I'm curious why we are not spending any time here this morning analyzing the most important outcome, from an American point of view, from the German elections held yesterday. It's a pretty big deal.

Leave aside for a moment the purely political considerations, which most people fail to do, and take a deeper dive on what the message was from the likely incoming head of government, Friedrich Merz. Prominent among his exclamations on victory was this, in translation: “My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA.” Think about what that says, and what more it means. Not only is it a call by arguably Europe's most powerful country to cast our nation aside and move in a different direction after nearly 80 years of solidarity. It also is a signpost for others to follow when they have their elections and anti-Americanism is a platform on which they will campaign. It then trickles down to our level when we travel, shop, and otherwise seek a personal presence over there, with those people. I do not expect anti-American violence. But I easily can imagine them being less hospitable hosts when we are there. I can see them speaking less English with the many of us who do not bother to learn a foreign language. Being less helpful or forthcoming regarding our requests for experienced help from locals who know the scene. Less likely to reciprocate by traveling to the United States and spending their discretionary income here, on our goods and services, or on those exported to their nations, when they have other options. And so on.

The cancer of the American political far right does not exist merely in a vacuum or have an impact only on these shores. As our political leaders push formerly staunch European allies aside in their quest to engage in an appeasement surrender to Putin and Russia, it eventually will have real world consequences for the rest of us, and not for better. Maybe, possibly, perhaps we should be having that discussion right here, and elsewhere, if we are saying that the victory of the far right is not inevitable, and identifying what we need to prioritize as we strive to minimize damage and influence outcomes.