This is Gutmensch (do-gooder) schizophrenia vom Feinsten (at its best): It’s the “rampant gentrification and social exclusion” that’s causing all of these arson attacks in Berlin these days, man. These arsonists are the victims, you see.

I always figured it was out-of-towners who were/are the real culprits behind these crimes (in this case, uh, tourists?). Well, at least this might actually become an election issue now. Some Berliners actually seem to be pissed off about having their cars ignited in the night.

“Berliners can be happy that Wowereit (Berlin’s SPD mayor) is in the middle of an election campaign. Otherwise he would treat the car owners (with the same blithe indifference) that he showed to the Berlin pensioners who broke their bones falling on snow and ice in the sloppily managed capital during the winter. … Wowereit typically reacts with flippancy on such occasions, deflecting criticism of his deficient policies with snappy slogans such as (his famous description of Berlin as) ‘poor but sexy.’ He cannot afford such flippancy now.”

“But he is still coming up with such comments, for example saying that, in a big city, the police can not be everywhere at the same time. He speaks as if that would be any different in a small town, as if that is the crucial factor and as if crime can only be fought if a city is transformed into a police state. But the fight against crime begins elsewhere. At least Wowereit is honest when he says: ‘We are sort of floundering around in the dark.’ That could turn into the soundbite of this campaign.”