Sympathy for the Merkel

I must say, I don’t know the ins and outs of German politics and have never really bothered to form a definitive opinion about whether Angela Merkel is a good guy  or a bad guy.  Heck, I barely know what’s going on in Czech politics, and I’ve lived here for 15  years.

Yet, I follow U.S.  politics obsessively.  That might strike some as weird, but I don’t think it is really.  If you are a basketball fan, then you watch the NBA.  If you are a hockey fan, you watch the NHL.  Even Czech hockey fans follow the NHL, and there’s a perfectly good hockey league right here, chock full of former and future NHL stars.

Also, America is the dominant country in the world, the 21st century Rome, although the 21st century is young yet and that could change.  Anyway, back to Germany.

Poor old Angela Merkel sure has not had much luck with American presidents.  Creepy George tries to give her a back rub and now Barack Obama has her phone tapped.  Personally, I think Obama’s transgression is far more serious but, I’m not a woman.

OMG just defrnded B Obama #wuttajerk lol

What the hell is the point of tapping Angela Merkel’s phone?  Do we think she’s becoming BFFs with China behind our backs? Do we want to know if she’s gossiping about us with Sweden?  It’s not just paranoid, it’s juvenile.  We can be pretty sure she’s not planning on attacking the U.S., and that’s all we need to know.

There is some point in spying on country’s where there might be some conflict between the two of us.  I still don’t agree with it – I think in this Internet based world, we’ve got more legitimate, openly available information than we can deal with and if we want more, all we need to do is hire more analysts who speak those languages – but I can see the logic.

But it’s counterproductive to spy on your friends.  Didn’t Barack Obama ever read Harriet the Spy?  Didn’t he ever see Biloxi Blues?

These things always end badly.  As it has.  There’s only one thing for it now.  A full apology and make sure it never happens again.  I’m not holding my breath, but that’s what should be done.