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| picture courtesy of Armin Linnartz / wikipedia |
The special tactic that has kept her in office as German chancellor for 10 years is her ability to change her opinion in a very subtle way. Actually, she does not change her mind, it's just her reajusting her policies in the direction the wind is blowing.
Her party, the CDU, always was the one that was holding back green energy (solar and wind power for example) and insisting that nuclear power contracts had to be extended. Until Fukushima. Suddenly, not the green party, not the social democrats, no... Angie and her conservatives were the ones who suddenly brought nuclear power to the grave.
It seemed as if it had always been their plan. And yeah... "now, after Fukushima" nothing can be the same, they said.
A political party that had always been seen as preventing electrical cars and solar energy to win over Germany was suddenly the one being celebrated for bringing us green power... finally.
Since then, Angela Merkel has changed her policies on various subjects several times. The most recent change is taking place right now. It's the migrant movement.
Only half a year ago, Angie was the one saying that we can't just leave refugees all alone when they reach such terrible and war-mongering (sarcasm) places such as Greece and Italy, although they are already in the European Union! No. They have to come to Germany, and how should we even stop them? It's not like we can build a wall / fence or perform border checks like other countries. It's not like we had a law that says "a refugee can only claim refuge in the EU country he has first set foot in"...yeah... well, we DO have that law you know.
Now, the situation has again changed, and again in a very subtle manner. Merkel does not want to admit that she HAD TO change her policies, because that would make it obvious that she is only listening to the trends. But if she doesn't change, she will lose power. Since the infamous rape, sexual assault and theft events in Germany at the beginning of the year, Germans have become more critical of foreigners. It's not that they have generally become more hostile, it's just that this idea of letting EVERYBODY in is weakening. Germans prefer a more disciplined approach. With real background checkups, finding out who are the real refugees and who just wants to live in a rich country without effort.
One of the strongest pieces of evidence that Angie is changing her opinion is this: "Refugees don't have a say in where in the EU they are allowed to stay when seeking refuge" and "Greece offers food and shelter that refugees should make use of". Yes! That is exactly what the law has always been saying, even when the German government deliberately ignored that law.
So suddenly, when refugees are "stranded" in poor old Greece, that's okay. Because Greece can offer accomodation and food, and let's not forget: If people are fleeing from war, they shouldn't be picky where to stay.
So yeah... I was wondering what would happen first: Angie giving in to a new policy or a different party taking power. We can slowly see that her famous turnarounds are the choice she has made. And Germans will be too dumb to notice.
By the way: I don't mind politicians always doing what the public asks for. But next time, change your opinion right from the start and not 1-2 million immigrants later, okay?
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