“In the past, Germany was fortunate to have had great US ambassadors who built bridges and did not do party politics,” said Metin Hakverdi, a Social Democrat delegate and member of the German-US parliamentary friendship group.
“As a member of the SPD, a left party with a long proud legacy of fighting, together with the United States, both Nazis and communists, I am irritated to hear from ambassador Grenell about our allegedly failed policies.“
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In his Breitbart interview, Grenell did not voice support for the rightwing populist party Alternative für Deutschland, which has been a vocal critic of Merkel’s refugee policies and is the largest opposition group in the Bundestag.
But he did express admiration for the Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, whose conservative Austrian People’s party governs in a coalition with the far-right FPÖ. “Look, I think Sebastian Kurz is a rock star,” he said. “I’m a big fan.”
In my last post about Grenell I joked about the absurdity of Americans continuing to blame Russia for the resurgence of authoritarian impulses in the US today. Fixation with Putin seems just as idiotic as ever, but I don’t feel so much like joking any more.
Conversations with Stalin is quite readable, and I find this sort of thing really interesting. In Split the nice woman from Florida said she has hope for the future because more people in Florida are running for office. Apparently the problem in the past has been not enough people running for office. There is an endless amount to read about the totalitarian regimes of the 20th Century. I’m really pleased to have so much available to read.