MERKEL Responds!

[kpete]

Angela Merkel:

"I've experienced myself a part of Germany controlled by the Soviet Union, and I’m very happy today that we are united in freedom ... and can thus say that we can determine our own policies and make our own decisions and that’s very good."

Link to tweet

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is defending her country’s independence following comments from President Donald Trump suggesting that Berlin was operating under Russian influence.

Heading into a NATO meeting in Brussels, Merkel noted that she had grown up in communist East Germany.

Without mentioning Trump’s comments specifically, she told reporters Wednesday: “I’ve experienced myself a part of Germany controlled by the Soviet Union and I’m very happy today that we are united in freedom as the Federal Republic of Germany and can thus say that we can determine our own policies and make our own decisions and that’s very good.”

Earlier, Trump had suggested that because of a new pipeline deal to bring more Russian gas to Germany, “Germany as far as I’m concerned is captive to Russia.

https://apnews.com/5d9af207650e42cd9fbf96ce7d8c59d1?utm_medium=AP&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter

[Ilsa]

1. A wonderful comeback after the Orange Dunce

insulted her, Germany, and NATO.

Can we impeach him yet? Mueller? Mueller?

[maddiemom]

16. Great rephrasing of an iconic movie line.

Even better that it was uber-Republican Ben Stein ( who claimed he disagreed with Trump's economic views, but would still vote for him). Mueller? Mueller? I hope it catches on, and hurries things up.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

2. Good for her. I'm so embarrassed to be an American.

F*** you Trump.

[Ohiogal]

3. Arrrgh, he has his ever lovin' nerve

accusing ANY other country in a derisive manner of being held captive to Russia the way he kisses Putin's arse!

[BeyondGeography]

4. She says fuck-off in the most skillful ways

[DFW]

6. Unlike her current American counterpart

Angela Merkel is smart and knows how to be a head of state.

[NastyRiffraff]

32. Her tongue is probably bloody

from biting it to keep from ending with "you fucking moron."

[MFM008]

33. She probably chewed

It off and swallowed dealing with maggot.

[Bettie]

5. It must be hard for

intelligent foreign leaders who understand diplomacy and human decency to sit at a table with the Orange Clown we allow to cavort on the international stage and not just walk out.

This guy is what you'd come up with if you wanted an over-the-top villain...and then, the guy reading the script would say "Tone it down, no one will buy this!".

And the Trumpkins are cheering this boorish behavior.

[BigmanPigman]

38. I would have had to fight the desire to stab his tiny hand with my salad fork.

[Bettie]

40. I would have had the very same problem.

But, that's why they are leaders! More self-control, I guess.

[DFW]

7. Pity us Americans living and working abroad

From "can we have him when you are done (Clinton and Obama)?" to "America First!" when they know perfectly well that the one associated with that phrase is really putting America last--no small feat in the short amount of time he has been wreaking his destruction.

[bigbrother05]

25. Was in Germany under W, can only imagine how bad it is now

All the expats were mortified in 2004 when Dimson was retained.

Returned in Oct 2008 and saw great rejoicing at Obama's win.

You must be feeling massive political whiplash.

My son is still there and considering taking a job on the local economy to just fade into the crowd.

[DFW]

30. I was asked to by my European friends to predict the outcome of the 2004 election

Keep in mind that my brother, who does all sorts of hush-hush projects for DARPA, had told me in 2002 that that any electronic voting machine can be hacked and manipulated. He said, "give me a cell phone and a a laptop, and I'll make any of those machines give any result you want."

So I told my European friends that I predicted that Kerry would win the election, and that Bush would remain in office. They were amazed to find out how accurate my prediction was.

[bigbrother05]

34. In 2002, all our German friends were surprised at our distaste for W

They had positive feelings toward the US and Americans in general. Had to explain our experiences in TX with him as the Governor and the foul taste of the election.

It wasn't too long before they came to understand just how much can change when the social norms are flaunted. 2004 was a big shock because they had such trust that the Americans would see their mistake and send him packing.

Think your brother is spot on, there was point shaving in 2004. Obama had margins too large to steal it.

Now they don't even care and no one is doing the work necessary to prove they stole at least 3-5 states outright to go along with all the suppression, propaganda, and Comey's meddling.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

37. Heartbreaking...

Reading this reminded me of all the clusterfcuking.... ugh, misery and sorrow.

[Beartracks]

42. "Margins too large" - That must be our goal.

Do Republicans cheat? Yes. Collude? Probably. Cheat some more? You bet!

But if every Democrat, everywhere, votes, and votes every time, then we can - together - overwhelm those cheats. Bigly.

========

[LakeArenal]

39. I'm related to a tech at Diebold and he's been saying the same for years

[sarge43]

8. Playing way out of his league. Sad. n/t

[BeyondGeography]

10. The only Iron Curtain in Trump's experience

has been the one around his tax returns.

[blueinredohio]

9. Blaming someone else, Trumps a captive of Russia.

[elmac]

11. ameriKa has built an iron curtain of ingnorance around itself

as long as we have really stupid fascist pigs running things its only going to get worse.

[eShirl]

12. The Puppet as far as I'm concerned is captive to Russia.

[BSdetect]

17. He's clearly projecting as usual. What a dickhead.

[fierywoman]

31. +1000

[Roland99]

13. Doesn't Germany have a very large capacity of solar energy?

[sarge43]

18. Yup.

Among other things solar panels over parking lots - what a brilliant idea. Protects the cars, efficient use of unused space, powers surrounding buildings.

[SWBTATTReg]

35. Yes, and I thought too along their equivalent of the interstate highways, they have lined w/

solar too?

[Ezior]

28. Yep, but not even close to not needing any fossil fuels

See https://energy-charts.de/energy.htm?source=all-sources&period=annual&year=all

~40% of produced electricity in Germany is from renewables (lots of wind, some solar / hydro / bio mass).
We also use some natural gas for electricity production (~10%).

But we need a lot of natural gas for heating. Winters are cold around here and the transition to heat pumps for heating is rather slow.

So we need fossil fuels for at least a few more decades. It's hard to decide between natural gas and coal. Coal causes rapid climate change, but for gas we depend on Russia (the Dutch are stopping their natural gas exports which will reduce supplier diversity even more). We could get more liquified natural gas from e.g. the US or Quatar, but of course, that's not exactly great for the climate, either.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

41. My first thought when I heard tRump's comment about Russian gas was...

that he's wanting to sell more LNG to Europe. My second thought was he's also doing it to throw meat to his rabid voter base.

I believe Germany also needs lots of NG for many of it's industries such as steel and glass/ceramic production.

Thanks for your feedback!......

[world wide wally]

14. Right idea... Wrong country.

I think he meant America's leadership is captive to Russia

[Fritz Walter]

15. SHE is the leader of the free world now

iq45 is the big, orange baby of the free world. And his diaper needs changing.

[Honeycombe8]

19. Who is the "we" in her statement "we are united in freedom"? nt

[CatMor]

27. Germany, she is talking about the separation ...

of East and West Germany after WWII.

[duforsure]

20. Once again we see trump using the same tactics and patterns

Accusing Germany of Russian influence , when he's the one letting putin influence here in the USA , and trumps the one trying to get development deals in NK and Russia. He's done this over and over again. She should respond I'm not the one praising putin and attacking allies, he is. He's also the one claiming putin is a fine guy after he's murdered another person in another country and a terrorist. trump often uses this to accuse others of what he's doing. They can't trust anything he says, and he won't be there if they need us, and the republicans may pass something but then he goes ahead and is allowed to continue . The republicans are enabling him and his behavior to continue without any consequences. No republican can be trusted , ever again for not putting a stop to this now. They will pay next election , and for generations.

[bdamomma]

21. thank you

Ms. Merkel, we have a imbecile as a pResident, but you already know that.

[Dorn]

22. Correction: "America as far as I'm concerned is captive to Russia. "

What he meant to say.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

23. Trump has a view of world of armed camps with little cooperation or trade.

He thinks each unit should be self-sufficient in things like defense and energy production. That is so 1818.

Ain't gonna happen in 2018, except that tRump is moving forward with his great project: Making America Go Alone.

[lindysalsagal]

24. 3rd grade playground rant: Little too close to his own truth:

He's like a little bug in a jar taunting a bug in a jar.

[Dan]

26. At some point - our leaders (?) in this nation

Will have to recognize the obvious - that Trump is a Russian agent. To refuse to recognize this is to ignore the actions of his presidency.

[HootieMcBoob]

29. Projection

As usual anything that he or The GOP accuse someone else of you can be certain that he/they are guilty of that very thing themselves.

[sarcasmo]

36. Dolt 45 letting the stupid fly in Europe.