Dialog International

Der Standard: Blame Obama for Hurricane Sandy Devastation

The east coast of the United States is reeling from Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath.  The Republican governor of New Jersey, which took a direct hit from Sandy, is praising President Obama for his leadership and swift action in providing emergency storm relief.  But, according to the Austrian daily Der Standard, all of this terrible damage could have been avoided if Obama were a better president: 

Die amerikanische Infrastruktur ist in einem für ein so hochtechnologisiertes Land gefährlich schlechten Zustand. Es bedarf gar keiner chinesischer Superhacker, um die Stromversorgung in weiten Teilen der USA abzudrehen. Es genügen auch ein paar auf Oberleitungen gefallene Bäume, damit sieben Millionen Menschen an der Ostküste tagelang ohne Energieversorgung dastehen. Das gilt nicht nur bei einem Ereignis der Größenordnung Sandys, ähnliche Zustände sind auch bei viel geringeren Stürmen an der Tagesordnung. Der Grund dafür ist schlichtweg, dass die Stromleitungen oberirdisch verlaufen. [...] Obamas größtes Versäumnis der vergangenen vier Jahre war es indes, die Amerikaner nicht davon zu überzeugen, dass es eben auch eine Bundesregierung braucht, die Entscheidungen gegen individuelle Interessen und für das höhere Gemeinwohl trifft - ob es nun um die Gesundheitsreform geht, den Katastrophenschutz, Infrastrukturprojekte von nationalem Interesse oder die Kreditwirtschaft.

("The American infrastructure is in a dangerously poor state of repair for such a highly technologised country. It doesn't take a Chinese super-hacker to switch off the power in large parts of the US. All it takes is for a couple of trees to fall on the power lines. ... The reason is simply that the power lines run above ground. No one wants to use (taxpayers') money to put them underground. They prefer to put up with a national emergency every time a big storm hits. ... Obama's biggest omission in the last four years was to fail to convince Americans that they need a federal government to make decisions against individual interests and for the common good - whether it be on healthcare reform, disaster control, infrastructural projects of national interest or the credit services sector.")

This criticism is wrong on so many levels.  First, power has been knocked out in New York City in part because the electrical infrastructure is UNDERGROUND which was flooded by the storm surge. Second, Sandy is the most powerful storm to hit the most populous region of the US.  I live 500 miles to the north of where Sandy made landfall and lost power due to the high winds.  Even if we had built a 20 foot seawall along 1000 miles of coastline it would have done little to slow the fury of the storm.  As for President Obama, he used a large chunk of his $750 billion stimulus package to upgrade and repair the US infrastructure.  Do I need to point out that this stimulus was opposed by EVERY SINGLE REPUBLICAN member of the US Congress?  And during the presidential campaign Obama is being excoriated for his "collectivist/socialist" stimulus? 

Perhaps Der Standard doesn't realize that the US is not a dictatorship where the president can simply impose his will on the public. 

Cordelia Edvardson has died at 83

Today it was reported from Stockholm that the journalist Cordelia Edvardson has died.  Here is the report from the Associated Press:

"Cordelia Edvardson, a Holocaust survivor and award-winning Swedish journalist who reported on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for three decades, has died. She was 83.

Edvardson was the Jerusalem correspondent for Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet from 1977 to 2006 and later worked as a columnist for the paper.

She was born in Munich, Germany, in 1929. Her father was Jewish and though she was raised Catholic, the Nazis regarded her as a Jew and sent her to concentration camps in Theresienstadt and Auschwitz. She described her experiences in a 1984 autobiography for which she won the German Geschwister-Scholl literary award.

Edvardson moved to Sweden after the war and started her career in journalism, winning several awards for her work."

The AP got at least one fact wrong here:  Cordelia Edvardson did not "move to Sweden after the war".  She was rescued from the Auschwitz death camp by the Danish Red Cross and transported to Sweden. She chose to stay in the country that gave her her life back.

Read my review of her book "Burned Child Seeks the Fire."

Cordelia Edvardson was the daughter of the novelist and poet Elisabeth Langgässer, who was forced by the Nazis into a real-life Sophie's Choice dilemma.

Read my review of Elisabeth Langgässer's Das unauslöschliche Siegel and her poem to Cordelia Frühling 1946 (für Cordelia).

 

BAYER steps up big for Mitt Romney

Which German firm has given the most money to the Romney campaign?  It turns out that BAYER AG is placing its bets on Romney, in the hopes that a Romney administration will repeal existing regulations pertaining to drug and pesticide safety: 

Der Leverkusener BAYER-Konzern gehört traditionell zu den wichtigsten ausländischen Spendern im US-Wahlkampf. Aktuell schlägt sich BAYER - wie in den vergangenen Wahlkämpfen - auf die Seite der Republikaner. Mit Spenden in Höhe von 261.000 Dollar ist das Leverkusener Unternehmen größter deutscher Förderer der Republikaner, gefolgt von der Deutschen Telekom mit 193.500 Dollar und der BASF mit 128.000 Dollar.

(The BAYER corporation in Leverkusen has traditionally been a major foriegn contributor in US elections. This time - as in past elections - BAYER is on the side of the Republicans.  With donations reaching $261,000 the Leverkusen corporation is the largest backer of the Republicans, followed by Deutsche Telekom with 193,500 and BASF with 178,000.)

Philipp Mimkes of the Coalition gegen BAYER Gefahren explains why BAYER's intervention in US politics poses a threat: 

“American politics are in a stranglehold of lobbyists and powerful donors. This prevents improvements of environmental and consumer protection. The noble ideal of “One Man, One Vote” in the American constitution has turned into a disdainful “One Dollar, One Vote”.” The Coalition demands laws stopping companies from donating to parties, politicians and think tanks.

During the mid-term elections in 2010, BAYER, BASF and the German electric provider E.ON specifically backed candidates who deny climate change or block effective climate laws. BAYER is also one of the supporters of the American Heartland Institute, which denies the existence of climate change and was instrumental in the rise of the reactionary ‘Tea Party’. The institute collects donations from the industrial sector and uses them, amongst other things, to finance blogs and pay seemingly neutral organisations – all with the aim of planting doubt about climate change.

Welcome to post-Citizens United America, where we have the best democracy money can buy.

 

Junge Freiheit, Politically Incorrect endorse Mitt Romney

While Barack Obama remains relatively popular in Germany, some of the media outlets on the right have expressed support for Mitt Romney.  The Berlin weekly Junge Freiheit, mouthpiece of the neo-fascist "Neue Rechte"  (New Right), chastises fellow Germans for their pro-Obama sentiments: 

Aus den heimischen Medien wurden sie fast nur über „Pleiten, Pech und Pannen“ Romneys aufgeklärt. Eine ernsthafte Auseinandersetzung mit dem Republikaner und seinem Programm suchte man zumeist vergebens. Konservativ und irgendwie rückständig, dieses Bild wurde vermittelt. Dabei spricht auch aus deutscher Sicht viel für den Republikaner. [...]Trotzdem geben 90 Prozent der Deutschen an, sie würden Obama wählen. Sie kennen den Scherbenhaufen nicht, den er nach vier Jahren hinterläßt: hohe Arbeitslosigkeit, Armut und Rekordpreise für Energie. Für die Deutschen bleibt Obama dagegen der ewige Popstar und Friedensnobelpreisträger, der irgendwann mal eine Rede an der Siegessäule gehalten hat. (ho)

(The German media only reports on Romney's "bankruptcies, bad luck and gaffes". There is no serious discussion of the Republican and his policies.  They just project the image of him as conservative and somewhat backward-lookig. But Romney has much to offer Germany....Still, 90% of Germans say they would vote for Obama.  They don't know the wreckage he has left behind after four years: high unemployment, poverty and record-high energy prices. For Germans Obama is still the eternal popstar and Nobel Prize-winner who once gave a speech at the Berlin Victory Column.)

Not to be outdone, the "pro-American" hate blog Politically Correct - one of the most popular German blogs in terms of daily hit volume - recently attacked President Obama and Hilary Clinton for their criticism of the crude anti-Islam YouTube video that led to a spasm of violence across the Middle East:

Die randalierenden und marodierenden mohammedanischen Araber haben bestimmt nicht daran gedacht, aber sie helfen dem Republikaner Mitt Romney dabei, Präsident zu werden. Wir würden uns freuen!

(The rampaging and marauding Mohammedan Arabs were certainly not intending to, but they are helping the Republican Mitt Romney win the presidency.  We would be delighted!) 

I'm still waiting to see who the neo-Nazi NPD will endorse once they realize that their friend David Duke is not on the ballot this year. 

Nobel committee overlooked America's contribution to peace in Europe

The 2012 Nobel Peace Price has been awarded to the European Union for its stabilizing role in transforming  "most of Europe from a continent of war to a continent of peace."

"The union and its forerunners have for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.

In the inter-war years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee made several awards to persons who were seeking reconciliation between Germany and France. Since 1945, that reconciliation has become a reality. The dreadful suffering in World War II demonstrated the need for a new Europe. Over a seventy-year period, Germany and France had fought three wars. Today war between Germany and France is unthinkable. This shows how, through well-aimed efforts and by building up mutual confidence, historical enemies can become close partners.

In the 1980s, Greece, Spain and Portugal joined the EU. The introduction of democracy was a condition for their membership. The fall of the Berlin Wall made EU membership possible for several Central and Eastern European countries, thereby opening a new era in European history. The division between East and West has to a large extent been brought to an end; democracy has been strengthened; many ethnically-based national conflicts have been settled."

Completely absent from the award statement is recognition of the indispensible role played by the United States in providing both the economic and military security that made the creation of the European Union even feasible. 

Rainer Nowak, writing in Die Presse, makes this point quite succinctly, I think:

Dass auch die US-Truppen mit ihrer Befreiung Europas, später ihrer Militärpräsenz, beziehungsweise ein gemeinsamer äußerer Feind, nämlich der Ostblock, mitverantwortlich waren, fiel in Oslo leider unter den Tisch. Auch dass das Verdienst für den echten Frieden in Europa, nämlich die Beendigung des Kalten Krieges durch den wirtschaftlich-politischen Sieg des Westens über den Kommunismus, wohl eher Ronald Reagan, Maggie Thatcher und Karol Wojtyła denn der EU-Kommission zugeschrieben werden muss, blieb vorerst unerwähnt. Und in einem Punkt wurde das Preiskomitee unfreiwillig zynisch: durch die Erwähnung des „Prozesses der Aussöhnung“ auf dem Balkan, der durch die mögliche Aufnahme von Kroatien als Mitglied, die Einleitung von Aufnahmeverhandlungen mit Montenegro und den Kandidatenstatus für Serbien vorangetrieben worden sei. Es war die EU, die lange tatenlos dem Morden und den Vertreibungen in den Balkankriegen zugesehen hatte, bis endlich die USA intervenierten und Europa wieder aus der Bredouille halfen. Und nein, da war kein Öl zu holen.

(The fact that US troops, with their liberation of Europe and later with their military presence, or alternatively a common external enemy, namely the East Bloc, were also responsible was evidently overlooked in Oslo.  Also not mentioned was the fact that Ronald Reagan, Maggie Thatcher and Karol Wojtyła deserve more credit for bringing true peace to Europe, namely the end of the Cold War, than the EU Commission. On one point, in addition, the Nobel Committee was unintentionally cynical: in mentioning the 'reconciliation process' in the Balkans through the possible accession of Croatia, the start of accession negotiations with Montenegro and the candidacy of Serbia. It was the EU that stood by and allowed the murders and expulsions in the Balkan region to go on for so long, until finally the US intervened and once again helped Europe out of the mess. And no, there wasn't any oil involved.)

The United States does not deserve a Nobel Peace Prize. Not after the wars of choice in Vietnam and Iraq which ended badly. But if you're going to recognize the achievement of peace in Europe, at least give America its due.

Setback for free speech in Germany: Twitter bows to censorship

This is unfortunate:

Twitter waded into potentially perilous territory on Thursday when it blocked users in Germany from access to the account of a neo-Nazi group that is banned by the government here.

The move was the first time that Twitter acted on a policy known as “country-withheld content,” announced in January, in which it will block an account at the request of a government. But the company cracked open the gates to a complex new era in which it will increasingly have to referee legal challenges to the deluge of posts that has made the site so popular.

The company said the goal was to balance freedom of expression with compliance with local laws. “Never want to withhold content; good to have tools to do it narrowly & transparently,” Alexander Macgillivray, the company’s chief lawyer, wrote on Twitter.

Those outside of Germany can read the Twitter feed for the neo-Nazi group Besseres Hannover here. 

I don't believe that in 2012 Germany should be criminalizing hate speech, even from neo-Nazi organizations. These groups should be watched closely, but they have no chance of gaining much traction in a strong democratice republic.  Democracy depends on free spreech - even speech that we hate. 

Unfortunatlely, commitment to free speech seems to be eroding, even in the United States:

In the United States, where speech is given the most protection among Western countries, there has been a recent effort to carve out a potentially large category to which the First Amendment would not apply. While we have always prosecuted people who lie to achieve financial or other benefits, some argue that the government can outlaw any lie, regardless of whether the liar secured any economic gain.

The dangers are obvious. Government officials have long labeled whistleblowers, reporters and critics as “liars” who distort their actions or words. If the government can define what is a lie, it can define what is the truth.

It is about time that Germany stop criminalizing hate speech - even Holocaust-denial.  It would make for a stronger democracy and a more open society.  The idiocy of the neo-Nazis will become only more marginalized - instead of being martyred.

The very right that laid the foundation for Western civilization is increasingly viewed as a nuisance, if not a threat. Whether speech is deemed imflammatory or hateful or discriminatory or simply false, society is denying speech rights in the name of tolerance, enforcing mutual respect through categorical censorship.

As in a troubled marriage, the West seems to be falling out of love with free speech. Unable to divorce ourselves from this defining right, we take refuge instead in an awkward and forced silence.

 

Merkel has "complete faith" in Annette Schavan

Angele Merkel likes to surround herself with plagiarists.  But it is especially embarrassing when it turns out that the Minister for Education plagiarized large chunks of her doctoral dissertation. Yesterday the chancellor expressed her "complete faith" in Minister Schavan («Die Ministerin hat mein vollstes Vertrauen»).  With these words, the fate of Annette Schavan is sealed - she will be out in months (HT Politblogger)

But I have to ask: why is that so many leading politicians in the Merkel administration engaged in plagiarism to achieve their acadamic titles?  Has anyone ever source-checked Dr. Merkel's doctoral dissertation?

You know the old saying: "Birds of a feather...."

Willy Brandt Died 20 Years Ago

Last week marked the 20th anniversary of Willy Brandt's death.  The marker went completely unnoticed in the United States, and was barely mentioned even in the German press.  That is unfortunate, since Willy Brandt was the most charismatic political figure in postwar Germany.  No other German chancellor or poltiical leader did more to change America's view of Germany or the German people.  He will be foreever linked in our memories with that other charismatic figure - John F. Kennedy - and that famous speech at the Berlin Wall. 

WIlly Brandt was a friend and admirer of the United States.  By that, I mean a true friend, who did not hesitate to criticize when America did not live up to its professed ideals.  As a young man living in exile, he recognized America's contribution to the defeat of Hitler.  In the postwar era he embraced America's commitment to individual freedom and liberty, while recognizing the indispensible contribution of the US to German security, which helped Berlin survive two existential crises - the Berlin Airlift and the Berlin Wall. 

As Karsten Voigt has written, Willy Brandt collaborated with the United States his entire adult life: 

Willy Brandt schrieb  während des Zweiten Weltkrieges und auch noch in der ersten Zeit danach Berichte an die US-Botschaft in Stockholm und zumindest indirekt auch an das OSS, den Vorgänger des heutigen CIA. Das war für ihn – wie für andere Gegner des Nationalsozialismus unter den deutschen Emigranten – Ausdruck seines Interesses an einem demokratischen Nachkriegsdeutschland. Sein Wille zur Zusammenarbeit schloss damals, wie auch später, nie eine kritische Beurteilung der USA aus, wenn deren Politik seinen eigenen Überzeugungen widersprach. Deshalb bestand für den jungen Willy Brandt, ebenso wie für mich in meiner Jugend, immer ein Spannungsverhältnis zwischen dem Lob der Demokratie und Freiheit in den Vereinigten Staaten und die gleichzeitige Kritik an den negativen Auswirkungen des amerikanischen Kapitalismus.  

(During World War II and then just after the war Willy Brandt wrote reports to the US embassy in Stockholm and then, indirectly, to the OSS, the predecessor to the CIA.  For him - as well as for other German emigres who opposed National Socialism - this was an expression of his interest in a democratic postwar Germany.  His eagerness to cooperate never excluded at that time - or later - criticism of the US, when its policies contradicted its convictions.  Therefore there was always a certain tension with WIlly - as well as with me - between praise for the democracy and freedom in the United States and at the same time criticism of the effects of American capitalism.)

While the American people always admired Willy Brandt, that was not always the case with the White House and Capitol Hill in Washington DC.  The officials of the Reagan administration hated Brandt for his Ostpolitik and call for reconciliation with the East Bloc, as well as his commitment to nuclear disarmament (which, ironically, Reagan later came to embrace as well).  Here is a typical piece from the neoconservative National Review from 1985 (pdf warning): 

ARE THERE Still any lingering doubts about the wisdom of President Reagan's decision to snub Willy Brandt on bis German trip in May?  If so, lei me try to dispel tbem

Tbe chairman of tbe German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and of tbe Socialist International, ex-burgomaster of Berlin, ex-chancellor, bero to millions on tbe non-Communist Left, titular autbor of the Brandt Report, etc., has been working indefatigably to weaken Western (and in particular American) defenses. That be doesn't like Persbing or cruise missiles or the Strategic Defense Initiative is not exactly news, but there is little public awareness of the scale and persistence of his efforts.

Willy Brandt was an inspirational leader, and not just for Germany.  For millions in Poland, in the GDR, the Soviet Union, and, yes, even in America, he represented the hope of freedom AND peace and reconciliation.  The Nobel Committee just awarded the Peace Prize to the European Union. This is, in large measure, a tribute to the legacy of Willy Brandt.

I recommend Judith Michael's book Willy Brandts Amerikabild und -Politik 1933 - 1992, large chunks of which can be read online at Google Books. 

Brief update to my list of The Ten Greatest German Novels

Recently I put forward my list of the Ten Greatest German Novels.  I almost never pay for books since I am quite fortunate in having access to three college libraries (Colby, Bates and Bowdoin), each with excellent collection of German titles (both fiction and non-fiction).  I only have to resort to buying from Amazon when I want to read a recently-released book (such as the winner of the Deutscher Buchpreis), and then I can usually resell these in the US for a profit. 

But lovers of great literature in German living in the US and Canada have another very inexpensive option: Amazon's Kindle Store.  I just discovered that FIVE of the books on my Ten Greatest list are available for FREE download from the Kindle Store in North America: Die Leiden des jungen Werthers, Frau Jenny Treibel, Buddenbrooks, Der Prozess, and Radetzkymarsch. That's a lot of great reading for no cost! But the free content is available only in the original German.  English-only readers must pay for translated version.  

Another Kindle deal: you can purchase the collected works (sämtliche Werke) of Kafka, Heine, and Heinrich von Kleist for only $2.99 apiece.  Happy Reading!

Oh, and you don't need a Kindle or other Amazon device.  The Kindle App is available at no cost for iPhone, iPad, and Android tablet or phone users.

Exhibit on German POWs in Maine

If you are visiting the Great State of Maine this fall you'll want to stop by the Holocaust and Human Rights Center in Augusta to learn about a forgotten chapter in local history.  Starting in 1945 thousands of German prisoners of war were detained in a network of camps located in the northern rural areas of Maine.  Their story is told through photographs and documents at an exhibit:

AUGUSTA – The Holocaust and Human Rights Center (HHRC) of Maine has created an exhibit focusing on the history and artifacts from Maine’s P.O.W. camps between 1944 and 1946. The exhibit, Maine Boys Overseas, German Boys in Maine, brings together artifacts, historical documents, and a film from a variety of Maine sources.

In early February, 1944, Maine Second District Congresswoman Margaret Chase Smith revealed that the War Department had made plans to send German prisoners of war to Maine to work on lumber projects. A month later, Senator Ralph Owen Brewster announced that 2,500 German POWs had been assigned to Maine and would be housed at a camp near the Houlton airfield, and possibly other locations.

This was a different era, and these camps were no Guantanamo-like torture and isolation centers.  Rather, the prisoners were put to work for the potato harvests or worked in lumber camps and on road crews. A number of prisoners were even allowed to take correspondence courses through the University of Maine.

A number of former POWs look back fondly on their time in Maine and over the years have made pilgrimages back to the places of their incarceration. It is hard to imagine that would ever happen at Gitmo.