#Trump coalition

[uniqueeval]

Trump adds RFK Jr. and Gabbard to transition team | World News

Donald Trump has added former White House hopefuls Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to his transition team if he wins November’s US presidential election, his campaign said on Tuesday. Kennedy and Gabbard hail from outside the Republican party sphere where former President Trump draws most of his support. “As President Trump’s broad coalition of supporters and endorsers expands across…

[vigilantempathy]

Bring Back the Rainbow Coalition! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

As a queer, trans person who lives in the USA, I’m wondering if it’s time for a mutual aid and self-defensively militant wing of the LGBTQ+++ community.

So, hear me out: in the 1960s/70s, there was an anti-classist, anti-racist, collective action group called the Rainbow Coalition. It was based in Chicago and founded by Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party. It unified the Panthers, the Young Lords, and the Young Patriots Organization into a multicultural working-class collectivist entity. It fell apart after (21-year-old) Hampton was assassinated by the FBI.

As a present member of the queer/trans community in Chicago, aka living in the United States in 2025, I think it’s time for collective and protective LGBTQ+++ action. The perfect name is already out there and not currently in use.

Anyone else down to reincarnate the Rainbow Coalition?

[centrally-unplanned]

Hot take but the sweep of super-rich donors coming into Trump's court recently isn't actually all of them going "yeah I hate Trump but I want those tax cuts". At least not primarily, like sure lower taxes is part of why they have Republican leanings to begin with. But billionaires are pretty price insensitive, it doesn't really matter to them all that much if they are paying 20% or 25% on their capital gains, they aren't spending it either way.

Instead its that they think he is gonna win. The Republican primary is over, he is the nom, Biden is set as the opponent, and the polling numbers are pretty clear on that contest. Might change of course, no one is sure, but you gotta back some horse if you are in this game. They don't need to donate to Trump to make him lower taxes on the rich, Republicans will do literally anything to lower taxes on the rich, its their most sacred principle. Like I'm not mocking them there, its objectively true, its nearly the only active agenda item they have consistently pursued in every single administration over the past several decades. You do not need to donate to them to make them do that, and you also don't think your donation is gonna make that much of a different on the win odds. Those donations probably won't pay for themselves vis a vis tax cuts.

What it does do is buy you influence for other agenda items the Republicans don't care about, but might sell to you. And Trump is infamously willing to sell an awful lot of the policy space to the highest bidder, even if he is quite mercurial when it comes to the execution on that. Its not about "lowering taxes", its about getting an exemption for The One Product Your Business Needs on the the tariff policy, or a specific deregulation of biotech rules at the FDA, or w/e. Many of which wont even be directly about making money! Some will be but again price insensitive, its about ideology and vision for projects and other stuff. And the majority (not all ofc) would in fact be quite happy to buy that from Biden, if he was A: selling so openly, and B: likely to win. Since neither is true, they are taking the deal on hand.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Payton Armstrong at MMFA:

After conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the Supreme Court’s March 5 majority decision to uphold a lower court order requiring President Donald Trump’s administration to pay USAID contractors for work already completed, right-wing influencers lashed out — calling Barrett a “DEI judge” who was “chosen solely because she checked identity politics boxes” and claiming “the power has gone to her head.”

Barrett joined the majority in upholding a lower court order requiring the Trump administration to pay USAID contractors

On his first day in office, Trump issued an executive order to pause all foreign aid for 90 days. The order prompted lawsuits from multiple aid organizations that have contracts or grants with the U.S. Agency for International Development and State Department, “alleging that the agencies have illegally frozen all foreign aid payments.” In late February, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts paused a federal judge's order requiring the administration “to pay foreign aid funds to contractors and grant recipients.” [White House, 1/20/25; Reuters, 2/27/25]

In a March 5 Supreme Court ruling, Barrett joined the majority to uphold a lower court order requiring the Trump administration to pay USAID contractors for work already completed. The Guardian reported that “Chief Justice John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett joined the liberal justices in leaving in place a ruling from a US district judge last month, which ordered the administration to unfreeze the nearly $2bn in aid for work that had already been done, and that had been approved by Congress.” [The Guardian, 3/5/25]

Trump nominated Barrett to the Supreme Court during his first administration. Barrett, who was nominated to succeed the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2020, was among the four current Supreme Court justices who attended Trump’s March 4 address to a joint session of Congress. [CNN, 9/26/20; Politico, 3/4/25]

Right-wing media have been waging a yearslong campaign against DEI efforts, and they have been attacking judges who have halted the Trump administration’s executive actions. [Media Matters, 7/15/24, 5/30/24, 2/11/25]

Right-wing media personalities launched sexist attacks against Barrett following the March 5 ruling, calling her a “DEI judge” who was “chosen solely because she checked identity politics boxes”

Pro-Trump “prophet” and streaming host Lance Wallnau asserted that Barrett is “NOT one of us” because she was “glaring at Trump” during his address, and suggested Trump’s next Supreme Court nominee should be “a strong male evangelical.” Wallnau posted: “She’s NOT one of us. Notice her glaring at Trump. No more female University professors! They’re overwhelmingly liberal. I’m serious. I may be jet lagged but I think she’s a democrat. We always go with Catholics but never Evangelicals. Next one - a strong male evangelical.” [Twitter/X, 3/5/25; Rolling Stone, 9/29/22]

Right-wing media having a hissy over Amy Coney Barrett not ruling in Trump's favor.

[mugiwara-lucy]

So I saw this bullshit this morning 😒

You lot ALREADY know my grievance with Jill Stein and i LOVE how her campaign advisor confirmed what we've all been saying for years; she was made to sway people NOT to vote Democrat which would in turn split the vote and give it to Trump.

And I saw this which made me facepalm so hard 😒

For you dumbass naive college kids who think Kamala losing will "punish dems" and woefully misinformed Muslims who think Trump will spare you; keep in mind a WEEK he initiated a Muslim Ban back in 2017. A FUCKING WEEK.

And if you College Kids care as much about Palestinians and Muslims as you claim; you should know that Muslim Faith Leaders HAVE ENDORSED HER as well as Palestinians wanting someone OTHER THAN DONALD TRUMP which is REALISTICALLY KAMALA HARRIS. Even the bitch in the above screencap says she knows Kamala CAN NOT WIN. If you care as much as you claim, LISTEN TO THEM.

While you guys sit on that....here is the link below to register to vote along with the deadlines varying by state! Also, your own vote isn’t enough! Get as many people as you can to vote for Kamala be it your friends, cousins, parents, grandparents, old friends from high school and college, coworkers, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, stepchildren (if they’re 18 and over) and the list goes on and on but every vote counts! ALSO PLEASE check your registration DAILY because MAGA WILL purge your voter registration!!!

And early voting has started! And if you don’t wanna vote on November 5th, Early Voting is another option! Like I said get as many people as you know and try early voting that way you can avoid MAGA fuckery on November 5th! Here’s the link down below listing the dates by state:

And Mail in Ballots are ANOTHER option I highly recommend!! And like I said get as many people as you can to take advantage of this option! BUT if you decide to go with Mail In/Absentee Ballots; PLEASE mail your ballots at the ACTUAL USPS office!! That way MAGAts won't fuck with it.

And if you’re an American who lives overseas; PLEASE use the option of voting overseas since I know every country other than North Korea, Russia and China do NOT want to see Trump’s stinky ass back in the Oval Office! Here’s a link below:

I.....just do NOT understand you "Free Palestine!" people.

You guys wanted a younger, better candidate than Biden. You got it. And you guys STILL bitch and moan?

You guys are WORSE than MAGA and if Jill Stein does her 2016 bullshit and splits the vote and we end up with Vance as President (since Trump will MOST LIKELY NOT make it another four years) and he goes through with his Muslim Ban; a war on women happens where EVERY HEALTHCARE PRECAUTION against women is banned and women die EVEN MORE and America is turned into a Christian Theocracy, do NOT complain.

We warned you.

[bopinion]

2025 / 11

Aperçu of the week

"Power to the people, right on."

(John Lennon - nothing more to add here)

Bad News of the Week

I must already assume that the decline of the United States of America under Donald Trump will dominate my bad news this year. Not because there is a lack of other bad news that enlightened people have to deal with. It's simply because so much is going so wrong in our former role model country that it seems more monstrous than so much else. Even in a week in which the civil war in Syria is rearing its ugly head again, the ceasefire in Gaza is becoming more fragile and the Kremlin is still destroying Ukraine.

Donald Trump resembles an ancient god of vengeance who arbitrarily punishes anyone who does not pay him proper homage or question his genius. He clearly suffers from narcissism, which is a serious mental disorder and not just a strange self-image. In his infallibility, he assumes that anyone who doesn't see his personal standards, which are unfortunately anything but democratic, as the ultimate, is simply too stupid. Or malicious or ungrateful. And so he throws his lightning bolts from the Olympus of the Oval Office down on unworthy earthlings.

He is so predictable that he can easily be instrumentalized by those close to him. For example, Elon Musk, who persuaded him to promote Tesla, which was of course not a personal favor, but merely an underlining of the economic policy dogma that a good American must of course drive an American car. Or from JD Vance, who remarked that he had not yet received enough recognition that day and was therefore able to throw Volodymyr Selensky under the bus with a single perfidious sentence about his alleged lack of gratitude. After just two months in office (although you can't really say that about Musk), both of them have been certified as puppet masters.

It is now completely unclear whose interests are behind three seemingly harmless trifles that Trump has initiated in recent days. He puts Bhutan, a tiny peaceful Buddhist country in the Himalayas, on the list of red states, from where nobody is allowed to enter the US - just besides Afghanistan and Yemen. He invokes the Alien Enemies Act from 1798 to deport hundreds to El Salvador - despite a federal judge ruling a restraining order against it. He puts words like “climate crisis” or “indigenous people” on a list of 200 terms that federal authorities are no longer allowed to use. These three bizarre details stupidly represent three fundamental views that are highly questionable.

The example of Bhutan illustrates that literally anyone can be caught in the crosshairs without even suspecting it. While a travel ban for North Corea or Iran is still understandable, it is not for the “Land of Happiness”. Some sources suspect visa overstay rates and security vetting concerns behind that decision, according to recently published Department of Homeland Security data. The fact that this is enough to be lumped together with Libya shows frighteningly clearly that proportionality is not exactly being cultivated in the White House at the moment.

The example of the Alien Enemies Act illustrates that the separation of powers is obviously no longer respected. The law, which has only been used three times in history and most recently during the Second World War for the temporary internment of Japanese in the USA, is per se difficult to reconcile with the rule of law. It is inconceivable that a judicial decision is simply ignored in the process. And when the collaborator in this breach of the law, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, posted the court order with the comment “Oopsie... too late.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio also reposted it. Not even Viktor Orbán has ever allowed himself such a shrugging attitude towards the legal system.

The example of the speech ban illustrates that dissenting opinions no longer even have the right to free expression. Just like the banning of the Associated Press from the White House briefing room - because of the continual use of the term “Gulf of Mexico” - nothing other than censorship is happening. As already practiced in school libraries in Republican-leaning states (where classics such as Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin were banned because they “put slavery in a bad light”), a cancel culture from the right is taking place here. After the demonization of self-determination, inclusion and diversity, in which woke became a dirty word, there is now an arch-conservative furor. This no longer has anything to do with the “land of the free”, but rather with Myanmar.

All in all, this leaves me with a stale aftertaste. And even if Trump and his MAGA heads don't destroy everything in the world because they stay in NATO and don't invade Panama, the damage to the country itself will be immense. With a divided society in which racism and sexism are resurgent, more environmental damage and climate change consequences, an abolished Ministry of Education, a down-top distribution of money, a health minister who recommends cod liver oil against measles, a dysfunctional administration, alienated neighbors and much more - as mentioned: it's not even two months yet. That leaves 46. Ooph...

Good News of the Week

Angela Merkel's comparatively quiet 16 years at the head of the German government were based on four foundations: cheap energy from Russia, outsourcing security policy to NATO and the USA, reduced infrastructure maintenance and the fetishism of the so-called "debt brake". Today we are in dire straits, as the first two foundations no longer exist and the last two are currently blowing up in our faces. In principle, I appreciate Merkel, who has done a lot of things very right. But she also has done some things very wrong.

We now have the energy crisis more or less under control. Thanks to an increasing proportion of renewable energy sources and a significant increase in imports of liquid gas (mainly from Qatar and Norway, but also from the USA). This has caused prices to rise considerably, both for private consumers and for industry. While the former “only” hurts, the latter has become a real location issue. This is a veritable problem, as many industries in which Germany is strong - such as chemicals or mechanical and automotive engineering - are very energy-demanding. Together with high wage costs and social security contributions, this presents us with a fundamental problem that needs to be tackled.

While the state can only create the framework conditions in which companies and entrepreneurs can then operate when it comes to the necessary restructuring of our economy, it is itself the actor when it comes to security policy, infrastructure and the relevant financial budget. It is therefore a major plus that the two probable coalition partners in the next German government - the conservative CDU/CSU and the social democratic SPD - have already addressed this issue in the initial exploratory talks. And as much as I hate to admit it to the future Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whom I consider to be simply from the day before yesterday, he is doing a pretty good job of it.

The first decisive step was the realization that yes, Germany has to spend a lot of money on the necessary investments in security and infrastructure. Which is only possible with debt if you don't want to make massive cuts to the welfare state. However, in order to be able to incur this debt, the debt brake must be reformed, which sets strict limits on financial policy and makes it practically impossible to take on more debt. This is a point that has been under discussion for some time - mainly because Germany can afford it. For comparison: Japan has a national debt of 261% of its gross domestic product, Italy 145%, the USA 122% and Germany 67%. So there is no reason to stand on the brake.

The second decisive step was pragmatic logic: as the debt brake is in the Basic Law (our constitution) you need a 2/3 majority in parliament to change it. The Bundestag elections at the end of February ensured that the far-right AfD and the Left Party represent more than 1/3 of the new Bundestag, i.e. they have a blocking minority. And both do not want the debt brake to be relaxed, albeit for completely different reasons, as they have nothing in common politically. This means that the Greens would have to be persuaded to participate in the amendment to the Basic Law in the old parliamentary composition, in which the Social Democrats were not yet so massively weakened.

This has now been achieved. Since the Greens are still a fundamentally pacifist party, but not idiots who ignore the changed reality. This is why the Greens are now supporting the party alliance that will replace them in government - for the greater good. At the same time, they have negotiated perfectly sensible aspects into the plan. For example, the topics of intelligence services and cyber security in the financial package for defense. Or that sustainable aspects and climate neutrality are not neglected in the infrastructure, which not only includes railroads, highways, bridges, energy grids and digital, but also daycare centers, schools and healthcare.

There are still a few hurdles to overcome - such as the approval of the federal states - but it seems feasible. If you want to put a negative spin on it, you could call Friedrich Merz the biggest election liar in history. After all, he has now slaughtered the sacred cow of the debt brake during the election campaign even before the official coalition negotiations. But on the altar of pragmatism. Germany is thus demonstrating its ability to act in Europe. Which fits in well with the fact that his party colleague and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is also becoming clearer in her tone when she refers to Europe not just as an economic area, but blatantly as a geopolitical power. It looks like we've got the message.

Personal happy moment of the week

My Canadian wife and I were at the immigration office again after years. What an awful experience: facilities from 30 years ago, lots of forms, the charm of a hospital with security gates, unfriendly staff... You just don't feel comfortable. Nevertheless, there was one highlight: instead of a date and in line with our wedding vows, we entered “forever” in the “planned duration of stay” field. A small but heartfelt moment of happiness that even elicited a small smile from the strict official behind the glass.

I couldn't care less...

...about the Norwegian ski jumping cheating scandal. If secretly reinforcing seams in a suit really has a significant impact on performance, sprinters should also be banned from eating beans on the eve of the race - after all, they could fart illegal jet propulsion.

It's fine with me...

...that there are sometimes pretty fashionable allusions on the world political stage. First King Charles III wore a Canadian military uniform and then the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas wore the Canadian national colors at the G7 summit in Québec (!). Both wanted to send a stylish message to the USA that they should drop their colonial claims. Baerbock's smug question to Marco Rubio “Do you still enjoy your job?” fits in with this.

As I write this...

...there are snow flurries in Munich at zero degrees Celsius. While at the same time it's eleven degrees plus in Montreal in the middle of the night. Crazy. Yet both my cities can count themselves lucky that they are only suffering from capricious weather and are neither burning nor being flooded.

Post Scriptum

All the media hyperventilation about the USA, Ukraine and Russia as well as the USA, Palestine and Israel, not to mention Europe and Germany, has allowed some things worth mentioning to slip through the cracks. After a lot of posts in the North American media, I actually had to go searching to discover some great news in the German media, namely a courageous uprising for democracy and pro-Europe, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets. No, not in Berlin, Paris or Madrid, but in places where precisely these values have had a hard time recently: in Romania, Serbia and even (drum roll please) Hungary!

This gives me hope, as Poland has also managed to leave a rather dark era behind it and has clearly bought a ticket to the future. In Donald Tusk, our eastern neighbors now have an avowed European as head of government who is increasingly less held back by the shackles of the past. I am therefore very sure that our new Federal Chancellor's first three trips abroad will be to Brussels, Paris and Warsaw - in whatever order. This welcome development was rounded off by similarly oriented demonstrations in Italy and even Georgia. Europeans are fighting not to lose democracy and freedom - or to get them in the first place. A momentum that makes me proud.

[tomorrowusa]

Let's give credit where it's due. Friedrich Merz, head of the center right CDU, said before Sunday's election in Germany that he ruled out any coalition with the far right AfD. So even though the AfD came in second place after the CDU and its Bavarian sister party the CSU, Merz is holding coalition talks instead with the third place center left SPD.

German election: CDU/CSU and SPD to begin preliminary talks

While a CDU/CSU + SPD coalition is not a foregone conclusion, it's not clear how Merz would form a government without the SPD. A CDU/CSU + Greens + Left Party coalition (the only other possibility) is borderline science fiction.

Germany is the largest country in the EU and the second largest in NATO. It has a disproportionate influence on Europe.

A decisive Germany is necessary to combat Russia on the outside and the far right internally in Europe. And together with France, the UK, and Poland, Germany must play a key role in standing up to Trump.

So we hope that the coalition talks are completed successfully and without delay.

[welpwomp]

Trying to resist the urge to think about ways to kill myself right now…

[leohtttbriar]

Letters from an American

H. C. Richardson (Oct 24)

[...] And then there are the Republican voters, some of whom are abandoning the MAGA Republicans who are now openly embracing fascism. Today, Republican state senator Rob Cowles of Green Bay, Wisconsin, who has served for almost 42 years, announced he would vote for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. David Holt, the Republican mayor of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, also indicated he would be casting his ballot for Harris. In 1880, when the Democrats went off the extremist cliff, voters forced it to move to the center. In 1879, after the bitterly contested 1876 election, voters gave Democrats control of Congress. So convinced were Democrats that the American people backed their determination to overthrow Reconstruction, they refused to fund the government unless Republican president Rutherford B. Hayes pulled the federal government out of the southern states. (They also tried to get a federal pension for Confederate president Jefferson Davis.) “If this is not revolution,” Civil War veteran House minority leader James A. Garfield (R-OH) said, “which if persisted in will destroy the government, [then] I am wholly wrong in my conception of both the word and the thing.”  Observers had expected the 1880 election to be a romp for the Democrats, who reiterated their demands in their party platform, but voters backed Garfield’s defense of the country and of Black rights and elected him to the White House.  The unexpected loss prompted the Democrats to toss aside their former Confederate leaders and shift toward the northern cities. For president in 1884 they backed former New York governor Grover Cleveland, who had broadened Black appointments to office and desegregated the New York City police force, and who had worked closely with New York Assembly minority leader Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, to reform the worst abuses of the industrial system. Cleveland won with the help of significant numbers of crossover Republican voters, dubbed “Mugwumps,” thereby securing the roots of the modern Democratic Party.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Grist:

For most environmentalists, the day that Donald Trump got elected president in November was “a dark day.” But there was one small, overlooked corner of the movement that celebrated. In a statement congratulating Trump on his victory, the leaders of the American Conservation Coalition saw a chance to bring “an America-first climate strategy” to fruition. “Now, we will build a new era of American industry and win the clean energy arms race,” they wrote.

The Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit was founded in 2017 by college students who wanted to prove that there was a conservative case for climate action. Since then, it’s evolved from a group on the right’s fringes into a political force. The American Conservation Coalition has wide grassroots support, with some 60,000 members in branches around the country and connections all over Congress. Trump’s second term, which starts on Monday, will be a test of how strong its influence has become.

“I think there’s a golden opportunity right now for Republicans to shift the environment from a left-wing issue that Republicans lose on to a conservative issue that they can win on,” said Chris Barnard, the organization’s president. “And by the end of this administration, that is what we hope to achieve, and hope to have real, tangible progress and solutions that point back to that show that.”

The group has extensive ties to Trump’s Cabinet nominees, according to Barnard. Liberty Energy’s CEO Chris Wright, nominated for secretary of energy, is a “personal friend” to the American Conservation Coalition, or ACC, and recently hosted a fundraiser for the coalition. Former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Trump’s nominee to lead the Interior Department, led a town hall in New Hampshire with Barnard during his six-month presidential run in 2023; Lee Zeldin, Trump’s pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency, has worked on various issues with the ACC.

“If that’s the yardstick — helping Republicans get engaged on climate — they’ve been a resounding success,” said Matthew Burgess, an environmental economist at the University of Wyoming who studies how to depolarize climate change. In his estimation, the Republican Party has perceptibly shifted its stance on climate change, moving away from outright denial in recent years. “Whatever movement there’s been on the Republican side, the ACC is probably easily the single most important advocacy group on that.”

You wouldn’t mistake the American Conservation Coalition’s platform for one found on a progressive climate group’s website. The top three priorities are unleashing nuclear energy, reforming the permitting process to make it easier to build new energy projects, and beating China by “leading the world in all-of-the-above energy production.” That includes more oil and gas development, in line with Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda. In his first week, Trump is expected to push to undo President Joe Biden’s limits on offshore drilling and federal lands, roll back emissions standards for vehicles, and end a freeze on new projects to export liquefied natural gas.

“Our approach will always be distinct from the approach of a progressive group, because it’s guided by conservative principles like innovation and deregulation and empowering individuals and local communities,” said Danielle Butcher Franz, the CEO of the ACC. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re not on the same page about the severity of these issues.”

[maybege]

once again the reminder that in systems with only two major parties, voting for third parties is essentially giving your vote away 🙃🙃🙃

[shmooooo]

currently enjoying my last two days without a right-wing government 🫠

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Paul Blumenthal at HuffPost:

The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, ordered the Trump administration to comply with a district court order demanding it release all foreign aid funds frozen as part of President Donald Trump’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development on Wednesday. The Trump administration must now release all of the USAID contract funds frozen by the State Department in order to comply with the original temporary restraining order issued by Judge Amir Ali on Feb. 13. The administration had repeatedly failed to comply with Ali’s order to release the funds, which led him to demand they comply by 11:59 p.m. Feb. 26 or else face sanctions. The Supreme Court stepped in to issue a preliminary stay on the deadline as the court considered the case. The court, however, did not require the administration to stick to the original deadline and immediately release the funds. Instead, it said the district court should “clarify what obligations the Government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order, with due regard for the feasibility of any compliance timelines.” This was the first major case that the Supreme Court has ruled on regarding the Trump administration’s actions since Jan. 20. And it came with a stark possibility: the administration being in open violation of a court order. With the court having decided, the administration must release the funds or be in violation of Ali’s order. The State Department has claimed it is impossible for it to release the frozen funds by Ali’s deadline, largely due to extra bureaucratic processes it created since Trump took office. The administration will now need to bypass the bureaucratic roadblocks that it added. The case is still ongoing in Ali’s court where he could issue a preliminary injunction soon to extend the restraining order indefinitely. The administration’s freeze on foreign aid funding has already caused massive damage by denying crucial deliveries of medicine, vaccinations, food and money for everything from hospitals to shelter. [...] Four conservative justices dissented from the decision ordering the administration to comply with the district court’s restraining order. The court’s decision amounted to “judicial hubris” that “imposes a $2 billion penalty on American taxpayers,” Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, wrote in dissent.

SCOTUS ruled 5-4 in State Department v. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition that the Trump Administration must release the improperly frozen USAID funding.

When Tyrant 47 loses at the Supreme Court, it’s a good day.

[youthchronical]

'Powerful recommitment to great alliance': Netanyahu as Israel celebrates Trump's election win - Times of India

Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump (File photo) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s right-wing government celebrated on Wednesday after Republican candidate Donald Trump claimed victory in the US presidential election, seeing it as a turning point for Israeli-American relations.The results brought relief to Netanyahu’s coalition, which has frequently clashed with incumbent President Joe…

[bopinion]

2025 / 08

Aperçu of the week

“I want them to give us something for all of the money that we put up. We're asking for rare earth and oil, anything we can get.”

(US President Donald Trump subsequently puts a price tag on the previous government's support for Ukraine)

Bad News of the Week

In contrast to the presidential election in the USA last November - where there was occasionally reason to hope that there would be no return of a political revenant - we Germans knew exactly what we were in for in the parliamentary elections, in which the executive is elected at the same time. The leading candidate Friedrich Merz of the conservatives (CDU/CSU) would win and would then be able to form a mathematical majority with the Social Democrats (SPD - likely) or the Greens (unlikely). The far right (AfD) would double its share of the vote and become the largest opposition party. Of the smaller Die Linke, the Liberals (FDP) and left-wing populists (BSW), only the first party would make it into the Bundestag, while the other two would be relegated to insignificance. The rest - from the pro-European Volt (a pity) to the right-wing populist Free Voters (well...) to clientele parties such as the Party of Bible-believing Christians - are gathered in the “Others” category. And that's how it turned out.

It is interesting, but also regrettable, to look at the generations. The older and elderly prefer to vote on the right, the young on the left. The so-called youth vote (14 to 17-year-olds) was led by the Left and the SPD last weekend, with the CDU/CSU and AfD in third and fourth place - and the Animal Welfare Party won more votes than the FDP and the BSW. In other words, this is exactly the kind of mood that the average over-60-year-old conservative voter rejects. Example: Almost four times as many CDU/CSU voters are over 70 than under 25. A colleague of mine at work just said on Friday that elections set the course for the future. So you actually vote for your children. He's right - only I would add the grandchildren.

Unfortunately, a line can be drawn just as clearly between the East and the West. The AfD has secured first place in all five eastern German states. The former GDR still feels left behind. And those with a low level of education and a low income in particular tend to see their ballot paper as a lesson to teach - and vote for fundamental opposition. To really show “them up there”. While the earlier shift to the left could still be explained by nostalgia, the current shift to the right is truly frightening. And stupid. After all, analyses show that it is precisely the typical AfD voters who would suffer most from their policies.

Sunday's result now opens up the following coalition options: the strongest coalition would be the conservative CDU/CSU with the far-right AfD - together, this “Austria option” would have a whopping 360 seats out of the 316 needed. In other words, a loose majority, which has so far been categorically ruled out by the chancellor-to-be Friedrich Merz. Whereby evil tongues point out that a) neighboring Austria has already had a conservative-right-wing governing coalition several times, b) the joint vote against migration could have been a test balloon to see whether the approval ratings would suffer (they did not) and c) US Vice President JD Vance only met with two German politicians on the fringes of the Munich Security Conference - the top candidates of the CDU and AfD - and would therefore have the blessing of big (watching) brother for this constellation. My expectation: no.

There is no majority for a coalition without the conservatives. Unless again with the far right, which is definitely out of the question for the Left or the Greens, for example, and most likely for the Social Democrats. This leaves only the “black-red” CDU/CSU and SPD, which together have 328 seats. This is because 293 seats are simply not enough for the “black-green” alliance discussed in the run-up to the election. Theoretically, the due to their party colors so-called “Kenya coalition” of Conservatives, Social Democrats and Greens would remain, but there is simply too little overlap in terms of political content and goals - see our tiresome experience with the traffic light coalition.

In addition to the clear shift to the right - because the CDU under Friedrich Merz no longer has anything to do with the CDU under Angela Merkel - there is a second aspect that makes these elections bad news: the loss of direct mandates. Until now, the winner of each constituency (the so-called first vote) was guaranteed a seat in parliament. If this deviated from the overall result of the party (second vote), this was balanced out by so-called overhang and compensatory mandates. The result was that the Bundestag expanded unexpectedly. A reform per se therefore made perfect sense.

Now, each party only gets as many seats as it is mathematically entitled to based on its share of second votes. These are then allocated to the strongest winners in the constituencies, while the weakest go away empty-handed. The bottom line is that many constituencies will no longer be represented in parliament - currently it looks like 23 (out of 299) constituencies will be left out. The votes of the people there will therefore be worthless. I still don't understand why alternatives were not considered at all. After all, a new layout of larger constituencies would have produced the same result of fewer MPs, but would still represent all regions and voters in the Bundestag. It is no coincidence that MPs are called “representatives of the people” - so they should also represent the (whole!) people.

By the way, a positive side note: the last time there was a voter turnout of almost 84% was after German reunification. And that was 35 years ago. And regardless of the outcome: that's good. Even if all political certainties no longer count, at least the people have delivered.

Good News of the Week

Tomorrow marks the third anniversary of the day Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. And it could be the last anniversary. Unfortunately, not because the nation under attack was able to successfully defend itself against the aggressor with the help of its supporters. But probably because the most important supporter - the USA - is simply changing sides. Just because its erratic president has a strange penchant for dictatorships. And Europe is not in a position to compensate for this. Because it is not taken seriously by the key players.

“In a world where the right of the stronger applies, it is better to be among the strong,” writes editor-in-chief Dirk Kurbjuweit in an editorial last week in Der Spiegel, the leading German news magazine. And he continues: “Germany cannot be strong on its own, it is too small for that. It can only be strong together with other Europeans, it can only be strong in the EU. One of the most serious mistakes of German politics was that after Helmut Kohl no chancellor was wholeheartedly committed to Europe. (...) Now Europe lacks leadership and cohesion.”

The analysis is correct. On paper, Europe, with its population, its economic power and yes, even its military strength, could act on an equal footing on the world stage. I am deliberately referring to Europe and not the European Union, as the United Kingdom, for example, would not be part of it. And it is not only Germany that has deficits in its European commitment. Many EU members see Europe exclusively as a free trade zone, while others deliberately want to act in a more national and isolationist way. And even France only ever sees itself as primus inter pares. I exclude Belarus, by the way, as this dictatorship only commits to the rules of European values at the Eurovision Song Contest.

For centuries, and when the world felt much smaller, conflicts dominated our continent. From the end of the Second World War until the Russian attack on Ukraine, there was not a single hot war between two countries (because in Yugoslavia it was in fact a matter of internal civil and secessionist wars). 77 years is an eternity in our increasingly fast-moving times. After the end of the Cold War, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, cooperation and cohesion dominated - people looked for common ground and found it.

This can confidently be called a recipe for success. Which is now endangered by two factors. The first is the increasing threat from outside. From the military threat posed by Russia to the security policy risk posed by the withdrawal of the USA and the economic policy attack by China. The second is the increasing threat from within. The aforementioned drifting apart of individual special interests to the detriment of the greater good. This could now come to an end, as external pressure is simply becoming too dominant.

According to Wikipedia, external pressure is the “total pressure that acts on a system from the outside and thus increases its density”. I was always bad at physics. But I always understood that you can't have different opinions about it. After all, the laws of physics are natural laws. In this respect, I hope that the increasing pressure that Europe is experiencing from outside will lead to a consolidation of its community of values. The chances have not been this good for a long time. We can now find a new form of commonality that will make us all stronger. If we recognize our common interest as such and then act accordingly. As the United States of Europe. Come on, let me just dream a little...

Personal happy moment of the week

We celebrated my mother's 87th birthday. A proud age. We were able to celebrate together in an Italian restaurant as both parents were fit enough. They'll also go on a cruise to the Norwegian fjords in a few weeks. It's nice that they can actively enjoy their retirement.

I couldn't care less...

...about the moaning from the housing sector and construction industry about the oh-so-poor framework conditions. Currently, residential building permits are at their lowest level for 14 years. And all this while the housing shortage is getting worse and rental prices - you can't buy anything in this country for a long time - are going through the roof. Housing should be seen as a basic right. I believe that everyone involved has an obligation to be constructive on this in the truest sense of the word.

It's fine with me...

...that Germany complied with all European air quality limits in 2024 - the first time ever. The Federal Environment Agency reports that, following the fine dust limits, all 600 measuring stations have now also complied with the limits for nitrogen dioxide. This positive development, which is primarily based on the use of catalytic converters, must be maintained at all costs. This is because the, according to WHO experts, outdated limit values will be tightened considerably as early as 2030.

As I write this...

...I am delighted that Canada has won the NHL's prestigious “4-Nations-Face-Off” ice hockey tournament. Against the USA, whose president called them the “51st state” in the first leg. “You can't take away our country - and you can't take away our game,” summarized outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, referred to by Trump as ‘Governor Trudeau’. In your face, Donald!

Post Scriptum

It is looking very good that Austria will not be another European country governed by right-wing extremists. First, the Austrian Peoples Party (ÖVP / Österreichische Volkspartei) resisted the temptation to submit to the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ / Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs / Freedom Party of Austria) in coalition negotiations following its success in the National Council elections at the end of September. Then the Green Federal President Alexander van der Bellen refused to be pressured into considering a minority government or new elections. And now the conservative ÖVP, the social democratic SPÖ and the liberal NEOs are taking positive stock of their initial coalition talks. Van der Bellen even sees them “on the home straight”.

The current ÖVP party chairman Christian Stocker can certainly chalk this up as a success. Because back in January, his predecessor and former Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer failed at precisely such coalition talks. Now it looks like the first “Zuckerl coalition” (Jelly Bean coalition) which is named after the colorful party colors turquoise, pink and red. I much prefer this sweetness to the sour political program of FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, who would even have overtaken Hungary's Viktor Orbán on the right with his restrictive “Fortress Austria” stance. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that after turning onto the home straight, they will also make it to the finish line. After all, I would still like to visit our southern neighbor without any stomach ache.