Posted on 05/22/2005 9:20:54 PM PDT by quidnunc
Singen, Germany – Three years ago, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder cynically used opposition to liberating Iraq to play an anti-American card just before elections in which he trailed his Christian Democratic opponents. He barely won a second term. Yesterday, facing a likely loss in elections in Germany's largest state, North Rhine-Westphalia, his Social Democratic Party's union backers played another anti-American card, this time depicting U.S. investors as blood-sucking parasites. Social Democratic chairman Franz Muntefering compared hedge funds to "swarms of locusts." This time, the tactic failed. Mr. Schoeder's party went down to a stunning defeat, losing the largely working-class state, home to one out of five Germans, for the first time in nearly 40 years. Last night Mr. Schroeder announced he would hold national elections this fall, a year ahead of schedule.
North Rhine-Westphalia, centered on the industrial Ruhr region of northern Germany, is home to 18 million people and would be the sixth largest economy in the European Union if it were a separate nation. It is beset by many of the same problems that plague Germany as a whole. Since 1995, the German economy has been growing at a slower pace than any other European country except Moldova. Germany is increasingly losing jobs and investment to countries that do not have its crushingly high wages and social welfare overhead.
Many commentators will explain away the Social Democrats' overwhelming 45% to 37% defeat by claiming it represents discontent with Mr. Schroeder's tentative moves to curb welfare benefits and reform labor laws. But if that were the real issue, the government's left-wing partners, the Greens, would have gained votes. Instead they lost support, finishing with only 6%. The Christian Democrats' free-market partners, the Free Democrats, received the same proportion of the vote. …
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(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
HEY SCHROEDER; DID YOU GET THE MESSAGE THIS TIME??????
Here's how the left views Merkel--so you know she's probably a leftist "conservative" ala Rudy Giuliani, who the hard left Germans are desperately afraid will win:
Here's what she really looks like (with typical Kraut taste in clothing...blecch), sorta soccer-mommish, which is probably about where her politics really lie: 
Is the 'Kraut' really necessary?
We have friends in the CDU in Germany and on FR as well. No need for this word...
They won and Schoeder finally had to admit that he is an idiot and had no mandate at all. Kudos to the CDU.
they seem to forget a little dohicky called.... THE BERLIN AIR LIFT
If the new media manage to shake even the monolithic European Old Media then we really do have a revolution on our hands, folks!
I agree, the term "Crapweasel" is much more apropos.
Just because Schroeder won there's no evidence that the poisonous German anti-Americanism is abating.
More likely the Germans have decided that hating America is not enough, they want economic conditions to improve too.
You are correct.
I had a wonderful dinner in the Nuremburg home of two German friends last Feb.
We discussed many topics and what it clearly evident is the squeaky wheels make all the noise.
They had worried concerns about what is going on in Germany with immigration, jobs, and social lunacy.
A lot, a lot of decent Germans in that country but the media seems to only give play to the lunatics.
Ich bin ein Berliner. At least from '82-'85. Damn good to see an "eastie" coming to power that is pro-US.
Take that, Schroeder, you frickin POS.
I was thinking the SAME thing!
Is the 'Kraut' really necessary?
Half my family is German. The other half is Florida cracker outta horse thief and debtor lineage from Georgia. You can call me what you want, and I'm not about to take offense unless it's intended. I suspect most of the world feels the same way. My family has referred to itself as Krauts since I was born, and I'm not about to toe the PC line. Reflexively kneejerking as to a word's offensive nature is an indication of ubersensitivity in my eyes.
Did I say uber? Aw, verdammt noch mal! :^)
Now, if we can only get the political correctness out of the ad business and bring back the taco bell dog, and Joe Isuzu trying to say "Isuzu". You know, where the little japanese guy next to him, after failing to get Joe to say "Isuzu" correctly says, "That's OK, Joe. I can't say chevoray." (Two of the funniest, most effective ads I ever saw!).
Also. lets bring back the tomahawk (SP?) chop at the Braves baseball games, etc., etc., etc., etc.!
Oh, BTW, there are a lot of German folks upset about the growing number of muslims in Germany, too!
At the risk of being politically incorrect (Oh, NO!), it IS a war against islam we and all the civilized world is fighting; islam has shown it's colors with many a stupid muslim death trick, like 9/11, and has made its own bed - they want to be killed so they can go see allah. Fine. Happy to oblige......
What they REALLY need to bring back is the Frito Bandito.
That guy was such a cool little character. I cannot agree more that PC is just silly in the ad business. Luckily, it's not been a problem insofar as depicting women are concerned. It's just meant that women get to ogle men now.
I love South Park and Dave Chappelle because they're not afraid to skewer this PC crap, which is really about suppressing offense before it happens and suppressing thought in opposition to the left before it can be spoken.
I am so non-PC that I still say "actress", "air hostess/stewardess", "murderess", etc.
Marines or martyrs? Who do you think will really get the virgins?
(I'm Army, but I needed the alliteration)
"I am so non-PC that I still say "actress", "air hostess/stewardess", "murderess", etc."
Heck, I'm so anti-PC that I use the proper slang term for most actresses, and call the stewardesses and stewards ma'am and sir.
Now, I'll admit I generally call murderesses the same thing as murderers.
"Bacon-to-be."
you mean just like here in the USA
The anti-americanism debate should now end.
I anyhow had the feeling, that some people in these boards tried to flee sound and unemotional discussions by quoting germans (all of them !) anti-american rather than anti-liberal or anti-Bush administraton. The later would have been more like facing the foe.
Now chances are that a more liberal germany may turn it's economy upwards again. Let's look forward.
... as it is in every modern country. Bad News sell. If you can't set-up an enemy you don't get the masses around you - not only true for Schröder but for the papers either. Fear is a feeling easy exploited and all that...
Imigration by the way is a solution - not a problem. We should have controlled immigration in germany to compensate against our societies aging problem.
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