Germany’s
chancellor, Friedrich Merz, recently stated of President Trump and the United
States, “An entire nation is being humiliated by
the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards. And
so I hope that this ends as quickly as possible.”
I
myself have questioned Trump’s endgame
strategy, insofar as Iran’s leadership, such as it is, is simply
never going to negotiate in good faith. Even if an agreement is reached,
whatever it may be, Iran will not honor it. However, if its nuclear program is significantly
disrupted and set back, and the rest of its military greatly degraded…and
therefore its sponsorship of various terrorist groups greatly curtailed, we can
legitimately call it a win and go on with life.
Once
proud Germany, on the other hand, is embarrassing itself with great
repetitiveness of late. Unwilling to take the side of the Americans against the
world’s premier sponsor of terrorism, its leaders preside over a flagging
military, sagging economy, ever-growing anti-Semitism, and French-like ennui.
Worse, the nation is allowing itself to be invaded by hordes of military-aged
men from North Africa and the Middle east. And, like much of the rest of
Western Europe, it is therefore getting summarily destroyed-- economically,
culturally, and morally.
To wit: a recent
report out of Germany, and a post on ‘X’ citing it, seemed to indicate that a
Hamburg public school system may have banned music lessons because the growing
population of Muslims there consider them “haram,” or forbidden. “Factchecking”
websites were quick to debunk the story. For example, leadstories.com claimed
that the German news report was really about a joint statement against intolerance
and exclusion and that “the Hamburg public schools did no such thing.” The site
essentially labeled the story, or the translation of the German used by the
reporter, as fake news.
Yet
these accounts go on to state that there have been reported incidents where
some Muslim students refused to participate in music classes. And that there
have been incidents where girls were “harassed” by Muslim students in various
schools. Hamburger Abendblatt, Hamburg’s local newspaper, recently reported on
allegations that Muslim students had threatened or insulted classmates and added
that there is occasionally some “religious pressure” regarding
clothing and behavior. Moreover, a few Muslim students may have been guilty of
a few isolated assaults, mostly on German girls, and a handful of
students may have been prevented from attending music lessons because, well,
they are haram. Duh.
But
the Islamo-apologists duly note that school officials say none of these
incidents will be tolerated…whether perpetrated by Christians, Jews, Hindus,
Sikhs, or even Muslims. And they also solemnly note that there is no proof
that German authorities have banned music lessons out of fear of being seen as
Islamophobic. Wait, I thought that this absolutely, unequivocably did not
take place. Couldn’t take place. Could never occur. Preposterous in the
extreme. That German schools are humming, vibrating, thrumming, and throbbing
with music like never before! But have Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Sikhs ever
tried to get music banned?
So
there’s been some sexual harassment here, a handful of rapes there, and a bit
of pressure to ban musical instruction to go along with increasing animus
against dogs, alcohol …and Jews. On balance, not a good look for the erstwhile Fatherland.
Germany
produced far more than its share of great composers: Amadeus, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms,
Mendelssohn, Schubert, Strauss, and Wagner. (Not to mention Engelbert
Humperdinck or Nena!) To see its rapid cultural degradation and loss of identity
is honestly heartbreaking, even from the perspective of a nation that twice
defeated it in war.
To
quote the German band After the Fire:
Don't turn around,
Der Kommissar's in town,
He's got the power
And you're so weak
And your toleration will not let you speak
Kind
of odd that Muslims are now being allowed to act the part of Der Kommisar in
Deutschland. But it’s the toleration stupid. And the fact that you’re so weak…ja’?
Or,
as The Doors wrote:
When the music's over,
Turn out the lights.
Let’s
hope the music’s not over soon, but the lights are flickering and dimming in Western
Europe, the music skipping beats. Can Europe yet save itself? Doubtful. If it
does? Cue “Ode to Joy.”