Welcome to Mainz Mr. President!

(By Ray D.)

In just two weeks, US President George W. Bush is set to visit Germany for the first time in several years. The President's main stop will be in Mainz, Germany on February 23, where he is scheduled to meet German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

The city of Mainz is currently celebrating carnival and has taken the opportunity to make its feelings about the President known with a special carnival float. And this scandal float did not simply fall through the cracks: It was expressly approved by the Mayor of Mainz, Jens Beutel of Gerhard Schroeder's SPD, despite numerous citizens' complaints. Beutel said of the float that he was "sure the President would take it with humor."

Welcome to Mainz Mr. Bush!

German Christian-Democrat (CDU) Opposition leader Angela Merkel is Shown Climbing a Ladder into Bush's (***) above which hangs a sign "Re-Opening." A Text Accompanies the Float:

"Angela is Glowing in the End / George Bush Remains President / She Feels Like in a Honeymoon / We Wish Her Good After-Noon."

What tasteful German humor! Perhaps Mr. Bush should be aware of what his host city Mainz thinks of him!

Mainz Mayor Jens Beutel of Schroeder's SPD: I approve of this float.

We encourage all of our readers to contact the White House and their elected representatives and let them know about this special bit of Mainzer humor. Email the President at: president@whitehouse.gov

Perhaps Mainz, Germany wouldn't be the best place for the President's visit after all...

If you would like to contact the city of Mainz, Germany, you may do so at: mainz.online@stadt.mainz.de

Appropriate for children?: According to one of our commenters, the above float was featured in a German children's program named "Logo" on the state-run ZDF/ARD networks. Obviously, it was also seen by scores of children in Mainz along the parade route.

Comments

[Jeff]

@ Erik

WARNING OFF THREAD

"Deutschland, Ihr koennt mich kreuzweis am Arsch lecken!"

About 40 years ago, before I got married, I was studying for my German final at my wife-to-be's house by reading Brecht plays and came across the verb "arschlecken." Not finding it in my dictionary, I asked my girlfriend's grandmother, who was so conservative that she viewed Imperial Germany as arriviste, what the word meant. She giggled, but told me I would have to wait until her son came home from work to find out. It is an odd translation to request from one's future father-in-law. So while I have forgotten almost all my German vocabulary, THAT word I still remember

[Tony Schaps]

I was not impressed with the translation here of the sign which accompanied this float. It sounds stupid in English as it translated. For the benefit of English-speaking visitors to this blog, I respectfully submit my comments:

----------

Was: "Angela is Glowing in the End"
The German: "Da strahlt die Angela am End"
would be better translated, "See Angela glow at the end" (with 'end' having a double-meaning: both the rear end of the figure and perhaps the 'end' of Ms. Merkel's career, as the protestors would have it).

"George Bush Remains President" - that translation is fine.

Was: "She Feels Like in a Honeymoon"
The German: "Sie fühlt sich wie im Honeymoon,"
would be better translated, "She feels like it's her honeymoon"
or "She feels like she's on her honeymoon."

Was: "We Wish Her Good After-Noon"
The German: "wir wünschen ihr Good After-Noon"
The translation is OK, but it is important to point out that
this is a play on words--
The German word "After" means "anus."

(note: I haven't studied German in a while, but I used to be pretty good- I would welcome other ideas or opinions which refine the translation. It's how I learn. The rough translation did not go far enough, and this article has been quoted on other web sites)

While the main thrust of the message is anti-Merkel, displaying the U.S. President in such a light and with such disrespect cannot be taken lightly by Americans. Like him or not, he holds the office, and an offense to the office of the leader of any country is an offense to the country itself.

I feel bad for the children who witnessed this display of vulgarity. If that's what the protestors need to do to get their point across, then the point is not worth making, in my opinion.

Regards

[Hector]

First off to Ray and co,
You display a unique courage in standing up against the mindless othodoxy of the current venom in German politics. It is people like you who keep the hope alive that we can have a decent relationship again.

To the Germans on this page defending the floats:

You have obviously become so accustomed to seeing a people demonized (if not completely dehumanized) that you don't recognize a phenomenon like anti-Americanism when you see it. Has hate become such a part of the German experience that you can't differentiate any more? Toleration of such things enables them to grow and prosper. Is this the Germany you want?

I used to live in Mainz and went to this parade every year. I'm glad we did not go over this time.

[Sandy P]

--This is not a german phenomenon. Bush-Bashing, Anti-Capitalism, Anti-Israeli sentiment are all phenomena that are not rooted in some special german traditions, which would somehow begin to resurface again now.

Actually, it´s a global trend. A trend that doesn´t even exclude america itself (just go read some leftist american blogs). ---

It's not a trend, it's the same old, same old.

---

But boy, do I wish I was a multimillionaire - I'd fund a float for Mardi Gras.

It would be interesting to see what the German elites would say.

[Gary]

I Sent this e-mail to the good folks at Mainz:

Dear Sirs;

Thank you for helping me decide an issue I have pondered for a couple of years now. Your carnival and its infantile, demeaning and officially sanctioned float made up my mind for me.

I will never buy another German product again, thanks to you. Further, I plan to use all my contacts, both personal and professional, to see that more Americans discover how vile, juvenile, deceitful, hypocritical and uninformed Germans are.

Germans have declared a non-shooting war against us, even going so far as to arm those who would do us -- and you -- great harm. We now know you armed and trained Saddam Hussein's secret police in the use of chemical weapons. We know Germans tried to secretly sell nuclear centrifuges to Libya. We know you are conducting arms negotiations with China, whose most immediate goal is the subjugation of Taiwan, a democratically run nation.

We don't need you. We are now seeing we cannot trust or respect you, either. You started this. You will see who will finish it: us.

[Van Helsing]

And I thought Bush-bashers here in the USA were vulgar and juvenile.

[Sock Puppet of Doom]

I await a float showing Schröder on his knees fellating Chriac while handing Chirac a big bag of Euros at the same time. I bet I will be waiting a long time for that. I know we will not see such a thing in the US but perhaps someone should build one for Burning Man.

[Joe]

Gary,

I do hope at the appropriate time you will write your two Senators and House Member about the lifting of the EU Arms Embargo.

This is more meaningful than a letter to some mayor in germany. It will have a longer and lasting impact on the germans.

Once action is taken in Congress, then you should write the mayor again including attachments of your letters to Congress and thanking him for inspiring you to do.

Works for me!

[Jabba the Tutt]

@ Ray D. - I think ZDF has a bad conscience about this float. They only posted a picture of the float from the front, nothing from the back.
http://www.zdf.de/ZDFheute/inhalt/11/0,3672,2257483,00.html

[Alex]

I can´t believe you taking all this carnival crap so damn seriously. Everybody is made fun of in these parades and most of the participants are totally drunk. So get over it or are you changing your name into "Karnevalskritik"????

[Mitch]

Isn't Mainz in the region of Germany where the Franks originated?

[Sock Puppet of Doom]

Judging from some of the response here from Germans. This article must have really struck to close to home. They seem unable to let go of defending the float.

[Daniel Canaveral]

I'm saving this picture for the next visit from my wife's family. They come from a small town in Bavaria. It should be a good for conversation. Anyway, I stopped caring what Germans or any other European think about the US after hearing about how Bush is like Hitler, or the US is going to make Iraq a colony and all the other silly BS. When the Muslims take over Germany they will change the rules about what is allowed on a parade float right after they ban kites.

[pencildragon]

next time no marshall plan

[Amani]

I personally found the float offensive, but I am will to say that for many areas carnival time is a time to poke fun at political figures. So I would call it German humor in bad taste. But should not be taking personally. But then I started to think about the way it was covered on TV. The only three floats showing Were the Bush, Schröder as spiderman, and the Turkey into Europe float and there was alot more time spend showing the Bush float.

[Walter E. Wallis]

Hey, they got some real wits there in North Turkey, haven't they?

[Carl Densing]

It's great to see the Germans finally working.

[a philosopher]

Note from David: None of the examples you mention remotedly mirrors the awful design of the anti-Bush float.

What you see depends on what you want to see...