Immigrants rarely tend to choose either origin or current status. Most are happy to combine their strengths from before and after migrating. As new identities are forged, multiple aspects from their personal lives play as much a role as political and social circumstances surrounding them.<\/p>\n
Mutli-ethnic entities might not be so different after all. A constant exchange of views allows individuals to re-evaluate their positions on an ongoing basis, to find mutual ground and to move on.<\/p>\n
Instead of attending the annual Correspondents\u2019 Association dinner<\/a>\u00a0 at the White House<\/em>, however, the American tycoon-turned-president Donald Trump held a \u201cbig rally\u201d in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n Having condemned Barack Obama for taking vacations during his presidency, Trump quickly referred to Mar-A-Lago<\/em> in West Palm Beach, Florida as his \u201cWinter White House\u201d. Not only did he spend 11 of his first 33 days in office but St. Patrick\u2019s Day marked the fifth time Trump visited. Chris Riotta<\/a> suggested \u201cCall him the snowbird president\u201d.<\/p>\n Although the President spoke<\/a> on Holocaust Memorial Day<\/em>, a subsequent headline<\/a> read: \u201cDonald Trump freezes funding to groups fighting right-wing terror and white supremacism\u201d.<\/p>\n A wide variety of Trump contradictions dominated not only discussions among news anchors but also corporate offices, lawyers and private residents here and abroad.<\/p>\n In his January inauguration speech, Trump made a seemingly straightforward pledge: \u201cWe will follow two simple rules: buy American and hire American.\u201d Before long, however, AFP<\/em> ousted his daughter as the exception<\/a>, and Business of Fashion<\/a> headlined<\/a> a report: \u201cAmidst Backlash, Ivanka Trump Clothing Is Secretly Relabelled as Adrienne Vittadini\u201d. After meeting<\/a> President Xi Jinping, the President even backed away from his rough campaign talk about trade with China, and another headline<\/a> read, \u201cTrump and Kushner exploitation of presidency ‘unlike anything we have ever seen before\u2019\u2026\u201d.<\/p>\n To keep out undocumented immigrants and drug smugglers, one of Trump\u2019s central campaign promises\u00a0was to\u00a0build a \u201cbig, beautiful, powerful wall\u201d along the 2,200-mile border with Mexico. An estimated 1 million patients flocking there each year catapulted that nation not only among the world leaders in medical tourism, but ironically also among a Republican bill\u2019s biggest beneficiaries. More than 350 dentists in Los Algodones earned the small Mexican town the nickname \u201cMolar City<\/a>.\u201d Many patients come from the U.S., where rising medical costs and a new federal health care law might leave twenty-three million<\/a> fewer Americans insured by 2026.<\/p>\n Perhaps it is no surprise then that homeland security secretary John F. Kelly indicated the actual wall will not reach \u201cfrom sea to shining sea<\/a>\u201d. Instead of an estimated $21.6 billion<\/a>, Trump requested only $1,6 billion<\/a>. As the administration is reviewing\u00a0prototype bids, some proposals are mocking the premise itself while another features a sheet of wire and plexiglass, resembling a\u00a0one-way mirror.<\/p>\n Although relentlessly mocking and criticizing<\/a> German Chancellor Angela Merkel during his campaign, calling her open-door stance toward Syrian refugees a \u201ccatastrophic mistake\u201d, Trump received her in the Oval Office. Afterwards, he ignored photographers asking for the two to shake hands<\/a> afterwards, and Yahoo<\/a> picked up that \u201cAngela Merkel reportedly had to explain the ‘fundamentals’ of EU trade to Trump 11 times\u201d. Nonetheless, Trump assured the press that it was not only a \u201cvery good\u201d meeting but \u201cone of the best chemistries<\/a>\u201d he had with any foreign leader.<\/p>\n The president\u2019s nine-day trip to the Middle East and Western Europe emphasized on US leadership. It began with the centers of the world\u2019s three largest monotheistic religions. The New York Times<\/a> wrote about Trump thinking that the trip is too long, and him not wanting to be away from familiar settings, including his own bed. A White House<\/em> official pointed out that Ivanka and Jared Kushner joined the President on Air Force One with a rabbinical dispensation to travel on the Jewish Sabbath. Politico <\/em>reminded readers that for Inauguration Day<\/em>, the couple had received the same kind of rabbinical pass<\/a> to travel by car. Yahoo wondered whether Melania Trump, \u201cthe former-model-turned-FLOTUS may have to tone down her high-end wardrobe, which includes spiky stilettos, colorful patterns, and clothes by American designers .\u2026 She\u00a0may also have to adhere to the country\u2019s strict dress code<\/a> for women: long sleeves, ankle-length dresses (no pants), and headscarves.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Ted Lieu (D-California), a Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sheepishly tweeted<\/a> Trump a cheat sheet. After \u201cDON\u2019T leak classified information,\u201d he reminded him that Israel is an ally of the U.S., whereas Russia is not, that the G7<\/em> summit in Sicily \u201cis NOT a Golf reference\u201d and Pope Francis \u201cknows climate change is real, hates your proposed wall and is not a fan of locker room talk.\u201d<\/p>\n And as if that were not embarrassing enough, a Sasha Lekach headline<\/a> read \u201cTrump’s first foreign trip is already a disaster and it hasn’t even started\u201d.<\/p>\n National Public Radio<\/a> quoted Trump: “Until the oil went down, Saudi Arabia was making a billion dollars a day. We protect them. We protect them. And we protect them for peanuts. So all of that stuff is going to change folks.\u201d For Trump to visit where ultra-conservative Wahhabism rules life, Stephen Miller<\/a>, known for his anti-Muslim rhetoric and credited as one of the chief architects of Trump’s failed travel ban, penned the president\u2019s speech about radical Islam. The Guardian<\/em> noted that the \u201cmost anticipated address of Trump\u2019s chaotic six months in office\u201d was followed by a men-only concert<\/a> of country star Toby Keith \u2013 known for hits such as \u201cI Like Girls that Drink Beer\u201d and \u201cThe Angry American\u201d. The Associated Press added that steak with ketchup<\/a> was \u201cpart of a worldwide effort to accommodate America\u2019s homebody president\u201d. And although Trump walked away smiling, with one of the biggest weapons deals in history, another commentator<\/a> concluded he \u201cwas bedazzled by the kingdom’s hospitality, but none of the Saudi opulence and money can whitewash Saudi Arabia’s terrible record of fueling Wahhabi terrorism, carrying out record numbers of public beheadings, contributing to famine in Yemen, and withholding many basic rights for Saudi women and girls.\u201d<\/p>\n Newsweek<\/a> announced the President\u2019s speech atop the ancient mountaintop fortress of Masada in Israel was scrapped because Trump wouldn\u2019t take a cable car. The Jewish Forward<\/a> wondered, “Is 15 minutes enough time for Trump at Yad Vashem?”, the Holocaust Remembrance Museum in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n The P<\/strong>ope <\/strong>presented Trump a copy of his 2015 encyclical to protect the environment.<\/p>\n Having called NATO<\/em><\/strong> obsolete, some wondered whether it can \u201cSurvive a Donald Trump Presidency<\/a>?\u201c As Chris Bryant<\/a> pondered the $65 billion U.S. trade deficit<\/a> with Germany, he figured \u201cWhen they want Donald Trump to grasp a topic, his advisers have learned to keep things simple.\u201d One of the most watched scenes, however, unfolded at the NATO<\/em> headquarters in Brussels, where the US President was filmed shoving the Prime Minister of Montenegro<\/a> aside to stand up front. It may not have come as a complete surprise that Trump did not explicitly support Article 5<\/a> in his remarks.<\/p>\n With more than half a million refugees, most from sub-Saharan Africa, having reached Italy by boat since 2014, Italians chose to hold the G7<\/em> summit in Sicily<\/a>. After discussing the landmark Paris C<\/em>limate A<\/em>ccord<\/em> with European leaders, Trump’s top economic adviser stated, \u201cHe came here to learn, he came here to get smarter.” AP<\/a> noted that the President\u2019s views were \u201cevolving\u201d, but just as another crack in one ice shelf was growing 11 miles in six days<\/a>, Trump announced America\u2019s withdrawal<\/a>.<\/p>\n The New York Times<\/a> reported that after the inauguration former FBI Director James Comey \u201cwho is 6 feet 8 inches tall and was wearing a dark blue suit\u201d tried to blend into curtains hoping that Trump might not spot him. After Trump fired Comey, Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told PBS NewsHour<\/a>, that \u201cthe most dangerous thing in the world, if you\u2019re Donald Trump, is a person who tells the truth, is dogged, you can\u2019t control, and who is as committed as Comey is to the institutional independence of an organization that has the power to investigate you.\u201d<\/p>\n When a poll asked people for the first word coming to mind about Trump, Yahoo<\/a> headlined \u201cthe results were brutal\u201d. Magazine covers<\/a> continued to feature glaring Trump scenarios.<\/p>\n The Fiscal Times<\/a> reasoned that \u201cinstead of gravitas, the world was treated to goofiness. Instead of respect, foreign leaders were met with rudeness; and rather than growth, Trump demonstrated something like arrested development.\u201d<\/p>\n In March, The New York Times<\/a> opened an article with \u201cThe ninth week of Donald Trump\u2019s presidency began with the F.B.I. director calling him a liar.\u201d Susan E. Rice, a former national security adviser and U.S. representative to the United Nations, warned in The Washington Post<\/a>, that \u201cfalse statements from the White House are part of a disturbing pattern of behavior that poses real and potentially profound dangers to U.S. national security. The foundation of the United States\u2019 unrivaled global leadership \u2026 is also grounded in the perception that the United States is steady, rational and fact-based. To lead effectively, the United States must maintain respect and trust.\u201d<\/p>\n Even the traditionally conservative Wall Street Journal <\/a>began an article with the following remarks: \u201cIf President Trump announces that North Korea launched a missile that landed within 100 miles of Hawaii, would most Americans believe him? Would the rest of the world? We\u2019re not sure, which speaks to the damage that Mr. Trump is doing to his Presidency with his seemingly endless stream of exaggerations, evidence-free accusations, implausible denials and other falsehoods\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n When conservative Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George F. Will<\/a> wrote that the dangerous thing is that Trump \u201cdoes not know what it is to know something\u201d, he suggested \u201cit is up to the public to quarantine this presidency by insistently communicating to its elected representatives a steady, rational fear of this man whose combination of impulsivity and credulity render him uniquely unfit to take the nation into a military conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n By the time Der Spiegel<\/a>, one of the most influential magazines in Europe, chimed in, \u201cTrump has to be removed from the White House<\/em>. Quickly. He is a danger to the world\u201d, Yahoo had already hinted at members of congress \u201cholding secret conversations about removing<\/a> Donald Trump from office\u201d. While some Americans concluded that Trump has to be impeached<\/a>, others wondered whether he might resign<\/a> instead.<\/p>\n Rick Newman<\/a> concluded that \u201cTrump is the wrong kind of businessperson to be president \u2026 It would be interesting to see how a public-company CEO fares in the White House. Compared with one not accustomed to such accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n Americans were quick to take matters in their own hands. After Trump signed an executive order to temporarily halt citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen from entering the US, some began to see the headscarf as a symbol of solidarity. Nike debuted a Pro Hijab<\/a> for female athletes, and Hijarbie<\/a>, a Barbie doll that wears a hijab, became an Instagram hit.<\/p>\n Outgoing Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz pointed out <\/a>\u201cWe have a long history of hiring young people looking for opportunities and a pathway to a new life \u2026. There are more than 65 million citizens of the world recognized as r<\/strong>efugees by the United Nations, and we are developing plans to hire 10,000 of them over five years in the 75 countries around the world where Starbucks does business. And we will start this effort here in the U.S. by making the initial focus of our hiring efforts on those individuals who have served with U.S. troops as interpreters and support personnel in the various countries where our military has asked for such support.\u201d Sure enough, some on social media called for a boycott of that company.<\/p>\n One week after US-cities and states pledged to uphold the Paris obligations<\/a>, CNN<\/em> reported that 64 members of Congress have asked the House Appropriations Committee to ignore Trump’s suggested $3 million cut<\/a> to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum<\/em>.<\/p>\n In Mexico, a lawyer is marketing Trump-branded<\/a> toilet paper to support migrants and Mexicans deported from the U.S.<\/p>\n The German Chancellor announced that the days when Europe could completely count on others were not only \u201cover to a certain extent\u201d, but Europeans must really take their fate into their own hands<\/a>.<\/p>\n One US-writer<\/a> observed, \u201cif the Europeans are frightened, conversations with key diplomats here don\u2019t reflect it. First, they think the president is more tweeter than tough guy, \u2026 and \u2026 their sophisticated contacts with key officials and members of Congress allow them to reassure themselves that, whatever Trump\u2019s bluster, the alliance will sail on \u2026.\u201d Indeed, many Europeans do believe in the endurance of their established relationships with U.S.\u00a0institutions.<\/p>\n In Austria, where time is frequently measured in centuries, and contentment and stamina may occasionally seem one and the same, things are perceived less dramatically. Except for interruptions during WWI and WWII, diplomatic relations with the United States have continued since 1838. The embassy is located in Vienna. Because a new ambassador<\/a> has not yet been appointed<\/a>, Eugene Young fills ceremonial gaps. His most recent diplomatic assignment was as Consul and U.S. Senior Civilian Representative at the U.S. Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan. Remaining calm, and not fussing over minute non-issues might be in his nature.<\/p>\n On May 8, 1945 Allied troops defeated the National Socialist regime and the German army surrendered unconditionally. Traditionally, the Mauthausen Committee Austria (MK\u00d6) considers May 8th<\/sup> to be not only a day of joy<\/a> but it commemorates those millions who were persecuted. It remembers those who refused military service, who participated in acts of resistance or fought alongside the Allies to help liberate the country. And because more than 90% of the victims of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp were neither Germans nor Austrians, internationality holds particular significance.<\/p>\n Spring events celebrating VE-Day and the liberation tend to reflect a solid cooperation. Albert Langanke, former MK\u00d6 Secretary General, explained, \u201cAs liberators of the Mauthausen concentration camp, US troops have always had a particular meaning to former inmates, and naturally as well to MK\u00d6, CIM<\/a> and many more. How things will evolve now, we will see.\u201d<\/p>\n While Willi Mernyi, Chair of the Mauthausen Committee Austria, freely admits that the steady changing of ambassadors does pose problems regarding continuity, he points out the institution\u2019s \u201cgood connections to the permanent staff at the Embassy. For many, many years, we have closely and willingly cooperated with the US embassy. They support us where they can, and they are present at each liberation celebration. Also, we already have realized mutual book projects about the liberation resp. about our perspective of the USA.\u201d<\/p>\n For more than 15 years, mutual activities before every US election have engaged thousands of diverse juveniles in Austria.<\/p>\n Another indication of recognition by the US Embassy was to host Christa Bauer (MK\u00d6) as a formal visitor of the USA in 2015.<\/p>\n For the 72nd<\/sup> anniversary of liberation, some 80 events<\/a> throughout Austria represented the largest series of memorial events of their kind. More than 4,000 people gathered in Vienna.<\/a> where Eugene Young and others addressed<\/a> the crowd via video-taped opening statements.<\/p>\n At the Mauthausen Memorial<\/a>, more than 7,000 people gathered. Their theme was \u201cInternationality unites\u201d. Representatives from the national victims\u2019 organizations from France and the USA addressed the crowds in their own languages.<\/p>\n Wreath laying where marble tablets commemorate the three US-liberator Divisions. In dark coats, Kate Byrnes, charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires (OSCE) and Eugene Young, charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires at the US Embassy. Copyright\u00a9 Mauthausen Komitee \u00d6sterreich, Ulrike Springer<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Wreath-laying](\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/files\/2017\/12\/Rosmus-1.jpg\")
<\/a>
![\"Uniformed](\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/files\/2017\/12\/Rosmus-2.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Members](\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/files\/2017\/12\/Rosmus-3.jpg\")
<\/a>