After German Chancellor Angela Merkel publicly apologized for Germany’s persecution against the Jews during World War ii, our editor in chief praised the chancellor for her courageous speech, delivered to Knesset members on March 18. He also said her comments would severely damage Merkel’s political career. “This speech will have a negative impact on her political career and signals a dangerous turning point in the history of Germany,“ Gerald Flurry wrote.

Since he wrote that, we have been closely monitoring Merkel’s approval rating, as well as the the division within her ruling coalition, brought into sharper focus over the past month because of Russia’s invasion of Georgia.

In a poll taken in early August, 49 percent of Germans said they would vote for Merkel again for the chancellorship, compared with 35 percent for Steinmeier. As solid as those numbers may seem, it was an 8 percent drop for Merkel over the previous month. Furthermore, the poll was taken just before Russia’s assault on Georgia. Another poll, according to Bloomberg, reveals that “German voters are more satisfied with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s performance than with that of Chancellor Angela Merkel.”

Since then, as Brad Macdonald wrote in a recent column for theTrumpet.com,

Merkel has been forced to try to strike the balance between two opposing forces. On one side is a German public and government that is largely unwilling to antagonize Russia. On the other sits Germany’s neighbors (particularly former Soviet bloc states) and an international community that is looking to Germany to staunchly defend Georgian interests and deliver strong condemnations, backed with meaningful consequences, to Russia.It’s a precarious position for anyone, but especially Angela Merkel, a former East German whose natural-born fear and distrust of Moscow has spurred her to beef up relations with the West and temper, often to the chagrin of political counterparts, the pro-Russian foreign policy of her predecessor, Gerhard Schröder.

Last week, Chancellor Merkel indicated that she may be ready to face off against her political adversaries. In a speech on Friday, Merkel said Germany must reconsider its current policy of retiring its nuclear power plants by 2021. Stratfor sees the comment as a direct jab against the Social Democratic Party (spd), the coalition partner of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (cdu), and explains why this might be significant:

Merkel’s Sept. 5 statement is really about her setting the stage to battle spd—a clash that may come to a head sooner rather than later. As chancellor, Merkel has the authority to call for early elections—currently scheduled for Sept. 28, 2009—and her recent comments in Bavaria seem to indicate that she is leaning that way. Russia’s Aug. 8 intervention in Georgia has placed a renewed emphasis on Germany’s need to have a singular and more clearly defined foreign policy. …Merkel decided to take the gloves off in Bavaria because she now sees the Grand Coalition as largely counterproductive, particularly at such a dangerous time when Germany needs to be assertive and have a clear and coalesced foreign policy. The Grand Coalition gave spd some important ministries, particularly those of foreign affairs and finance. The German foreign minister—and one of the potential spd chancellor candidates in 2009—is Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a close Schroeder ally. Steinmeier has continued spd’s stance on foreign policy, particularly its accommodating posture toward Russia. Schroeder himself epitomized this policy by cozying up to Russians throughout his chancellorship (following his retirement from politics, he accepted a position with Gazprom that put him in charge of the board of the subsidiary building the Nord Stream pipeline, which will link Russia to Germany).Throughout the tenure of the Grand Coalition, Merkel has put up with Steinmeier—and spd in general—undercutting her own foreign and domestic policies. Now, with a resurgent Russia, Merkel has realized she needs full control over her foreign policy, including a single policy toward Russia that is more firm than what Steinmeier and spd might want.

Bible prophecy says that in the last days, “a king of fierce countenance” will rise out of the heart of Europe (Daniel 8:23). Angela Merkel is not that prophesied leader. But with the possibility of early elections in Germany, that prophesied king may be ready to make his grand appearance on the world stage.

To read more about the upcoming elections in Germany, go here.

The Kosovo Precedent

When America learned that the Russian parliament intended to recognize Georgia’s breakaway territories last month, President George Bush told Moscow emphatically that “Georgia’s territorial integrity and borders must command the same respect as every other nation’s.”

But the president’s sermonizing about the need to respect territorial integrity—like most of America’s actions during the Georgia crisis—proved ineffectual. Within hours, the Russian government announced that it officially recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as sovereign states. The American president’s sermons clearly fell on deaf ears.

James George Jatras, director of the American Council for Kosovo in Washington, explains why in the Washington Times today: “It seems critics have forgotten President Bush’s recognition of the independence of Kosovo, a province of democratic, UN member Serbia.” Hypocrisy, as any good preacher will tell you, is the fastest way to render a sermon ineffectual. Jatras continued:

President Bush’s reference to “every other nation” whose “territorial integrity and borders must command the same respect” apparently has at least this one exception. If he can violate the United Nations Charter and the Helsinki Final Act, which guarantee sovereign borders, what right does he have to accuse others of doing the same?If Moscow stepped over the line in its crushing military response to Mr. Saakashvili’s offensive, what do we call 78 straight days of nato’s bombing throughout Serbia, destroying most of that country’s civilian infrastructure? If Russia is to be faulted for imperfect implementation of the Sarkozy agreement, what can be said about Washington’s violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244, which ended the 1999 Kosovo war and reaffirms Serbian sovereignty in the province?

Some argue there are justifications for making Serbia an exception to the rule. America and nato needed to intervene in Serbia, for example, because of the Serb-inflicted genocide of Kosovo’s Albanians. But those justifications are wrong, as Jatras so clearly explains. The rumors of genocide that justified the war, for example, were just that—rumors. Jatras continues:

By trashing the accepted international “rules of the road” on Kosovo, Washington has created what amounts to the rules of the jungle. Each power acts as it will, either to suppress restive minorities or to compromise other countries’ borders: The United States tries to force Serbia to accept Kosovo’s independence and pressures other countries (without much success) to recognize it; Georgia tries to subdue the Ossetians and the Abkhazians and fails; Russia moves to establish the Ossetians’ and Abkhazians’ independence and now also will try to secure wider recognition. In turn, the U.S.-supported separatist Kosovo Albanian administration itself threatens a miniature version of Mr. Saakashvili’s South Ossetia offensive to subdue Serbian enclaves, where the remaining one-third of the province’s prewar community finds refuge. Where does the logic of “big fish eat little fish” end?

Fact is, when Russia invaded Georgia and subsequently recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia, it was reading directly from the playbook used by America and the West in the Balkans during the 1990s. Call it the Kosovo precedent, established by America! Here’s how Jatras concluded:

In Kosovo, Washington sowed the wind, and now Georgia has reaped the whirlwind. Only a return to the negotiating table to address comprehensively Kosovo, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and similar trouble spots elsewhere can prevent this malignant precedent from spinning further out of control with incalculable consequences for global peace and security. With each step down this road it will be harder to put the genie of might-makes-right back in the bottle.

He’s exactly right. The might-makes-right genie has been set loose, and the world is a different place as a result. As theTrumpet.com has explained in recent weeks, Russia’s invasion of Georgia was a geopolitical earthquake that altered the course of history. And the reality, as some are beginning to see, is that America—despite its sermonizing about respecting the sovereignty of nations—is complicit in Russia’s violent invasion of Georgia.

We encourage you to consider this event deeply. Start by reading “Russia’s Attack Signals Dangerous New Era.” Also examine our booklet The Rising Beast—Germany’s Conquest of the Balkans.

Pakistan’s New President: “Listen to Democracy”

Pakistan elected its new president yesterday, Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. “Listen to democracy,” he said to his critics.

What we are about to witness in Pakistan will be another repudiation of the idea that democracy can solve the world’s ills, particularly in this radicalized region of the world. Don’t expect a Zardari presidency to make Pakistan a less dangerous place. Consider these comments by the Wall Street Journal’s Bret Stephens from earlier in the week about this man:

Just how bad is Mr. Zardari? It would be a relief if it were true that he was merely suffering from dementia, a diagnosis offered by two New York psychiatrists last year. But that diagnosis seems to have been produced mainly with a view toward defending himself against corruption charges in a British court.Mr. Zardari — who earned the moniker “Mr. 10%” for allegedly demanding kickbacks during his wife’s two terms in office — has long been dogged by accusations of corruption. …It’s an open question whether Mr. Zardari will be more or less restrained in his behavior if he’s elected: His return to politics has meant the dropping of all charges against him and the release of millions in frozen assets. …Mr. Zardari is a caricature of everything that’s morally bankrupt with the country’s Westernized elite, and thus an inviting propaganda target for al Qaeda and the Taliban. It doesn’t help, either, that they are working fertile political soil: 71% of Pakistanis oppose cooperating with the U.S. in counterterrorism, and 51% oppose fighting the Taliban at all, according to a June poll.Al Qaeda and the Taliban feed on chaos, and a Zardari presidency will almost certainly provide more of it. For Pakistanis, this is a self-inflicted wound and a rebuke to their democracy. … [T]his looks like a Category 5 hurricane, dark and vast and visible just offshore.

For more on why the Pakistan situation is so dangerous, read Gerald Flurry’s article “Pakistan and the Shah of Iran” from our January 2008 edition.

“Fair and Balanced” About Sarah Palin

Victor Davis Hanson exposes the double-standards of the liberal media with respect to Republican vp nominee Sarah Palin:

The Geraldine Ferraro Democratic Vice Presidential nominee appointment was an inspired stroke of genius that advanced the cause of feminism; Palin’s was tawdry tokenism.Edwards was a social reformer brought down by the tabloids; Palin’s 17-year-old daughter is white trash and fair game.Insulting “small town mayors” and “good looking” women is funny; suggesting that “community organizing” is often a farce is a felony.Obama’s violation of drug laws with a “little blow” was youthful exuberance; Palin’s husband’s DUI was more proof of a working-class messy family.Joe Biden bravely continued as Senator after the tragic death of his wife and daughter left his injured young sons with a single parent; Sarah Palin selfishly shorted her children by running for VP and endangered her infants by flying while pregnant.Criticizing Clinton’s engaging in sex in the oval office and lying about it to the American people were once “the politics of personal destruction”; lying that Sarah Palin might not have been the mother of her 5th child is the mere overreach of the blogs caused by the improper vetting of the McCain campaign.

“If McCain Wins, Look for a Full-Fledged Race War”

In the same column, Hanson details some of the racially charged statements emerging from the “post racial” Democratic ticket, including the chairman of the Democratic Party (who is white) saying, “If you look at folks of color, even women, they’re more successful in the Democratic Party than they are in the white, uh, excuse me, in the (chuckles) Republican Party, because we just give more opportunity to folks who are hard-working people who are immigrants and come from members of minority groups.” Hanson continues,

Then there are the op-ed writers weighing in on cue, like Philadelphia Daily News columnist Fatima Ali: “If McCain wins, look for a full-fledged race and class war, fueled by a deflated and depressed country, soaring crime, homelessness—and hopelessness!”Or this from Harold Meyerson (who earlier accused Hillary and Bill Clinton of playing the race card) in the Washington Post: “In a year when the Democrats have an African American presidential nominee, the Republicans now more than ever are the white folks’ party, the party that delays the advent of our multicultural future, the party of the American past. Republican conventions have long been bastions of de facto Caucasian exclusivity, but coming right after the diversity of Denver, this year’s GOP convention is almost shockingly—un-Americanly—white. Long term, this whiteness is a huge problem.”

It certainly does appear the nation is propelling toward a racial explosion, fueled not by the “Caucasian exclusivity” of one of the parties, but by the constant accusations of racism and appeals to victim status lodged by the other. If the mixed-race candidate does not win this presidential election, a significant segment of the country will be convinced that the only conceivable reason is that America is a racist nation.

It is sobering to imagine how this emotional issue might play out at that point, but the Bible does prophesy of race wars occurring in our day. In a letter earlier this year on this subject, Gerald Flurry said, “This dangerous buildup within our society is a racist bomb that most of us will see explode in our faces!”

Gimmicks Held Up Mortgage Giants

America’s federal government has now placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into receivership—effectively putting taxpayers on the hook for the two giant mortgage holders. The government will now own almost half of all homeowner mortgages in America. Although the transaction has the potential to slam America’s credit rating and add billions, possibly trillions, of dollars to the national debt, the scary thing is that if the lenders were left to fail, the U.S. mortgage market would have virtually ground to a halt. Additionally, foreign investors—the same ones that hold trillions’ worth of U.S. Treasury debt—would take a terrible hit, and as a result, may become less willing to finance future U.S. government borrowing.

According to the International Herald Tribune, the U.S. government’s planned takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac came together quickly after advisers poring over the companies’ books determined that the mortgage lenders may have drastically overstated their reserves. Regulators have also exposed blatant manipulation of recent losses:

For years, both companies have effectively recognized losses whenever payments on a loan were 90 days past due. But, in recent months, the companies said they would wait until payments were two years late.

Losses are not counted as losses until the borrower hasn’t been paying his mortgage for two years! No wonder America is facing such a mortgage crisis.

Without all the accounting gimmicks, Fannie and Freddie may have been dead long ago. But now that Fannie and Freddie are on government books, one wonders if the U.S. government’s accounting policies—policies that resemble those of the two failed lenders—will come under similar scrutiny by its foreign lenders.

Israel Allows Weapons Transfer to Palestinians

Israel allowed the transfer of 1,000 rifles and tens of thousands of bullets to Palestinian security forces last week, an Israeli defense official said on Friday. The shipment was facilitated through Jordan. The transfer was arranged by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on August 31. It is part of Israel’s continued attempt to appear supportive of Abbas and his Fatah movement.

According to the bbc, the Palestinian Authority said the shipment “would be used in the campaign Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is currently waging against Hamas in the West Bank.” In December Ehud Barak also plans the transfer of several Russian-made armored personnel carriers to Palestinian forces.

A number of critics are understandably concerned that the weapons may end up in the hands of the terrorists as they have in the past (see “The Flaw With Reviving the Peace Process”).

Neo-Nazis Drum Up Support for Their Party

German neo-Nazis are attempting to exploit public anger over the murder of an 8-year-old girl in Leipzig to advance their political objectives, Spiegel reported in an article on Friday. Since the little girl’s body was discovered on August 21, neo-Nazis have organized protest marches to impose the death penalty on child abusers—claiming that the murder was “a sign that the system has simply failed.”

This isn’t the first time Germany’s far-right National Democratic Party has used a domestic crisis to drum up support for itself. “The npd is trying to gain support by pretending to be a normal party and milking the frustration and fear of the people of Leipzig,” a project manager of a firm that combats racism told Spiegel. “We’re concerned that this strategy may pay off for them.”

“The far-right extremists are now unashamedly showing their true, inhuman face,” Leipzig’s Mayor Burkhard Jung said in a statement. “They’re trying to make political capital from this terrible deed, without a shred of decency and without showing any respect for the dignity of the murdered girl Michelle or the express wishes of her parents. This behavior is despicable.”

The npd has reached out to young people in particular, especially in eastern Germany, where education has done little to instill a sense of national responsibility for Nazi crimes, Spiegel notes. “In some areas the npd has a better infrastructure than the big parties in terms of local organizations and youth clubs,” said one expert on far-right activities. “It has managed to appeal to young people more than the other parties. Its local clubs are often run by respected people such as local businessmen and trades people.”

Elsewhere on the Web

Two days of relentless rain in Britain have deluged northern England. Several rivers have burst their banks, causing severe flooding.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao on Saturday on a visit to China. The meeting came just over a week after Tehran announced it had increased the number of operating centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant to 4,000. Hu expressed support for Iran’s nuclear program and stressed the two sides had a “deep friendship.” China has typically joined Russia in using its veto power in the United Nations Security Council to prevent effective sanctions being imposed on Iran.

And Finally …

Human Events criticizes the CW television network for its re-tooling of the old teen soap opera Beverly Hills 90210. The new version is even more highly sexualized and perverse than the old—and to make matters worse, it is being promoted more heavily to kids younger than ever. It airs its sordid material at 8 p.m.—7 p.m. cst—and is placing promos on BusRadio, an audio broadcast service exclusively for school buses carrying children as young as 6. “The show is also being promoted on such child-centric merchandise as backpacks, school supplies, cosmetics, T-shirts and sweatshirts,” the article says. So don’t be surprised if your first-grader expresses an interest in watching a sex-drenched teen show—and after all, it’s on before bedtime.