With Friends Like That…

You don’t need Feinde.

German of the day: Feinde. That means enemies.

US has ‘no better friend’ than Germany, says US top diplomat Antony Blinken – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Merkel and Foreign Minister Maas. He was eager to impress the importance of good US-German relations.

“I think it’s fair to say that the United States has no better partner, no better friend in the world than Germany.” Fair, maybe. But not true.

Amerika is on its back! I mean, back.

The Offer Came From Donald Trump

So it must be EVIL. What’s the REAL reason for him doing such a thing?

Trump

The anti-Trump obsession (or degree of Trump Derangement Syndrome) in Germany is so extreme that even offers of help are looked upon with the greatest suspicion. The American President just offered the Germans ventilators to help confront the Corona Crisis, “if they want them,” and this caught them completely off guard. After some quick research, however,  it has now been determined that these ventilators actually do more harm than good  – at least the ones being offered by Donald Trump. Thank goodness. That was a close call.

Höchst brisant ist allerdings der Zeitpunkt, den Trump wählt. Soeben erschien in den USA eine neue Studie, die zur Annahme verleitet, dass die Nutzung von Beatmungsgeräten bei der Corona-Pandemie schädlich ist und nicht nützlich.

The End Of Amerika Again

And again and again and again.

Amerika

In this episode we die of coronavirus. Stay tuned for the next one.

How Trump Is Fueling a Corona Disaster – Donald Trump’s disastrous crisis management has made the United States the new epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic. The country is facing an unprecedented economic crash. Are we witnessing the implosion of a superpower?

“German schadenfreude knows no bounds, particularly when it comes to the United States. The country loves to feel superior to a superpower like America. The reasons are psychological. The criticism of America has always been a bit infantile. One is familiar with the theory from psychoanalysis, when people talk about transference, or when suppressed feelings or emotions are overcome by projecting them onto others. It may work for a while, improving one’s feeling of self-worth by devaluing an imagined adversary. But it always falls short. Which is why the ritual must be constantly carried out anew.”
– Jan Fleischhauer (a German journalist who used to work for Der Spiegel itself)

PS: The quality of Spiegel journalism should never be placed in doubt.

German Of The Day: Wildwest-Methoden

That means “Wild West methods.”

SPD

What it really means is US-Amerika sucks. As usual. Yawn. That the German on the street is anti-American while vehemently denying being anti-American is certainly nothing new but whenever German politicians openly spread fake news allegations about evil Amerikan intentions just to play to the crowd – and everybody bends over backwards not to notice afterward – that still surprises me.

In this case it was Berlin’s red-redder-green city government with Interior Senator Andreas Geisel (SPD) in the lead role.

When face masks for the Berlin police that were supposedly ordered in China and shipped over Thailand never arrived here Geisel ranted in a press statement that the Americans had confiscated them and redirected the shipment to the USA using their “wild west methods” in an act of “modern day piracy” and that the German federal government needed to take action here immediately. None of this ever happened, of course. Just as there will be no consequences for this guy now. Other than he’ll maybe get a raise. It’s a natural instinct, folks. It’s just what Germans and German politicians do.

Als angeblich in China bestellte, über Bangkok nach Berlin verfrachtete Schutzmasken für die Berliner Polizei nicht ankamen, wetterte Geisel in einer Presseerklärung: Die USA hätten die Ware für sich konfiszieren, umleiten lassen – „Wildwest-Methoden“ und „Akt moderner Piraterie“, wütete der Innensenator. Die Bundesregierung müsse eingreifen!

Just Like In The Good Old USA

Opinion: Germans rally behind Merkel amid coronavirus crisis.

Corona

A recent poll shows that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives have seen a spike in popularity as Germany battles the coronavirus pandemic. This illustrates that our democracy is stable, says DW’s Jens Thurau.

It’s the same in the US, right? Everyone in America rallies behind the President of the United States amid the coronvirus crisis there, don’t they?  It’s just what one does. Citizens forget party politics, petty personal hysterics and even the Trump Derangement Syndrome ITSELF at times of great need like these to support their government and solve a real problem. That’s just what Americans do. And that’s what’s happening in America right now, right? Right.

By the way, the same Germans who supposedly rally behind Frau Merkel still jump at every opportunity they can get – today – to continue bashing Donald Trump with as much vehemence as they can muster. So much for today’s Sunday School sermon, Deutsche Welle.

No Difference Between China And The USA

Right? Not in Germany there isn’t.

China

To understand any German position on any international theme or issue you must understand that US-Amerika is somehow, in some way, in some form, a, if not the, negative factor in it. Once you understand and accept this, everything German politicians and diplomats say starts making sense. Take China and 5G for instance. Please.

The US ambassador to Berlin has sharply criticised German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier for suggesting a parallel between Chinese and US spying.

The row flared up over Germany’s decision not to ban Chinese tech giant Huawei from participation in the German 5G mobile phone network…

Meanwhile, a new opinion poll suggests a wide gap between the views of Americans and Germans on US-German relations.

Three-quarters of Americans surveyed were positive. But nearly two-thirds of Germans felt relations were bad, the Pew Research Center/Körber-Stiftung poll found.

“There is no moral equivalency between China and the United States and anyone suggesting it ignores history.”

More Like A Stepfather

Who beat you like a red-headed stepchild.

For Germans, Losing the U.S. to Trump Is Like Losing a Father – The 30th-anniversary celebration of the Berlin Wall’s collapse comes with grief over the end of a special relationship.

Trump

I don’t know if I can hold back the tears but give me a second or two. There. I’m much better now. Thanks. But this massive output of cheap emotion has a heavy taste of déjà-vu in it for me, folks. The Germans already had their hearts broken and lost their special relationship back with W., didn’t they? And we don’t even want to talk about how heartbroken they were with Ronald Reagan HIMSELF. They don’t even want to have to think about him today. Some thirty years later. You know, thirty years after he made possible the fall of the Berlin Wall? Wait a minute. I’m chocking up again…

Berlin gets unwanted Ronald Reagan statue – Ronald Reagan is already an honorary citizen of Berlin, so city authorities have always deemed a statue inappropriate. Nonetheless, a bronze replica of the former president is set to be inaugurated at the US Embassy.

Reagan

Berlin Isn’t An Anti-Semitic City

It’s just a city that openly supports groups that openly call for the destruction of Israel.

Kuds

Berlin’s city government (the ususal suspects – SPD, Greens, Left Party) has imposed upon the populace yet again another grade A anti-Israel agitation celebration organized and financed by the mullah regime in Iran.

Germany’s anti-Semitism debate raises its head at pro-Palestinian march in Berlin – Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel demonstrators peacefully marched in Berlin amid a struggle to define the line between criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism.

Wieder einmal muss die Hauptstadt die vom Iran organisierte Hetze gegen Israel während der Kuds-Demo ertragen.

GETTING Fed Up?

Whoever wrote this doesn’t know much about Germany yet: Why Germans Are Getting Fed Up with America.

Germany

Check this out: It’s getting harder for Angela Merkel and the German elite to hold back growing anti-Americanism. Hilarious. I could read nonsensical stuff like this all day.

The poor hack who wrote this. If you don’t understand that anti-Americanism is one of the seven pillars of wisdom that defines what being German is all about, you’ll never get the rest of it (the other six are just variations on anti-Americanism – anti-capitalism, anti-freemarketism, anti-individualism, anti-Israelism, anti-hightechism, anti-anythingnewthatisnotGermanism).

But maybe this article is satirical or something. Some of this stuff is really, really good. As in funny as hell: The cautious German elite, led by Merkel with her preference for compromise in any situation, has been holding back the anti-American sentiment so far. But that position may become untenable as Germans realize their country isn’t getting much out of being a U.S. ally. A majority can’t imagine a situation in which U.S. soldiers would need to defend Germany against aggression, and as the values gap with the U.S. grows and the economic benefits of partnership shrink, anti-Americanism can become an increasingly attractive political card to play.

Germany has done the U.S. a favor by not seeking a leadership role in the decades since its reunification. There’s no guarantee, however, that post-Merkel it won’t take a more assertive stance, using the European Union as a vehicle for its ambition. Even if a post-Trump U.S. government walks back some of his unilateralism, the mistrust that’s been building up for years won’t go away overnight.

Please write more!

US-Amerika To Penetrate Germany Again Tonight

“They see it as just one more example of American commercial penetration*.”

Halloween

Popular as it is, many people are vehemently against Halloween in their countries, whether it be religious objections or fears of cultural imperialism.

It may be a bit of both in Germany, where 48 percent of respondents in the 2017 YouGov survey said the spooky holiday is a U.S. import that displaces German culture. October 31 is Reformation Day in Germany, and commemorates the day when Martin Luther launched Europe’s Protestant Reformation.

So on that happy note, Happy Halloween everyone! Whatever holiday you might be celebrating tonight.

Fast 50 Prozent der Deutschen glauben, Halloween sei ein US-Import, der die deutsche Kultur gefährde. Fakt ist, dass der Brauch ursprünglich aus Irland stammt.

*Psst. Don’t spoil everybody’s fun by explaining that Halloween originated in Ireland.