Warmth from Germany

Scolded here;

German aid money delivered to American aid agencies would surely be welcome on the other side of the Atlantic. But apparently, people over here believe that the Americans over there don't really need help. Strange. The same people who normally spend their time pointing their holier-than-thou fingers at the ghettos and slums in the US, the same ones who describe America as an out-of-control capitalist monster, are now, when the Americans could really use a bit of help, oddly quiet.

Apparently the Americans had it coming: "The American president has closed his eyes to the economic and human damage that natural catastrophes such as Katrina -- in other words, disasters caused by a lack of climate protection measures -- can visit on his country." Who wrote this? None other than Jürgen Trittin, Germany's minister of the environment.

At a moment when the dead on the Gulf Coast are still being counted, the German minister of the environment could think of nothing better to do than -- in an essay published Tuesday in the center-left daily Frankfurter Rundschau -- to blame the US itself for the catastrophe. The piece is 493 words long, and not a single one of them is wasted to express any sort of sympathy for the victims of the storm. The worst of it is that Trittin isn't alone with his cold, malicious tenor. The coverage from much of the German media tends in the same direction: If Bush had only listened to Uncle Trittin and signed the Kyoto Protocol, then this never would have happened.

But even more already flowing here:

Instead of wasting the last oil, causing deaths all over the world by increased hurricanes and flooding, instead of praying to middle-aged-gods and instead of dividing the world by the right and left, good and bad, why don't you sell your SUVs and try to intellectually enter the 21st century.

... and ...

Like the Germans, you should learn from your mistakes and stop acting so arrogantly. But all you care about is your ability to eat, drink and drive your big cars. You should try to sort out your own problems before you invade other countries and kill innocent people. Why not take some of your military budget and help your people?