The AfD’s Rising Popularity, Chuck Schumer’s Imaginary Friends, Russia Advances Into Ukraine
Chancellor Friedrich Merz is establishing a National Security Council to enhance coordination of Germany’s security policies. Josué Michels’s feature story this morning shows how this move aligns with Germany’s ongoing military buildup and increased recruitment efforts, prompted by concerns over Russian aggression.
[BRIEF]
But despite such moves strengthening Germany to face down threats in the future, Merz’s political fortunes continue to fall:
Germany’s new most popular political party: After years of rising public support, the once-fringe, stigmatized, far-right Alternative für Deutschland has surpassed Merz’s mainstream conservative bloc in public support, an RTL/nTV poll revealed yesterday. If an election were held today, the AfD would edge out the ruling coalition 26 percent to 24 percent.
- Not long ago, the CDU/CSU and SPD were a “grand coalition” commanding over 80 percent of voters. This political cohesion has shattered.
The hope that Chancellor Merz would draw support away from the AfD has not materialized. One hundred days since his election, he is hemorrhaging popularity. RLT/nTV has the figures:
[O]nly 29 percent of those surveyed are satisfied with his work (–3), while 67 percent are dissatisfied. His performance is viewed particularly critically in East Germany (only 20 percent approval), while in the West the figure is 31 percent. Dissatisfaction is particularly pronounced among supporters of the AfD (95 percent), the Left (89 percent) and the Greens (77 percent). Even among SPD supporters [who are part of Merz’s government], criticism predominates at 60 percent.
Merz’s unpopularity has a variety of causes; it seems everyone dislikes him for different reasons. Overall the public is frustrated that he is not solving the nation’s problems. The fact that voters are looking to a party with Nazi sympathies is deeply troubling.
The AfD’s rise parallels a surge in right-wing sentiment elsewhere in Europe. The French are turning to the far-right National Rally. In recent years, voters in Poland, Romania, Portugal, the Netherlands and other nations have rewarded and empowered right-wing populist parties.
This trend foreshadows the fulfillment of the Bible’s prophecies of Europe unifying in a direction very different from the inclusive, multicultural, namby-pamby Europe that long-standing mainstream parties have created.
It is possible that Friedrich Merz is one of Europe’s prophesied “10 kings.” His unpopularity does not disqualify him. But as Trumpet publisher Gerald Flurry has said, Europe is still crying out for a strongman. Read his article “Europe Needs Someone Greater Than a German Chancellor.”
Chuck Schumer’s imaginary friends: It’s not uncommon for politicians to paint a picture of a “target voter” and to even give a name to the type of voter they’re hoping to attract. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has taken this to truly insane lengths.
For years Schumer has talked about “the Baileys,” a middle-class couple, Joe and Eileen, from Massapequa, Long Island. In his 2007 book Positively American, he mentioned them 265 times in 264 pages. He has talked about their family, medical history, voting record, opinion on every political detail, what TV shows they watch, and myriad other oddly specific minutiae. He has said, “I have guided my political life through the Baileys.” The press has asked him about their opinions. He has said, “These people are real, and I respect them and I really love them.”
But they’re not real. They are fiction. It has been an open secret for years. It took late-night comedian Jon Oliver to call him out on it. It is a truly bizarre example of our world’s detachment from reality that a politician in such exalted office would engineer an elaborate fantasy and the press would play along for decades.
IN OTHER NEWS
Just days before Putin meets with Trump, Russia advances deep into Ukraine: The Russian military punched two holes in Ukrainian front lines this week, its most significant breakthrough in months. Vladimir Putin continues to show his determination to win at all costs, belying the notion that negotiation will persuade him to call things off—which is what President Trump is trying to do this Friday in talks in Alaska. Learn more details of Russia’s advance in Ezekiel Malone’s In Brief.
A German drone maker is developing a “Sparta” mothership drone to extend the operational range of other drones and speed up its threat response. Sparta, slated for mass production in Ukraine by the end of the year, will carry and deploy multiple smaller drones and can serve as a reconnaissance platform. Quantum Systems, the manufacturer, says it can fly 6 to 8 hours and operate in a 200-kilometer radius. CEO Dave Sharpin shared a video showing Sparta releasing a quadrotor and said that “launching drones much like a munition can be a compelling capability.” Ukraine has become a testing ground for the weapons of the future, and Germany’s interest in drone warfare may have great prophetic relevance.
Reclassifying pot: President Trump confirmed on Monday he is considering reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule I drug. “Medical, for pain and various things, I’ve heard some pretty good things; but for other things, I’ve heard some pretty bad things,” he told media. This could open more legalization nationwide. Holistic nutritionist Jorg Mardian wrote for our magazine in 2018 why the supposed health benefits for medical marijuana are little more than smoke and mirrors.