Agreed. I'll also note that I understand how Merkel must view the US--we nearly just had a white nationalist fascist coup (which is how I see it--as a left wing Democrat :)--and I'm sure that's how she sees it). I was heartened to see though that the Green Party leadership in Germany just came out against the trade deal and generally against Merkel's pro-China policy, so apparently they see the possibility of real political traction within Germany taking that tack. At the end of the day I don't see how you can't agree though with that big German CEO who said recently "Better to side with an imperfect democracy than a perfect dictatorship."