Topic: Decline of the West
Being lectured about “democracy” by a German is like taking cooking lessons from an Englishman. But here’s Gregor Peter Schmitz, wringing his hands over the “annihilation” of American democracy in Der Spiegel.
Schmitz is alarmed by the rise of the wicked, Obama-hating Tea Party movement that has, as he explains it, trashed the time-honored American principle of political compromise. “These lawmakers no longer view themselves as part of the political system,” he cries. “Instead, they identify themselves as its enemy. They see themselves as outsiders, even as they sit in Congress and enjoy the kinds of job benefits they would like to strip from their fellow Americans.”
If this is a typical example of the political commentary that Herr Schmitz has been providing to Der Spiegel, the magazine should ask for its money back. No wonder that people in Germany (as I can testify from personal experience) know nothing about America.
Hey, Gregor, as a matter ort fact it was the democratic process—you know, an election and stuff—that sent to Congress those anti-government fanatics you revile. So, actually, it’s not too surprising to find them representing the views of the people who elected them. That’s how it works—not that I’d expect a German to grasp that point. As I recall, the German people were never asked if they wanted to have their beloved Deutschmark replaced with the Euro. That change was simply imposed upon them. No doubt Barack Obama would love to have that kind of power. But our system—of which Herr Schmitz seems to have the most tentative grasp—doesn’t work that way.
