German Mainstream Conservatives, Migration, and the Far Right

Nothing is certain, except: don't trust anyone

Germany has the blues. So far, so ordinary. But, with only weeks to go before government-collapse-induced snap elections on February 23, Germany is also in a bit of an uproar.

Political competitors are taking the gloves off, striking at each other with insults and character assassination, while in the streets there are demonstrations with protesters numbering in, at least, the thousands, perhaps tens of thousands. The reason for the emotional-political spike is that the so-called “firewall” between the mainstream parties of the self-declared democratic center and their insurgent challengers on the right wing/far right is cracking. Or, to say it with Bloomberg, “German election taboos” have been broken.