One of Germany's largest paper writes about New Orleans

taz ^ | 09/02/2005 | Susanne Lang

[americanbychoice2]

Selbst Freude und Mitleid schlagen zur selben Zeit in meiner Brust. So freue ich mich beispielsweise momentan darüber, dass die jüngste Sturmkatastrophe nicht wieder irgendein armes Land, sondern die reichste Nation der Erde getroffen hat. Ja, ich sehe darin sogar eine Art ausgleichende Gerechtigkeit für das, was die Bewohner dieses Landes durch ihren Krieg im Irak anderen Bewohnern angetan haben. Es würde mich allerdings noch mehr erfreuen, wenn ich wüsste, dass nur Häuser von Bush-Wählern und Armeeangehörigen zerstört worden wären. Alle anderen tun mir aufrichtig Leid. Dringender Notruf? kolumne@taz.de Montag: Susanne Lang über DIE ANDEREN

http://www.taz.de/pt/2005/09/02/a0109.nf/text

The translation (roughly) reads "Right now, happiness and sympathy are emotions that beat equally in my heart. I am happy that the latest hurricane disaster has not hit some poor country but the richest nation in the world.

Yes I can even see fair justice in what has happened to that country's citizens because of what they have done to other countries' citizens by means of the war in Iraq. However, I would be even happier if I could be sure that only houses of Bush-voters and military families had been hit. I feel sincere regrets for all the others" Monday: Susanne Lang about the “Others”

[Gay State Conservative]

Sickening - and I doubt most Germans feel this way

I strongly suspect that you're wrong there.Two recent German polls that I've read about are,I think,very disturbing...but not surprising.....

Poll #1)More than 50% of people in the former "West" Germany and a large majority of those in the former "East" Germany feel that Communism is a superior economic and political system to the one they have today.

Poll #2)About 20% of Germans believe that Mr Bush ordered the destruction of the WTC on 9/11.

[benjaminjjones]

LOL, I've lived there as an Army brat, and my brother lived there much longer (Heileldberg).

I've got almost 1/3 German blood in me, but I still think they're nuts, even if I attribute all my engineering skills to them.

The Irish parts go to the drinking and good humor, the EyeTie parts go to, well, below the waist, LOL!

[americanbychoice2]

Perceived superiority is, in my opinion, a Gene that is present in most Germans. (Uebermenschen, Master race, etc.) I should know, I used to be one of them and can still remember how I thought and opined at the tender age of 19 when I immigrated from that country.

[TxBec]

most of the German I learned in 4 years over there has since gone out the window, but I did pick up the part about how she has an emergency pack always ready and listed the items she carries. How nice.

[Gay State Conservative]

It is not shocking that a philosophy such as Nazism could have been bred among people who have such a competitive, vengeful attitude to other humans.

Let us not forget that Germany gave the world not just Hitler....but Marx,as well.

[americanbychoice2]

You are soooo wrong.
Didn't you know that Bush caused the German economic meltdown?
Germans carry that "Misery likes company" to the extreme.

[Atlantic Bridge]

Disgusting!

This is just a single German a*shole. The world is full of such ill fanatics. Everyone has to deal with this kind of BS.

As a German I will pray and donate for those who are in need. As far as I know all of my friends are deeply touched by this natural disaster and no one is feeling "Schadenfreude". We just want to help as good we can. Believe me that people like this "journalist" or our enviroment secretary Trittin (he wrote a fuc*ing know-it-all article) are sad exceptions.

[Tarpon]

Do you think it's a mental problem that is afflicting these people.

[An.American.Expatriate]

Just to be complete - the taz is about as leftist as you can get in germany without being outright anarchist!

It does not surprise me in the least to read such drivel from them.

[antiRepublicrat]

The article is by Philipp Mausshardt, not Lang. This particular article at the top says it's over gossip ("Klatsch"), so it's probably a letter to the editor or guest commentator.

[Altair333]

What do you expect? 60+ years ago his grand-dad was probably grinning like a Cheshire cat watching Jews being led to a concentration camp.

[americanbychoice2]

Looked at it again, you are correct, my apologies. I guess when your blood pressure goes up your eyes suffer?

Admin: it should indeed be Phillip Mausshardt
Sorry

[Proud_USA_Republican]

Tons of brain-washing by their leadership and liberal media.

They are just like the arabs who blame Israel and the US anytime there is a problem in their lives.

Western europe can no longer sustain their socialist welfare states. Its simply not working anymore. Nobody, but the immigrants are having children. None of their 20's aged citizens want to work.
So instead you have their leaders like Chirac and Schroeder demonizing the "anglo-saxon" capitalist system of the US as the source of all their problems. What they simply want is the US to become more like them so they don't look as bad. That's why they were soo excited about the prospect of Kerry being president.
Kerry said he wanted the US be more like Germany and France.
Kerry is cut from the same socialist left leaning cloth as guys like Schroeder and Chirac.

[jpl]

The Hun is either at your feet or at your throat.

[Always Right]

Susanne Lang is a sorry ass excuse for a human being.

[GermanBusiness]

I just wrote a long letter to the email address on the bottom of the article.

Please write some eloquent replies. Do what it takes to make the Germans know you are not amused...because, if it becomes an issue that leftist Germans had Schadenfreude about New Orleans...it would help the conservatives win in 2 weeks.

The conservative win in 2 weeks is not assured! They are polling only 51% now. That is too close. They had 49.5% when they lost 2 years ago.

I think we are holding off on Iran and Syria until after the German elections.

[Always Right]

Susanne Lang ist eine traurige Entschuldigung für ein menschliches Wesen. Danke.

[cartan]

Please write some eloquent replies. Do what it takes to make the Germans know you are not amused...because, if it becomes an issue that leftist Germans had Schadenfreude about New Orleans...it would help the conservatives win in 2 weeks.

Don't bother. This newspaper, the taz, is a left-wing radical piece of trash that is only read by Green party voters, anyway. Yes, they hate Americans. Yes, they are happy now, and yes, they were happy on 9/11, too. Denying the obvious is no use here. But...it is also true that the Green party is getting only about 8% of the vote. Add in the neo-communist Linke/PDS and the Nazi NPD, and you'll get about 16-20% of Germans who feel that way. The rest, i.e. over 80%, don't, however. No, not even Schröder's SPD is that evil.

[GermanBusiness]

Here are today's poll numbers in Germany:

Pro-Bush CDU = 42%
Conservative FDP = 7%
SPD (Schroeder) = 34%
Greens = 6%
Communists =8%

But this isn't a direct election so it doesn't matter that the CDU-FDP cannot muster 51%. The CDU has to beat the SPD in the majority of voting districts to win the equivalent of electoral votes = Bundestag members. With 42% to 34%, this should be a landslide for the CDU which took the entire south of Germany even in the last election (with the exception of northern Munich = the elite section).

The FDP, Greens and Linkspartei Commies are all so low that they will get even fewer seats than ever before (with the exception of the Commies). But FDP seats are wins for us because the CDU will have to ally with them most likely.

This is good news...but Germany is still an anti-Bush basket case of a place. Support for Angela Merkel directly...is not very high. Schroeder is still the most popular figure. The voters are schizo.

But a conservative government is likely. In the last election it was neck on neck with 38% for the CDU against 37% for the SPD going into the election with only 7% for the FDP and an entire 11% for the Greens!! The Greens voters won the election for the left in 2002.

The Greens have taken a hit this time around because they continued to support German participation in the WOT outside of Iraq. This was unacceptable to the 8% of the population that completely sides with Al Qaeda. The left is splintering itself to death now, making room for a huge blowout win for conservatives who have really only 2 parties CDU and FDP.

And only the CDU is really conservative, so rational Germans know EXACTLY whom to vote for: Angela Merkel. Her party is at 42% now and that can mean a landslide for her.

[GermanBusiness]

Basically, the fewer parties your "side" has splintered into, the better the prospects of picking up a seat in parliament.

We're seeing the equivalent of Perot's candidacy destroying Bush Senior in 1992. The Linkspartei is torpedoing Schroeder to punish him for cooperating with Bush in Afghanistan.

We're seing the equivalent of Nader torpedoing Al Gore in 2000. Without Ralph Nader, the USA would have had a Gore presidency.

So Germany will get a reasonable Chancellor only because the left splintered while the right held firm in only two parties instead of the 3 on the left.

Let us only hope that most voting districts are as divided as the polls show. If districts are really homogenous (as many are), the polls show that the conservatives might not get a majority in the Bundestag (unlikely).

But, even if that happens, Schroeder has guaranteed that he will NOT form a new government with the Linkspartei but, rather, ally with the pro-Bush conservatives to stay in Afghanistan and do other rational things.