Merkel Vows to Reduce Refugees in Germany, Gets Standing Ovation

It’s often quite difficult to get a read on the politicians that run other nations. While our media exposes us to the ramblings of our leaders on a daily basis, the language barrier prevents us from getting to know foreign politicians with any intimacy. If you do however, you’ll find that these leaders really aren’t that different from our own. In fact, they’re just as two-faced as any of the creatures crawling about the Beltway.

Take Angela Merkel for instance. On Monday, she presented a speech to her party, the Christian Democratic Union, which netted her a standing ovation that lasted 7 minutes. So what did she say to elicit such a celebratory response? She vowed to “tangibly reduce” the number of refugees in Germany.

That says a lot about the state of a nation that is now carrying the burden of over a million refugees. But don’t think for minute that this speech marks a change in policy that would secure Germany’s borders or anything like that. After all, this is a politician we’re dealing with.

In the same speech she reiterated that there should be no cap on the number of refugees that are allowed into Germany, and that it was her nation’s humanitarian duty to take in as many wayward people as they can. “We are going to manage this — if there are obstacles to overcome, then we will have to work to overcome them. We are ready to show what we are made of.”

What this speech says about Merkel, is that she knows how to appease both sides of the aisle at the same time. She makes statements that are in direct opposition to each other, and the audience can’t spot the hypocrisy. Arguably, it’s one of the most important skills a politician can have, and nobody gets to be in charge of any large nation without it

And that isn’t the only example. She clearly states in the speech that she despises multiculturalism, and admitted that Germany may be reaching its limit when it comes to how many migrants they can accept. “Multiculturalism leads to parallel societies and therefore remains a ‘life lie,’ ” she said before adding “We want and we will reduce the number of refugees noticeably.”

She’s actually expressed her disdain for multiculturalism before, back in 2010. “Of course the tendency had been to say, ‘Let’s adopt the multicultural concept and live happily side by side, and be happy to be living with each other.’ But this concept has failed, and failed utterly.” And yet she still lets over a million people into her country. People that I don’t think anyone believes will ever be assimilated.

I digress. In the same freaking speech, she refused to back down on her assertion that the rest of Europe should take in more refugees, and share Germany’s burden. So that’s how she’s planning to reduce the number of migrants in her country? Get everyone else to make the same mistake?

Angela Merkel is clearly the best politician in Europe. By that I mean, she is the best at being a politician. She knows how to say things in just the right way. She panders to everyone in the audience, she lies, she gives statements that are clearly contradictory, and she offers solutions that aren’t solutions at all. Then she gets a standing ovation. I think our people in Washington could learn a thing or two from her.