Takedown: Jene blöden Deutschen!

Every once in a while, there is a day that the NYT op-ed page really shines.  Today was not one of those days.  Among the offerings this Thursday was a piece by Christoph Peters, a German author, giving what I’m going to guess is the mainstream view in Deutschland on Sen. Obama’s somewhat controversial coming visit.  Why is this foreign policy trip disputatious?  Barack the Christ, a presidential nominee, is planning on speaking at Brandenburg Gate, the historic gateway and one of the most well-known landmarks in Berlin.  Previously, Presidents Reagan and Kennedy gave historic addresses there.

Peters does not understand the opposition, albeit understated, of conservative Chancellor and Bush ally Angela Merkel, to the speech.  He writes “the chancellor seems to feel an instinctive sympathy, perhaps rooted in her having grown up in East Germany, for such staunchly right-wing and rather gruff figures of American politics as George W. Bush and John McCain . ”  He suggests Merkel and East Europeans are more drawn to the foreign policy approach of Reagan, than the rapprochement policy of Nixon and the Left.   Engaging in psychologizing his political opposites, he claims “the fear of being threatened by the ‘evil empire’ still runs deep in those who lived under Soviet domination, and that fear may well be connected with a longing for the ‘strong, good’ leader who will provide protection. ”  Ah, yes, those who personally suffered under the tyrannical rule of communism are longing (irrationally) for authoritarianism!  Or perhaps they can appreciate freedom and know which American political party embraced them and stood up to communism, instead of coddling it, or worse.

Peters goes on to criticize Merkel for supporting the war in Iraq, clearly the motivating factor in his essay (to engage in Peterian psychoanalyzing).  But more than the war in Iraq, there is a bitter hatred of Bush, expressed by this puerile and unbalanced unloading: “George W. Bush’s contempt for the rules and institutions of international politics, his revival of preventive war, with all its unforeseeable consequences, his abrogation of the rule of law in his own country, and his ignorance of every issue related to environmental conservation have become, for me and for the vast majority of Germans, synonymous with a high-handed, ugly America.”  Guter Gott! Unfortunately, this is what passes for sophisticated thought in Europe.  Where do I begin? I love being lectured on human rights and war by a German.  (That wasn’t fair.  I love Germany.  I loved my visit there.  I spent three years studying the language.  But I couldn’t resist.)  Unfortunately this is what passes for sophisticated thought in Europe.  Just check out the BBC, the Guardian, or Der Spiegel, where these “facts,” aka DNC talking points, are considered indisputable facts.  International rules broken?  Is that a reference to the U.S. repeatedly going to the UN?    As for preventive war: it’s pointless to wonder about what would have happened had some country engaged in preventive war against, say, to pick someone randomly, Adolph Hitler. (Damn, I did it again.)  As for the rule of law: Yes, in America today we have internment camps, a draft, habeas corpus suspended, newspapers shut down for opposing the government, and roving gangs of violent youths enforcing the government’s edicts.  Oh, wait, that was Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt, both beloved Democrats, not Republicans and certainly not President Bush, who never instituted any policy resembling those fascist ones.  (See Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism for more.)  As for the environment:  What did Bush do?  Not sign Kyoto?  So what.  Germany did, and yet how has Deutchland done in implementing it?  How much has any signatory country achieved?  According to this report, the U.S. emissions increased significantly less than those who signed the Kyoto treaty.  He ends by claiming Germans “would be happy if emblematic pictures of Barack Obama, speaking before the gate to 100,000 flag-waving Berliners, would help him open a new chapter in the history of America’s relationship with the rest of the world.”  When St. Barack the Miraculous is done, perhaps he can cure cancer and end all war by passing gas.  

Political Dirty Pricks

And you thought American politics was a real pain in the butt.  Check out this article about sodomy charges against a Malaysian oppostion leader, that was written by a reporter based in, ahem, Bangkok, Thailand.

Andy Dick, Head

Andy Dick, drunk and in possession of drugs, sexually assaults a minor. The surprise: she’s female.