How Do You Spell "L-I-E"?

This full-page ad ran on three consecutive days in the Miami Herald, Monday 18 April - Wednesday 20 April. One of our readers tells us that it has also appeared in the Houston Chronicle as a half-page color ad. (If any of you have seen the same ad elsewhere, please email us immediately or leave a comment with the details.)

Miami Vice

So, why Miami, of all places!? And Houston? According to a reader who works for the Miami Herald, the three full-pagers in his newspaper alone are costing German taxpayers a total of over $50,000. It would be interesting to see how the average German would react if they knew this is how the government was spending their tax money when over 5 million of their countrymen are unemployed and the country is running a major deficit. 

Anyway, here is the ad, featuring Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as George W. Bush's best friend:

Please feel free to add more "fields" where the German government is "united" with the Bush administration. Here is our suggestion for a re-write:

"Our cooperation, be it in the fight against international terrorism, be it against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, in all those fields we are united...unless German business interests dictate otherwise, there is an imminent federal election, Joschka "I am not convinced" Fischer objects or someone is planning a protest.

The United States and Germany---

Partners for freedom (except in Iraq), peace (except in China...let's sell em tons of weapons!!!), and prosperity (keep on buying our German luxury cars and power drills!)

For more information, visit the German Consulate General propaganda page, where we will systematically ignore years of anti-Americanism running rampant among members of Mr. Schroeder's government and our friends in the German media and try to convince unknowing Americans that we really do love them! By the way American friends, please, PLEASE keep on buying German imports...we really, really need that...

You probably noticed that in the picture Schroeder is about the height of Bush, which is somewhat out of line with past experience. I guess Schroeder used his little box again...and I guess they will have to replace Merkel with Schroeder on this float now too...

UPDATE: One of our readers just mentioned that he noticed the same ad in the Houston Chronicle. If anyone has seen the same ad in other newspapers, please email us about it or leave a comment in our comments section. Could Schroeder be trying to convince the evil Bush-voters and neocons in conservative "red" states that Germany is really America's big buddy? What will Schroeder's left-wing supporters think of this little ad campaign? Stay tuned...

For our German-speaking readers: Here is an excellent German-language blog with coverage of the story.

(Hattip Lou M.)

Comments

[James W.]

@James

Hmm, seems the exchange rate did indeed have a large impact on German exports to the US. Which, on the other hand, would make Germany even that much more desperate to portray good relations with GWB in highly populated red states -- a market Germany stands to make the most gains, IF the propaganda would work. You see, I would estimate that 25-30 million Republicans listen to talk radio and are not all that unfamiliar with Schroeder's antics in '02. Now, how many of those listeners decided to refrain from purchasing 'Made in Germany', I have no clue; but, I'll guarantee you it was more than none.

[Tyranno]

Living in Germany and travelling back and forth quite a bit my observation is that the notion of an anti-German or even anti-french movement in the U.S.A. is absurd.
Most Americans are too busy living and working to worry about whether or not Europeans like them, and isn't that what really pisses the self-absorbed Euros off?
As for the French, if you think lame jokes on late night television and the "mean spirited" renaming of french fries as indicative of some sort of groundswell then I guess I will concede the point. If you think it equates to the bigoted, hatefilled articles and programs in the French media, I will not.

I just don't see ANY equivalency at all between the kinds of anti-American "boeuf-scheizen" printed and shown daily in the european medias and the little bits of silliness in the American medias the Euros point to as such.
The show stopper in every conversation with my German friends is when I propose a contest. For one month I will compile everything Anti-american I can find in the European media and they compile everything anti-European they can find in the American media. I tend to end up with a small phonebook, they tend to have . . . nothing.

The funniest part is the preferred European myth that they care only about "quality of life," while Americans care only about "making money." And yet here is Schroeder, essentially on his knees, more "poodle like" than Blair ever dreamed of being.
I have to mention too that I don't know a single German who doesn't have an "off the books." "under the table," sidebar money making scheme of some sort going on.
But remember, it's not for any desire to make money, its different ~ its European!

Tyranno

[wenk]

That ad is ridiculous. Have a cloose look to GWB's right shoulder: This is a picture where Bush is pointing to the horizon. They've cut the gesture off the picture, but the eyes of both men are on that finger. Maybe it's the only picture from the whole Mainz visit on which Schröder makes a sufferable face. In any case, when the German lobby puts affiance announcement style ads to promote our relations, I think the message to Americans would be expect a romantic understanding of diplomacy in the current government.

[frank]

I just posted on my blog about omsething I saw here in DC this weekend, get this, The German American Friendship Bus. I link to medienkritik like mad on it. Anyway, here's the link:

http://www.germany-info.org/relaunch/politics/new/pol_voigt_bus_dc_11-2004.html

Oh and while you're there be sure to check out the article on how Germany apparently supports the War in Iraq

http://www.germany.info/relaunch/info/archives/background/Factsheet_German_Iraq_march2005.pdf

[Otto Schily]

http://www.welt.de/data/2005/06/06/728115.html?s=1

Aus meiner Sicht reagieren viele Europäer zu verhalten und kritisch, oft geradezu mißtrauisch.

Unsere amerikanischen Freunde verdienen jedoch unser Vertrauen und unsere Unterstützung, wo immer sie sich für die Ausbreitung von Freiheit und Demokratie einsetzen ...

Der beste Weg zum Frieden in der Welt ist die Ausbreitung von Freiheit und Demokratie. Bekanntlich führen Demokratien keine Kriege gegeneinander. Die Befriedung nach innen durch die Praxis demokratischer Freiheiten wirkt auch nach außen friedensstiftend.

Die Hoffnung auf die Ausbreitung von Freiheit und Demokratie sollte nicht als weltfremder "demokratischer Idealismus" belächelt werden. Es ist ein Idealismus, der die Welt verändert und tatsächlich schon verändert hat.

[AGGA]

hey ---Ray D. -wake up nobody is hunting anybody

and nick | -it´s just $50,000

and by: Jabba the Tutt I -don´t thing that 99% of the American People would not be able to identify Chancellor Schroeder - let´s say 80% -more or less -like in Germany too

and by: Wolfowitz | -who are the conservative in france and in in germany they will come soon -without the greens!!!!

" by: James | -when will the americans export again and stop shopping on makeing mony-dept under bush (clinton was a better economist°!!!) -i would like to bye a nice american car witch do not need tons of oil (oil is a bit more expensive in europe) but i can´t find one (perhaps i´ll take a japanese one)

greetings from cologne
a

[Raphael]

May I kindly remind everyone that since July 2003, the German tax authorities (Finanzamt) have been allowed by the German government to "legally" hack into German company's information systems - allegedly to verify that what they process in commercial accounting software actually corresponds to what they file? May I also remind everyone that since April 2005, there is no such thing as banking privacy anymore (allegedly, to make sure nobody has any undeclared income)? Is this just another "scraping the bottom of the barrel" policy or just tighter leftist controls on individual freedom?

Did you also know that Deusche Telekom AG is among those who make the "top 10 list" of global hackers prying into personal desktops everywhere (www.dshield.org)? To be fair, verizon often tops the charts too (and you would be surprised to see who else tops these charts). Everything I mention above is in the public domain, so check it out!

If American companies are termed as "blood suckers" in Germany (funny, hasn't that term been used against another group some 60+ years ago?), then what is state-owned communications company (Deutsche Telekom AG) doing dominating the U.S. cellular phone market under the name T-Mobile? Wasn't providing jobs to each other at slightly lower costs supposed to make us all happy?

Amazing how alliances begin to fall apart the moment economies, resources and employment rates drop. Allies begin to redefine their own national objectives and when they begin to conflict with one another, - decades of friendship start melting away. The BOL (Balance of Power) is silently shifting (again), and a new emerging super-power lurks in the backgrounds. All in a decade's work I suppose.

Right now, those SPIEGEL magazine covers (and a few other magazine covers too) are a more pressing issue. They bear a horrible resemblence to those German magazine covers before WWII, with a few modern tweaks of course. I came here in 1984, and for as bad as it sounds, I will prefer to remember the Germany that I so much admired in the 80's.

Long live German-American friendship!