German Minister: Bush Responsible for Katrina

You won't believe this: In an article in Frankfurter Rundschau, a leading left-wing daily, Germany's environmental minister Jürgen Trittin holds U.S. president George Bush responsible for hurricane Katrina.

Yes, that's right. The hurricane Katrina that killed dozens of people, that destroyed countless homes, flooded parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, that left millions without electricity - it's all Bush's fault, according to a leading member of the German Green party, who happens to be Environmental Minister in Chancellor Schroeder's cabinet. Never mind that statistics don't show a particularly increase in the frequency of hurricanes in the U.S. in the last decades. Germany's general elections are scheduled for September 18, and the German left is in dire need of a neocon scapegoat for every disaster that befalls the world. And George W. Bush is the default villain in German politics and in the German media...

Excerpts of Trittin's article:

By neglecting environmental protection, America’s president shuts his eyes to the economic and human damage that natural catastrophes like Katrina inflict on his country and the world’s economy. ...many Americans have long been unwilling to follow the president’s errant environmental policy. Indications are multiplying that Bush has more than Katrina’s headwind blowing in his face... . When reason finally pays a visit to climate-polluter headquarters, the international community has to be prepared to hand America a worked out proposal for the future of international climate protection. The German Government stands ready. (Translation of quote by Richard Bartholomew)

(Here are more reactions in the German media to Katrina)

Consider this a job application on the part of Mr. Trittin. He will be kicked out of office as a result of the German election on September 18 and desperately looks for a new employer.

I just wonder if the U.S. government wouldn't want to muster the services of this very capable political talent in order to shape up America's environmental policies. Admittedly, the U.S. would lose several million jobs as a result of Trittin's suicidal environmental policies, without any noticeable effects on air quality or hurricane frequency.

But France, Russia, China and Japan - all of which do not seriously consider adopting Trittin's costly environmental demands - will be jubilant. And that's something the U.S. would certainly be proud of...

(Just in case you're interested in Trittin's career, here are some highlights, as presented in his official biography. As is the case for other leading Green party politicians, Trittin is rather mum about his activities before 1982. I have this strange suspicion this is owed to the fact that in the seventies he was an active member of a German communist splinter group...)

Update: EU ROTA has a very thorough analysis of the global warming hysteria of Jürgen Trittin. And Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit quotes a NYT article rejecting the "global warming caused Katrina" thesis. His conclusion: "It's sad to see such lame political opportunism at a time like this." Well, what can I say - this is German politics...

Comments

[playertwo]

how absolutely HILARIOUS!!

maybe we can get a simulcast of cindy and trittin and run it 24/7 until the election?!!

the best part is that he thinks everyone takes him seriously. soon we will all be looking back at this with a little laugh in our hearts.

WHERE'S MERKUR?!!!! BRING ON ANGIE AND GET RID OF THESE CLOWNS ALREADY!!

[scum of the universe]

@David

There's a weakness in your commentary. Hurricane levels have been significantly elevated in the decade since 1995. But, as the NOAA states very directly:

This confluence of optimal ocean and atmosphere conditions has been known to produce increased tropical storm activity in multi-decadal (approximately 20-30 year) cycles. Because of this, NOAA expects a continuation of above-normal seasons for another decade or perhaps longer. NOAA's research shows that this reoccurring cycle is the dominant climate factor that controls Atlantic hurricane activity. Any potentially weak signal associated with longer-term climate change appears to be a minor factor. [emphasis added]

[Redhand]

I guess Jürgen Trittin also believes that the Sea refused King Canute's command to stop coming in as a protest against the monarch's flawed environmental policy. See http://www.inspirationalstories.com/0/91.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canute_the_Great

[Sock Puppet of Doom]

The lack of the understanding of scientific fact by the Greens shows that they are a religious movement not a political one.

There is no science to prove that global warming even exists. The facts tend to point to no such conclusion. All statements made that assert that the majority of scientists agree that global warming is occurring and man is a significant contributor to it are not true. It is in fact a well coordinated big lie. A lie you will have to talk to the communists and environmental fascists about.

It is similar to the lie that we don't have enough oil to go around. We don't have enough refined oil to go around. The reason for that is people like the Greens have stopped building of new Refineries. The profit margin on refined gasoline is about a penny a gallon. No company will go to the kind of trouble the environmentalists want to cause for a penny a gallon.

Just another politician proving he is an ignorant fool abet a German one. Google red is Green and open your eyes.

[EABinGA]

Stolen from a comment on Slashdot:

To quote Rich Lowrey @NRO

If cable TV had existed in 1886, everyone in the U.S. might have been whipped into a hurricane panic. A record seven hurricanes made landfall that year, including a Category 4 storm that hit Texas and would have had on-the-spot cable newscasters dramatically fighting the wind to deliver their reports. All during the 1890s, reporters could have done the same along the Atlantic seaboard, as it was hammered by more powerful hurricanes than it would be in any decade except the 1950s.

Hurricane Katrina, which slammed the Gulf Coast and got eyewall-to-eyewall media coverage, is sure to increase the sense that there is an epidemic of hurricanes (along, of course, with an epidemic of shark attacks and missing blond girls). Which inevitably raises the question: "What can we do about it?" For some scientists and activists -- working on the assumption that anything they don't like must be caused by industrial emissions -- the answer is stop global warming.

There is hardly an undesirable natural event, from wildfires to hurricanes, that former Vice President Al Gore hasn't blamed on global warming. As if it weren't for fossil-fuel emissions, the weather would always be predictable and pleasant. An outfit called Scientists and Engineers for Change put up a billboard in Florida before last year's presidential election stating it starkly: "Global warming = Worse hurricanes. George Bush just doesn't get it." Ah, yes: Why are Bush and the neocons focused on the war in Iraq, when there is a very real threat to the U.S. they should be addressing in the waters of the Atlantic?

Has global warming increased the frequency of hurricanes? One of the nation's foremost hurricane experts, William Gray, points out that if global warming is at work, cyclones should be increasing not just in the Atlantic but elsewhere, in the West Pacific, East Pacific, and the Indian Ocean. They aren't. The number of cyclones per year worldwide fluctuates pretty steadily between 80 and 100. There's actually been a small overall decline in tropical cyclones since 1995, and Atlantic hurricanes declined from 1970 to 1994, even as the globe was heating up.

It seems that Atlantic hurricanes come in spurts, or as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration puts it in more technical language, "a quasi-cyclic multi-decade regime that alternates between active and quiet phases." The late 1920s through the 1960s were active; the 1970s to early 1990s quiet; and since 1995 -- as anyone living in Florida or Gulfport, Miss., can tell you -- seems to be another active phase.

But if hurricanes aren't more frequent, are they more powerful? Warm water fuels hurricanes, so the theory is that as the ocean's surface heats up, hurricanes will pack more punch. An article in Nature -- after questionable jiggering with the historical wind data -- argues that hurricanes have doubled in strength because of global warming. Climatologist Patrick Michaels counters that if hurricanes had doubled in their power it would be obvious to everyone and there would be no need to write controversial papers about it.

Indeed, if you adjust for population growth and skyrocketing property values, hurricanes don't appear to be any more destructive today. According to the work of Roger Pielke of the University of Colorado, of the top five most destructive storms this century, only one occurred after 1950 -- Hurricane Andrew in 1992. An NOAA analysis says there have been fewer Category 4 storms throughout the past 35 years than would have been expected given 20th-century averages.

None of this data matters particularly, since proponents of global warming will continue to link warming with hurricanes. It generates headlines in a way that debates about tiny increments of warming don't. And it feeds a conceit that is oddly comforting: that whatever is wrong with the world is caused by us and fixable by us. Alas, it's not so. Mother Nature can be a cruel and unpredictable mistress, and sometimes all we can do is head for the high ground.

[Seixon]

Well obviously saying that global warming is causing a decline in the number of hurricanes just doesn't work out that well, since humans WANT less hurricanes. So what to do? Leave out all facts about the history of hurricanes, and spin it as if global warming is causing more hurricanes, or fiercer ones.

If the German minister can be so dishonest about something so simple, what does that tell us? I mean, all you have to do is look at the number of hurricanes the past 150 years and it is simple as pie that the warmer temperatures, if anything, have caused a decline in hurricanes.

The media gives him a complete pass on this, of course. Do they attempt to fact-check the German minister? No. In fact, the Norwegian Telegram Bureau has put out a story basically shilling his position, without providing a single response from the Bush administration, or anyone who disagrees with his position. It's the old "this person has this opinion, and we have no problem publishing it and not scrutinizing it because we happen to agree with it" trick.

What does this say about the whole anthropogenic global warming boogeyman? When we find proponents of this theory continously making things up and lying, what does that say about the theory, and the movement associated with it? The Kyoto protocol? If the pushers of the Kyoto keep lying about things associated with it, what does that tell us?

I'm going to try and solicit a response from the NTB about their shameless shilling of Trittin.

[Foobarista]

According to various members of the global tinfoil hat brigade, Bush is responsible for hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, hot weather, cold weather, tornados, and blizzards. Why not just give in and admit that Bush not only has a direct connection with The Almighty, but may well be God Himself.

[Macker]

The el cubos would just as soon say Bush is either the Antichrist...or Hitler. Take your pick. Time for the SPD and the Greens to get their asses kicked out!

[PacRim Jim]

Why is anyone worried? Germans never have been affected by propaganda.

[kid charlemagne]

I'm sure the "America deserved this because of their politics" line will become standard currency in Germany, just as it did after 9/11. (I already heard it last night from a German acquaintance.) Funny that no one here said, "Those Asians deserved that Tsunami".

[Helian]

If memory serves Trittin was the same clown Schroeder sent to negotiate a Kyoto deal with a Clinton administration desperate to promote its "legacy" and hence highly motivated to come up with some kind of an agreement. His very presence showed the Germans were never serious about negotiating a deal. Trittin is the court buffoon, and has never been trusted to do anything more serious than compose propaganda slogans. Predictably, the negotiations fell through, as sacrifices were demanded exclusively of the US, and Schroeder wouldn't have dreamed of accepting any deal that cost German jobs, only American ones. As is obvious from this article, Trittin and the SPD/Green regime continue to contribute to global warming by spouting hot air today. Other than that, they've done nothing to address the problem of global warming. You'd think people so fond of self-righteous moralistic posing might actually consider leading by example, wouldn't you? You might think they'd actually be willing to incur some slight economic pain to establish their credibility, and show the world they're not all talk. Guess again! SPD/Green "efforts" to combat global warming have been purely cosmetic, have involved none of the economic sacrifices they so hypocritically demand of the US, and amount mainly to lots of pious speeches about their "commitment" to saving the environment. The misnomered "Greens" astonishingly stupid response to the problem of global warming has been to shut down Germany's nuclear reactors, which produce no greenhouse gases! I can't really think of much that would be more damaging to the environment and contribute more to global warming than that, but I'm sure it gets them lots of propaganda mileage with their deluded followers. For Germany's self-righteous "environmentalists," the pose is everything, and the reality is nothing. From them we can continue to expect more of the same - lots of shameless, moralistic bitching about the US combined with an utter lack of real substance in efforts to address the problem of global warming.

[JohnGalt]

From a Drudge Report link to Spiegel Online on 31 August, "Die Tageszeitung also delivers a punchy plea for more attention to global warming...Hurricane Katrina has delivered terrible photos...pictures from New Orleans should encourage us to follow science's advice on climate protection."
Ummmm, pictures from Katrina's aftermath are logic enough to go with the Kyoto accords??? It's all Bush's fault???
As an American living in Germany, maybe I should offer a similar flex of skewed logic: Pictures from the Holocaust should encourage the world to never trust ANYTHING that comes out of a German bureaucrat's mouth, ever!
Both assertions are distasteful and untrue, yet offer a lesson about lies within their absurdity.

[amiexpat]

why don't the just create a list of the bad things in the world that are NOT America's fault.. would fit on a 3 x 5 card..
then instead of wasting their time bitching about everything they could devote their energies to getting their own country on track..
NNNAAAAA... to pragmatic..

[Doughnut Boy Andy]

@kid charlemagne

"Funny that no one here said, "Those Asians deserved that Tsunami""

No the Tsunami was Bush`s fault as well.

[Pamela]

Hello, all.

Well, this is bad. Approx 1 million homeless. Friends of ours operate a homeless shelter in the eastern portion of Texas. Normally, they care for about 30 people per day. They've got 500 people now, all Louisiana refugees. Congressional staffers who did not expect to be back in town until next week are arriving early in droves.

Has anyone noticed that the United States has not asked anyone for help? Must be because we're selfish bastards.

[Rich]

Bush can cause hurricanes? Where can I get some of that?

[tebox]

Spiegel Online brought a pretty angry article about Trittins America-Bashing in the Frankfurter Rundschau:
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,372407,00.html

Funny: this article is pretty in line with davids medienkritik.

[Toby]

tebox,

I was just going to point out the same article, you were only minutes faster. it is actually very good and criticizes other German media, too. not bad, SPON.

[Pogue Mahone]

Money quote

"It's not the American people's fault that the storm hit and they couldn't have stopped it. The Germans, on the other hand, could have done a lot to prevent World War II. And yet, care packages still rained down from US troops. "

[Olaf]

Hi guys!

I just wrote an email to the guy who translated the original German articale and I thought I should share this with you guys:

------------------------------------------------------
Hi Richard,

My name is Olaf and I'm a 32 year old German. I've just read your 'Excerpts
of Trittin's article' on
http://medienkritik.typepad.com/blog/2005/08/german_minister.html and I was pretty diappointed about it.

First of all I'd like to apologize for the non-diplomatic things our
minister might have said. Especially when it comes at a time where many
Americans are suffering very hard. I think I can say that everybody I know (meaning friends, familiy, collegues at work) feel very sorry for everybody who suffered any damage from hurricane Katrina.

However, I was disappointed about your translation. In the original text Mr. Trittin tried to be as neutral as possible and tried to criticize as fair as possible. The sentences you presented on the aforementioned web site however, plot a differnet picture.
In the end of the original text for example it says:
"When reason finally pays a visit to climate-polluter headquarters, the
international community has to shake hands with America (in the meaning of getting back together) and must have worked out a proposal for the future of international climate protection. The German Government stands ready"

That's a different meaning. He's offering his help in case the American
Administration wants to work on the climate problems we're are all facing at the moment.

(Note from David: Richard only translated what I asked him to translate. The selection was mine. I completely disagree with your assessment that Mr. Trittin was just "offering his help". Trittin's statement was clearly very critical of the U.S. government and in particular of Mr. Bush. Trittin's style was that of an "Oberlehrer", which - as a typical German state of mind - is difficult to translate. For our German speaking audience, this statement of Trittin is what you call "offering his help": Wenn endlich die Vernunft im Hauptquartier der Klimaverschmutzer einkehren wird, muss die internationale Gemeinschaft in der Lage sein, Amerika mit einem ausgearbeiteten Vorschlag für die Zukunft des internationalen Klimaschutzes die Hand zu reichen. Die Bundesregierung steht dafür bereit.)

I totally understand that the timimng to say that and the polemic in his
essay aren't adequate at all. But it is a fact that while the USA have 4% of the world population they produce about a quarter of all greenhous gases of the world. I'm not blaming the American people for that. I would definitely do the same if I lived in the US (what I actually did for a few months). But to blame an administration for not working on that problem should be allowed.

By the way, I'm not even sure if greenhous gases and the hurricanes and
floods we're seeing at the moment cohere at all.

Additionally, I'd like to say that it is not very fair to blame the German people for what one minister said. I don't do that either. I almost exclusively met very nice Americans all over the world, but still I don't like your administration.

I don't know if you're the right person to write this email to. Maybe you
just did the translation. Could you please forward the email to the author of the blog?

Thanks a lot.

Kind regards,
Olaf

p.s. Friends can criticize each other and I consider the Americans as
friends

--------------------------------------------------------------

One comment to Poque Mahone:
Comparing the question if you should the emission of greenhouse gases to the Germans who should have avoided WWII is actually not even worth a comment but I still want to say something to it.

Yes indeed the Germans could have done a lot to prevent World War II. But everything they could have done would have been very dangerous for their lives and the lives of there beloved ones.
However, avoiding the emission of greenhous gases is just a matter of spending money for filters and maybe avoiding to waste energy where it isn't necessary.

Note from David: A small step in the right direction might be for Americans to buy smaller cars with only low speed capabilities rather than big, fast cars such as Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, BMW, Audi. You sure agree, Olaf?

[RayD]

@ Olaf

I love the argument that the US is responsible for a quarter of the world's emissions despite only being 4% of the population. GUESS WHAT: The US is also responsible for OVER 25% of the world's GDP production and much of the prosperity around the world!

It is also a very large nation that actually has to support a large military because Europe thinks it doesn't have to deal seriously with the world's major crises beyond sending people angry letters and doing peacekeeping missions after the US has done the real work. It really helps to look at all aspects of the United States, not just the propaganda mouthed by ideologues like Mr. Trittin.

[americanbychoice]

@Olaf,
Envy apparently has dictated to the average German by the MSM to blame America for everything bad in the world. Yes, we do live very well and enjoy many luxuries due to reaping the fruits of our hard labor. This has been happening for years. What should we do abandon our production and voluntarily become a third world country, would that please the socialists?
There are many misconception by the Germans concerning the Environmental laws, or lack of them in the USA. Did you know that the Environment is the second highest expenditure for business after Wages? Did you know that it was the USA who started environmental protection? For instance,we outlawed leaded Gas and instituted catalytic cnverters 20 years before Germany even "allowed" them. Of course the MSM likes to make it's readers think that we do nothing at all. Here are a few more Myths about the USA:

Debunking popular myths about the U.S.

Listed below are 15 commonly-held myths about social, economic, health and environmental conditions in the United States, followed by facts that debunk the myths. The facts have been gleaned from the Pocket World in Figures 2005, published by the The Economist magazine.

Myth # 1: The U.S. ranks low in human development.
Fact: On the Human Development Index, which measures literacy, life expectancy and income levels, the U.S. ranks above Japan, Switzerland, Denmark, Holland, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Austria, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and 38 other countries.

Myth #2: The U.S. is uncompetitive in global markets.
Fact: The U.S. is the world's biggest exporter, twice as big as Japan and three times as big as China. It also ranks first in manufacturing output, with 80 percent more output than Japan and more than twice as much output as either China or Germany. And it is surpassed in per-capita Gross Domestic Product by only Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland, all of which are tiny, lily-white countries. The social-welfare countries of Germany, France and Italy have a per-capita GDP that is only 66 percent, 67 percent and 57 percent, respectively, of the per-capita GDP of the U.S.

Myth #3: Because the U.S. doesn't produce enough scientists and engineers, it has lost its edge in innovation.
Fact: It ranks first on the Innovation Index, which is a measure of human resources skills, market incentive structures and the interaction between the business and scientific sectors. It also ranks first in the number of Nobel Prize winners in economics, medicine, physics and chemistry. The first-place rankings are in spite of the U.S. ranking fifth in R&D spending as a percentage of GDP and dropping to 10th place on the Index of Economic Freedom.

Myth #4: American roads are congested due to a lack of mass transit.
Fact: The U.S. ranks 42nd in the number of vehicles per kilometer of road. Germany, a country with a lot of mass transit, ranks third.

Myth #5: The U.S. is the most car-crazy country.
Fact: It ranks 12th in the number of cars per 1,000 people, surpassed by such countries as New Zealand, Luxembourg, Iceland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Australia.

Myth #6: The U.S. has a high rate of auto accidents.
Fact: It ranks 31st in the number of people injured per miles traveled. Italy, Canada, Belgium, Israel and Germany have more injuries.

Myth #7: The U.S. ranks low in educational achievement.
Fact: Only one nation, South Korea, ranks higher than the U.S. in the percentage of the population enrolled in post-secondary education, in spite of the U.S. having a large number of immigrants from third-world countries.

Myth #8: The U.S. leads in breast cancer, lung cancer and diabetes.
Fact: It does not make the top-20 list in deaths per 100,000 people for breast cancer. The top five countries for breast cancer are Denmark, Iceland, Belgium, United Kingdom and Hungary. The U.S. ranks eighth in lung cancer, surpassed by the Netherlands, Italy, Croatia, United Kingdom, Denmark, Belgium and Hungary. And it ranks 14th in diabetes, surpassed by such countries as Canada, Spain, Italy, Greece and Singapore.

Myth #9: Americans don't read books.
Fact: The U.S. is tied with Singapore in fourth place for book sales per capita. Japan, Norway and Germany rank first, second and third, respectively. France is in 17th place.

Myth #10: American teenagers watch the most TV and drink the most alcohol.
Fact: The U.S. ranks tenth in the percentage of 15-year-old males who watch TV four or more hours a day on weekdays. Ukraine is in first place. The U.S. does not make the top-14 list in 15-year-olds who drink alcohol weekly.

Myth #11: Americans are heavy smokers and drinkers.
Fact: The U.S. does not make the top-20 list in per-capita smoking. Greece is in first place. In beer consumption, the U.S. is in 11th place; and in alcohol consumption, it doesn't make the top-23 list. The Czech Republic ranks first in beer consumption, and Luxembourg ranks first in the consumption of alcoholic drinks.

Myth #12: The U.S. leads in crime.
Fact: The top ten countries for serious assaults per 100,000 people are in rank order: Australia, Sweden, South Africa, Belgium, Ghana, Swaziland, Fiji, Jamaica, Netherlands, United States. The top ten countries for theft are: Australia, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Norway, Belgium, France, Austria, United States, Germany, Iceland.

Myth #13: The U.S. leads in defense spending.
Fact: When measured as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product, the United States does not make the top-39 list. North Korea is first, Israel is tenth, and Singapore is nineteenth.
Most Arab countries are on the list, and many rank near the top. For example, Saudi Arabia is fifth, Kuwait is sixth, and Jordan is eleventh.

Myth #14: The U.S. leads in threatened species.
Fact: It is in 21st place in mammal species under threat and in 10th place in bird species under threat. Indonesia, China, India and Brazil rank in the top five in both categories.

Myth #15: The U.S. leads in sprawl and deforestation.
Fact: It ranks third in the amount of forested land and second in the amount of land under protected status. It doesn't make the top-48 list of nations with the highest rural population density. __________
Mr. Cantoni is an author and columnist. His new book, Breaking from the Herd: Political Essays for Independent Thinkers by a Maverick Columnist, retails for $18.95 but can be purchased directly from him for $10. You can contact him at either [email protected] or [email protected].

[Helian]

@Olaf

>>"p.s. Friends can criticize each other and I consider the Americans as friends"

Thanks, Olaf, it's always instructive to have people like you carefully explain to us children all the reasons why black is really white. Nice try. Trittin's remarks speak for themselves. Don't insult our intelligence with your lame attempts to fob off his latest America-bashing tirade as "neutral" and "fair criticism." It only reveals the mind-boggling extent to which you've managed to divorce yourself from the real world. You really need to start talking to a few people who don't think just like you occasionally.

So you're are friend, are you? Sure you are, in the same way that some of your best friends are always black people if you happen to belong to the Ku Klux Klan.

I especially liked the unbelievable gall encapsulated in this little gem:

>>"'When reason finally pays a visit to climate-polluter headquarters, the international community has to shake hands with America (in the meaning of getting back together) and must have worked out a proposal for the future of international climate protection. The German Government stands ready'

'That's a different meaning. He's offering his help in case the American Administration wants to work on the climate problems we're are all facing at the moment.'"<<

These people remind you of the Paris fashions, don't they? They just face down ridicule. Unbelievable! Really want to help, Olaf? Try leading by example. Try showing the world you have more to offer than the hot air your windbag of a minister is so obviously full of. Show America and the rest of the world that Germany is ready to make the same real sacrifices she demands of the US to address the problem of global warming. Let's see her cut 30 or 40 thousand jobs and shut down a large portion of her industry while the rest of the world stands idly by smiling in order to cut greenhouse emissions by a tiny fraction of a percent. Let her, for once, go beyond pious speechmaking and cosmetic flim flam and take serious steps to reduce greenhouse emissions that demand the same sacrifices from her that she is demanding of others.

While you're at it, Olaf, my "friend," ask your enlightened and all-wise minister why he has never explained to the German people that the Kyoto greenhouse gas reduction targets are unfair to the US because Germany and the rest of Europe gained access to major new reserves of natural gas in the decade following 1990, allowing them to substantially reduce their greenhouse emissions without economic sacrifice, while no such new reserves were available to the US.

While you're at it, Olaf, my "friend," ask your enlightened and all-wise minister why he has never explained to the German people that the Kyoto greenhouse gas reduction targets are unfair to the US because Germany and the rest of Europe benefited from their ability to shut down bankrupt, obsolete, and heavily polluting industries in formerly Communist territories during the decade after the 1990's, again substantially reducing greenhouse emissions without economic pain, while no such resource was available to the US. Have him point out that Russia and Ukraine are heroic paragons of environmental virtue because they reduced their greeenhouse emissions by 30% and 40%, by simply shutting down failing industries.

While you're at it, Olaf, my "friend," ask your enlightened and all-wise minister why he has never explained to the German people that the Kyoto greenhouse gas reduction targets are unfair to the US because the economies of Germany and much of the rest of Europe hardly grew during the decade following 1990, while the US economy experienced a period of dynamic economic growth, naturally resulting in higher greenhouse emissions just as similar high growth would have done in Europe.

While you're at it, Olaf, my "friend," ask your enlightened and all-wise minister why he has never explained to the German people that the US is a somewhat larger country than Germany, where it is not economical to build all the transportation infrastructure available to Germans, and where the average person must travel far greater distances to work, shop, etc., necessitating larger consumption of energy.

While you're at it, Olaf, my "friend," ask your enlightened and all-wise minister why, if he is really serious about reducing greenhouse emissions, he supports the moronic policy of shutting down nuclear power plants. Does he think they'll all be replaced with windmills? See my former advice about rejoining the real world, Olaf.

Finally, my dear "friend" Olaf, drop the lame "objective criticism" line. We've heard that bullshit line from America bashers for the last decade. We've long since recognized it for the pathetic fig leaf it is. "Objective criticism" implies an ability to see the good as well as the bad about America, an ability your hate mongering minister sorely lacks. Again, don't insult our intelligence. We're quite capable of distinguishing hate peddlars from "friends."

[der_Ami]

Hi Olaf,

I re-read the source text several more times. Your translation convinces me that the
original is equivocal.

My interpretation was that when the international community extended its hand to
America, that hand would be holding a document prepared by the international community in general and the German government in particular while waiting for reason to return to America. The Americans would realize they had been fiddling while Rome burned and sheepishly accept the proffered proposals on which they’d bestowed not a lick of effort.

It’s just possible Mr. Trittin intentionally stated the case so it could be understood either way. Politicians are good at that you know. They're a slippery lot the world over.

I leave it to the native German speakers to argue these fine points. I appreciate your criticism though; it’s not entirely without merit.

Cheers,
RTB

[mhubertw]

Katrina and George W

As Katrina headed to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast,
George W was otherwise engrossed!
As thousands hurried to the Superdome,
George W was still hiding from Cindy in his Crawford home!
Even Condi was off buying expensive shoes,
While George W was on still another vacation snooze!
Thousands waited for relief!
George W made a flyby so brief!
When would relief come?
FEMA and George W were only mum!
Bodies floating by!
Help from George W was nigh!
No food or drinking water in sight!
George W cared little for their plight!
Day after day,
People of New Orleans were unprotected prey!
Victims pleading for any assistance!
George W kept his distance!
Where were the National Guard troops?
Mostly in Iraq as his war dupes!
Almost no money to make the levees safe!
Gone with the troops to Iraq - makes me chafe!
Was all this part of George W's master plan?
To destroy the New Orleans Black Man?
Real help George W seemed to bridle?
Is he truly the greatest American IDLE?

Hubert Wilson