As with Bakerstreet's clipping of the Candian government official that was concerned about intergalactic wars, sometimes the real news is better than anything that could ever be made up.

Thanks for posting this.

Not as disturbing as they are making it out to be. from 1945-1991 there was no ability to refer to a single Deutschland and the slogan would have been out of place. Now, 14 years in to a unified "Deutschland, a slogan of this nature returns, and quite frankly, rightly so. The country needs a good shot of nationalism instead of being wiped all over the European board by the French whimps who have been steering the German Schroeder government. With Angela Merkel as the new Chancellor, a ministers daughter from the former East Germany, they have every right to find some new form of German identity. It will probably side more closely with the US in any case. How bad can that be?

The country [Germany] needs a good shot of nationalism....

That's exactly what Germany doesn't need.

And no, it won't make Germany "side more closely with the US". German nationalism has no interest in siding with the US, unless the US is represented by American nationalists (not patriots) like David Duke and his ilk.

German nationalists will side with other nationalists, but how does that help?

I didn't realise that you (uBob) and Poldark Maximus were the same person?

Methinks there are those who run in mortal fear from any resurgence of German natjonal identiy. Consider that any German younger than 60 (sixty) years was born AFTER the war, and may feel it common to assert some sort of national identity. As would any Canadian feeling the need to distinguish themelves from US citizenship. What matter of fear in us universally associates German National identiy with rabid anit-semitism? Poldark Maximus would rather see a legitimate German national identity at the core of Europe than the monstrosity that called itslf the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) or East Germany. Think back 15- 50 years to that vile manifestation of German (communist ) nationalism.

Refusing Germans a national identity has been tried and it has failed. Several times. PM's point about Angela Merkel was to draw stark relief between the moderate attitudes of the CDU/CSU and those of the SPD's Schroeder and Green Party Joshke Fischer whose dislike of America is rivaled only by many of those living in the US. Besides, its not for us to decide. Who died and made the Americans Grace Kelly on this issue of national identities?.