Rewarded for her open-door policy to Mideast immigrants fleeing war zones, Time Magazine handed 61-year-old German Chancellor Angel Merkel Person-of-the-Year. Snubbing 69-year-old real estate mogul, former reality TV-star and GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, Time’s editors gave Merkel the honor, contrasting Trump’s recent brainstorm of banning Muslims from the U.S. Time’s decision comes only six days from CNN’s next GOP debate. While Merkel sits on the fence of actually resolving the Syrian civil war, she graciously extends thousands of Syrian and other Mideast refugees access to Europe’s most prosperous country. Time’s managing editor Nancy Gibbs gave Merkel the yearly honor for taking the lead in the European Union, where other countries only reluctantly take refugees from war-torn lands. Gibbs slapped Trump in the face.
Reeling from Islamic terror attacks in Paris Nov. 13 and San Bernardion Dec. 2, Time Magazine symbolizes the media’s liberal elites that place the First Amendment ahead of U.S. national security. Merkel’s Aug. 28 decree allowed thousands of Syrian refugees to pour into Germany from other European countries unwilling to offer Mideast immigrants a safe refuge. Fleeing from war-torn Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, among other North African countries like Algeria and Libya, the U.N. Security Council hasn’t figured out a way to resolve the nearly five-year-long Syrian civil war. U.S. and EU officials joined the Saudi-backed insurgency to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. No one from the West has explained the authority to topple a recognized U.N.-member state without a decree from the Security Council or General Assembly. No Western power has figured out how to stop Syria’s civil war.
Merkel’s heroics cost her dearly in the polls forcing Germans to endure the hardship caused by a runaway sectarian Mideast war. Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, clipped Merkel’s wings Nov. 6 announcing that political asylum would not be granted to Mideast refugees, putting a one-year-time limit on staying in Germany. “In this situation other countries are guaranteeing only a limited stay,” said German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, mirroring protests to Merkel’s open-door policy. “We’ll now do the same with Syrians in the future. We’re telling them you’ll get protection but only so-called subsidiary protection that is limited to a period without family unification,” said de Maiziere, confirming a change of policy. Time Magazine doesn’t report on the violence, crime and dissatisfaction of many Mideast transplants having a hard time adjusting to German life.
Merkel thought her open-door policy would catch-on in the EU, only to find countries like Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia putting up barbed wire fences to keep Syrians out. Celebrating 10-years in office, Time Magazine doesn’t acknowledge damage to Merkel’s political career, causing rank-and-file Germans to suffer taking in high numbers of refugees. Time Magazine liked Merkel’s open-door policy but doesn’t acknowledge the damage done to the EU economically. Hitting 15 years lows against the dollar, the euro hasn’t seen such weakness since the common currency launched Jan. 1, 1999. Time also liked Merkel’s tough stance with Russian President Vladimir Putin who seized Crimea March 1, 2014. Hearing about the Time Magazine award, Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert shared the chancellor’s gratitude. “I am sure the chancellor will cherish this as an incentive for her job.”
Time admitted that Merkel beat out Islamic State of Iraq and Syria leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Trump, mentioning them both in the same breath. Liberal elites and media outlets are so outraged over Trump’s suggestion to ban Muslims from entering the country that it prompted a White House response. “The fact is what Trump said yesterday disqualifies himself from serving as president,” said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, referring to Trump’s Website that suggesting banning Muslims to protect U.S. national security. Stepping out of line, Earnest couldn’t contain himself, opening up Obama to more ridicule. White House officials shouldn’t waste time or tax dollars getting into the political mosh-pit with the GOP front-runner. No matter what the White House thinks of Trump, he’s commanding the headlines, controlling the media and promoting his brand.
Handing Merkel “Person of the Year,” Time magazine did its best to humiliate Trump, putting him in the same box as ISIS’s homicidal rapist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Recent ISIS terror attacks in Paris and Merkel’s immigration policy has helped fuel the rise of the extreme right in France, Germany and elsewhere. Merkel tried to set a good example in the New Europe but went overboard with her immigration policy, causing more havoc. Had she and the EU worked as hard to end to the Syrian civil war, she wouldn’t be dealing with an untenable immigration crisis that threatens the EU’s future, certainly its sluggish economy. Putting ISIS’s butcher al-Bagdadi ahead of Trump shows how cynical—and political—Time’s selection process has become. Merkel tried to do the right thing but Time’s great honor proved that no good deed goes unpunished.
