For example, even our most heinous criminals still get treated with basic human dignities in prison.
That's nice to know--but in this case, it's the prison guards who maintain their dignity when they act like humans while dealing with the convicts--not the criminals while they rape or maim or murder people.
Do you honestly think the poster cannot distinguish between the two?
Last time I was in Germany on a business trip, the subject of Bill Clinton came up. To my surprise, the German guy said he liked Bubba and that he found him a lot more "menschlich" than President Bush because Bubba had had love affairs and Bush was "trying to play the sheriff." I was on the verge of crying out loud, "Of COURSE he's playing the 'sheriff'--that is his damn JOB!!"
While this does not amount to equating Osama with Reagan, I think it pretty much shows that in today's Germany, some people seem to believe that
menschlich = immoral
Oooohhh. Bad German. No American likes Bubba.
that in today's Germany, some people seem to believe that
Some Germans? Not all? Give me a break. Plenty of Americans have attitudes that are diametrically opposed to my own- of that I am deadly certain. Plenty of Americans would like to live in a socialist state- and don't say they don't amount to that many people because that's just not true. You're describing a totally normal state of affairs for any given nation. Lots of people, lots of different opinions. Just like anywhere else, Germany has lots of conservatives lots of liberals and lots of apolitical people who would just like to get on with their lives.