When the Germans call you Hitler.
Have you ever wondered what politicians really think of each other? Think of the last time you saw two politicians, say Bush and Russia’s Putin, grinning like Cheshire cats at a press conference? Do you think they really care about each other?
Politicians are like actors for corporate and class interests. It ain’t personal. It’s political. When German parliamentary elections were held recently, the Social Democratic Party’s [SPD] Gerhard Schröder vocally opposed the Bush war in Iraq and handily got re-elected.
The SPD’s Justice Minister, Herta Däubler-Gmelin, raised hackles on both sides of the Atlantic when she reportedly told metal workers, “Bush wants to divert attention from his domestic problems. It’s a classic tactic. It’s one that Hitler also used.” Official Washington and the corporate press had a connection fit. Hitler! The SPD quickly removed Frau Däubler-Gmelin from her post. But one wonders, who knows Hitler or his tactics better than the Germans? Aren’t they uniquely qualified to make that determination?
The Germans don’t buy all of the American palaver about all bringing freedom, democracy, and McDonald’s quarter pounders with cheese to Iraq. Germans know that the 1929 Great Depression fueled the rise of Hitler’s Nazi Party. With the German economy in the dumps, Hitler launched a racist campaign against Jews, Gypsies and Slavs. Germany annexed Austria and invaded Czechoslovakia and Poland, making it appear as if the Germans liberated these lands. In other words, Hitler wanted to divert attention from his domestic problems. Ask yourself, would Bush rather address the sad state of the US economy, the business scandals, or Iraq? From death row this is Mumia Abu Jamal.
These commentaries are produced by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.