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"...the Bavarians and Germans..."

First, I do agree we should dump Germany as a strategic and tactical ally...moving troops to Poland among many choices from our coalition is a good idea.

Please note; similar to the US, there are political and cultural differences within Germany. The Southerners (Bavarians) are more conservative and mostly pro-American. The North/Easterners (i.e. Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Berlin) are more socialist and much more anti-American.

The irony here is that the result of "The Reagan Challenge" [Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall] is the massive influx of socialists and socialism from the East Germans that has totally tipped the balance in Germany and against the USA.

How appreciative.

Bavaria was a separate country and many there would like to see that again...maybe we should feed that 800 pound gorilla...Go Bavaria! I like Munich and Regensburg and Konstanz and Passau much better anyway...

Yeah, I'm familiar with the differences. When I was a kid, my dad was stationed near Frankfurt and we lived on the German economy. Of course, in those days, the friendliness of the Bavarians was a little hard to find. WWII had been over for about a dozen years and they still weren't too fond of us. We ended up trying to be ambassadors of a sort to the Germans trying to relieve tensions but, when you're a kid and an ex-third Reicher kid comes up and spits on you because you're American, it's a little hard to be polite. Nonetheless, we got over it and left there in 60 with good memories and fond feelings for the Germans.

Schroeder, however, does not impress me and does nothing to endear himself to me. All he has managed to do is change those good feelings I had for the Germans to something less friendly. Not smart. The sooner the Germans dump him, the better off they will be, assuming they get someone less extreme.