The Kamikaze Party

[BelgianMadCow]

From a longer article on Der Spiegel online, in english, about the german press' reaction, titled " Shutdown Spectacle: 'America Is Already Politically Bankrupt'"

The 'Kamikaze Party'

The overwhelming consensus among the German press is that the Republicans are the most to blame for the gridlock. In a Tuesday commentary, SPIEGEL ONLINE's Gregor Peter Schmitz dubbed them the "kamikaze party." He attributed the gridlock to America's mercenary political culture -- where directly elected lawmakers run for re-election every two years and campaigns are privately financed -- as well as to the lack of party infrastructure compared to Germany's parliamentary model with its publicly funded campaigns.

"It's circumstances like these," writes Schmitz, "that explain why a brigade of Republicans conduct themselves like a bunch of Berlusconis -- as enemies of the state from within who want to cripple the country because that's the desire of their conservative voters at home."

When it came to the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party, the German press was not pulling any punches. "There are fundamentalists within the world's largest democracy: The hardline wing of the Republican Party are once more crippling the United States," writes Nuremberg's Nachrichten. The Tea Party movement, it concludes, "does not engage in democracy, but in dogmatism."

"Here are fundamentalists at work who hold up their country to ridicule to advance their pure doctrine," wrote a commentator in Collogne's Stadt-Anzeiger. "What a tragedy!"

Thought DU might like this view from across the pond. Similarly, belgian journalists aren't confused about who's to blame either, I might add.

[RagAss]

1. So who's advanced more since WW II ?

Not us.

[BelgianMadCow]

4. Well, I'm frequently surprised by Germany

I find their press to be one of the best. They also have something resembling a democracy, given that they have actual discussions in their parliament about the neverending "eurozone" (bank) bailout, and even constitutional challenges to the bailout program. In much of Europe, all of these pass under the radar and without debate.
They also had laarge Occupy camps. They are going decidedly for green energy and have banned nuclear.

And if I want to read about the NSA, I find ten times more in the (conservative!) Frankfurter Allgemeine than in the entire US media. They also spearhead the ACTA and SOPA opposition.

And on top of that, whilst working there, I found the stereotypes about Germany to be plain wrong. Of course, DU has helped me in seeing through the stereotypes about the US, so don't do yourselves too much injustice.

[landolfi]

2. The only people confused

are the ones who consume the US media, who are ringleading the circus to serve their infotainment needs, the more drama the better. It's a shame but they are worthless now, too few owners with too much money and zero interest in serving the public. And the Repigs talk about "liberal bias" here? Come the fuck on, that's a term that shows once again how out of touch those whackjobs are.

[flamingdem]

3. We may need the Germans to help us out with our traitors

as did the French during the Revolutionary War.