Der Spiegel

[Annie]

Just ran across this article from a news source often cited during the Bush years. Often running anti-administration screeds, if was a staple for posts from the left. 'Our allies' were criticizing the administrations refusal to work with others. Well guess what? It may be they are still staying on message:

Obama's Mistakes: Chancellor Merkel Visits the Debt President - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

06/25/2009 11:58 AM

OBAMA'S MISTAKES
Chancellor Merkel Visits the Debt President

By Gabor Steingart
The occupant of the White House may have changed recently. But the amount of ill-advised ideology coming from Washington has remained constant. Obama's list of economic errors is long -- and continues to grow.

The president may have changed, but the excesses of American politics have remained. Barack Obama and George W. Bush, it has become clear, are more similar than they might seem at first glance.


DPA
US President Barack Obama has not been shy about public spending.

Ex-President Bush was nothing if not zealous in his worldwide campaign against terror, transgressing human rights and breaking international law along the way. Now, Obama is displaying the same zeal in his own war against the financial crisis -- and his weapon of choice is the money-printing machine. The rules the new American president is breaking are those which govern the economy. Nobody is being killed. But the strategy comes at a price -- and that price might be America's position as a global power.
In his fight against terrorism, Bush had the ideologue Dick Cheney at his side. "We must take the battle to the enemy," he said -- and sent out the bomber squadrons toward Iraq on the basis of mere suspicion. The result of the offensive is well known.

Obama's Cheney Got to love this analogy!

Obama's Cheney is named Larry Summers. He is Obama's senior-most economic advisor, and like the former vice president, he is a man of conviction. The financial crisis may be large, but Summers' self-confidence is even larger. More importantly, President Barack Obama follows him like a dog does its master.

The crisis, Summers intoned last week at a conference of Deutsche Bank's Alfred Herrhausen Society in Washington, was caused by too much confidence, too much credit and too many debts. It was hard not to nod along in agreement.

But then Summers added that the way to bring about an end to the crisis was -- more confidence, more credit and more debt. And the nodding stopped. Experts and non-experts alike were perplexed. Even in an interview following the presentation, Summers was unable to supply an adequate explanation for how a crisis caused by frivolous lending was going to be solved through yet more frivolity.

Summers has no misgivings, and doesn't recognize those held by others. The fact that German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently gave a speech in which she was critical of the US economic stimulus program did not impress Summers. In our conversation, he said he thought Merkel's position was a tactical one. "She only says that out of domestic concerns," he said and rolled his eyes in disapproval. The battle must be taken to the enemy.

Just as the US public initially rallied behind the war President Bush -- even to the point of re-electing him -- Americans have now thrown their support behind the debt president Obama. The mistakes of the Bush administration are now widely accepted. The mistakes of the Obama administration are still not recognized as such. They are seen as the truth....

See, it's not the president, it's the 'stupid Americans.'

 

[Xenophon]

It's come to this, being lectured by Germans.

How low we have sunk.

 

[Annie]

It's come to this, being lectured by Germans.

How low we have sunk.

Well they criticized before and they are still criticizing. It's what Der Spiegel does, rants about the awful Americans.

Now I'm not saying they are wrong about US spending, IMO they are; still I don't think we'll see a whole bunch of postings from this rag from those on the left any longer.

 

[editec]

It's come to this, being lectured by Germans.

How low we have sunk.

Well they criticized before and they are still criticizing. It's what Der Spiegel does, rants about the awful Americans.

Now I'm not saying they are wrong about US spending, IMO they are; still I don't think we'll see a whole bunch of postings from this rag from those on the left any longer.

This is the first posting from that mag I've ever seen here.

Of course the Germans object to deficit spending.

The Germans are notoriously fearful of hyperinflation.

Given their history one can understand that fear.

 

[MaggieMae]

It's come to this, being lectured by Germans.

How low we have sunk.

When does an opinion become a lecture? The United States is no longer an independently operated closed society.

 

[Steve Jobs]

This is the first posting from that mag I've ever seen here.

Of course the Germans object to deficit spending.

The Germans are notoriously fearful of hyperinflation.

Given their history one can understand that fear.

*raises hand*

Uh, so do I.

Uh, so am I.

 

[elvis]

der Spiegel (the mirror) has the reputation of being too far left IN GERMANY.

 

[L.K.Eder]

der Spiegel (the mirror) has the reputation of being too far left IN GERMANY.

der spiegel is more left than right. and for your coordinates probably always left.

but it is also a typical mainstream full of it self media blob. print media, with a strong online presence. they get interviews with interesting people, like with mir hossein mousavi months ago. so if you pussy americans cant stand a little critic from a biased source from the outside of the US i guess you just have to pull your heads in and ignore it.

 

[elvis]

der Spiegel (the mirror) has the reputation of being too far left IN GERMANY.

der spiegel is more left than right. and for your coordinates probably always left.

but it is also a typical mainstream full of it self media blob. print media, with a strong online presence. they get interviews with interesting people, like with mir hossein mousavi months ago. so if you pussy americans cant stand a little critic from a biased source from the outside of the US i guess you just have to pull your heads in and ignore it.

Uh, my friends in Germany claim it is too socialist. and these friends are Obama-supporting democrats.

 

[L.K.Eder]

der Spiegel (the mirror) has the reputation of being too far left IN GERMANY.

der spiegel is more left than right. and for your coordinates probably always left.

but it is also a typical mainstream full of it self media blob. print media, with a strong online presence. they get interviews with interesting people, like with mir hossein mousavi months ago. so if you pussy americans cant stand a little critic from a biased source from the outside of the US i guess you just have to pull your heads in and ignore it.

Uh, my friends in Germany claim it is too socialist. and these friends are Obama-supporting democrats.

well, that is between you and your friends. i only monitor the online presence, and the bias is totally depending on the issue and the author. it is too sensationalist for me. but it has the occasional interesting interview. let's avoid the term socialist, ok? we'd need a whole new debate and we both know that would not end well.

 

[Annie]

It's come to this, being lectured by Germans.

How low we have sunk.

When does an opinion become a lecture? The United States is no longer an independently operated closed society.

What do you mean by this?

 

[Gunny]

It's come to this, being lectured by Germans.

How low we have sunk.

Well they criticized before and they are still criticizing. It's what Der Spiegel does, rants about the awful Americans.

Now I'm not saying they are wrong about US spending, IMO they are; still I don't think we'll see a whole bunch of postings from this rag from those on the left any longer.

You mean no welcome parades and flowers?

Imagine THAT.

 

[mightypeon]

Actually, the article in question is by Gabor Steingart who is a total and utter whackjob, and that guy is coming from the right side of the German spectrum.

The German left is in favor of gouverment intervention in the financial crisis, on the condition that it gets regulated and that the intervention does not become a simple bail out after which the banks continue to operate as they did before.

 

[Nik]

It's come to this, being lectured by Germans.

How low we have sunk.

Well they criticized before and they are still criticizing. It's what Der Spiegel does, rants about the awful Americans.

Now I'm not saying they are wrong about US spending, IMO they are; still I don't think we'll see a whole bunch of postings from this rag from those on the left any longer.

No, it doesn't. If you actually read them as opposed to cherry picking some articles you'd realize this.