A diary on the recommended list once again upholds the German magazine Der Spiegel as some sort of a paragon of progressive thinking. Readers of DKos should know that the magazine is viewed by many in Germany as a mouthpiece for neo-liberalism. True, Der Spiegel is often critical of the United States, but not because of any commitment to social democratic ideals. Rather, the editors know that Anti-Americanism sells magazines - especially in Germany.
Yesterday, the US correspondent for Der Spiegel, Marc Hujer, came out with a piece ridiculing the voices on the left in the US who see the tragic assassination attempt in Tuscon as connected to violent Tea Party rhetoric.
The article has been translated and appears in Der Spiegel's English language page: America's Misguided Debate: Blaming Sarah Palin for Arizona Shooting is Wrong.
For Hujer, it is not the Tea Partiers who have coarsened political discourse in the US. Rather, the vitriol is the fault of progressives:
Of all people, it is precisely those who have complained the loudest about the culture of debate -- about the rhetoric of the Tea Party, the right wing's harsh words and the baseless Obama-Hitler comparisons -- who are now poisoning the debate with their own baseless insinuations. With little reliance on facts, they began searching for scapegoats for the attack and they found them, selectively, among the right wing, the Tea Party, Republican Party boss Michael Steele and Tea Party heroine Sarah Palin.
No, it is not Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, or Sarah Palin who have "poisoned the debate", rather it is DKOS, Keith Olbermann and Paul Krugman:
The accusations being lodged are grave. "Mission accomplished, Sarah Palin," leftist blogger Markos Moulitsas sneered after the bloodbath. Meanwhile, MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann called for Palin to be ousted from the Republican Party if she didn't repudiate her role in "amplifying violence and violent imagery in politics." In his column in the New York Times, Paul Krugman sought to link the "toxic rhetoric" coming from right-wing preachers of hate with the assassination attempt. And former member of Congress Chris Carney said Palin should "say she was wrong."
These critics of Palin, according to Der Spiegel, are wrong; their attacks will only help her in the long run:
Indeed, the massive criticism of Sarah Palin is misguided. This is not only due to the fact that the accusation is baseless, but also because the calculated attempt to weaken Palin in this manner could ultimately backfire.
Der Spiegel is correct in stating that we don't know the motivations of the shooter. But this was clearly a political act, targeting a Democratic member of Congress, and it is entirely appropriate to point out that this did not occur in a vacuum.
I should also mention that this article is not an aberration. The former US correspondent for Der Spiegel - Gabor Steingart - hated Barack Obama. First he told his German readers that there was absolutely no way he could win the presidency. Then, when Obama won he began attacking him for his policies on day one - stating that austerity, not stimulus, was required. Steingart eventually went on to write for Murdoch's Wall Street Journal.