Amerikka: Get Ready for the Bust!

Amerikka, we warned you: don't vote for Bush!

You didn't listen.

Now you'll pay the price:

European Backlash: International Consumers Shun American Brands

GMI World Poll shows frustration over President Bush’s reelection and U.S.’s unilateral foreign policies, causing many Europeans to avoid products and services from American-based companies.

Seattle, Washington -- November 22, 2004
GMI World Poll finds that one in five European consumers will avoid purchasing products and services offered by many American-based companies - notably Marlboro cigarettes, American Airlines and AOL - as a direct result of U.S. unilateral foreign policies and their discontent over President Bush’s reelection, according to independent market research solutions company GMI, Inc.

The GMI World Poll, conducted one week after the U.S. general election, sampled 8,000 international consumers, including a 1,000 representative sample in Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and the United Kingdom. The survey finds that 81% of Germans, 73% of French and 52%of consumers living in the UK are displeased by the reelection of President Bush. Additionally, nine of 10 French and German consumers think the U.S. president is an ineffective global leader and two thirds of all European respondents believe the Bush administration’s foreign policies are driven by self-interests and empire building.

As a consequence of their frustration with the United States’ policies overseas, one in five European consumers indicate that they will avoid purchasing certain American-brands products and services in the future.

(Click on pic to enlarge!)

And don't you dare to reduce your spending on German products in return, Six-Pack Joe! We depend on our trade surplus with the U.S. to finance our luxurious social security system!

In a case of a boycott of German products in the U.S. we'll withdraw our troops from Iraq faster than you can say "The ally that left us in the cold when we needed him".

Oops: Germany doesn't have any troops in Iraq? OK, then we'll postpone our beloved chancellor Schroeder's next visit to Washington by at least a month.

Bush will be furious...

Comments

[Joe N.]

I wonder about the whole circular complaint of the US trade surplus driving up interest rates (2%! forshame!), and this somehow being a problem to a finacially rapacious Europe.
How dare they - they've been feasing on the corpse of the poorest Africa, near east, and asian economies for their entire history.

If the American economy changes to their taste will they then say that our importation of their goods is bad for the environment?

Shows only that there are indeed people here, who are as stupid as the Americans who were/are boycotting European (and exspecially French) products because of some obscure reasons which they claim are patriotic.

This is all ridiculous.

Michael

[Michael Moore $$]

Ok, we all know already that Bush kid sucks at marketing. He couldn't sell his war at all. Especially not to Europe. His dad was much better as we remember. He just invented that little: "I saw the Iraqi soldiers come into the hospital with guns. They took the babies out of the incubators . . . and left the children to die on the cold floor."
http://archives.cjr.org/year/92/5/war.asp

It was as fake as the WMDs, but babies are just waaay cuter.

So now the brand "USA" has some major problems. Kinda like "Freedom Fries". Let's see if he does better this term.

Apart from that if Germany would ever had any troops in Iraq it would have been marginal at most. As the press (no link provided here since I am not a link googeling whore) stated again and again the Bundeswehr is stretched beyond it's limits as it is with Kosovo and Afghanistan. So please get a grip on reality about that one.

Another thing is the trade deficit that is right now payed for by China, Japan, Taiwan and the likes, because they need a stable exchange rate for their currencies to the Dollar. So their state banks keep buying up US bonds. It remains to be seen how long. If the system breaks all will go down anyways. The Dollar will fall beyond anything, China's growth rate will cease to exist, Japan will have another crises and all of this will take Asia and Europe down with them. The Dollar already hurts Germany at it's current weak state.
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=g20&btnG=Search+News (link whore)

[old school]

"Additionally, nine of 10 French and German consumers think the U.S. president is an ineffective global leader and two thirds of all European respondents believe the Bush administration’s foreign policies are driven by self-interests and empire building."

Do you really want to state that Bush is a effective global leader (what is that, by the way, do we really need one?) and the administrations foreign policies are not driven by self-interests and empire building? Did you read the PNAC ideas? You can read them on the internet, you know? Its not a scret plan or something like that. You can read them in editorials in your newspapers.

And regarding US products, even if I wanted to boycott them, I would not know what to boycott. One can avoid AOL and Microsoft for different reasons than US foreign policy, and people do that, sure, but apart from that I do not see too many US products I could boycott even if I wanted to. Where are they?

Boycotting Asia would be a different story.

Kann man mittlerweile in jedem Getränkemarkt beobachten. Um die Coca Cola Ecke zu finden (früher war das mal die halbe Fläche) braucht man schon ein Navigationssystem.

[TED]

"Ok, we all know already that Bush kid sucks at marketing."

someone winning an election is definatley good at marketing. the thing is about target groups. he is the elected president of the united states. other nations or presidents are just marginal. the real "marketing" problem is on democrats side. but, to be honest, its fewer a marketing problem then the lack of their product/ideology.

[Sock Puppet of Doom]

Boycott away. The US dollar is down again today. Doesn't look like we can afford any products from Europe.

Before all you US haters get in a good mood the kinds of things we by from Germany are high value items. BMW's, Mercedes, Electrical switching equipment, cranes. These provide good jobs for workers in Germany. I know of no one boycotting German products. I know of some people boycotting French wines. So what there are better wine grown in Germany and many other places. Who in their right mind would use AOL? Microsoft? No buy SuSE or Mandrake Linux. I am using Mandrake Linux (yes it's French) But this stupid anti-US propaganda you all seem to love is pointless. The last time we had serious trade problems between the US and Europe we got WW2. You people need to think. You US haters need to start remembering your own history.

HAH. I knew this would happen. And then it will get a lot of press, and the American people will see the Europeans doing it, and will retaliate. America really has not tried to boycott Euro stuff. Wait until you get the majority of America boycotting German and french products.

You will lose.

Continue to gfripe about how we are consuming all the worlds resources, yet you depend on our consumption. When we decide, as a country, to turn our wrath on Europe, you will know real economic pain. Bush of course will try to forestall it, but everytime he is snubbed by the likes of Chirac and Schroeder, the american people will get angry.

The best thing for America, is a trade war. Which is why we are the guilty party for the cheap dollar.

I don't smoke, I usually don't fly American and I don't use AOL, either.

I just bought some flavored Danish butter, tho.

WOW! And American president concerned w/American self-interest.

And UNSCAM is???? Trade deals w/Iran and Saddam are?????

As to empire building, they're projecting again.

[Joe Rousé]

Does this mean that Europeans will stop buying Michael Moore books or David Hasselhoff records?

[Mike Perry]

Given the aging populations of France and Germany, perhaps the only companies that will find this boycott troublesome are the makers of Geritol, walking canes, and the like. Unless Europeans learn how to make babies again, their time on the world's stage is over. Sadly, unlike the New England 'Old Stock' of a century ago, they seem to lack even the ability to get alarmed over their decline. (If you're interested, I detail the fuss New Englanders had over "race suicide" in The Pivot of Civilization in Historical Perspective.)

Many also have their heads and hearts in the wrong place. They should be hoping that Bush succeeds in democraticizing the Middle East, because in half a century, Western Europe will be a Middle East cultural transplant. If the Middle East does not become democratic, Europe will not stay democratic.

American companies already are designing Muslim versions of their products for Europe. They know that ethnic Europeans have forgotten how to reproduce and will be replaced by Muslims.

[POV]

David,

Thanks for all the insight into Germany, I have been reading for some time and its great to get this side of things.

Regarding the economy let's see who can boycott each other longer - agame of economic chicken. I bet the German economy folds before the US does. What a foolish exercise.

[SleepingInSeattle]

"one in five European consumers will avoid purchasing products and services offered by many American-based companies - notably Marlboro cigarettes, American Airlines and AOL"

Don't forget American movies and television shows.

[roman thomas]

not to worry, i'm going to a small town in the south of germany called biessenhofen. i'll be sure to return the favor there, since there's really nothing to buy made in germany in the states anyway.

[Norge]

Hallo, hier eine kleine Überraschung für manche:

die Verlautbarung der Deutschen Kommunistischen Partei zum IRAK:
Ja zur Beteiligung am Regierungsrat!
Nein zu den Reaktionären, dem angeblichen "Widerstand" der Saddamisten und Al-Qaidas!

unsere zeit - Zeitung der DKP 12. November 2004

http://www.dkp-online.de/pv/uz/36461201.htm

Zur politischen Situation im Irak
Heinz Stehr, Vorsitzender der DKP, zur Haltung der IKP
und zu Prinzipien internationaler Beziehungen
Anlässlich der Diskussionen über den Widerstand im Irak und seinen Charakter sowie über die Haltung der Irakischen Kommunistischen Partei (IKP) und ihre Beteiligung am Regierungsrat im Irak, bezog Heinz Stehr, Vorsitzender der DKP, auf der 9. Parteivorstandstagung erneut Stellung zu dem Thema.
...
1. Die Irakische Kommunistische Partei ist eine kommunistische Partei, mit der die DKP seit Jahrzehnten freundschaftliche, solidarische und vertrauensvolle Zusammenarbeit pflegt. Sie weist sich mit ihrem Programm und Handeln als eine Partei aus, die für den revolutionären Bruch der Macht- und Eigentumsverhältnisse und einer gesellschaftlichen Zukunft im Sozialismus wirkt. In Vorbereitung ihres 8. Parteitages werden Sozialismusvorstellungen diskutiert. In den Jahrzehnten der Unterdrückung, Verfolgung und Illegalisierung wurden Zehntausende ihrer Mitglieder Opfer. Die irakische KP hat auch bewaffneten Widerstand gegen das reaktionäre Saddam-Regime geleistet. Sie ist heute im Irak mit 85 Politbüros, einer Zeitung, die in einer Auflage von 15 000 Exemplaren zwei Mal wöchentlich erscheint, einem Theorieorgan ähnlich den Marxistischen Blättern, und mit mehreren Zehntausenden Mitgliedern präsent.

2. Die Irakische Kommunistische Partei hat für die Befreiung des Iraks vom Saddam-Regime gekämpft. Sie war gegen den Krieg der USA und Verbündeter, dies war das entscheidende Argument, warum die IKP sich nicht an Konferenzen des sogenannten Widerstandes im Ausland beteiligt hat. Die IKP ist gegen die Besatzung. Sie tritt für die Herstellung der vollen nationalen Souveränität ein. Sie ist heute die treibende Kraft zur Formierung einer auf Klasseninteressen orientierten Gewerkschaftsbewegung, von Frauen- und Jugendbewegung, die antiimperialistische Grundpositionen vertreten.

3. Für die Irakische Kommunistische Partei ist die Mitarbeit im Regierungsrat so lange sinnvoll, wie es gewährleistet ist, dass dort die Möglichkeit im Bündnis mit anderen fortschrittlichen Kräften besteht, politische Ziele durchzusetzen. 60 Prozent der dortigen Kräfte treten für eine laizistische, 40 Prozent für eine islamische Regierung ein. Durchgesetzt wurde eine Übergangsverfassung, die nach Aussagen der Genossen die fortschrittlichste im Nahen Osten ist.

Eine 25-prozentige Frauenquotenregelung wurde für alle wichtigen gesellschaftlichen Funktionen beschlossen. Bisher wurde durchgesetzt, dass die Zukunft des Iraks in einem föderalistischen bürgerlich-demokratischen System liegen soll. Die USA streben die dauerhafte Besetzung des Landes an, um den Einfluss auf die politischen Verhältnisse zu sichern. Dabei setzen sie auch auf die Kräfte um den Übergangspräsidenten Allawi und andere. Andere Teile im Regierungsrat wollen einen Staat mit einer islamischen Verfassung durchsetzen. Die IKP setzt auf außerparlamentarische Bewegung und Mitarbeit im Regierungsrat, um ihre politischen Ziele durchzusetzen.

Nach Ansicht der Genossen werden sich die Formen des Widerstandes verändern, wenn sich die politischen Verhältnisse verändern sollten. Diese Politik ist aus ihrer Sicht erfolgreich, auch weil die Privatisierung der Ölindustrie, des Verkehrswesens und anderer Bereiche verhindert werden konnte. Es gelang, Voraussetzungen zu einer Sozialversicherung zu schaffen. Mit dem vorhandenen Verteilungssystem wird die Grundversorgung der Bevölkerung mit Grundnahrungsmitteln gewährleistet. Die Arbeitslosigkeit konnte in den letzten Monaten von 52 auf 26 Prozent halbiert werden.

4. Die IKP sieht aus nachvollziehbaren Gründen keinerlei Gemeinsamkeiten mit jenen Kräften, die bewaffnete Aktionen durchführen. Nach dem veröffentlichten Selbstverständnis jener Gruppen gliedern sie sich in folgende Bereiche:

Sie waren und sind Träger einer politischen Auffassung, die während der Zeit des Saddam-Regimes Regierungspolitik war.

Sie sind Anhänger und Teil der reaktionären terroristischen Al-Kaida-Bewegung.

Es sind schiitische Kräfte, die ein reaktionär-religiöses Gesellschaftskonzept anstreben ähnlich dem im Iran.

Diese Kräfte haben ihre Positionen auch in Internet, zum Teil auch auf Englisch, veröffentlicht. Es gibt keine veröffentlichte Dokumentation über einen bewaffneten Widerstand durch die antiimperialistisch organisierte Linke. Allerdings gibt es vielfältigen, links motivierten politischen Widerstand gegen die Besatzung und gegen die menschenverachtende Politik der Besatzungsmächte.

Für die IKP ist ein Beleg für menschenverachtende Aktionen des bewaffneten Kampfes, dass vor allem Iraker Opfer sind. Nicht hinnehmbar sind Selbstmordattentate oder Aktionen gegen nationale oder religiöse Minderheiten. Objektiv nützt dies der Festigung der Besatzung durch die USA und mit ihr verbündeter Mächte auf lange Zeit. Es verhindert Entwicklungen zur Herausbildung einer selbstbestimmten nationalen Souveränität des Iraks. Es gefährdet die nationale Einheit in einem zu schaffenden föderalistischen Staat. Objektiv wachsen Gefahren für einen Bürgerkrieg.

...

[afromme]

@ Niko
While I do agree SPIEGEL's introduction to the English part of its website isn't really English at its most elegant - none of the bits you put exclamation "[sic!]" to were actually wrong.
• Unbreachable is an English word and can actually be used in connection with walls, frontiers, etc.
• "read us quickly" - again, not really elegant, but syntactically and grammatically correct
• "rich mix" - relatively common expression, actually

The rest of us Germans are so sorry that Europe's leading newsmagazine can't get the message out in decent English.

Its English is kind of clumsy, but not really that laughable.

But my favorite is no. 8. Actually, this entry is a perfect example for the drift and sole intention of the magazine's English version.

8.Its trains run on time.

Ever been to the UK?
The only reason London tube is kind of on time is that there's a train every five minutes so you don't actually notice delays.

Seriously - I'm using trains pretty often and their punctuality (or lack therof) is the last thing I'd complain about. Also, they got rather nice & clean trains nowadays, which is more than can be said about most other countries I've been to, including the UK, Egypt and the US.

But do go on bashing Germany - I'll join you when it comes to German cars. Mercedes (for instance) don't really build technologically good cars - they just make their cars SO big they can fit all the new and unrefined (meaning: huge) technological extras in.
Others may be a bit later, but they can make that stuff fit into a smaller space, hence making it look a lot less clumsy.
I'm not even talking about reliability. Mercedes' current E-class has a system that lightly puts the breaks against their discs when it's raining. The main result is not a shorter stopping distance (no difference at all, actually) but more technical problems.

[Trish]

I was watching Niel Cavuto last night. He interviewed the man responsible for the survey you are reporting on. One of the things he said is that the people surveyed said was that they form their opinion of the United States based on their local media coverage and not based on products and their own experience with Americans in the US or abroad.

[afromme]

Thanks for all the insight into Germany, I have been reading for some time and its great to get this side of things.

Thing is that David's representation of things is just as unbiased as DER SPIEGEL's or Fox News'. Possibly slightly less.
So "be careful about bias" doesn't only apply to the people on one side of the trench.

Regarding the economy let's see who can boycott each other longer - agame of economic chicken. I bet the German economy folds before the US does.

Possibly. But I'm not sure - the US have been importing more than they produce themselves for quite a while now...

What a foolish exercise.
Sure enough.

[Sock Puppet of Doom]

The US doesn't import alot of basic food products. The one the US does come from Canada and Mexico mostly. A weak US dollar really hurts consumers in Canada. A boycot of US products also hurts Canada nad Mexico as lots of those "US" products have components and assemblies made in Mexico and Canada. A boycot of US products will hurt all NAFTA products.

[afromme]

The US doesn't import alot of basic food products. The one the US does come from Canada and Mexico mostly.
So?
Also - I never said anything about food. I just stated that the US import more stuff than they produce themselves.
Which kind of amazes me, actually. Never had the impression.

A boycot of US products also hurts Canada nad Mexico as lots of those "US" products have components and assemblies made in Mexico and Canada.
Works the other way round, too.
Approximately 50% of Boeing's new 7E7 are going to be produced overseas, including Japan, Italy and even Germany.

[afromme]

In other news -
Why exactly has David stopped reporting about opinion polls on Gerhard Schröder and the SPD, as he so regularly did in October '03?

Anything to do with one of the following?
a) Schröder's party is gaining ground again
b) the SPD losing ground apparently wasn't actually "anti-americanism backfiring" (as David put it)

If he was so keen on drawing connections between "Bush up, Schröder down", it'd be equally justified to draw a connection between "Bush re-elected, Schröder up"

Anyhoo - both theses don't seem to hold in the first place.

Note from David: You are one of the reasons why I consider changing the comment policy of this blog, afromme. It takes so much time to refute all these arguments that are simply wrong. Like "Schröder up" - you could have simply checked here.
In another comment you stated "that the US import more stuff than they produce themselves." I don't know what "stuff" you refer to, but if you are talking about all goods and services resp. GNP or GDP, this is completely wrong.
Please check this.

[afromme]

[sorry, didn't notice I'd posted the same thing twice, had some network problems...]

[cyllo]

"one in five European consumers will avoid purchasing products and services offered by many American-based companies" ?

More like "one in five will SAY that they will avoid such products when ASKED leading questions by some pollster".

Don't trust the polls.

[WhatDoIKnow]

Who the #[email protected] heck cares what the EU consumer feels at the moment, what US President they dislike or how much they defended Saddam(sorry, they didn't defend Saddam, they defended the "international law", even if the law was obviously broken). Well, those things do matter, but only to a certain degree.

What really matters in the long run is that EU has been diligently working on creating a set of structures that so far has obstructed the releasing of creative energies in the EU zone. They sincerely believe that once the system is perfect and in place, the success will automatically come. Sound to me like putting the cart in front of the horse...

All the crap about Michael Moore is right, Bush lied etc etc, while it certainly is entertaining to some minds, is just that: crap. It won't find a place in history books. What will find a place there will be: 1) the inability of EU to face the changed realities of the new millenium and 2)its desperate attempts at clinging to the fragile status-quo of the past.

The ridiculous hope that reality will somehow change according to the EU expectations shows that EU is just not yet prepared to face the future. Many years ago I thought that the EU is a great idea. I really did ! Communism/socialism have a slight problem: they work only in theory. I sure hope that the EU won't share this fate. Anyway, my enthusiasm about the EU is gone. I don't like the EU-teenager and I hope the future EU-adult will someday turn out to be more responsible.

Der heraufziehende Krach mit der Chinesischen Notenbank würde mir da als Ami schon mehr Sorge bereiten als irgendwelche Markteinbussen bei ein paar popeligen consumer goods in Europa (die auch noch in Europa hergestellt werden). Die Chinesen haben unglücklicherweise 85% ihrer Reserven in USD angelegt und dabei schlappe 50% in drei Jahren an Wert verloren. Wie es aussieht könnten sie nochmals die Hälfte verlieren wenn sie einfach wie bisher alles schleifen lassen. Immerhin hat sich am letzten Freitag der chinesische Notenbankchef zum ersten Mal stark verärgert gezeigt.

Dummerweise (für die Amis) haben die Chinesen in den letzten fünf Jahren auch noch den Grossteil der US Treasuries gekauft. Wer soll das Zeug denn kaufen wenn die Chinesen nicht mehr wollen? Oder was passiert, wenn die chinesische Notenbank die Nerven verliert oder völlig verärgert das ganze Zeug einfach auf den Markt wirft?

Da wird Mr Greespan nächstes Jahr noch viel Spass haben. Garantiert.

[roman thomas]

the odd ball out is that many american brand names in europe, are european owned. i.e. france owns the most mc donald's in europe. so shoot yourselves in the foot.

[Jay]

America imports a lot but I'd guess the bulk of it comes from Asia and other places, not Europe.

Boycotting a country's products these days is wildly impractical. Take a hypothetical German public company - it's 90% owned by Americans, Japanese, etc. There aren't even any plants in Germany because it's too expensive. But there's a plant in the US and a couple in Taiwan. If you boycott a company like that, who will you hurt?

Even if a product says "made in . . ." that only means it was finalized there, even if it was just assembled there but every part was built elsewhere.

About the only readily identifiable pure American product would be movies, music and tv - go ahead and boycott them, they're crap and ought to go out of business anyway (but I doubt many Euros will actually give up on Hollywood).

[PacRim Jim]

Buy nothing German / Buy nothing French / Buy little Chinese / And only in a pinch.

[Gabi]

Norge hat dies über die KPD Deutschland gepostet:

Allerdings gibt es vielfältigen, links motivierten politischen Widerstand gegen die Besatzung und gegen die menschenverachtende Politik der Besatzungsmächte.

"Für die IKP ist ein Beleg für menschenverachtende Aktionen des bewaffneten Kampfes, dass vor allem Iraker Opfer sind. Nicht hinnehmbar sind Selbstmordattentate oder Aktionen gegen nationale oder religiöse Minderheiten. Objektiv nützt dies der Festigung der Besatzung durch die USA und mit ihr verbündeter Mächte auf lange Zeit. Es verhindert Entwicklungen zur Herausbildung einer selbstbestimmten nationalen Souveränität des Iraks. Es gefährdet die nationale Einheit in einem zu schaffenden föderalistischen Staat. Objektiv wachsen Gefahren für einen Bürgerkrieg."

Die Politik der Besatzung wird als MENSCHENVERACHTEND bezeichnet.

SELBSTMORDATTENTATE allerdings sind lediglich NICHT HINNEHMBAR.
Aber sie sind es nur deshalb nicht, weil sie gegen IRAKER gehen. Für mich klingt es so, daß SELBSTMORDATTENTATE ok sind, wenn sie NICHT-Iraker treffen.

Norge, was sagst du dazu?

Für mich sind das Terroristen im Geiste, die Verständnis für Selbstmordattentate und Terror haben, wenn das Ziel stimmt.

Deine "kleine Überraschung" war sicher anders gemeint, ich weiß. Man postet nicht so gedankenlos die TERRORUNTERSTÜTZUNG. Also bitte lies vorher, was du hier verbreitest.

Die Haltung des Heinz Stehr ist menschenverachtend. Danke für diesen Hinweis.

Dies ist ein klares Bekenntnis zu Selbstmordattentaten, wenn es die Richtigen trifft.

Auf der einen Seite findet Stehr Menschenverachtung, für den Terror das nette Wort: NICHT HINNEHMBAR.

Toleranz für Terror und Selbstmordattentate ist das!

Hast du das nicht verstanden oder warum postest du das hier?

[ic]

Read this: UK media power, FremantleMedia didn't invent reality TV, but its megahits include American Idol, The Apprentice, the Swan, the Price is Right... The Idol franchise has created a host of new revenue streams for Fremantle's German parent: Bertelsmann. (Business 2.0, Aug. 2004, vol 5, no. 7, pg74)
Boycott "American" TV's, anyone?

[ic]

I always wonder where our GDP comes from? What do we make? Do we export FremantleMedia's megahits, or do we import them? Import from the Brits, or from the Germans?

@Niko
"unbreachable" is wrong in a sense that in the very next sentence they claim they have breached that barrier.

One might of course also read into that that the language barrier has so far been unbreachable. Which is kind of a bold statement, for sure.
Bot nothing to get really worked up about.

"quickly" is clumsy at least considering that in the very same article SPIEGEL boasts they're Europe's largest magazine. (Now consider if the New York Times wrote a comparable Deutsch - Bush had to apologize personally.)

The New York Times wouldn't have Bush apologise for them, not least because they're not avid fans of his.

"rich" is laughable in a sense that it's rich to claim that the new project tries to "bring the best of Europe's leading newsmagazine" while its editors can't get their English straight.

They're talking about a "rich story mix". I can't see anything laughable in that as their mix is certainly richer than that of any other newsmagazine (German, British or American) I know.
I cannot see what that might have to do with their editors' English skills.

The English featured in that introduction is clumsy in places, but it's certainly a bit of a stretch to make any connection between a short introduction to a minor part of their website and their (alleged) attitude towards journalism.

As for the trains - the point is that everyone in Germany knows that they do not run on time but the inverse is true. So may I assume that everything else SPIEGEL tells her international visitors could be as wrong, too? I think so.

a) that list was a little tongue-in-cheek in the first place, not merely a report on facts ("Can you handle sarcasm?")
b) again - compared to almost every other country, German trains are amazingly punctual. This is judging from my own experience (and I use trains relatively frequently and have used them in a lot of different countries) and that of visitors from abroad I spoke to, including Brits, New Zealanders and Americans.

Again - bashing Germany seems to be quite a common notion among Germans...
Deutsche Bahn's prices are a different matter, of course.

@ic
UK media power, FremantleMedia didn't invent reality TV, but its megahits include American Idol, The Apprentice, the Swan, the Price is Right... The Idol franchise has created a host of new revenue streams for Fremantle's German parent: Bertelsmann. (Business 2.0, Aug. 2004, vol 5, no. 7, pg74)

So?

Chrysler is now a part of a German car maker. Still, a Chrysler is not a German product.

Equally - Opel, Saab, and Vauxhall (among others) are owned by GM, the cars they make still aren't American in make or design.

There is no boycott of american products. This is all (politically correct) talking, no action. Google for Brent Spar to see the effects of a real boycott. Shell Germany lost half its revenue for announcing plans to sink that stupid thing. While sales of Coca Cola are down and McDonalds is struggeling, Pepsi is gaining market share in the same time and Burger King is doing just fine. And people who prefer Linux over Microsoft products do that for a lot of reasons, and good ones if i may say.

[norge]

@Gabi
DKP- ich fand doch nur erstaunlich, dass die DKP aus der großen Einheitsfront links ausschert, da sie jetzt die irakische KP unterstützt, die im Regierungsrat von Allawi ist. Für atheistische Kommunisten ist eben ein islamistischer Irak keine Perspektive.
Ein kommunistisches Afghanistan wäre zumindestens für die Frauen ein kleineres Übel als ein Taliban-Afghanistan.
Auch Teile der PDS heben sich von dem ultrablöden Antiamerikanismus, der die MSM-Medien beherrscht ab.

P.S.: Ich bin nicht für Selbstmordattentate, nicht für die DKP!

[Gabi]

Norge,
ich dachte, du hättest das gepostet, weil du das gut fändest. Dann sorry für die Unterstellung. Ich nehme das zurück.

Traue keiner Statistik, die du selbst gefälscht hast....

Note from David: You are one of the reasons why I consider changing the comment policy of this blog, afromme. It takes so much time to refute all these arguments that are simply wrong. Like "Schröder up" - you could have simply checked here.

Schroeder is up, compared to the summer for instance. Secondly, you are using the measurement that is furthest apart. Look here instead to see a comparison among polling stations: http://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/index.htm

I also just recently saw a poll placing Schroeder against Merkel for chancellor, he beat her 45% to 28%. Schroeder is gaining back popularity.

[Jenny]

My local Wal Mart( !)store in Germany has delisted Pepsi Cola and now sells German Afri Cola instead. Not sure if this has anything to do with boycotts, maybe it is just because they can sell the Afri at a higher price and Pepsi was at a price level of Wal Marts own " no name" Cola. Just recognized this, cause Afri has always been my favorite Cola, less sugar , more caffeine.
Overall I don't see people boycotting American brands and the only American product I buy are Kelloggs Special K Red Fruit and I will continue to buy them no matter what.

[Jenny]

Oh and for the person , who claims Schroeder is gaining popularity. I don't think he does, but it's a fact that Schroeder as a person never became very unpopular in the polls, he has always been about 15 - 20 % ahead of his party.
This is understandable, cause Schroeder is a moderate populist, while most people in his cabinet ( except for the minister of economics) are left , some far left of Schroeder and his coalition parter the Green Party is even more on the left. Here we talk about pure left wing extremists like environmental minister Trittin.
Schroeder had some political talent, but he wasted it when he teamed up with these commie freaks from the Hippie Generation.

[Jay]

I googled for Brent Spar as suggested above (I hadn't even heard of it). Ran across an interesting article about it, how the environmental impact would have been insignificant and the $25 million the decision not to sink cost would have been better spent elsewhere on worthwhile environmental problems. Guy summed it up well when he said "Greenpeace had credibility, Shell only had the truth".

[S1IG]

@Jenny: mmm Pepsi s... ;-) Do they sell Coke in your WM or only Afri? There is a big retro-hype on this stuff - maybe this is the reason to delist Pepsi.

[afromme]

Note from David: You are one of the reasons why I consider
changing the comment policy of this blog, afromme.
Do you?

It takes so much time to refute all these arguments that are
simply wrong.
That's generally the problem with people being offered the oppurtunity
to express their views.
Applies to comments as well as to blogs themselves, and actually even
newspapers, I'm told.

In [one] comment you stated "that the US import more stuff
than they produce themselves." [...] if you are talking about all goods
and services resp. GNP or GDP, this is completely wrong.

I stand corrected and offer my sincere apologies.

What I actually meant was that the US import more stuff than they
export. Which is quite something different, I realize.

However, you also wrote:
Like "Schröder up" - you could have simply checked
here.
Just once, I checked before I wrote.

So here goes...

a) You're quoting the one opinion poll that has the
worst values for Schröder/the SPD
b) The poll you quote is dated 12-11-2004, while there are newer polls
dated 19-11-2004, 22-11-2004, and 24-11-2004 respectively.
Check here or here or here

In case anybody prefers slightly out-of-date polls, here's
one dated 29-10-2004

Now talk about other people having a selective perception...

Basically the tenor seems to be that Schröder/the SPD were down again
for a week or two because of the discussion there was about the
national holiday Oct. 3rd

Which is a claim that seems to be supported by the polls.

Also, I still can't see Schröder's alleged anti-americanism having any
influence on polls (as was claimed here). Anti-Bush-sentiment (which is
often interpreted as anti-americanism) remains strong in Germany, while
Schröder's party is still struggling about at a meagre 30% in polls.

[afromme]

@Jenny
Oh and for the person , who claims Schroeder is gaining popularity.
Actually, that quote was slightly out of context.
I was actually refering to the SPD gaining ground again. In order to make it a headline, I converted that to "Bush re-elected, Schröder up", although not refering to Schröder's approval ratings.

I don't think he does,
I think he does, after he lost popularity in summer because of that Hartz IV debate.
Not really important, anyways. What I was getting at were efforts to try to present losses in the SPD's and Schröder's ratings as being more or less directly linked to their opinion on Iraq or George W. Bush.
Which is a bit of a stretch nowadays and was a bit of s tretch a year ago.
The US are not really that much of an issue in daily politics in Germany (any more), contrary to the impression one might get here.
What happened, though, was that once the Iraq war had started (and ended), being against Bush didn't help Schröder in the polls any more and people made their decisions whom to "vote" for (in polls, that is) based on other factors. It wasn't - as claimed here - a case of "anti-americanism backfiring."

but it's a fact that Schroeder as a person never became very unpopular in the polls, he has always been about 15 - 20 % ahead of his party.
This is understandable, cause Schroeder is a moderate populist, while most people in his cabinet ( except for the minister of economics) are left , some far left of Schroeder and his coalition parter the Green Party is even more on the left. Here we talk about pure left wing extremists like environmental minister Trittin.

Sure enough, and I'd definitely like to see both Schröder and the minister of economics less bound by the hardcore party traditionalists. [Although I do occasionally like Trittin, I have to admit ;-) ]
Then again - if the CDU were in power the unions would have already gone completely berserk. So maybe you need to confront (and contain) those traditionalists if you want to move anything much at all.

[Hector]

Germans boycotting American products need to be careful of the backlash they will feel if our citizens decide to reciprocate. T-Online, BMW, Mercedes, Bosch, the many breweries, vinyards, tool makers, etc will feel a level of pain much worse than whatever impact Coca Cola, McDonalds, and Microsoft, etc will experience.

[Dennis]

Boycotts don't work. For one simple reason the people most likely to boycott a product from a certain foreign country are the same people who have never bought such a product in the past. People in Germany who have staunch antiamerican views don't eat at McDonalds, they never did. Americans who don't like Germans don't drink German beer or french wine if they can't stand the French.
Sales of American products are not down in Germany, Nike had one of their best years in Germany in 2003, Philip Morris lost revenue due to lower consumption, but they increased their market share. Smokers did not switch from Marlboro to Gitanes or Gauloises. Wrigley chewing gum is as popular as it always was. BMW sold more cars in the US in 2003 than in any year before, the same for Porsche, Mercedes sales were down, but Chrysler sales were up and this year they look even better. The buyers of the new 300C ( exciting car) did not care that more than 70 % of the DaimlerChrysler shareholders are German , they prefered the 300 over the competing Ford 500.
I don't know about sales of Heinz Ketchup in Germany, but I don't think they sold more bottles, because German consumers wanted to support the Kerry campaign. Kraft still is the number 1 on the German Ketchup market and most people don't even know that Kraft is an American company.

[old school]

Trittin is a quite nice, moderate guy. The real eco-green fanatic types do not like him, because he did not abolish nuclear energy at once, and there are still nuclear waste transports. The plastic-bottle and tin-can drink industry surely hates him as well. Most people ridicule him, for no special reasons other than they heard he is supposed to be ridicolous somehow. The nuclear energy lobby hates him for his support of alternative energies. Actually, I think it is one of the best ministers in the cabinet, and I like him somehow.

[Jenny]

A nice and moderate guy ? Nobody who is not on the far left himself would make such a ridiculous comment about Trittin. Trittin is and has always been on the far left, even on the far left of the Green Party. It's not only the nuclear energy lobby who hates him, he is hated by everyone I know, among them even voters of Schroeders social democrats. In the 70s Trittin was a member of the Kommunistischer Bund, an extremist , anti- constitutional communist organisation, he wrote articles during that time where he praised the killing of Hans Martin Schleyer by the Baader Meinhof Gruppe / RAF, a left wing terrorist organisation. Unlike Joschka Fischer he never broke with his past and never apoligized for what he did. The latest idea Trittin and his buddy Christian Stroebele , another Green Party member and former RAF lawyer brought to life just two weeks ago was a national muslim holliday in Germany. An idea that was even rejected by most people in the Green Party. Trittin said a national muslim holliday instead of one of the christian hollidays , like f.e. Eastern would be the appropriate answer to the killing of Van Gogh in the Netherlands. Trittin is completly out of touch with this country, in fact he hates Germany and he is working hard on the destruction of Germany, culturally and economically. He is the main reason a liter of gasoline is now at 1.20 Euro ( 6 $ for a gallon) compared with a country like Austria where the liter is a 0,84 Euros and they have a higher sales tax. Trittin is the reason people can't find beer cans in a German supermarkets anymore and he is the reason Germany will shut down the safest nuclear power plants in the world and will have to import electricity from french nuclear power plants. This man is a curse and excuse me somebody who calls this arrogant left wing extremist a nice and moderate guy cant be taken serious.

[Jenny]

No I know who Christian Stroebele is and I know who Juergen Trittin is and I mentioned them both. I can prove anything I've said about Trittin with links on the internet, if there is something in question. I also have nice links about Joschka Fischer, the German foreign minister, who harboured terrorists in his house in the 70's or some internet links about Fischers best friend from that time Green Party icon Daniel Cohn Bendit, who mollested children in a Frankfurt Kindergarten and even wrote a book about it. These people from the so called 68 er generation have hijacked the institutions in Germany and it is time to get rid of them. Unfortunally Angela Merkel is the wrong person to do this job, it takes much more than Merkel to clean this mess up. Its time for the CDU / CSU to wake up and to make Roland Koch their candidate for 2006. He is the only hope I have for my country.