Talk of tolerance is one thing. The reality in Germany is another - as this article and YouTube video document. Violent Islamic extremists, along with the far-right, continue to foment open hostility towards Jews and Israel in Germany and around Europe.
Video: Islamic extremists cheer and shout "Allah Akbar" as German police remove an "offensive" Israeli flag from the window of a private home.
So much for "never again"...
German politics and the German media have largely blamed the U.S. for the current financial crisis. Germany's cherished "social market" policies, so the unified chorus, would have never produced the reckless behavior of banks witnessed in the country of profit maximization, the U.S. In particular, German regulatory bodies and rules - according to the saga - would not have allowed German banks to invest in toxic assets. So, why oh why didn't the U.S. follow Germany's admirable policies?
This WSJ article tells a slightly different story. German politics blew it big time.
BERLIN -- Germany's financial regulator warned of serious problems Hypo Real Estate Holding AG six months before the lender was rescued in a massive bailout, but the regulator lacked powers to act and the government ignored its warnings, according to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. (...)
For months, Germany has lectured the U.S. and others on the need for stricter regulation of financial markets, holding itself up as a model. The German parliament probe into the €102 billion ($142.6 billion) rescue of Munich-based Hypo, however, suggests Germany struggled as much as the U.S. or Britain to control the risks the country's banks were taking.
Hypo's funding problems and huge losses on complex securities make it the worst of Germany's problem banks, though it is one of many. German banks could face total losses in the current financial crisis of €200 billion to €300 billion, according to several estimates, of which only around €100 billion has been written down. (...)
Overall, banks in Western Europe could lose about $1.4 trillion in
this crisis, more than expected losses in the U.S. banking system,
according to the International Monetary Fund. (emphasis added)
Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück, who has repeatedly said the "center of gravity" of the global financial crisis lies in the U.S., earlier this month rejected publishing stress tests on German banks, saying it could undermine confidence in the banking system.
A Finance Ministry spokesman said Wednesday that top officials including Mr. Steinbrück were aware of problems in capital and banking markets in 2008, but had no specific indications that Hypo was in difficulty at that time. The failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in the U.S. last September was the event that pushed Hypo toward insolvency, the spokesman said.
However, documents produced by the German parliament investigation show that on March 20, 2008 -- months before Lehman's collapse -- financial-markets regulator Bafin passed on to the German Finance Ministry a report Bafin had requested from the Bundesbank on Hypo's funding.
The Bundesbank's report, which included a special audit of Hypo's Dublin-based Depfa Bank PLC unit, raised an alarm about Hypo's massive short-term borrowing needs, as well as its risk management. The report also said that Hypo's compliance with key banking regulations on managing liquidity and other market risks "must be seen as nonexistent."
The Finance Ministry in November told parliament in a letter that an unnamed senior Finance Ministry official to whom the March report on Hypo was addressed never saw it, because he was on vacation. It was reviewed by lower-ranking officials, and when he returned to work, the report had been filed away, the letter said. The Finance Ministry declined to comment.
Avoiding transparency and public scrutiny at all costs is a major concern of German politicians, since the results might "undermine confidence" in the system.
Anyway, the U.S. is the culprit, so why ask silly questions about German faults... Also, an American investor is going to lose his investment, which adds a bright spot to the story:
In April, a month after the Finance Ministry had received the preliminary audit report with its damning verdict on Hypo's risk management, a group of investors led by U.S. financier J.C. Flowers announced their intention of buying a 24.9% stake in Hypo, which they followed through on.
For the past eight years, left-wing commentators and media such as Keith Olberman, Rachel Maddow, Daily Kos and the Huffington Post railed virtually non-stop against President Bush and Republicans. Night after night they blasted conservatives as fascist war-mongers and law-breakers. They insisted that dissent was noble, courageous, patriotic and that they would not be muzzled by the sinister and totalitarian Bush-Cheney junta. The tone was shrill, extreme, and anything but civil.
None of that seemed to bother Marc Pitzke, SPIEGEL ONLINE's America correspondent and resident expert on socks, aliens, Pabst blue-ribbon beer and the infrastructure of the United States.
Left-Wing Dissent = Patriotic; Conservative Dissent = Evil
Now that Democrats are in power, however, Marc Pitzke has suddenly identified great danger in outlandish and outspoken media personalities who dare oppose the authorities. In fact, one of his more recent articles is entitled "Right-Wing Polemicists: The Revolution is Coming!" According to SPIEGEL's (on) crack reporter, pundits like Glenn Beck of Fox News, radio host Mark Levin, and actor/blogger Chuck Norris are at the head of a dangerous and increasingly "militant" right-wing movement with close ideological associations to the militias. This despite the fact that they are criticizing the powers-that-be using essentially the same approach employed by Olberman, Maddow and Arianna Huffington for years. (Apparently, outspoken dissent is not patriotic, noble, or courageous when carried out by non-leftists...)
Pitzke goes on to crudely characterize the tea party movement as a phenomenon of the far-right. What he fails to mention is that not only Republicans, but many Democrats and Independents question the wisdom of trillion dollar budgets likely to burden future generations with mountains of debt.
Marc Pitzke to German Readers: Trust U.S. Homeland Security
And what proof does Pitzke offer to convince readers that the threat posed by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Fox News is real? The heavily criticized Department of Homeland Security report on right-wing radicalism. Of course Pitzke completely fails to mention that the report was widely panned, that the Obama administration immediately distanced itself from the paper, or that DHS Secretary Napolitano called the report "not worthy" and said it "should never have been released" - as reported by the Washington Post:
“The report was not worthy of this department, or of veterans,” Napolitano said to Rehbein, according Legion spokesman Craig Roberts, who attended the meeting. "It was very badly written and should never have been released," she said."
But that doesn't stop Pitzke from using the report as evidence. (And by the way: Since when has SPIEGEL ONLINE accepted the United States government as a reliable source?)
To top it all off, and ensure that German readers get really scared, Pitzke mentions that Americans are buying more guns. Right-wing cowboy bastards...
Here again, Pitzke and SPIEGEL are making their own bias and lack of journalistic professionalism rather obvious to those willing to take a slightly closer look. When Democrats go out on a limb and bash the opposition it is justified and noble, when Republicans do it - it is dangerous, militant, and a grave threat to society.
UPDATE: Commenter Helian has this to say:
"Obviously, hate peddler Pitzke was a lot more comfortable with quasi-racist Amerika bashing during the Bush Administration than he is now as just another European bootlicker for Obama. He seems increasingly disoriented and behind the curve. Take the DHS memo story, for example. Pitzke was still taking swings at the “right wing extremist” tar baby long after his more sophisticated brethren on the left had passed on to the current fair and balanced talking points. The man just can’t keep up with the narrative anymore. He really seems to think that anyone to the right of Rosa Luxemburg can be dismissed as a “neo-Nazi” in the US, as if it were a German province. Someone needs to explain the nuances of history to him. I actually find his slobbering adulation of Obama entertaining, though. Take, for example, this article, in which he informs the ever-gullible German boobeoisie that, after 100 days, “Der US-Präsident ist machtvoll und populär wie wenige Vorgänger - doch er muss aufpassen.” (The power and popularity of the US President is exceeded by few of his predecessors – but he has to watch his step.) Never mind that Obama’s popularity at the time was actually lower than that of any US President in the last 40 years except Clinton. This sort of mindless disconnect with reality is charmingly reminiscent of German journalism of days gone by. See, for example, the YouTube “Wochenschau” clips from 1945."
SPIEGEL ONLINE headline: "Kidnapped Captain: Somali Pirates Make Fools of US Navy"
Big surprise: According to SPIEGEL ONLINE, members of the US military are once again humiliated fools - just as they have been in every conflict since the American Revolution.
Whoops! Looks like the Navy Seals just took out the pirates and rescued the captain. So what will SPIEGEL's reaction be now? Let us make a prediction... here are a few suggested headlines we have to offer the SPIEGEL ONLINE editors...
Here's the bottom line: Whether the US military acts or not - they will always be demoralized, trigger-happy fools in the eyes of biased German media like SPIEGEL ONLINE. The true fools are the millions of readers who believe the news they get from hard-left German media on the United States to be reliable.
UPDATE: The actual reaction from SPIEGEL ONLINE: The order for the spectacular commando operation came directly from the heroic Barack Obama - the nicest President since JFK because he loves windmills and doesn't get angry when Germany refuses to send more troops into a combat zone. Still no apologies for the trigger-happy, blood-thirsty fools in the US military...
We had an unexpected Easter-egg hunter visit us this morning. He actually cracked open the plastic egg to get to the chocolate egg inside. We photographed him in the act on our neighbor's deck railing...
Happy Easter everyone! (Posted by Ray)
Some Germans love to criticize American products - then turn around, walk into a McDonalds, and gorge themselves. In Nuremberg, there seems to be a McDonalds, BK, KFC, Starbucks, or some other American joint on every corner. Here's an idea: If you don't like something - don't consume it. If you do consume it - don't blame the country it comes from for devaluing or diminishing your culture! The same goes for music, fashion, etc.
Some of the commercials for "American-style" products are kinda weird...but this new chicken deal is the strangest thing yet...we are pretty speechless...so we leave the comments to you...
(By Ray D.)
Perception and reality are not always clear in the media world. That is particularly true when supposedly trustworthy media sources misreport (or simply distort) the most basic facts. Case in point - Tagesspiegel's recent coverage of statements made by President Barack Obama on Afghanistan in a recent New York Times interview. Here's what Obama said to the Times:
A. No. I think that we are – we are doing an extraordinary job, or let me say it this way: Our troops are doing an extraordinary job in a very difficult situation. But you’ve seen conditions deteriorate over the last couple of years. The Taliban is bolder than it was. I think the – in the southern regions of the country, you’re seeing them attack in ways that we have not seen previously. The national government still has not gained the confidence of the Afghan people. And so it's going to be critical for us to not only, get through these national elections to stabilize the security situation, but we’ve got to recast our policy so that our military, diplomatic and development goals are all aligned to ensure that al Qaeda and extremists that would do us harm don’t have the kinds of safe havens that allow them to operate."
Obama is not willing to tell the New York Times that the United States is winning in Afghanistan. While it is debatable whether Obama is saying the United States is losing or not - he is clearly not saying the war cannot be won or is hopeless.
Tagesspiegel: Obama Says the War Can't Be Won
Here is how the above was interpreted in a Sunday article on Tagesspiegel online:
"War in Afghanistan Hopeless: Obama Willing to Talk to Moderate Taliban
Barack Obama indicated a willingness to have talks with the Taliban in an interview. The reason: The USA could not win the war in Afghanistan. Afghanistan's President Hamid Karsai welcomed the announcement.
WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama displayed openness to negotiations with moderate Taliban in Afghanistan and admitted that the USA would not win the war there. Obama told the "New York Times" Sunday edition that the situation in Afghanistan has further deteriorated in the past years. Afghan President Hamid Karsai welcomed the announcement of possible negotiations."
Obviously, Obama's statement has been warped into something he did not say. He clearly never said the war could or would not be won - but simply refused to say the U.S. was winning the conflict.
The piece concludes by declaring the war in Afghanistan "hopeless." This conclusion is supported by what the paper calls "expert opinion." In this case, the opinion is that of a single individual - British officer Sebastian Morley - who clearly supports Tagesspiegel's anti-war editorial line. No other "experts" are presented to challenge Morley's opinion or offer another, less pessimistic view that Afghanistan is anything but completely doomed. (And yes - more optimistic opinions exist in abundance.)
Clearly, the departure of President Bush has not cured German media of its shoddy, biased and often inaccurate reporting on the United States. The Tagesspiegel's coverage sounds more like opinionated propaganda than news. The German public deserves better...
UPDATE: The lead front-page article in the paper edition of "Die Welt" for March 9 is essentially a carbon copy of the Tagesspiegel piece. The headline offered the same false claim that Obama had said the war in Afghanistan could not be won. (Are we missing something - did Obama ever unequivocally say that the conflict in Afghanistan could not be won???) Why would Obama send an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan and call on allies to contribute to the effort if he believed the cause to be futile and already lost? The Welt/Tagesspiegel headlines defy basic logic and can only be characterized as journalistic malpractice...
A worthwhile article (also published in German) by an Iraqi Kurd that echoes past posts on our site. Excerpts:
Read the whole thing. (Hattip: Joe at No Pasaran)
An English journalist visited Gaza on January 28, 2009, and found... well, not what the German media, in particular ARD, ZDF, etc., etc., wants us to believe.
Apparently, the Israelis did an excellent job during Operation Cast Lead, hitting Hamas and largely avoiding civilian casualties. Hamas won the PR war, though.
As to a correction in the German media...well, don't bet the farm on it.
The United States and Israel ranked below North Korea, China and Russia by Germans Polled
Poll results from a 2007-2008 BBC World Service Poll reveal that a higher percentage of Germans surveyed viewed the United States (72%) and Israel (64%) as having a negative influence on the world than North Korea (62%), China (59%) and Russia (56%). The United States finished not too far ahead of Iran (85%) and Pakistan (77%).
Interestingly enough, Germany had the highest favorable ratings overall among the countries polled. Given the troubling results of this survey and the irrationally anti-American and anti-Israeli attitudes prevalent in German media and society, however, some may want to rethink their views of how positive an influence Germany really is.
No doubt here that the highly biased, one-sided and constant railing of much of the German media against the United States and Israel plays a major part in these results. This is why our subject matter is important - as an educated public, well-informed by a media community dedicated to balance and even-handedness (as opposed to the hateful populism), would not likely hold such views.
To its credit, the Financial Times published an article by Philip Stephens entitled "The Obama challenge: is Europe just a spectator?" that cuts to the heart of several key issues that will shape future transatlantic relations. Excerpt:
"Behind this lies the deeper ambivalence about Washington’s role. Most Europeans want the US to continue to exercise global leadership. The alternatives, after all, are unappealing. The contradiction lies in the caveats: Washington must not challenge European sensibilities or ask too much of its allies.
Thus while Mr Obama’s decision to withdraw from Iraq wins universal applause, his determination to reinforce Nato’s effort in Afghanistan is cause for foreboding. One of the refrains I have heard often in recent weeks is that the new president cannot expect Europe to send more troops to Afghanistan until there is a credible political strategy. That seems an eminently sensible condition. More than six years after the toppling of the Taliban, Afghanistan remains a mess. But how will, say, Germany and Italy respond if Mr Obama picks up the ball and produces just such a strategic plan?"
A must read that addresses many of the debates to come.
Enjoy this beautiful piece of satire which I received via e-mail from a friend. I don't know the original source, but it's obviously well known in the blogosphere...
After the initial Italian part most of it is in English.
L'Obama, ossia L'Avvento del Messia - Washington Opera
Opera in Tre Atti
Personaggi:
Barracco Obama, Il Messia, Redentore del Mondo (Tenore Miracoloso)
Santa Micaela della Revoluzione, sua sposa (Soprano Amaro)
Giovanni Maccheno, Senatore, Avversario dello Obama (Basso Buffo)
Sara Palino, Governatrice del Alaska e Reginetta di Bellezza
(Coloratura Buffa)
Guglielmo Priapo, Ex-Presidente (Tenore Mentitore)
Hillaria, sua Sposa, altra Avversaria dell'Obama (Soprano
Ambizioso)
Elena Tomasso, una strega (Contralto Venenoso)
Giuseppe Bideno, Il Pomposo (Tenore Buffo)
Il Spirito di Giorgio Secondo, L'Abominazione (Baritono Cattivo)
Il Spirito di Ruscio Limbago, Bocca Grande (Basso Noioso)
Jeremia Ritto, un uomo pazzo, pastore dello Obama (Basso
Demagogico)
Guglielmo Ayers, terroristo Americano, amico dello Obama (Tenore
Anarchico)
Un Sempliciotto (Tenore Profetica)
Il Popolo, La Media Elite, Il Mondo, Il Congresso, Terroristi.
ATTO PRIMO
La Piazza del Cattedrale di Washington.
It is the day after the election. Outside the Washington
Cathedral, the People and La Media Elite celebrate the victory of Barracco
Obama over his adversary, Giovanni Maccheno (Coro: "Esultate! Il Messia è
It has been a few weeks since the election. We would now like to open our comments section completely to a conversation for our readers. What is your reaction to the election?
Some things to consider:
"The World President: What He Wants to Do - What He Can (Not) Do"
It looks like they are going with a safe and non-controversial approach that hedges against unrealistic expectations. Probably a smart move.
Now it's your turn: Let's hear what you have to say about the election, Obama, Germany and the future.
(By Ray D.)
UPDATE: I conducted this interview with Brent Scowcroft on the future of US-EU relations and foreign policy in general for a graduate paper I completed last year. It appears he may play some significant foreign policy role in the administration and am therefore re-posting this at the top of our site. The interview took place on March 19, 2007 and is 40 minutes long.
Topics covered and time discussed:
(By Ray D.)
Today I attended a seminar at the Goethe Institute in Washington DC on Germany and the challenges of terrorism. In attendance was Stefan Aust, until recently the editor-in-chief of Der Spiegel. During the questions-and-answer period, I introduced myself and asked him whether he thought it would be fair to say that Der Spiegel and other German media had sometimes veered from legitimate criticism and questioning of the United States over the past few years into anti-American populism designed to profit from some need of the readership. Not surprisingly, he replied with a "no" and went on to say that he felt that his publication's coverage of the run-up to the Iraq War was fair and included voices from both sides - even those who supported the war!
It is interesting here to remember Jeff Gedmin's encounter with a Spiegel reporter a few years back. A look at our archives and the covers below may also lead some to question Herr Aust's conclusion.
Nope. No anti-American populism in sight...
Endnote: The Goethe Institute organizers did mention that recordings from the seminar would be on NPR. I just hope they don't play the question asked by a woman before me - which was an embarrassing monologue that went on with no real point for nearly 10 minutes.
The latest Der Spiegel cover seems to offer a glimpse of what's to come...
"The Capital Crime: Anatomy of a World Crisis that has Really Just Begun"
With Obama, Spiegel and others will no longer be focusing attacks on the American executive (at least in the short-term) as was standard practice under Bush. Instead, as we have previously speculated, they will likely turn to attacking broader aspects of American society (the economic downturn is the current dominant theme) for all that is wrong in the United States and the world. Think World Scapegoat USA. Think pet peeves. Having to respect Obama just makes accomplishing what readers require a bit more demanding. Just slapping Bush and a desecrated US flag on the cover will no longer cut mustard after January 20...
An interesting article on the United States and the tendencies of its political factions with regard to foreign affairs and image abroad. (Via RealClearPolitics.com)
With the election imminent, it now appears that an Obama presidency is more likely than unlikely. That being the case, we would like to offer a few predictions as to how many in German media and society will react. We actually believe that these reactions will all play out to one degree or another:
Reaction One - Condescending Euphoria
The American "friends" have reformed themselves and deserve another chance. We in the German media elite can now (temporarily at least) welcome the United States back into the fold of civilized nations despite the nearly unforgivable actions of the past eight years. We love the fact that the United States has elected its first minority head of state (though we would never dream of doing so ourselves). After we gloat a little more about the demise of Bush and engage in a round of "told you so" on how right we were to oppose his every move - we will push for Obama to sign Kyoto, close Guantanamo, abolish the death penalty and quickly exit Iraq. Obama must consult with us and go through the United Nations before taking any military action. This would vindicate our worldview and assuage our anger at America's many transgressions over the past eight years. Should Obama not do any or all of the above, we reserve the right to once again treat the United States as the World Scapegoat and depict Obama as the head of a mad-rogue cowboy nation.
Analysis: The initial euphoria of an Obama victory and Republican defeat will lead some to predict a bold new era of happiness in transatlantic relations. These predictions will gradually be worn to a cool realism/cynicism by geopolitical realities which will inevitably manifest themselves through differences over trade, the use of force in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Middle East, the unwillingness of even the Democrats to go along with Kyoto, etc. Obama may remain quite popular as a personality in the German media. The Republicans - despite their reduced role - will continue to act as foils and receive blame for all that goes wrong. The refrain that what Bush has broken will take time to fix may well grow to become a reflexive defense for some time to come among those who insist on clinging to their own initial euphoria.
Reaction Two - Cynicism
Obama's election is a hopeful sign - but the United States remains a fundamentally "other" nation. We will pay lip-service to the progressive direction that the United States has embarked upon - which increasingly mirrors our own. That - however - does not change the fact that the United States is a fundamentally backward nation that will remain dominated by the primitive instincts of predatory capitalism, oppression of the weak, religious bigotry and a tendency towards uncontrolled violence. Even if Obama is everything that we hope him to be (and he probably isn't) - he will inevitably be constrained by the society in which he exists and by the vile Republicans who oppose him. We will continue to blame the United States for most of the world's ills - albeit with an initially more restrained tone - and wait until Obama confirms our views of the United States by launching any military action or repeatedly compromising on issues that matter to us such as the death penalty, environment, gun laws, etc.
Analysis: Cynicism and pessimism remain core reflexes among much of the German intellectual elite. This sector of the German media has already concluded that it will inevitably be disappointed with Obama and - to spare itself the embarrassment and emotional roller-coaster of Obama euphoria - has concluded that the United States will not fundamentally change course. They will correctly point to the fact that Obama has profited from a confluence of factors such as war-fatigue, economic downturn, Bush-fatigue, etc. and conclude that these circumstances - and not a fundamental change in American societal attitudes - are what led to Obama's victory. This view offers adherents the obvious advantage of being able to play the profitable Hate-America card at any time.
Reaction Three - Let's Feel Better
Obama wins and now the hip people in Germany can finally feel better and get off the anger streak towards the United States - a country that produces lots of stuff we think is cool like iPods, hip-hop, Blackberries and Lionel Ritchie. Obama may not do everything we Hope - but we are pretty tired of bashing the United States and it's time for Change. Feeling better makes us feel good - so we are going to just do it - even though nothing much is going to change except for our feelings - which are pretty important. Now that Bush is gone - we will need to find a new super-villain to feel bad about - which makes us insecure about making sure we pick the right bad guy...(and maybe Bono can help us out here...) The tone makes the music and all that - so we are kinda friends again with the United States until the Republicans come back. By the way - we still won't give you any more troops for Afghanistan and we expect you to help us save the trees and polar bears. We will write plenty of angry letters to bad people with you if that's what floats your boat...
Analysis: The less serious bubble-gum tabloid media is likely to revel in the ongoing feel-good Obama-mania. On a societal level, these are - to a large extent - the folks who turned out for the Obama speech in Berlin. For Americans living in or visiting Germany, this may translate into fewer close encounters of the Hate-America kind in certain bars, taxis and social gatherings. The trendy types will have to drop Hate-Bush for some other cause-celeb and pick up a new ultra villain to rail against. This in itself may lead to some angst and uncertainty.
Reaction Four - America in Cultural Decline
Obama is hopelessly inexperienced and thoroughly represents the fleeting and superficial nature of American society - which will follow slogans, glitz and glamor in any direction. The election of this non-European is simply a confirmation of America's slow descent into mediocrity. Bush was bad - but Obama will be equally bad if not worse - and may threaten our business and trade interests if he gets too protectionist.
Analysis: Some in the culturally conservative German elite (and perhaps some on the far-far-left) will see the election of Obama as a sign that the United States continues to deteriorate culturally. Though they will not (often) openly express their racial views, they will depict Obama's election as a sign that the United States is slowly becoming a Third World nation increasingly dominated by a combination of non-European (and in their view inherently inferior) influences and superficial bumper-sticker politics. This will not manifest itself in most mainstream German media, but will be hinted at on the fringes.
Reaction Five - What Do You Think?
Now that we have put four potential reactions out there - we would like to know what you - our readers - think. Are these four scenarios on the mark? Are some more accurate than others? Are we missing something? What are your thoughts?
UPDATE: More than one publication has already posted a list of Europe's demands and expectations now that Obama has been declared the winner.
Looking around the blogosphere this week, we couldn't help but notice an interesting discussion taking place in the comments section of the blog "German Joys," a left-leaning blog written by Andrew Hammel, an American living in Germany. One of the comments was particularly striking:
"I lived in West Germany two separate times back in the 1980s and have been back -- to the reunified Germany -- for visits many times since then. Back then I recall that examples of anti-Americanism, both among regular Germans and within the German media, were easily found. As you probably know, since then, anti-Americanism among Germans and the German media has stayed fairly consistent over the years, sometimes waxing a little and sometimes waning. But, for many Germans, hating Americans has always given them a little lift as he or she gets through their day.
For Americans who aren't prepared for it, this fact of life for Germans can be a shock. The virulence, especially among the German media, is astounding. Both Stern and Der Spiegel are taking their usual nasty shots and America: here are the latest covers. Average Americans have generally a positive view of Germany and Germans, so if they are exposed to just how much hatred Germans have for Americans, they are truly puzzled.
You will NEVER find an equivalent cover, for Time or Newsweek, for example, that denigrates Germans. I challenge any German stopping by here to find and link to one here. To me, this hatred for Americans that animates the German media, and many average Germans, is one of the more shameful aspects of their national character, in many ways as shameful as their hatred of Jews. Both of these antipathies derive from the same national pathology that is rarely confronted in German society. It's an unusual German -- and thankfully I know a few of them -- who can blush when confronted with examples of their countrymen's irrational hatred of America."
Our questions to readers:
We look forward to your reactions in our comments section.
Reader's Digest published a surprisingly insightful passage on European media in a recent article by Carl M. Cannon entitled "How the World Sees Us". It discusses factors leading to Obama's overwhelming popularity in much of Western Europe:
"Other factors are at play as well. For starters, the media elite, especially in Europe, tends to be liberal, and its news coverage of the U.S. election reflects this slant. The upshot is that the ordinary Dutchman or Englishwoman -- or Indonesian, for that matter -- receives a steady diet of positive Obama coverage. Also, in fairness to the GOP nominee, the Republican party is organized around a set of conservative attitudes and principles that are distinctly American in nature. These range from support for gun rights and low taxes to antipathy to legal abortion and centralized government control."
Some might argue that the above statement tends towards generalization. But the bottom line is that Mr. Cannon hits an important nail squarely on the head and expresses a fundamental truth that explains one aspect of why Europeans see the United States as they do.
It is also useful to look at the flip-side of of one of Mr. Cannon's statements: If Democrats, liberals (and Obama in particular) tend to receive largely positive coverage in the European press - it is also true that Republicans, conservatives and those not a part of the American left are typically treated with disdain and disfavor in European media and rarely given a fair chance to express their views unfiltered.
Though this state of affairs is nothing new under the sun - it is encouraging that some in the wider media in the United States are willing to acknowledge it.
One last Hate-Bush Hurrah at Der Spiegel...
"The Bush Warriors: End of the Show" - a play on an earlier Der Spiegel cover. Kinda funny, kinda sad, kinda pathetic at this point...
And let's not forget Stern declaring the United States ruined...
"The Ruinator: In just eight years George Bush has governed the most powerful nation in the world to its ruin. A balance sheet." (The torn American flag is a nice Hate-America touch for the Stern readership...)
Stern logic: OK - you just stated that the United States is ruined in your cover headline. So let us ask then: What is the point of assessing the situation with a so-called "balance sheet" (that is certainly nothing more than a radically biased laundry list of how Bush is the most terrible leader since Hitler) other than to confirm the prejudices of those who want desperately to believe that the USA is finished?
Our question to readers: If Obama wins - how will the anti-American pundits in the German media react?
Give us your thoughts...
UPDATE: Not a surprise. Our friend Florian Guessgen of Stern chimes in with a highly predictable article (Bush = evil dark lord, Obama = great hope). And let us remind you American friends - you are the ones who refuse to see the world in anything but black and white.
It's election season and - as usual - things are getting ugly at SPIEGEL ONLINE. In his most recent article, SPIEGEL ONLINE America correspondent Marc Pitzke smears John McCain as a liar and characterizes Bill Ayers as a "widely respected university professor".
Pitzke's entire article, like so much of his work, reads like a half-plagiarized mix-tape featuring a "best of" play list of the latest dogma of the American Left. It smacks of a regurgitated mix of commentary from the Huffington Post, Daily Kos, Keith Olbermann and other popular left-wing media outlets - hastily re-blended and spoon fed by Mr. Pitzke to a German audience desperate to reinforce its own prejudices about the United States.
Returning to Ayers - let's not forget that our "widely respected university professor" stated to the New York Times right around 9/11 that he didn't regret setting bombs in the 1960s and wished he could have done more. Is Ayers "widely respected" in the United States? Hardly. If the opposite were true, he would have never become the obvious liability to the Obama campaign that he is today.
Of course for SPIEGEL - whose readership contains a disproportionately large number of 1960s retreads who romanticize about far-left radicalism and former RAF terrorists - it is not difficult to depict Ayers as a reformed and respected old intellectual. Here again - reality is made to conform to ideology in the German press.
UPDATE: A study has revealed the obvious: Media coverage of McCain in the US has been overwhelmingly negative. Don't expect the German press to pick up on that anytime soon. ABC News of all sites has a fascinating post on the topic. Excerpt:
"Republicans are justifiably foaming at the mouth over the sheer one-sidedness of the press coverage of the two candidates and their running mates. But in the last few days, even Democrats, who have been gloating over the pass -- no, make that shameless support -- they've gotten from the press, are starting to get uncomfortable as they realize that no one wins in the long run when we don't have a free and fair press. (...)
No, what I object to (and I think most other Americans do as well) is the lack of equivalent hardball coverage of the other side -- or worse, actively serving as attack dogs for the presidential ticket of Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Joe Biden, D-Del.
If the current polls are correct, we are about to elect as president of the United States a man who is essentially a cipher, who has left almost no paper trail, seems to have few friends (that at least will talk) and has entire years missing out of his biography.
That isn't Sen. Obama's fault: His job is to put his best face forward. No, it is the traditional media's fault, for it alone (unlike the alternative media) has had the resources to cover this story properly, and has systematically refused to do so."
At least someone is willing to address this...
SPIEGEL and Stern: Global Economic Crisis = America's Fault
SPIEGEL ONLINE's decision to launch an English site a few years back has proven a double-edged sword. It can reach a wider audience - but - when it chooses to translate its German articles accurately - it can also be challenged on its hyper-simplified reporting on the United States.
Der Spiegel Cover: "The Price of Arrogance: An Economic Crisis Changes the World" (Demeaning the Statue of Liberty has obviously become a favorite cover motif at DER SPIEGEL)
Case in point: When SPIEGEL attempted to exploit the current economic crisis with another decidedly anti-American cover and feature article with all the usual anti-American clichés designed to pander to the magazine's predominantly anti-American German readership, English-language readers spoke out. The headline quickly changed from "America's arrogance" to "Is America Arrogant?" The encouraging side of this is that SPIEGEL ONLINE's English site was willing to publish the critical responses. Perhaps this is the beginning of some real dialog - (or perhaps we are hopeless optimists). Here is a sampling:
"Dear SPIEGEL ONLINE,
I am not surprised by the America bashing in your magazine -- it is the European way. America is only good when you need us, and history has proven that you needed us very frequently. But you are dead wrong to count Americans out and to count capitalism out. Free markets and capitalism are the only road to prosperity.
I was having dinner with a friend last night and he brought his 26-year-old nephew to dinner with him. His nephew had just arrived from France to work here in the USA at a hedge fund. I asked him why come to America now with all this financial turmoil? His answer was that America still offered the best chance for prosperity. "France could never give me the financial opportunities that I can find here in America," he said.
Furthermore, if America is so down-and-out, why is an American education still the best in the world? Why is it that workers from France, Germany and Poland come here for a better future? Why don't they stay in Europe?
-- Michael Faustini , New York, USA
Dear SPIEGEL ONLINE,
Rarely have I read such overwrought wishful thinking regarding the US. The US economy is challenged, yes, but I do believe the reports of our death are greatly overstated. We will continue to be the engine that drives most of the world's economy. If this is not the case, then why are world markets begging us to move quickly to fix our problem so that business as usual can continue overseas?
German bitterness over its relegation to a B-Team economy -- take a look at your tax system, loss of technology investment, perverse immigration system, etc. -- should yield the energy to improve, not point fingers. You don't like George Bush? Wait about 31 days and he'll be history. You think our system is based upon avarice and greed? Watch our Congress move against those who tried to over-leverage our markets. The bottom line is this: The current "crisis" is less a debacle than it is an opportunity to do what the US always does, namely step up and fix the problem.
-- Steve Kopper, Washington, DC"
On a final note: Let's hope whoever wins the upcoming election in the United States does not suffer from the illusion that the sort of harmful America-bashing exemplified by the cover above will go away or even significantly abate anytime soon. The price of much of the European media's arrogance towards the United States over the past decade is an audience conditioned to blame the giant world scapegoat America for virtually any and every problem.
Update (from David): In other news (Oct. 6, 2008): European shares in biggest one-day fall ever / Comment: "Fact is, European Banks are even more highly leveraged than US banks, and many still have political appointees on their Boards (yes folks, people more venal and incompetent than Wall Street bankers DO exist, but in the US they generally are kept under control by being confined to Congress. In Europe they get to play with banks and industry too). That's why Europe is in trouble."
Update #2: Not a huge surprise, but Stern magazine also published a cover that screams: Your economic hardship is all America's fault!
"Greed and Megalomania: How the Wall Street Bosses Gambled Away Billions and led our Financial System to Ruin"
The symbolism of America as giant scapegoat is pretty obvious here. The only thing missing is a desecration of the Statue of Liberty...
We at Medienkritik have decided to translate a piece by Jan Ross of Die Zeit to give our readers a feel for the current strain of elitist thought on the United States in German media. Because they can no longer credibly claim that Iraq is the worst debacle-crisis-disaster in history, the current financial downturn has given Germany's Down-on-America crowd a long sought-after implement with which to bash their favorite target. (They also likely see this as one final window of opportunity to kick Bush while he is down. What ever will they do without Bush to blame for all the world's problems?)
Of course this is nothing revolutionary in European thought - being very much in the vein of Emmanuel Todd's "After the Empire." Those wishing to contact the editors of Die Zeit with comments on this article may email them at: kommentare@zeit.de (We ask readers to please keep all correspondence civil and respectful). Here is our translation:
"The United States: Heroes of the Retreat
By Jan Ross
How can the land of victories and optimism come to terms with a life after the imperial moment?
Learning to decline – is it doable? Can a world power that no longer presumes to dominate the world find a new role, without depression or biting fear, is there life after the imperial moment? That is the question that the United States faces and that will define the term of the next American President starting 20 January 2009. Managing getting weaker, revising the political self-image, if not the national identity is at least as great a challenge as tangible dangers; from the results of the financial crisis to competition from Russia and China to terrorism. Anyone who heard Barack Obama and John McCain at the end of the last week during their first debate had to have had doubts as to whether they (and their country) have clearly made out the entire dimension of the fall of America or whether they have found the courage to speak the truth.
Continue reading "Jan Ross of Die Zeit: Americans Destined to be Losers" »
Just further evidence of an all too well-established way of thinking among Europe's elites.
"Yesterday, the literary world on this side of the Atlantic reacted with bemusement and anger to an extraordinary tirade against American writing by Horace Engdahl, the permanent secretary of the Nobel prize jury.
"There is powerful literature in all big cultures, but you can't get away from the fact that Europe still is the centre of the literary world ... not the United States," he told the Associated Press. "The US is too isolated, too insular. They don't translate enough and don't really participate in the big dialogue of literature ...That ignorance is restraining."
The black-and-white views guaranteed Engdahl a wide audience for his confident dismissal of an industry that published more than 50,000 works of fiction last year. Unsurprisingly, his remarks elicited a variety of strong responses from members of America's writing community. Few of them could be described as abject or crushed."
Of course no one in Europe is isolated or insular - right?
It is difficult to believe that "educated" individuals such as Mr. Engdahl know so little of the diversity and sheer size of American society and culture. These champions of European culture demand nuance, complexity and shades of grey in everything they encounter - yet apparently have no qualm with spouting the most black-and-white stereotypes against the United States - a nation they clearly know very little about. In fact, it is this sort of intellectual laziness and prejudice that continues the sharp devaluation of the once prestigious Nobel prize for literature.
Source: Augsburger Allgemeine, August 19, 2008Spotless friendship: "From now on, my lawyer will explain my Georgia policy to you, Mrs. Merkel!"
"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other." (Matthew 6:24)
A worthwhile opinion article that points out the fundamental problem either Obama or McCain will face in Afghanistan with Europeans (and especially Germans) reluctant to contribute.
And - the German love affair with Obama may already be cooling. A recent SPIEGEL ONLINE headline on Obama's desire to see more European troops in Afghanistan: "Obama-Plan: Europeans Should Bleed for US Tax Cuts".
Another SPIEGEL ONLINE headline on the Obama trip asks: "Will a German Speak at the Washington Monument in 2009?". The painful answer: Would anyone in the United States - other than a select band of media, diplomats and foreign policy wonks - really care?
An interesting essay on Europe, Obama and anti-Americanism in the Times Online.
Excerpt:
"...there isn't an American president since Eisenhower who hasn't ended up, at some point or other, being depicted by the world's cartoonists as a cowboy astride a phallic missile. It happened to Bill Clinton when he bombed Iraq; it will happen to Mr Obama when his reinforced forces in Afghanistan or Pakistan mistake a meeting of tribal elders for an unwise gathering of Taleban and al-Qaeda. Then the new president (or, if McCain, the old president) will be the target of that mandarin Anglo-French conceit that our superior colonialism somehow gives us the standing to critique the Yank's naive and inferior imperialism."
A slowly creeping disillusionment with Obama - should he be elected - will almost certainly replace Europe's current euphoria - once the average observer realizes that American interests remain American interests - however they are packaged.
Case in point: Over the past few months, Germany's Social Democrats have continually toasted Obama and proclaimed: "Yes, we can!" Recently, however they realized that Obama will almost certainly demand more German troops in Afghanistan and quickly reversed to: "No, we can't!!!!"
"Obama should only ask of us what we are able to deliver," Niels Annen -- a member of Germany's federal parliament, with the left wing of the SPD -- told SPIEGEL ONLINE Monday. "We won't increase our number of troops."
One has to wonder how Obama's demand for more German involvement in Afghanistan will go over with his gushing German fans. Spiegel Online has already taken a decidedly realist tone - declaring that German's love-affair with Obama may not survive his speech this week.
Obama's visit presents additional ironies: While so many Germans embrace Obamamania and a "new America" - Germany remains light years from the election or appointment of a minority to the prime ministry, presidency or any significant cabinet post.
On trade, Obama will almost certainly chart a more protectionist course - which would likely conflict with Germany's economic interests as one of the world's largest exporters.
Finally: It is particularly striking that so many Europeans proclaim such affection for Obama - without really being able to specifically explain why they like him so much. Simply being the leading anti-Bush is enough to be loved in Europe - yet it is the Americans who are continually accused of harboring a black-and-white view of the rest of the world.
These Germans...it's so difficult for them to adapt to the virtues of multilateral agreements:
Germany in Hot Seat as G8 Pushes Nuclear Power
(...) Germany is now the only member of the G8 club resisting expanding nuclear power as part of efforts to address the threat posed by global warming.
Germany: poor polar bears are dying because of your unilateral refusal of nuclear energy!
Polar bear, clinging to the last
ice flow because of Germany's
unilateral refusal of nuclear energy!
From SPIEGEL, Germany's enthusiastically pro-Bush news source:
Optimism Grows in Iraq as Daily Life Improves
There is an unexpected air of normalcy prevailing in Baghdad these days, with consumption flourishing and confidence in the government growing. The progress is astonishing, but can it last?
Pork is available in Baghdad once again. Not just in the Green Zone, where US diplomats can enjoy their spare ribs and Parma ham, but also across the Tigris River, in the real Baghdad, at "Al-Warda" on Karada Street. Bassim Dencha, 32, one of the few Christians remaining in Iraq and the co-owner of Baghdad's finest supermarket, has developed a supply line from Syria. As a result, he now has frozen pork chops and bratwurst arranged in his freezers, next to boxes of frozen French fries and German Black Forest Cakes. And the customers are buying.
The Wall Street Journal's comment: "This is certainly good news, but pork chops, bratwurst and Black Forest cake are a distinctly German way of measuring progress."
Well, at least SPIEGEL acknowledges progress in Iraq, whatever measurement standard is used...
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