Der Spiegel Spinnt
Tuesday, September 30, 2008We know that some European elites revel in Schadenfreude everytime things go awry in America, but this is ridiculous.
From the reliably predictably smugly lefty Der Spiegel, “The End of Arrogance“:
The banking crisis is upending American dominance of the financial markets and world politics. The industrialized countries are sliding into recession, the era of turbo-capitalism is coming to an end and US military might is ebbing. Still, this is no time to gloat. [Editor: The Spiegel opined, gloatingly.]
There are days when all it takes is a single speech to illustrate the decline of a world power. A face can speak volumes, as can the speaker’s tone of voice, the speech itself or the audience’s reaction. Kings and queens have clung to the past before and humiliated themselves in public, but this time it was merely a United States president.
Or what is left of him.
George W. Bush has grown old, erratic and rosy in the eight years of his presidency. Little remains of his combativeness or his enthusiasm for physical fitness. On this sunny Tuesday morning in New York, even his hair seemed messy and unkempt, his blue suit a little baggy around the shoulders, as Bush stepped onto the stage, for the eighth time, at the United Nations General Assembly.
Geez, talk about arrogance. Almost makes you want to have a financial crisis to just show them who’s boss.
UPDATE (3:45 p.m.): Worth a visit to Davids Medienkritik for a look at Spiegel over the years.
