPV, including the banks and companies involved in the transaction. The US government will identify and sanction anyone holding dollar-based assets, doing business with US firms, or traveling to the US.” • Money and Markets also quoted Jarrett Blanc, a former Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Obama administration, who also served as the Senior Policy Analyst for Multilateral Affairs at the Soros-founded and funded Open Society Institute. Blanc has worked for the UN and on the Iran deal. Blanc said the new EU mechanism was “an important political statement,” underlining what he called “a dangerous division between the US and Europe that will weaken US financial pre-eminence and sanctions effectiveness over time.” However, he added, “there are a lot of reasons for European firms to abide by US sanctions and to stay out or pull out of Iran. Opening one payment channel will not address all those problems.” • • • THERESA MAY FINALLY STANDS UP TO BULLYING EU. Last Saturday, after a brusiing and rude reception from the EU elites at a Brexit meeting in Saleburg, Theresa May took to TV to express her determination to represent the Brexit referendum voice of the British people. The UK Express called it her "Finest Hour." The furious Prime Minister declared war with EU for "making a mockery" of the UK during Brexit negotiations after Brussels bosses rejected her Chequers plan and refused to budge on their demands for the Irish border. In her Saturday TV speech, PM May told the EU that they are making a "fundamental mistake" if they believe she will let the UK be broken up over the Northern Ireland border issue. She said she was committed to attempting to secure a withdrawal agreement but hit out at Brussels for its refusal to compromise. And she warned Britain would leave without a deal rather than agree to the EU's current demands. • The Prime Minister spoke from 10 Downing Street, saying : “I have always said that these negotiations would be tough, and they were always bound to be toughest in the final straight. While both sides want a deal, we have to face up to the fact that despite the progress we have made there are two big issues where we remain a long way apart." The Prime Minister said the EU has put forward just two options it is prepared to accept to break the impasse -- see the UK remain in the European Economic Area and the EU's customs union. PM May said : "In plain English, this would mean we'd still have to abide by all the EU rules, uncontrolled immigration from the EU would continue, and we couldn't do the trade deals we want with other countries. That would make a mockery of the referendum we had two years ago." The UK Express said the second option would involve a basic free trade agreement introducing the need for customs checks at the UK/EU border. But this would effectively cut Northern Ireland off from the rest of the UK by forcing it to remain inside the customs union and parts of the single market. Mrs May added : "Parliament has already -- unanimously -- rejected this idea." She went on to warn EU leaders not to underestimate her resolve to preserve the integrity of the United Kingdom : "Creating any form of customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK would not respect that Northern Ireland is an integral part of the United Kingdom, in line with the principle of consent, as set out clearly in the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. It is something I will never agree to -- indeed, in my judgment it is something no British Prime Minister would ever agree to. If the EU believe I will, they are making a fundamental mistake." • Her defiance in the face of unacceptable EU bullying and refusal to deal in good faith was clear as she in turn attacked European Council President Donald Tusk, saying his attitude had created an "impasse" in talks : "Yesterday Donald Tusk said our proposals would undermine the single market. He didn't explain how in any detail or make any counter-proposal. So we are at an impasse. The second issue is connected to the first. We both agree that the Withdrawal Agreement needs to include a backstop to ensure that if there's a delay in implementing our new relationship, there still won't be a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. But the EU is proposing to achieve this by effectively keeping Northern Ireland in the Customs Union. As I have already said, that is unacceptable. We will never agree to it. It would mean breaking up our country." PM May then stated : "We will set out our alternative that preserves the integrity of the UK. And it will be in line with the commitments we made back in December -- including the commitment that no new regulatory barriers should be created between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK unless the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly agree. As I told EU leaders, neither side should demand the unacceptable of the other." Mrs May warned the EU bosses : "No deal is better than a bad deal. Anything which fails to respect the referendum or which effectively divides our country in two would be a bad deal and I have always said no deal is better than a bad deal." May added that her Government "must and will continue the work of preparing ourselves for no deal." • PM May described the EU referendum as "the largest democratic exercise this country has ever undergone. To deny its legitimacy or frustrate its result threatens public trust in our democracy. That is why for over two years I have worked day and night to deliver a deal that sees the UK leave the EU. I have worked to bring people with me even when that has not always seemed possible. No one wants a good deal more than me." BUT, her final words were clear : “I will not overturn the result of the referendum and nor will I break up my country." • The EU has been silent following Prime Minister May's Saturday speech. Key EU leaders, including Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, said before the Salzburg meeting that significant progress is needed by the European Council summit on October 18 if an agreement on the UK's withdrawal deal is to be reached. French President Emmanuel Macron almost rejoiced at the collapse, saying those who “predicted easy solutions” were now shown to be “liars.” • One thing we can be sure of -- the EU socialist elites, like the US socialist ProgDem elites, will not tolerate anyone who disagrees with them. • • • MERKEL IN POLITICAL TROUBLE. While Theresa May is getting applause for her tough Brexit stand against the refusals of the EU to negotiate in good faith, support for Angela Merkel’s German coalition has plummeted to its lowest ever level, a new poll has suggested, with the beleaguered Chancellor beset by problems on all sides as she desperately tries to hold her Government together. The September 17-18 ARD DeutschlandTrend survey put support for Mrs Merkel's conservative alliance – between her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian allies, the --Christian Social Union (CSU) – at 28%, down one point from September 6, its lowest ever figure. Merkel, who has led Germany since 2005, only narrowly averted the collapse of her coalition government in June after a row between the CDU and the CSU over immigration policy. The UK Express says : "The conservative sister parties and their Social Democrat Party (SPD) junior coalition partners this week agreed to oust the head of the BfV domestic agency over accusations that he harboured sympathies to the far-right -- but only by effectively giving him a promotion. The decision to give Hans-Georg Maassen a deputy minister position at the interior ministry was derided as a bad compromise which allowed the ruling parties to paper over deep differences which could make their coalition unworkable. Mr Maassen had come under fire after questioning the veracity of a video appearing to show foreigners being attacked on the streets of Chemnitz by neo-Nazi extremists -- in direct contradiction to Mrs Merkel. He was defended by interior minister -- and CSU leader -- Horst Seehofer, who is now his direct boss. However, the CSU has since hinted the decision to give him a new job could now be reversed in response to the criticism. • The ARD poll also shows that the populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) could expect to be the second-largest party in the German Parliament, were an election held tomorrow....The AfD stand on 18%, with the SPD on 17%, and the Greens on 15%. Overall, the so-called grand coalition would receive 45%, meaning a similar alliance next time round would not be possible." The survey also suggests that CSU leader Seehofer’s popularity has also taken a hit, possibly as a result of recent clashes over immigration, with just 28% approving of the job he was doing, compared with 59% disapproving. • Chancellor Merkel ignored British Prime Minister Theresa May at the EU Salzburg meeting, reportedly refusing to speak to her or shake hands. • • • THE CHEMNITZ MURDER AND PROTESTS. Earlier, on September 13, American Thinker's Rick Moran wrote an article about Chancellor Merkel and the Chemnitz murder that continues to be a very hot topic in Germany. Moran asked : "What's the best way to blunt the effectiveness of the political opposition? In the case of German chancellor Angela Merkel, it's smearing ordinary people for protesting the murder of an innocent German by two Afghan refugees. It happened in the city of Chemnitz as two Afghan refugees murdered a German citizen in a knife attack two weeks ago. The resulting demonstration against the Chancellor's immigration policies brought thousands into the street -- including some far-right Nazi sympathizers. Merkel saw an opportunity to smear the entire Alliance for Germany [AfD] political party when she condemned the entire demonstration." Reuters reported that Chancellor Merkel told the Bundestag : "There is no excuse or reason for hunting people down, using violence and Nazi slogans, showing hostility to people who look different, who have a Jewish restaurant, for attacks on police officers. We will not allow whole groups in our society to be quietly excluded." Merkel added that Jews, Moslems, Christians and atheists all belong in German society, and stressing that human dignity was paramount." Reuters also reported that Before Merkel took the podium, the head of the AfD group in the Bundestag said Germany's "domestic peace" was at risk : "As disgusting as Hitler salutes are, I would like to remind you that the really serious event in Chemnitz was the bloody deed (committed) by two asylum seekers," said Alexander Gauland. • Merkel, wrote Rick Moran, seemed to have forgotten the murder "when she was calling ordinary people demonstrating against her flawed policies 'Nazis.' The AfD, some of whose members joined right-wing militants in the Chemnitz marches, is the third biggest party in Germany. Its lawmakers' presence in parliament, which they entered after the 2017 election, has generated a more confrontational climate....There is no doubt that some far-right 'militants,' as Reuters calls them, took part in that demonstration in Chemnitz. But the portrayal of mobs of neo-Nazis attacking foreigners was questioned by Hans-Georg Maassen, the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency (BfV). He made the comment that a video that appears to show a few right-wing idiots accosting a single man of Middle Eastern descent might have been faked. Deutsche Welle looked into that charge : 'What does the video show? In the video, a group of protesters can be seen ganging up on a man with black hair, shouting xenophobic remarks, such as 'You're not welcome here!' and 'What's the matter, you Kanaks?' (A German derogatory term for people with a supposedly southern or Middle Eastern appearance). Just before the video ends, one of the mob members attempts to swing a kick before the victim runs away. Another person in the mob then turns toward the camera, revealing his t-shirt with the right-wing slogan 'Tradition, not Invasion,' emblazoned on it. That's a "Nazi slogan"? Sheesh." • Deutsche Welle concluded that the attacks were real, not faked. But a description of the protest suggests that both sides were engaged in violence : "The first protest was an Alternative for Germany demonstration in the afternoon, a small rally of about 100 people, to encourage the government to be stricter on immigration, which finished without any violence. In the evening, another protest began, this one organised by football hooligans belonging to the right-wing 'Kaotic Chemnitz' over social media. This protest became violent, and the group also incited individuals to attack and harass foreign people and people who looked non-German. The rioters attacked police officers who were deployed to calm the protests. There were also more demonstrations announced by both leftist and right-wing groups. The riots and protests continued into the next day, with the right-wing populist group 'Pro Chemnitz' organising a large protest. This was initially 800 people gathered at the city's iconic Karl Marx monument, Deutsche Welle reports that this group quickly became thousands, and grew less peaceful, police counted up to 6,000 protesters. As this group grew, the counter-protest began on the other side of the square, with about 1,500 people. Initially, the two main protesting groups were a short distance from each other facing off, with a riot police line of 600 officers between them. The protests became violent at around 9pm local time on Monday 27 August, when the far-right protesters began to actively demonstrate and move. Masked protesters from both sides began to throw solid objects and fireworks, with some right-wing protesters also performing the Nazi salute. At least twenty people were injured. An extensive police force equipped with water cannons was deployed and a second set of demonstrators belonging to the far left were kept at a distance by police. The rioters had reportedly simmered down by Tuesday morning, but far-right groups encouraged people to continue protesting." • Rick Moran's conclusion reminds us of what occurred in Charlottesville : "So the initial protest by AfD members was peaceful and orderly. It wasn't until 'soccer hooligans' and neo-Nazis [read that Antifa in Charlottesville] began to demonstrate that there was a violent confrontation with counter-protesters..." Moran says it -- "probably Antifa or its allies. Merkel smeared thousands of ordinary Germans and an entire political party to defend her indefensible immigration policies and attack the opposition as Nazis. This is what passes for politics in Germany under Merkel." • • • THE RISE OF ANTI-IMMIGRATION SENTIMENT IN GERMANY. The rise of the AfD -- fueled by widespread anger over Merkel's decision to allow into the country more than a million mostly Moslem migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and the subsequent increase in violent crime -- reflects an ongoing realignment in German politics, in which voters increasingly are rejecting the multicultural orthodoxy of the mainstream parties. • Gatestone Institute's Soeren Kern recently wrote : "When federal elections were held on September 24, 2017, the CDU/CSU won 32.9% of the vote, its worst electoral result in nearly 70 years. The SPD won 20.5%, its worst-ever showing. The AfD won 12.6%, to become the country's third-largest party in the German Parliament. The election results showed that more than a million traditional CDU/CSU voters defected to the AfD. In a sign that concerns over mass migration are not limited to conservative voters, the center-left SPD lost 500,000 voters to the AfD while the far-left Left Party lost 400,000 voters. In addition, nearly 1.5 million first-time voters cast their ballots for the AfD. This trend has continued, as consistently corroborated by opinion polls since the 2017 election. The mainstream parties are fighting back with what some observers say are underhanded measures, aimed at delegitimizing -- and possibly criminalizing -- the AfD, including by calling for the party to be placed under state surveillance. The AfD's opponents, who often brand the party as 'far right' or 'extremist,' claim that the party's alleged ties to neo-Nazi groups pose an existential threat to Germany's constitutional order. The AfD's supporters counter that Germany's politically correct establishment, afraid of losing its power and influence, is attempting to outlaw a legitimate party that has pledged to put the interests of German citizens first. Calls for the AfD to be monitored by German intelligence have intensified in recent days, after members of the AfD participated in mass protests in Chemnitz against spiraling migrant criminality -- protests in which approximately 50 hooligans and neo-Nazis were also present. The protests erupted after a 35-year-old German-Cuban man named Daniel Hillig was stabbed to death on August 26 by two migrants during the city's annual festival." • Soenen Kern notes that the local German police : "Initially refused to reveal the identities of the perpetrators, but on August 27 a police report was leaked on social media -- the document has since been scrubbed from German websites but it remains on a Russian site -- which showed that the killers were illegal migrants from Iraq and Syria. Both had extensive criminal histories but were allowed by German authorities to roam free on German streets. Police later confirmed that the leaked document was authentic and said that they had opened an investigation into suspected 'violation of official secrets.' " • Kern also said that : "Few if any of Germany's mainstream politicians condemned the murder of Hillig, but they were quick to denounce attacks on migrants....Chancellor Merkel echoed : 'We have video footage about the fact that there were hunts, that there were riots, that there was hatred on the street, and that is unacceptable in our constitutional state.' It later emerged that all of the government's allegations were based on a single 19-second video -- titled "Hunting for Humans in Chemnitz" -- which was posted on YouTube and later broadcast by the public television channel ARD. The video shows one individual chasing another in what appears to be an isolated incident." • In addition, the center-left SPD partner in Merkel's coalition, pushed the anti-AfD drumbeat even further. Kern wrote : "The chairman of the German Parliament's Internal Affairs Committee, Burkhard Lischka (SPD), warned of the danger of a civil war : 'There is a small right-wing mob in our country that will take its violent fantasies of civil war to our streets. That in the Bundestag [German parliament] a party applauds these excesses against foreign fellow citizens as legitimate self-justice, shows that the majority of our country must become even louder when it comes to rule of law, democracy and cohesion in our society.' Bundestag Vice President Thomas Oppermann demanded that the AfD be monitored by Germany's domestic intelligence service, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution : 'The refugee question divides society and the AfD rides ever more radically on this wave.' " • It was when German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (of the Bavarian conservative Merkel partner, CSU) countered that he sees no basis for monitoring the AfD that the political tensions exploded into public view. Soenen Kern reports : "On the sidelines of a closed-door meeting of the CSU in Brandenburg, Seehofer defended the Chemnitz protesters : 'Just because people protest, that does not make them a Nazi. Migration is the mother of all problems.' Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) later contradicted the government's claims : 'There was no mob, there was no hunting down of people, there was no pogrom in this city.' Saxon Attorney General Spokesman Wolfgang Klein added : 'After examining all of the material available to us, there was no hunt in Chemnitz....Writing for Tichys Einblick, a prominent German blog, commentator Oswald Metzger summed it up : 'There was no mob, there was no hunting down of people, there was no pogrom in this city.' Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) clearly corrected the almost hysterical and false reporting of countless leading media outlets on the events in Chemnitz after the deadly stabbing. Even the chancellor and her government spokesman had, as we all know, conveyed these false reports to the public, and thereby giving them publicity. For long enough, many citizens from all walks of life have noticed that the problems of integrating even third- and fourth-generation immigrants have grown bigger, not smaller -- especially among Turks. The mass immigration of the past three years, under the banner of 'the right to asylum,' has significantly increased the fear of parallel societies, of crime, and of cultural alienation. When I consider the often undifferentiated, blanket accusations against 'brown Chemnitz' [brown is the color of Nazism], then the established parties will not have to wonder why, almost without exception, they continue to lose to the colorful AfD. When concerned citizens increasingly are stigmatized as being Nazis -- accusations which, incidentally, in their excessive use amount to a shameless trivialization of Nazi crimes -- they often respond with the indifferent remark: 'Well, then I'm just a Nazi!' Extremism cannot be combated with exclusion, but with looking at the facts. Those who want to reach concerned citizens must themselves get out of the ideological trenches." • • • DEAR READERS, the rise of anti-immigration and anti-elite government parties and groups in Germany is simply the leading edge of what is happening all over Europe. The EU's bitter refusal to recognize Britains' absolute right as a sovereign nation to withdraw from the EU is a symptom of an elite, largely supra-national, clique that is running scared of its own citizens. Slapping penalties on Hungary for its determination to remain in charge of its sovereign rights as an EU member is another sympton of the EU elites' fear. And, the EU attempt to side with Iran against its only benefactor, the United States, reflects the EU elite desire to be free of the obviously anti-elite American beacon to national sovereignty that shines all over Europe, despite the attempts of the EU political leaders and their largely managed media to smear President Trump and turn him into a monster beyond any rational recognition. They laughed at his UN speech on Tuesday because there is little else they can do against Trump's direct appeal to the people of Europe and the world to shake off elitist socialism and globalist hegemonies of unelected bureaucrats determined to crush nationhood and culture. • When President Trump uttered his call for free and sovereign nationhood at the UN yestersay, he might just as well have been pointing a howitzer at the elites of the EU and the world : "As for Americans, we know what kind of future we want for ourselves. We know what kind of a nation America must always be. In America, we believe in the majesty of freedom and the dignity of the individual. We believe in self-government and the rule of law. And we prize the culture that sustains our liberty -- a culture built on strong families, deep faith, and fierce independence. We celebrate our heroes, we treasure our traditions, and above all, we love our country. Inside everyone in this great chamber today, and everyone listening all around the globe, there is the heart of a patriot that feels the same powerful love for your nation, the same intense loyalty to your homeland. The passion that burns in the hearts of patriots and the souls of nations has inspired reform and revolution, sacrifice and selflessness, scientific breakthroughs, and magnificent works of art. Our task is not to erase it, but to embrace it. To build with it. To draw on its ancient wisdom. And to find within it the will to make our nations greater, our regions safer, and the world better. To unleash this incredible potential in our people, we must defend the foundations that make it all possible. Sovereign and independent nations are the only vehicle where freedom has ever survived, democracy has ever endured, or peace has ever prospered. And so we must protect our sovereignty and our cherished independence above all. When we do, we will find new avenues for cooperation unfolding before us. We will find new passion for peacemaking rising within us. We will find new purpose, new resolve, and new spirit flourishing all around us, and making this a more beautiful world in which to live. So together, let us choose a future of patriotism, prosperity, and pride. Let us choose peace and freedom over domination and defeat. And let us come here to this place to stand for our people and their nations, forever strong, forever sovereign, forever just, and forever thankful for the grace and the goodness and the glory of God." • There is no human heart on Earth that does not respond to that call. Ronald Reagan's Shining City on the Hill has become Donald Trump's Shining City to defend and preserve. Make no mistake. Donald Trump is up to the task.