In this issue, we are reporting on the presidential election in Austria and the referendum in Italy. Both outcomes have been deeply misunderstood and misinterpreted by the media. While the defeat of Norbert Hofer in Austria has been – wrongly – celebrated as a vote against “right-wing populism” and as a victory for the “establishment,” the defeat of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has been – wrongly – portrayed as a victory of populist voices against the establishment and – even worse – a vote by the Italian people against the euro and the EU. Nothing could be further from the truth, as many articles in this issue will explain. Please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Why Italy Will NOT Leave the EU!”
We continue to focus on developments in and pertaining to Germany and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. We speak on the West’s condemnation of Russia, China and Syria; and we address Time’s choice of Mr. Trump as the “person of the year”—which is by no means the magazine’s endorsement of Mr. Trump, but rather the opposite. We also speak on Mr. Trump’s “twitter fight” with China and his meeting with Al Gore regarding “climate matters.”
We conclude with an essay asking the pertinent question whether under the law, an American President could shut down the U.S. Internet.
