Tel-Chai Nation

On Pajamas Media, John Rosenthal writes about how the majority of Germany's MEPs shot down the SWIFT agreement, which would've helped in the war on terrorism, including tracking terror funding:

Despite the anonymity of the voting procedure, review of the events leading up to the vote makes clear just which block of delegates led the charge against the SWIFT agreement. Members of the Socialist, Green, and “United Left” groups undoubtedly voted by and large against it, and those of the two major “conservative” groups, the European People’s Party (EPP) and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), undoubtedly voted by and large for it.

But support and opposition did not run strictly along party lines. Most notably, the virtual entirety of the German parliamentary cohort — the largest national grouping comprising some 99 delegates — appears to have opposed the agreement regardless of party affiliation. The German opposition evidently included — as Germany’s paper of record, Die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, has noted — “nearly all” the representatives of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). The CDU/CSU is part of the main “conservative” formation in the European Parliament, the EPP.

You know, some people who think even Merkel is a reliable ally are really exaggerating. But this is another sign of how Germany's sincerity in modern times is definitely in question.

Update: speaking of which, I just found this story (via What's Wrong with the World) from a few weeks ago related to one I'd spoken about earlier, about a German family with 5 children who've now been given political asylum in the US because German authorities were persecuting them for homeschooling. Yes, even now, Germany is still criminalizing homeschoolers (though in Austria today it's allowed). The judge who granted the family's request had some things to say:

In a case with international ramifications, Immigration Judge Lawrence O. Burman granted the political asylum application of a German homeschooling family. The Romeikes are Christians from Bissinggen, Germany, who fled persecution in August 2008 to seek political asylum in the United States. The request was granted January 26 after a hearing was held in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 21.

“We can’t expect every country to follow our constitution,” said Judge Burman. “The world might be a better place if it did. However, the rights being violated here are basic human rights that no country has a right to violate.”

Burman added, “Homeschoolers are a particular social group that the German government is trying to suppress. This family has a well-founded fear of persecution…therefore, they are eligible for asylum…and the court will grant asylum.”

In his ruling, Burman said that the scariest thing about this case was the motivation of the government. He noted it appeared that rather than being concerned about the welfare of the children, the government was trying to stamp out parallel societies—something the judge called “odd” and just plain “silly.” In his order the judge expressed concern that while Germany is a democratic country and is an ally, he noted that this particular policy of persecuting homeschoolers is “repellent to everything we believe as Americans.”

If Merkel were really a sincere politician, why didn't she and her government try to have this abhorrent nazi-era law abolished back when she first began her premier role?

More from the Volokh Conspiracy.

Update 2: Some of you are probably aware of the "green police" commercial Audi ran in the US a few weeks ago. That suggests the Germans haven't exactly improved their sense of humor either. The advertisement was so disgusting, that I think a boycott of the Volkswagen Corp, which owns Audi, is in order here.

Labels: germany, political corruption, terrorism, war on terror