Thilo Sarrazin and the preparations for a new right-wing party in Germany

[Hannah Bell]

In the space of two weeks, a concerted campaign has developed in Germany to defend the racist views promulgated by Thilo Sarrazin in his new book Germany Abolishes Itself. Behind the former Social Democratic Party (SPD) official and member, until recently, of the executive board of the Bundesbank (Germany’s central bank), there has emerged a broad alliance extending from leading Social Democrats to prominent intellectuals and media figures to the right wing of the Christian Democrats. Their goal is to overcome long-discredited racist prejudices and prepare the ground for a new right-wing party.

In his book, Sarrazin has supplied this campaign with its key themes. He declares that social problems are really ethnic problems, and places the responsibility for these problems on Muslim immigrants...His book is a transparent attempt to divert growing anger over worsening social conditions away from those political and corporate figures who are responsible and channel it against vulnerable sections of society.

The publication of Sarrazin’s book was accompanied by a well-orchestrated campaign in the media. This began with the advance publication of long passages in Der Spiegel and Bild. In recent weeks there has not been a television talk show that did not feature Sarrazin himself or one of his defenders.

Whereas most commentators initially distanced themselves from Sarrazin’s most provocative theses, declaring that he had initiated a “legitimate” debate but in an unfortunate manner, prominent politicians and journalists have now begun to openly support his racist theories.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/sep2010/pers-s11.shtml

[leftstreet]

1. The more the serfs get beat down economically, the more this shit will fly

Horrible stuff, and it's happening everywhere

[HereSince1628]

7. When the wolf howls at the door, xenophobia flies in the window

There seems to currently be a huge need to blame "Them" and not "US."

Unfortunately, within this little biosphere we call spaceship Earth, there is the certain reality that all of 'them' _IS_ actually all of us.

[ananda]

2. It shows how media creates rightwing myths.

As long as corporations control the media, this shit will continue.

It's particularly virulent in the small European countries that were until
recently more homogeneous, but there is a trend in this direction here
in America too.

First, the media appeals to the idiots filled with hate easily brought to
the surface given some sort of media and political legitimacy.

Secondly, the media and the police state suppress or marginalize all
forms of intelligent discourse, dissent, or protest.

It's sad and very very scary.

[whathehell]

3. Oh Gawd......Not this again.

Tell me they're still not allowed to have an army.

[Selatius]

5. One of the best in Europe, actually. Germany was allowed to keep its military after the war.

They would have been the first line of defense if the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union decided to invade West Europe using conventional force.

What's happening in Germany is what has been happening elsewhere in Europe. Corporate elites are trying to play on the prejudices of the working class in a bid to deflect attention away from the fact that they are still prospering while the working class is losing badly.

[whathehell]

6. Thanks for the information.

One can only hope this attempt to "deflect" fails, and fails badly.

[bobbieinok]

9. But only to be deployed under NATO????

And I think there were legal as well as historic (Nazis and WWII) reasons that kept German army out of Kosovo and other parts of the former Yugoslavia for a long time.

Bobbie in OK

[spanone]

4. finally the teabaggers will have a messiah

[gerenimox]

8. Almost half of the germans support this christian nazi

it won`t be a surprise if he gets elected into the presidency.

[bobbieinok]

10. RW talk show hosts in US (Savage, et.al.) use Europe as THE

horrible example of how Muslims take over societies when there is public apathy. So I'm sure they're praising him, his comments, his followers, and his new party.

Where are the Germans who know their own history??????? Germany played this race game from the rise of Hitler (Munich Putsch, Hitler writing Mein Kampf in jail, etc.) to the fall of Germany in 1945.

AND HOW MANY PEOPLE DIED BECAUSE OF THIS RACE HATRED INSANITY?????????????

(And don't forget that for some people there was the theme of Christian warriors fighting the Jews.)

And the Serbian replay with ethnic cleansing. AND HOW MANY BOSNIANS WERE MASSACRED THEN???????

And Americans should never forget the slogan from our own history: "The only good Indian is a dead Indian."

[Iterate]

11. Easy, easy, don't set your hair on fire. Yet.

First of all, translating one county's politics to another is almost never accurate.

Thilo Sarrazin was fired from the Bundesbank, or as they say in banking, "asked to resign." His bad behavior (causing controversy and publishing racist views) may even result in his pension plan being challenged. His political party, the SPD, is a mainstream to slightly leftish and is trying to kick him out. They have a problem with it, not because they agree with him (they don't), but because they went so far in the past to promote him. If you say "Ooops, my bad" in Germany, it doesn't get you any forgiveness, but is more like asking the entire country to kick your ass until their legs get tired. Not good. So they are pressuring him to resign, which I would expect he will. By the way, his racist views, which are thoroughly indefensible, wouldn't get more than a yawn from FixedNews.

So far in the story I see very little that easily translates to US politics. Let me try again.

A finance officer for NYC in Queens is a well-promoted blue-dog Democrat. He writes a book and suddenly starts sounding like Pat Buchanan. He's immediately fired and the Democrats pressure him to resign. A few other blue-dog Democrats and a few Republicans agree with him. MSNBC and CNN give him interviews. A few libertarian leftists say we should hear him out. Almost all other politicians shoot him down. The New Yorker thinks it's amusing, so they put him on a glossy cover with a glib account. The finance minister and a few others say they will form a new party, the Freedom Party. Political experts say they don't have a chance. The National Enquirer publishes a poll, in their giant bare breast and swimsuit issue, which shows 18% support, including votes from leftists who have no intention of supporting him, but are enjoying seeing him twist in the wind and might benefit. Now the analogy breaks down, because who benefits if they do form a party? Ralph Nader.

Is any of this good? No. I'm as edgy as anyone when politicians start talking racial theory. But without knowing the context it sounds even worse than it is.

And as an aside, it was not half who supported him and anyone calling an official a nazi would be arrested -it's considered hate speech and is not tolerated. Beware of the context