NationStates Jolt Archive

Disclaimer: Before I get flamed by both the left AND the right, I should mention in the interest of full disclosure that I myself am "Liberal Scum." Thank you.

It seems to me that, in terms of punditry, continental European news analysis seems almost smug in its analysis of the American political and social landscape post-Katrina.

In particular, the latest English-language edition of the Deutsche Welle programme Quardriga not only titled the edition "Superpower U.S.A.: Humbled By A Hurricane?" but the analysis of the American political landscape portrayed the public of this country as being more or less oblivious, and one of the talking heads even went so far as to use the word "somnalent."

If I had been a European watching what these people were saying, I would have been led to believe that the U.S. public is feeling just fine about the mismanagement of the disaster and that we're all just sleepwalking along, not at all outraged.

I cannot remember one time when the American media (numerous faults notwithstanding) danced over the graves of the "Continent" when thousands of French citizens were killed during that horrific heatwave, or when towns in parts of Germany were flooded. Nobody on an American talkshow asked whether the French psyche had been humbled by the deaths of elderly due to inclimate heat, or whether Vorsprung durch Technik failed to keep the banks of rivers from destroying German livelihoods.

Doesn't the Anti-American part of Europe have anything better to do?

It's unfair to categorize most Americans the way European newspapers have over the Katrina affair but hey. Whatever makes our current government look bad, I'm all for. Do I like getting lumped in like that? Of course not. But I can see an outsider looking in after the first days and not seeing much movement or reaction from Washington and saying, "So... uh... Whatcha gonna do about that?"

I cannot remember one time when the American media (numerous faults notwithstanding) danced over the graves of the "Continent" when thousands of French citizens were killed during that horrific heatwave, or when towns in parts of Germany were flooded.

Largely because the American media focuses on American news. And the American media is among the most successful and prolific in the globe. The US tends to be the center of media attention, which is why many Europeans know who O.J Simpson or Michael Jackson are, and I can't name equivalent individuals from the whole of Europe.

well you have to see the funny side of this,the worlds last superpower can't even defend its citizens from a force of nature it knew was coming.yes i know some people did the righ thing and ran in terror in the face of Katrina,and that most of those left are the ones who can't leave.but even still the government should have had everything they have waiting at the minimum safe distance for the storm to die/move on so they can help survivors.

How about this from European media?

As the full horror of Hurricane Katrina sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if this is the end of George Bush's presidency. The answer is almost certainly yes, provided that every copy of the US Constitution was destroyed in the storm. Otherwise President Bush will remain in office until noon on January 20th, 2009, as required by the 20th Amendment, after which he is barred from seeking a third term anyway under the 22nd Amendment.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if the entire political agenda of George Bush's second term will not still be damaged in some terribly satisfying way.

The answer is almost certainly yes, provided that the entire political agenda of George Bush's second term consists of repealing the 22nd Amendment. Otherwise, with a clear Republican majority in both Houses of Congress, he can carry on doing pretty much whatever he likes.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if the Republican Party itself will now suffer a setback at the congressional mid-term elections next November.

The answer is almost certainly yes, provided that people outside the disaster zone punish their local representatives for events elsewhere a year previously, both beyond their control and outside their remit, while people inside the disaster zone reward their local representatives for an ongoing calamity they were supposed to prevent. Otherwise, the Democratic Party will suffer a setback at the next congressional election.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if an official inquiry will shift the blame for poor planning and inadequate flood defences on to the White House. The answer is almost certainly yes, provided nobody admits that emergency planning is largely the responsibility of city and state agencies, and nobody notices that the main levee which broke was the only levee recently modernised with federal funds. Otherwise, an official inquiry will pin most of the blame on the notoriously corrupt and incompetent local governments of New Orleans and Louisiana.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if George Bush contributed to the death toll by sending so many national guard units to Iraq.

The answer is almost certainly yes, provided nobody recalls that those same columnists have spent the past two years blaming George Bush for another death toll by not sending enough national guard units to Iraq. Otherwise, people might wonder why they have never previously read a single article advocating large-scale military redeployment during the Caribbean hurricane season.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnist are asking how a civilised city can descend into anarchy.

The answer is that only a civilised city can descend into anarchy.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if George Bush should be held responsible for the terrible poverty in the southern states revealed by the flooding.

The answer is almost certainly yes, provided nobody holds Bill Clinton responsible for making Mississippi the poorest state in the union throughout his entire term as president, or for making Arkansas the second-poorest state in the union throughout his entire term as governor. Otherwise, people might suspect that it is a bit more complicated than that.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if George Bush should not be concerned by accusations of racism against the federal government.

The answer is almost certainly yes, provided nobody remembers that Jesse Jackson once called New York "Hymietown" and everybody thinks Condoleezza Rice went shopping for shoes when the hurricane struck because she cannot stand black people.

Otherwise sensible Americans of all races will be more concerned by trite, cynical and dangerous political opportunism.

As the full horror of that sinks in, this columnist is simply glad that everybody cares.

......O.J Simpson or Michael Jackson........

micheal jackson is an international popstar,but who is OJ simpson?

well you have to see the funny side of this,the worlds last superpower can't even defend its citizens from a force of nature it knew was coming.yes i know some people did the righ thing and ran in terror in the face of Katrina,and that most of those left are the ones who can't leave.but even still the government should have had everything they have waiting at the minimum safe distance for the storm to die/move on so they can help survivors.
Hey, man. Our president reacts from his gut. When he wants to send help it will be in coordination with a bowel movement. Cut him some slack.

I will not"flame" you for voicing your opinion in a respectful way.

Let me tell you first that I am German. I do not, however, claim to speak for, or represent, the whole of Germany or anything like that.

I, personally, have not yet heard not a single news report that made the Americans seem to be oblivious of this catastrophe. On the contrary, the only reports I saw where of Americans all over the country being in deep grief and/or rage about the desaster.

Secondly, i do not feel any "schadenfreude" at all. I am sorry for anyone losing life,health,property or anything else in a way like this. The nationality of the person afflicted couldn't matter less to me.

But I think it is a valid question to ask how any happening, be it a hurricane or whatever, affected the society it hit. I'd have found the questions of how the floods in my country affected our society (as they did, by the way, greaty; they even had measurable effect on the outcome of the following election) or how the heatwave affected the French society just as acceptable.

Nobody is dancing on anybodys grave. Criticism on the way the help and rescue are coordinated, or how the prevention programs were run, does not exclude true empathy with those who suffered.

What is this "schadenfreude" you speek of?

micheal jackson is an international popstar,but who is OJ simpson?
He's an ex American football player, turned actor, turned knife weilding killer, turned loose from jail.

What is this "schadenfreude" you speek of?
It's when you feel a little happy about misfortunes befalling others.

How about this from European media?

I have to have a link for that article. It was too good not to pay attention to where it came from. :)

Okay, I'll eat my words. ;)
My German comprehension isn't sufficiently up to snuff to watch the ZDF or N24 broadcasts I can pick up here, so I guess I took one particularly negative experience and stretched it over the whole continental media landscape. I just found one particularly irksome case of editorialising and was momentarily blinded.
My own jumping to uneducated conclusions. :mp5:

He's an ex American football player, turned actor, turned knife weilding killer, turned loose from jail.

The gloves didn't fit man! :eek:

He's an ex American football player, turned actor, turned knife weilding killer, turned loose from jail.
God bless america,i was happier not knowin who he was.

Ifreann,

The Prosecution didn't prove their case so the jury found him not guilty. There for, he didn't do. Besides that, the evidence wasn't even there either.

Disclaimer: Before I get flamed by both the left AND the right, I should mention in the interest of full disclosure that I myself am "Liberal Scum." Thank you.

It seems to me that, in terms of punditry, continental European news analysis seems almost smug in its analysis of the American political and social landscape post-Katrina.

In particular, the latest English-language edition of the Deutsche Welle programme Quardriga not only titled the edition "Superpower U.S.A.: Humbled By A Hurricane?" but the analysis of the American political landscape portrayed the public of this country as being more or less oblivious, and one of the talking heads even went so far as to use the word "somnalent."

If I had been a European watching what these people were saying, I would have been led to believe that the U.S. public is feeling just fine about the mismanagement of the disaster and that we're all just sleepwalking along, not at all outraged.

I cannot remember one time when the American media (numerous faults notwithstanding) danced over the graves of the "Continent" when thousands of French citizens were killed during that horrific heatwave, or when towns in parts of Germany were flooded. Nobody on an American talkshow asked whether the French psyche had been humbled by the deaths of elderly due to inclimate heat, or whether Vorsprung durch Technik failed to keep the banks of rivers from destroying German livelihoods.

maybe thats because you didn't care

maybe thats because you didn't care

'You,' as in the collective American people, or 'you' as in me, Australus, who is typing right now?

If that's the collective 'You,' then yes, the majority of us didn't care. If it's the individual 'you,' then I did care quite a bit. I happen to be a firm believer in global warming and besides the tragic human toll of those events in Europe, they also happen to be canaries in an increasingly dangerous coal-mine. And besides, if I happened to remember them, then I think that's a sign I care(d).

It's no wonder that newspapers write about the social dimension of the hurricane disaster, when people in the U.S. seriously debate about whether New Orleans should be rebuilt, or if the victims deserve help at all since they were so stupid not to leave New Orleans.

I have to have a link for that article. It was too good not to pay attention to where it came from. :)
The Irish Times (http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/opinion/2005/0908/2132634993OP08NEWTON.html), but you have to register.

It was written by a guy called Newton Emerson who runs (or, rather, used to run, until he got offered a better job) a satirical website that completely took the piss out of Northern Irish politics and life in general...and everybody loved it (www.portadownnews.com).

I'm in the strange position of having been born in Salzburg, Austria and immigrating to the U.S. when I was less than a year old, and now lived through the whole situation in New Orleans, as I live there.

My political outlook is somewhat of a mix of feelings [too long to list], but I seriously disagree with the accusation that the whole of Europe has been expressing anti-Americanism in this matter. I agree with SoWiBi that there has not been any sense of 'Schadenfreude', except perhaps coming from certain people, ironically, from the United States.

However, it is interesting to hear other political ideas and I am not criticizing you in any way, Australus. But the fact is, there has been a great deal of support coming not only from Europe, but even from the Middle East! [Qatar, Kuwait, etc.] and Asia [notably the country of Sri Lanka has given the residents, not the city itself, of New Orleans $25 million of relief for the damage caused by the storm].

Anyway, no criticism coming from me. Carry on. :)

(...)
In particular, the latest English-language edition of the Deutsche Welle programme Quardriga not only titled the edition "Superpower U.S.A.: Humbled By A Hurricane?" but the analysis of the American political landscape portrayed the public of this country as being more or less oblivious, and one of the talking heads even went so far as to use the word "somnalent."

If I had been a European watching what these people were saying, I would have been led to believe that the U.S. public is feeling just fine about the mismanagement of the disaster and that we're all just sleepwalking along, not at all outraged.

I cannot remember one time when the American media (numerous faults notwithstanding) danced over the graves of the "Continent" when thousands of French citizens were killed during that horrific heatwave, or when towns in parts of Germany were flooded. Nobody on an American talkshow asked whether the French psyche had been humbled by the deaths of elderly due to inclimate heat, or whether Vorsprung durch Technik failed to keep the banks of rivers from destroying German livelihoods.
Well, I watch approximately 5-8 news shows on different channels a day and I haven't seen anything of what you are talking about.
The question that came to my mind was more like - the U.S. can fly a B2 around the globe to destroy a building via laser-guided bomb through an airduct or annihilate the whole planet within 30 minutes but it cannot help its own people to safety when they knew when and where a terrible hurricane was gonna make landfall?
Dumbfounded? Yes. Schadenfroh? (Adj. of Schadenfreude) Hell no! Definitely not contempt, either!

And as for the American news not covering a darn thing in Europe - surprise, surprise! They don't give a shit! Man, I went completely nuts trying to get decent world news in the states and finally found out that I could watch the BBC...

Man, it's like seeing your big brother that you've always admired failing miserably and there's not a single darn thing you can do to help him.

Instead of complaining about our German media coverage of world events, shouldn't you be asking why the media coverage in the states is so downright crappy?

I'm just glad the THW (Technisches Hilfswerk = "Technical Taskforce", comparable with an Engineer's Corps without weapons) is there to help with 15 highpower waterpumps. Funny that you didn't mention the good media coverage...
And as for your clever "Vorsprung durch Technik" remark (Audi-slogan "Headstart through technology) - glad we can help you with our technology. Probably one of the reasons why you never heard much of the floods here?

*Sadly shakes head, sighs, wanders off*

Disclaimer: Before I get flamed by both the left AND the right, I should mention in the interest of full disclosure that I myself am "Liberal Scum." Thank you.

It seems to me that, in terms of punditry, continental European news analysis seems almost smug in its analysis of the American political and social landscape post-Katrina.

In particular, the latest English-language edition of the Deutsche Welle programme Quardriga not only titled the edition "Superpower U.S.A.: Humbled By A Hurricane?" but the analysis of the American political landscape portrayed the public of this country as being more or less oblivious, and one of the talking heads even went so far as to use the word "somnalent."

If I had been a European watching what these people were saying, I would have been led to believe that the U.S. public is feeling just fine about the mismanagement of the disaster and that we're all just sleepwalking along, not at all outraged.

I cannot remember one time when the American media (numerous faults notwithstanding) danced over the graves of the "Continent" when thousands of French citizens were killed during that horrific heatwave, or when towns in parts of Germany were flooded. Nobody on an American talkshow asked whether the French psyche had been humbled by the deaths of elderly due to inclimate heat, or whether Vorsprung durch Technik failed to keep the banks of rivers from destroying German livelihoods.I suggest you watch some of the other German channels then. ;)

Disclaimer: Before I get flamed by both the left AND the right, I should mention in the interest of full disclosure that I myself am "Liberal Scum." Thank you.

It seems to me that, in terms of punditry, continental European news analysis seems almost smug in its analysis of the American political and social landscape post-Katrina.

In particular, the latest English-language edition of the Deutsche Welle programme Quardriga not only titled the edition "Superpower U.S.A.: Humbled By A Hurricane?" but the analysis of the American political landscape portrayed the public of this country as being more or less oblivious, and one of the talking heads even went so far as to use the word "somnalent."

If I had been a European watching what these people were saying, I would have been led to believe that the U.S. public is feeling just fine about the mismanagement of the disaster and that we're all just sleepwalking along, not at all outraged.

I cannot remember one time when the American media (numerous faults notwithstanding) danced over the graves of the "Continent" when thousands of French citizens were killed during that horrific heatwave, or when towns in parts of Germany were flooded. Nobody on an American talkshow asked whether the French psyche had been humbled by the deaths of elderly due to inclimate heat, or whether Vorsprung durch Technik failed to keep the banks of rivers from destroying German livelihoods.

I haven't seen much "dancing on graves" over here. I've just seen descriptions of what happened and photos of victims, rescuers, damage and such... Of course the newspapers have also mentioned that many people have pointed the finger at Bush and his administration.

And actually, I do remember quite a few yanks gloating over french casualties during the the heat wave.

And don't forget the French were the first nation to send aid to the USA after Katrina... But I guess it doesn't matter, you can go on being wankers because you saved their ass in WW2.

...
Instead of complaining about our German media coverage of world events, shouldn't you be asking why the media coverage in the states is so downright crappy?

I'm just glad the THW (Technisches Hilfswerk = "Technical Taskforce", comparable with an Engineer's Corps without weapons) is there to help with 15 highpower waterpumps. Funny that you didn't mention the good media coverage...
And as for your clever "Vorsprung durch Technik" remark (Audi-slogan "Headstart through technology) - glad we can help you with our technology. Probably one of the reasons why you never heard much of the floods here?

*Sadly shakes head, sighs, wanders off*Hm, you forgot the Bundeswehr Airbus that technically landed illegally to drop off aid supplies because Bush hadn't accepted foreign aid yet. We Germans are pretty evil, aren't we?
(To anyone who doesn't know, the target group of Deutsche Welle isn't Germans, it's foreigners. Pretty much no one here watches it.)

Hm, you forgot the Bundeswehr Airbus that technically landed illegally to drop off aid supplies because Bush hadn't accepted foreign aid yet. We Germans are pretty evil, aren't we?
(To anyone who doesn't know, the target group of Deutsche Welle isn't Germans, it's foreigners. Pretty much no one here watches it.)
Interestingly enough, the news mentioned just yesterday that a Swedish airplane with a water purification plant is still waiting for a clearence to land for six days (today would be the 7th). Six days to decide whether one might want clean drinking water or not. WTF?

Look I'd just like to say that it isn't true what the first post said. He completely generalised, thinking all European news was Anti-American over the Katrina disaster because he saw some news in Germany.

I myself live in the Netherlands and I recieve television from the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, France and Switzerland. And as far as I've seen from the Dutch news, it's all about how horrible the disaster is, how bad Bush is and how racist this all is. I haven't heard them commemorate a single thing throughout this disaster. Like the people that have opened up their houses to the flood stricken famillies for example.
And from what I've seen from the BBC so far, it's more going along the same line as the CNN news, only without even political undertones.

So you can say, the Brits like always are different from continental Europe. And the Dutch just hate Bush.

The thing that sickens me about this all, is that people blame Bush for everything, eventhough he had no authority over the issue, it was a city and state matter and only after the hurricane hit, FEMA could act. Yet people still blame Bush in their ignorance, and the news isn't informing the people at home that all this ranting and raving lunatics are wrong.

To give you an idea of how the Dutch news portrays everything, on a show they place a camera somewhere and they have a question which people can anwser and it then gets aired. On this episode, the question was "What smells fishy to you?". Now comes the proof of the biased news we get here. A little girl comes on and she says, "Something smells fishy about Bush doing nothing when little black kids die."
It just sickens me to see that news no longer informs people, but indoctrinates them.

Wait, they did that skit with a child on a news show? Please tell me it was some kind of commentary/opinion show. Because if that's what your news is like, you have some serious problems with a biased media.

I will not"flame" you for voicing your opinion in a respectful way.

Let me tell you first that I am German. I do not, however, claim to speak for, or represent, the whole of Germany or anything like that.

I, personally, have not yet heard not a single news report that made the Americans seem to be oblivious of this catastrophe. On the contrary, the only reports I saw where of Americans all over the country being in deep grief and/or rage about the desaster.

Secondly, i do not feel any "schadenfreude" at all. I am sorry for anyone losing life,health,property or anything else in a way like this. The nationality of the person afflicted couldn't matter less to me.

But I think it is a valid question to ask how any happening, be it a hurricane or whatever, affected the society it hit. I'd have found the questions of how the floods in my country affected our society (as they did, by the way, greaty; they even had measurable effect on the outcome of the following election) or how the heatwave affected the French society just as acceptable.

Nobody is dancing on anybodys grave. Criticism on the way the help and rescue are coordinated, or how the prevention programs were run, does not exclude true empathy with those who suffered.

I must completely agree with this German viewpoint. I am also a 'European', and certainly the Swedish media has not been dancing on graves either. It has also certainly not reporting an American disinterest in it; quite the contrary, we have been seeing and reading reports of Americans equally (if not more) shocked at the lack of preparation/poor rescue reaction to the disaster.

Naturally, Swedes, Europeans, and everyone else will be shocked to see such scenes on a self-labelled superpower. From a Swedish perspective (and I would imagine also from the viewpoint of many other western Europeans), it is also very hard to comprehend the extensive poverty in the USA that this is highlighted. We always hear of the USA being the world's richest country, so it makes this high degree of poverty extra shocking. It's far beyond the poverty in own country, which is not the richest in the world.

Many (quite possibly almost, if not, all) European countries have offered aid to the Americans, so I really can't think we are being cold in reaction to this terrible disaster.

Interestingly enough, the news mentioned just yesterday that a Swedish airplane with a water purification plant is still waiting for a clearence to land for six days (today would be the 7th). Six days to decide whether one might want clean drinking water or not. WTF?

Yes, this is correct. The Swedish government has been waiting since already last Saturday (2005-09-03) for a permission to fly its Hercules plane with water purification equipment and mobile telephony equipment. The Swedish Embassy in Washington has now admitted it is slightly frustrated by the slow speed of the US response to the aid offer. The plane was originally going to leave Göteborg for Canada, and then wait for permission there to go down to the affected region. But the Americans said they wouldn't be able to confirm they could ever give it permission to land in the area affected, so the plane still waits in Sweden...

The Americans did say yesterday that they would accept a joint Nordic team of Swedish, Finnish and Danish (body) indentification experts.

It seems to me that, in terms of punditry, continental European news analysis seems almost smug in its analysis of the American political and social landscape post-Katrina.

I cannot remember one time when the American media (numerous faults notwithstanding) danced over the graves of the "Continent" when thousands of French citizens were killed during that horrific heatwave, or when towns in parts of Germany were flooded. Nobody on an American talkshow asked whether the French psyche had been humbled by the deaths of elderly due to inclimate heat, or whether Vorsprung durch Technik failed to keep the banks of rivers from destroying German livelihoods.

Generally speaking, the US seems to be a bit more compassionate towards those who are victims of natural and man-made disasters than are most European nations ( some of the Scandanavian nations being the exception ). This, however, may simply be my ethnocentrism raising its ugly head.

Generally speaking, the US seems to be a bit more compassionate towards those who are victims of natural and man-made disasters than are most European nations ( some of the Scandanavian nations being the exception ). This, however, may simply be my ethnocentrism raising its ugly head.

I would actually disgree that Europeans are not compassionate towards victimes of disasters. (Incidentally, I am not saying that Americans are not compassionate either).

If you look at the reactions to the tsunami, to earthquakes, to the forest fires in Iberia, to the deaths due to the heat wave in France, Italy etc a couple of years ago, to victims of terrorism (e.g. in Madrid, in London, and outside Europe) and to victims of illegal conflicts (e.g. in the Middle East), Europeans are very compasionate in their response. And the media very much reflects and covers this.

If you have ever been to one of the more Roman Catholic and emotionally expressive mediterean countries during a time their country has been afflicted by such a disaster, the compassion and deep feelings are very very much apparent!

I think that basiaclly we (the US) just handle these things with a lot more grace then most other nations. When folks died in France durring the European heat wave a while back did we point and laugh? Did we say it was an example of Chirac's incompetance? Nope. And we loathe the French. When the tsunami hit did we gloat over Indonesia or expect them to be humbled? Criticise their government's reaction? Nope. We even kept our cool when Europe bitched that we were'nt sending enough help (Even though we sentmore than any other nation).
We're like that kid in school who hit his growth spurt too early and got bigger than everyone else and stood out. Sometimes we break things on accident and we can be a little clumsy but we've got a generally good nature. Sometimes little guys will tease us (especially when we're feeling down) . BUt we know we're bigger than the other kids and it's not really fair to fight back so we let it slide. Every 50 years or so some kid figures we really are a pushover and tries to beat us up. And because we're the big kid we get blamed when we win the fight.

Generally speaking, the US seems to be a bit more compassionate towards those who are victims of natural and man-made disasters than are most European nations ( some of the Scandanavian nations being the exception ). This, however, may simply be my ethnocentrism raising its ugly head.I think that's mainly because the American media is less likely to show what everyone else is doing. I guess it's essentially for the same reason why no sports without US participation get shown during the olympics ;)