Join Us at the White House June 27!

...On June 27, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will be in Washington, DC for perhaps his final official state visit...We want to give him a warm sending-off, so...

...Live at 12:30 PM on June 27 at Lafayette Park directly across from the White House! Everyone is invited to attend...

A Demonstration against Anti-American Bias in German Media and Politics and for German-American Friendship and Cooperation

Sponsored by Davids Medienkritik and No Pasaran!

We are fed up with the hate-America mentality in German media and politics. So we have acquired an official permit to demonstrate during Chancellor Schroeder’s visit!

Did you know that recently:

-Americans have been portrayed as bloodsucking parasites and locusts by Germany's largest trade union and members of the Schroeder administration respectively?

Germany's Largest Trade-Union's Magazine Cover Reads: "US-Firms in Germany: The (Blood-) Suckers". Schroeder's Party (SPD) is a close ally of the union.  The magazine has a circulation of 2 million.

-A senior German diplomat in New York said that the Stalinist “gulag was better than Gitmo,” that civil rights in the US are “on a par with those of North Korea,” and that “The only people who appreciate American foreign policy are poodles.”

-A popular German television murder-mystery series implied that the US government was behind September 11 and was trying to kill those seeking to uncover the conspiracy?

-A major German media research institute found that the state-funded German television news were more negative about Iraqi elections than Al Jazeera and Al Arabia!

-Jews and Israelis continue to be portrayed negatively in much of the German media and anti-Semitism is on the rise in much of Europe?

- German media frequently portray both Americans and the American government in a negative light with very few balancing opinions or voices?

Ray D., the Managing Editor of Davids Medienkritik, will be there live on stage to discuss bias in the German media and to do blog readings. We will also supply signs and banners to all who attend. Please feel free to write your ideas in the comments section or email us at [email protected]. Above all: Plan to be there!

Download, print-out and distribute our official FLYER.

Our easy to remember URL is: www.dmko.info

Important: Help us out and spread the word about our demonstration!

Update: Instapundit just linked us...let's keep the positive momentum going and spreading the word! A link at LGF wouldn't hurt ;)

Update #2: Protest Warrior has just officially approved our demonstration for its members as 'Operation German Weasel Strike'.   

Comments

[Ruben]

David, Ray,

Why not contact C-SPAN in Washington and try to get on one of their call-in programs like the German Ambassador does now and again? Also, you might contact FOX NEWS for coverage of your demonstration.

[Eric B]

Contact Spiegel and have Marc Pitzke show up.

[Lou Minatti]

That's pretty cool. Dave, Ray, perhaps someone here can create a cool graphic for this event that people can put on their blogs to publicize it.

[amigoboom]

Do you really need an official permit for a demo at Lafayette Park? Isn't that place open for demos anyway? When I was there 20 years ago I was told so...Recommendation for the après demo: Clyde's in Georgetown. Have fun!

[Joe]

Glad you posted Gerhard is coming to DC. I would never have known he was going to be in the US. Am not really sure why he is here. If it is to push for a UNSC seat, he might as well save the taxpayers of German some money and stay home.

He might be big news in Luxemburg or Malta but here if he gets 60 seconds on the nightly news then you know it was a slow news day. Of course, M$N will play the angel of his opposition to Iraq and how this is part of healing the trans-Atlantic rife.

[Tom Penn]

I do not agree with burning the flag of a democratic nation (such as it is). As an American, I have seen my flag burned freely and proudly everywhere in the world, including the White House steps, with impunity. I don't believe it should be illegal, but personally I find it repugnant, disrespectful, and devoid of intellectual argument. What does it mean?

Flags in a democracy represent the people of that nation, and burning such a flag disrepects the people of that nation. I don't disrespect the true will of the people in any nation. If the German nation democratically chooses to hate me and love a genocidal dictator, then so be it. I think it sucks ideological dick, but I respect their God given free will to be an idiot. Considering such populations as "allies", however, is out of the question. Just my 2 cents.

[Chris L.]

This is a terrific idea.

Re: pre- or post-demonstration libations ... I'd suggest The Old Ebbitt Grill, about 3 blocks from the White House, on 15th Street between New York Avenue and G Street (or thereabouts). It has a great bar.

[amiexpat]

i agree with the fox news or c-span..

Rush Limbaugh? Mike Savage is a bit too hard..
how about contacting the national review? the weekly standard? what about an instalance?
Glenn Reynolds would be happy to help, and he has mentioned your blog before.

Best of the Web (Wall Street Journal?)

I wish I could be there..

[lemmy]

Maybe Herta Daeubler-Gmelin will make a guest appearance with Schroeder
and compare Bush with Hitler one last time...for old time's sake.

I'd love to be there for the Demo.

And some of the suggestions, above, are good ones. Perhaps contacting the Washington Times and National Review might provide some more exposure.

Good luck...wish I could be there.

[Natvo]

@Simon
Don't you think it is time for us to travel to DC?

[Ben Duffy]

You have no idea how much I wish I could be there.

But, unfortunately, I have a job. Well, two of them, actually. But I definitely wish you guys luck. Give Schroeder hell!

[Axel_Bavaria]

This demonstration is a great idea !

I concur with Ch.Arm - David's Medienkritik is not about bashing Germany. Not at all.

Our nation has been highjacked by a liberal elite which does not represent the will or feelings of the people any more than the Democrats are representative of the American people.
Much less, even, if you follow the latest polls ( http://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/index.htm ).

And I deem it to be an issue of utmost national importance for us Germans to get the message out, that the people you see on TV do not truly represent us, that we don't think like the SPIEGEL's editors, and that not all Germans are so stupid as to consider the USA "the world's biggest threat to peace."

Unfortunately I can't attend the demonstration, either. As you might know, we're almost being taxed to death here in this glorious welfare state ( 75% taxes on gasoline e.g. ) and hence I'm bereft of the required funds to buy a ticket. What's more, contrary to some of my brave compatriots, I am unwilling to risk my life by crossing the ocean as a piece of luggage in a potentially unpressurized and underheated cargo compartment. ;)

But I have no doubt that Ray D. will gather enough supporters anyhow ... if not, it might help to shed a rumor that free German beer was served at Lafayette Park.

At least in Germany the call "Freibier !" ( free beer ) is always sure to rally a crowd, while "Freiheit !" ( freedom )doesn't bother anybody.

Oh well, good luck at spreading the word !

[Pigilito]

Excellent idea. I'll be with your group in spirit. I hope to see some coverage on the Swiss and German TV stations.

Best wishes

[jacques]

i hope the out come of your visit will be to bebunk the notion of " we are all americans now" post 9/11. i heard gov. richardson,on c-span sunday,spouting that liberal sound bite over and over. we need to kill that weed once and for all. if enough of us in the u.s. call or email c-span,as i intend to, we might get them interested in covering your event.thanks guys for all you do.

[Jabba the Tutt]

I posted your announcement at Free Republic, which has an active DC Chapter.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1422224/posts
David and Ray, I'd recommend that you contact Jim Robinson and Kristinn at Free Republic and see if you can't get some support. They also have contacts with other groups in DC to get the word out. Good Luck, I live too far away to make it.

[Urs]

@ Peter

> bet you the demonstration will NOT be covered in german media...

I wouldn't bet on this (you know the German Schuldkomplex). But from the point of newsworthiness: Why should anyone cover it?

[poguemahone]

You should get Protest Warrior involved - they have some of the best signs and members around

Give them a call

[Ch. Arm]

@ Jan

Right. My fault. The "Welt" is indeed a source of good articels, the FAZ, well, something in between. But you`re right with "The Welt". However, the great majority of the German press/media belongs to the left wing.
Even worse are the tv-shows and news.
Well, I think Axel, we both could go to Washington. Let`s built a raft, Rhine, English Channel, the great pond, and there were are at Chesapeake Bay.
Well, I`m not quite sure if we can make it `til the end of june, but I think we should at least try so. ;-)
Well, sadly, we`re only able to follow the news and wish you guys who are able to make it to Washington all the best!

Best Regards,

Ch. Arm
http://brushfiresoffreedom.blogspot.com

[ulaikamor]

Oh i wish i wish i could b there. But alas, i live in Portugal and it's not such an easy thing to do.

I think u guys should do something like what liberals do (Blair in Bush's pocket), but instead make it Schroeder in Chirac's pocket, or Schroeder as Chirac's puppy or something.

I think it's also extremely important the part about German-American friendship. There should be German and American flags flying but absolutely no burning of flags. It's not only counter-productive, as it's also not what we stand for.

[Tomaž Štih]

Luckily you don't have to be too original, you can simply do what you do best - showing what they've been publishing will do.

Show them Angela Merkel and Bush's ass.

Show them the loctuses and the American blood sucker.

Show them some of the (non Iraq war related, try anti capitalism related) first pages of Spiegel and Stern, for example boot over Opel.

Show them some of the slogans that SPD, Green and other politicians have been using.

Add one liners to each picture such as: reached 2.000.000 readers, used by SPD politician in a speech, approved by the mayor of...

Tomaz

[Tomaž Štih]

By no means burn the flag. Instead carry American and German flag together. You don't want to bash your own country, you want to offer alternative to hatred and intolerance; you're offering something better.

You could also use left wing terminology. Attacking the very symbols of left using their own means would be quite provocative.

"Say 'Nein' to intolerant anti-Americanism",
"Is this what we're paying public broadcasting services for?",
"We don't need external enemies, we need economic reforms",
"Diversify German public media or stop collecting tax for it"

Tomaz

[Tomaž Štih]

More slogans:

"Ban Goebbels!"

"ADR & others: PBS stands for public broadcasting service, not public brainwashing service."

"Bismarck's 'Sozialstadt' does not mean free goverment media for antiamerican leftist activists!"

"End discrimination of political views on public media now!"

"No more Volksempfaenger!"

Tomaz

[Doughnut Boy Andy]

Good idea guys. Well done. Am trying to think of something we could do in Berlin about the same time but am stuck- perhaps I´ll just donate me a Tshirt and wear it all day!

I think the same problem for this demo are there as the last one. Its just if youre viewed from afar then people just see USA and Germany flags and its not so obvious what that means. Just as the left see USA here in germany as war, I presume the left in the USA see Germany as peace. In fact I seem to remember somebody showing me links to anti-war demos in the USA where people had gone to the trouble of making signs with "Danke Germany" on them. The mind boggles. And then theres the ultimate nightmare of the TV crews merely showing you with the flags and suggesting that youre here to welcome Gerhard, which in a way you are but that would be missing the point. What about a huge banner with, in big letters, "Bias Reporting Is Ruining Our Friendship". With the flags or the writing in the flag colours thatd look pretty cool and be obvious what the demo is about. As individual placards on sticks you could take the heading from the Germany newspapers (i.e. BILD or Tagesspiegel) and then make up your own headlines like "Bush liberates Iraq", "Germany and America = Friendship" etc. I bet thatd geta lot of attention from people wondering what you are up to.

Hope the ideas help...

[poguemahone]

Wow I would like to go

Is Schroeder coming to New York on this trip? Surely he wants to come up and kiss Kofi's ring?

[Germerican]

I like Doughnut Boy Andy's suggestion for a banner "Bias Reporting Is Ruining Our Friendship". That sums it up very neatly.
I suggest you implement your sharpest weapon: your postings and comments.
Display perhaps 10 or 15 big posters, each one printed with the beginning of one of your choice postings, printed large enough to read from a distance. In front of them a table with many free copies of the complete postings, perhaps with a few of the best comments, there for the taking by reporters and passers by. And selbstverständlich with the address of your blog for further information.

[James]

@toby

It was Schröder who "poisened" the trans-atlantic relationship (to gain votes) in the first place. The media sheep just followed suit, whatever the German government said, they endorsed. No comparision of the Iraq with w/o the UN was made with the Bosnian/Kosovo campaigned which enjoyed German support and missed UN.

Protesting Schröder, who is the figure head of all biased reporting is just.

[poguemahone]

What is planned is to draw attention to the rampant anti-Americanism of the German and Euro media and the politicians who ride this wave of ignorant predjudice to electoral victory

Its an oldie but a goodie - demonize some group, whip up some hatred, and gather the votes of the duped population

What I would hope is that if more US media covered this fact of life in Europe - there is no alternative point of view presented

So when Mr and Mrs Average American in Iowa have to listen to all this "we are not liked around the world" crap - they at least understand that much of the reason is a single message media over there - "the US is the cause of all problems"

What we can hope for is one of two results -

A) that we change this Euro media by pointing out the Pravda like adherance to the anti-American party line it employs - leading to some kind of alternative media

B) that more American's understand the reality of Euro media and its role in shaping attitudes and we simply ignore more of the hot air from Brussels et al

Investigation calypso? Have you READ this blog? The investigation is over - Euro media is one sided and anti-American

Discussion? Isn't that what is sought - presenting another side of the news?

[Ray D.]

All I can say is that we will not tolerate anyone burning anything. I'm sure the Secret Service and DC Park Police won't either, so if you savor the idea of being arrested while you are being booed out of our demo...

[Alrik]

suggestion for a slogan:

Thanks for the german troops in Afghanistan, Friedenskanzler Schröder !

Kosovo 1999
Irak 2003
No UN needed

[SwampFox]

Stitch the American and German flags together, half and half makes the whole.

Or signs that say:"Schroder's two faces, the kiss here, but the curse there?"

Or:" An Alliance failing under Schroder's Leadership."

[Tomaz Stih]

I suggest you -
1) keep Iraq out because it is not an issue, concentrate on demonization of Americans and anti capitalism (and socialism), there will be plenty of time to talk about Iraq and point fingers in a year or two when things get better,
2) show reporting from all media but use slogans that do NOT bash all media or otherwise German leftists will go against you with:"So you people are for censorship and free press." Have several slogans in which you implicitly bash PUBLIC media (public broadcasting services), because that is the media you're paying money for and is supposed to offer more diversity and objective reporting...explicitly express your taxes for television and implicit ownership of the public media by the citizens, because ownership is the concept that Americans understand...you think media is biased but you are not against free market...but PBS is not free market so it's ok to bash them and to talk about your money being used for it...
Tomaz

[Ray D.]

@ Tomaz,

Thank you for the advice. Please feel free to add more posts if you have any other ideas.

@ poguemahone: No problem. It was just too long, that's all. We appreciate your posts on our site. Keep up the good work and thanks for understanding.

[Tomaž Štih]

Hi (again),

reading what I wrote again, perhaps I didn't argument enough why it is so important to bash public media and spare private one (though you can use pictures from it).

When you bash private media the lefties will go on offensive to bring the battle back to your own territory. How this attack will look like?
- "Private media is free market," so are you against free market?
- Are you for goverment intervention into private media? Censorship?

But when you bash public media you're bringing the battle to the territory of the lefties. You're bashing something which was established to provide "less capitalist, more objective reporting". You're bashing something that is not free market showing that it does not provide diversity, because it is excluding your views. You are attacking leftist ideals, claiming that they don't work because they are not free market.

Don't let them attack you, keep them on defensive.

Tomaž

[Joe N.]

Tomaž:

you're right - having the statement makes the listener have to think through ones' own thought. But the notion of public versus government owned media is not relevant to the idea of their own bias.

[N. Hale]

Hey Ray and David,

I am with you all in spirit. I will be in the U.S. at the same time you will be having this rally, unfortunately I will be 1500 to 2700 miles to the west of Washington DC.

I have a suggestion, you should have a float with Chiracs bare ass and with Schöder climbing up a ladder and wear bright red lipstick to kiss Chirac's ass again.

Now for a real suggestion, everyone across the U.S. who reads this blog should stage a smaller "anti anti-Americanism in the German media" and a "pro-German/American friendship" rally. Have the local media cover all the smaller rallies with the national media covering the rally in DC.

Good Luck to you all in DC!

[Ray D.]

Dear commenters:

I have removed off-topic comments (including several of my own) from this comments section in order to keep this posting downloadable. This is our main post about the demonstration and it has to remain easy to load. All commenters who want to discuss something other than the demonstration are welcome to post on any other comments section on this site. I appreciate your understanding.

[Ursus]

I'm in MD and could come up there (have to coordinate with an out-of-towner tho). I think a demonstration against Schroeder would be good, although I've no idea what we'd be demonstrating about exactly. Germany's declining relevance isn't a problem for us as long as other powers are rising to take her place. Schroeder's anti-Americanism is insulting and probably deserves a beat-down, but its hard to argue against anti-* with more anti-*.

Anyway, if somebody can come up with a good subject, I'll show up.

[val]

I'm not sure if Schroeder can do anything about the German media, or if the German people will ever find out about the protest, but I'm going to try my hardest to join you next week.

a simple message Like "stop Anti-Americanism in Germany" might get their attention.

[exter]

American media...arrogant and just boring. Demonstrate against them and I am your man!

[Jean Pierre Hintze]

Eine echt sinnvolle Aktion: Besonders als freier Journalist ist die eingeschränkte Meinungsfreiheit in Deutschland intensiver denn je zu spüren; insbesondere jene Meinungen, die dem linken Mainstream widersprechen, haben es immer schwieriger. Ein Umstand, der auf jeden Fall etwas mit dem "Marsch durch die Institutionen" der 68er-Generation zu tun hat und durch die gescheiterte Regierung der SPD/ Grüne begünstigt wurde.
Komisch, dass man nun auch als bekennender "Pro-Amerikaner" immer offener als "konservativ", in schlimmeren Fällen sogar als "Rechtsradikal" bezeichnet wird.

Ich hoffe auf eine erfolgreiche Demonstration in Washington und hoffe, dass sich weitere Aktionen, auch in Deutschland, insbesondere Berlin, anschliessen werden.

[Ursus]

I've given this some thought, and it seems to me that the target of any protest should be Schroeder himself. It shouldn't be the German people, since that would alienate the people we want to move. Nor should it be the German media, since they won't cover that kind of event (it would be navel-gazing, even if they could bring themselves to give it any kind of thought). Instead it should focus on Schroeder's meekness and duplicity.

Some possible signs:

a photoshopped picture of Chirac holding a poodle with Schroeder's face superimposed on it

"Schroeder: America's enemy"

"I'd protest Schroeder if he were relevant" held by somebody sitting in a lawn chair

etcetera

[Kai]

Great site! I am German and since a few years I feel a rising anti-Americanism in Germany. It is embarrassing to see that Germans feel more sympathetic to China than to the US. Let me assure you however, that lots of Germans feel extremely uncomfortable about that.

Regards,
Kai
from Essen, Germany

[Ray D.]

Dear commenters:

I have removed off-topic comments (including several of my own) from this comments section in order to keep this posting downloadable. This is our main post about the demonstration and it has to remain easy to load, so I will continue to delete off-topic comments or comments that violate our comment policy. All commenters who want to discuss something other than the demonstration are welcome to post on any other comments section on this site. I appreciate your understanding.

[Pamela]

David and Ray - best of luck - I'm sorry to have to miss it - I do have a job and all that - but thanks for doing this and I'll be there in spirit.

[Shanon]

A Demonstration against stupids Sites in the internet and for using his brain

the creator of this side shoud try it.

[Doug]

Oh look, the grace and charm that made the Huns famous.