There’s one world leader left in whom we can hope
BETWEEN the demagogue that is Donald Trump and the bully that is Russian President Putin, only one global leader is now worthy of our support – Angela Merkel. The chancellor of Germany, who marked her 63rd birthday two weeks ago with typical modesty, has emerged as our only hope as the US loses its place in the Free World thanks to the dishonesty, nastiness and crudity of Donald Trump.
This is not necessarily good news for Ireland as Merkel, who has been German leader since 2005, stood idly by as the European Central Bank destroyed the Irish economy by insisting that we bail out wealthy bondholders – who knew the risk they were taking. Generations of Irish taxpayers are now burdened with a debt that no other European country would have taken.
But for the sake of the Free World, let’s hope Merkel wins in the September elections.
Endurance seems to be the word that describes the chancellor’s great skill – she is now on her third US president and third UK prime minister.
The only thing Merkel shares in common with Theresa May is that they are both the daughters of full-time clerics. Otherwise, May is now bordering on being the laughing stock of a country in turmoil.
As for Trump, his behaviour has gone beyond a joke. At the G20 summit in Hamburg a few weeks ago, apart from canoodling with duplicitous Putin, he called his hosts ‘Germans – bad, very bad’.
When Merkel shocked the world in the summer of 2015 and generously welcomed one million refugees primarily from war-torn Syria, shaming the rest of Europe, Trump called it a ‘catastrophic mistake’.
One can only imagine what the inscrutable Merkel, who lives in a modest apartment in central Berlin and hates the fanfare of high office, thinks of Trump’s lunatic Mexican wall. As she said a year ago, she will not tolerate any barbed wire in Europe: ‘I grew up staring at a wall in my face.’ Her experience being raised in an oppressive, secretive and bankrupt communist state has obviously driven her open, brave and moral approach to politics.
The only thing she is afraid of is dogs. When she first met Putin in 2007 at his summer dacha, he deliberately loosed his labrador when she arrived. She may be afraid of being bitten, but she is not afraid of Putin – thankfully.
While her strong Lutheran background saw her vote against samesex marriage last month, she cannily steered the legislative change through the Reichstag.
Trump, with his daily outrage, proved once again this week that he is consistent in most of this statements: they are invariably false. His cruel, unnecessary and vindictive transgender ban in the US military is simply a naked attempt to divert attention from the turmoil in the White House.
Emmanuel Macron has reinvigorated the French, but he has a long way to go to establish himself or his country as world leaders. The French economy is a basket case. Imagine a modern country that doesn’t have a long-distance bus service because of the opposition of the state railway company!
The new French president visited Merkel the day after his election. He realises that in a world in turmoil, she represents our best hope.