NOBODY’S DONE AS MUCH DAMAGE TO EUROPE AS HER SINCE ANOTHER FAILED GERMAN CHANCELLOR: Merkel’s Vulnerabilities Resurface.

This past week, a month ahead of Germany’s national elections, Chancellor Angela Merkel boldly stated that she has no regrets about her decision to open Germany’s borders to refugees during the 2015 migrant crisis. Despite her public confidence, though, Merkel’s government is struggling to cope with the consequences of that fateful decision—and she may soon face another difficult choice that will test her commitment to it. . . .

The current predicament is a problem of Merkel’s own making. In March 2016, her government kicked the can down the road by implementing a two-year ban on family reunification for a large class of asylum seekers. With that deadline looming in the distance—and hundreds of thousands stuck in limbo—Merkel is deflecting questions about whether she would extend the ban or allow another massive influx of migrants into Germany.

Needless to say, this is not a conversation that Merkel wants to be having before the election. Her main opponent, Martin Schulz, has been reluctant to press her on her immigration and integration policies, and she has tried to neutralize those political vulnerabilities by pointing to her subsequent crackdown on migrant flows after the initial surge in 2015. But the coming decision on family reunification will put the issue back in the spotlight, pitting Merkel’s original open-arms policy against the tougher tack she has taken in its aftermath. Public opinion favors a restrictive approach: according to a recent survey, 58% of Germans are opposed to refugees’ relatives being allowed to legally reunite with their families in Germany.

Hmm. Sounds like our political leaders and the “Dreamers.”

TRAGEDY: Amazon lowering Whole Foods prices will hurt those who think they’re better than you.

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HUH:

These #Harvey evacuees say meeting @realDonaldTrump changed their opinion of him.

"I think he's a wonderful man!"https://t.co/FDOJhzNhAM pic.twitter.com/3K7r5Tauec

— Elex Michaelson (@abc7elex) September 3, 2017

I AGREE: Roger Simon: Time for a Full Investigation… of the FBI.

It is the reputation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation itself that is even more dangerously tarnished. The conventional wisdom is that there are plenty of good, patriotic civil servants in the FBI — and that is undoubtedly true — but not since the days of J. Edgar Hoover has the organization’s leadership been so suspect, their opaque decision-making process so fraught with defensive self-preservation and political bias. Sometimes, it seems the “G-men” spend far more time dodging FOIA requests — redacting almost everything in sight, lest it be “misunderstood” by we in the great unwashed — than in stopping crime. That may not be so, but the reasons for the perception are undeniable.

Something must be done and quickly. The latest revelations about Comey make the recusal of Mueller more urgent, but the overall situation is yet more severe. The FBI itself needs some form of investigation and reorganization. A true reform. Otherwise a huge percentage of the country will continue to distrust it and that distrust, pending the results of the closely tied Mueller-Russia inquiry, will only continue to grow. That is untenable in a democratic republic.

This sort of thing is never a threat to the Republic, though, unless it’s bad for Democrats’ election prospects.

TWO ON NORTH KOREA: North Korea is claiming it tested a hydrogen bomb today. My latest NY Observer essay, written after last week’s missile test, examines several military and diplomatic options with Pyongyang. This second essay, written in mid-August, also surveys options and provides some useful background. The Fat Kid did blink, but like the essay says, blinking isn’t retreat. If we can’t squeeze out the nukes, we’ll have to blast them out.

RELATED:North Korea’s nuclear weapons time line.

ANN ALTHOUSE CORRECTS A JOURNALIST: “Hey, journalist — you call yourself a ‘journalist’ — how about not being on any side? Have you completely forgotten that idea? Sad about your camera, but what about your ethics? Did somebody grab them too and smash them on the pavement? Or is it still possible to scrounge back somewhere in your head and find them?”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: The Looming Decline Of The Public Research University.

IT’S ONLY A MODEL: Why can we have two 500-year floods in ten years?

WELL, AT LEAST THEY PROBABLY WON’T BEHEAD YOU: Let us mock Texans, their faith and their politics.

In other words, any excuse will do to smack down people of Christian faith who do not cleave to the liberal line that Big Government is the same as the Hand of God. The Left sees everything in on-off, right-wrong terms. There is no nuance in their world view. A liberal colleague of mine, whom I have know for 20-plus years and who I count a a true friend, posted this similar cartoon on his FB page. . . .

In his comments on the cartoon, my friend betrayed what you encounter on the Left over and over: “I’m pointing out that the stance that all government help is bad is ridiculous and bad… .” To which I replied, “I know, or know of, exactly zero people on my side of the aisle who say that ‘all government help is bad.’ That’s a memetic straw man on the Left but it has no basis.”

I wonder what the cartoonist or its enthralled would say if they knew that the quote in the first section, above, “That government is best which governs least,” was penned by Henry David Thoreau (not Thomas Jefferson, as commonly attributed). . . .

And that is the basic template of almost all Leftist politics. There is absolutely nothing that so defines Leftism as anger, of which this is only one example. Converse or correspond with anyone on the Left long enough and it becomes obvious that they are just plan mad, especially at people who do not agree that they just know better than you do. So their commentary is, “smug, predictable, dismissive,” says Morrisey, “with all of the subtlety, wit, and artistry of a sledgehammer.” You either agree with them altogether or you are painted as a racist, homophobic, neo-Nazi, fundamentalist Christian, white supremacist, misogynist child of darkness. Who hates the government except in hurricanes.

Leftism is the politics of a spoiled child, thwarted.

NORTH KOREA CLAIMS IT SUCCESSFULLY TESTED ANOTHER NUCLEAR WEAPON:

The secretive communist state said its sixth nuclear test was a “perfect success”, hours after seismologists had detected an earth tremor.

Pyongyang said it had tested a hydrogen bomb – a device many times more powerful than an atomic bomb.

Analysts say the claims should be treated with caution, but its nuclear capability is clearly advancing.

Here are some options for dealing with Pyongyang. So stay tuned.

NEWS MEDIA HARDEST HIT: In devastated Houston, ‘nobody hates anybody’ as people come together.

HMM: Dear Democrats, Unless You Nominate Mark Zuckerberg, Donald Trump Will Win in 2020.

I don’t think I like the idea of President Big Brother. And I suspect the Dem leadership would find him — as the GOP leadership finds Trump — too hard to control for their own comfort.

AND SOMETIMES YOU JUST LEAVE THE LEFT:Interesting change story with great quote about the process of political change .

EVENTUALLY THE TIME COMES TO THROW IN THE TOWEL: Sinking Ship, Fleeing Of.

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO…. OH, WHY BOTHER: Woman orchestrated romantic rival’s Snapchat rape: cops.

IT’S NOT 500 YEARS HARD AND FAST. IT’S A PROBABILITY THING: Yes, We Can Have Two 500-Year Floods in Ten Years.

AS DOCTOR HELEN HAS SAID, MARRIAGE IS VERY EXPENSIVE FOR MEN: ‘Cheap sex’ is making men give up on marriage.

UNLESS IT REMOVES THE PLANK FROM THEIR EYE, IT WILL BE NO GOOD:Professors get grant to develop fake news detector.

OF COURSE IT’S ALL OUR FAULT: We won’t let them have “no America at all.”  Me?  I think the misguided children are due for a spanking. Most of us learn not to say “but it’s the teacher’s fault” sometime in pre-school: The Infants’ Crusade.

IOW THE SPLC JUST MAKES SH*T UP AND HOPES IT STICKS: Asatru and Racism. (It isn’t.) Oh, and they REALLY want us to look for racists under every bed.  Racist by their definition, of course. Excluding people who make comments like every white guy should die, of course.

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WELL, I FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE THAT WAY: Sleeping In A Cold Room Is Healthier, Scientists Say. We always turn the thermostat down a few degrees at night, winter or summer.

POLITICIANS IN CHARGE OF SPACE SAY POLITICIAN SHOULDN’T BE IN CHARGE OF NASA: Florida’s senators are voicing opposition to President Donald Trump’s pick for NASA administrator, Oklahoma Congressman Jim Bridenstine, saying a “politician” shouldn’t lead the nation’s space program.

I have no opinion on Bridenstine — he wouldn’t have been my pick, which isn’t to say that he would necessarily be bad in the job — but this seems a bit rich, especially given how Nelson leveraged his Congressional position to get a trip to space at taxpayer expense.