Helmut Schmidt in serious condition!

[catswiththum]

An ardent fighter against domestic terror during the worst days of the cold war.

Also, a former Hitler Youth instructor, but WTF - half of the German gov. ministers were former Nazis in the 70's and 80's.

No big deal, right?

[catswiththum]

But, I suppose everyone has to decide how much good outweighs how much bad. Von Braun got us to the moon - no telling how many Jews perished slaving away in his complex.

If I were Jewish, I wouldn't live anywhere but Israel - everyone gets around to f*&king with them sooner or later.

Anyway - on Schmidt from this week's Economist:

Fairness, not fads
His toughness towards the nihilist terrorists of the Red Army Faction outraged many liberal-minded Germans, who felt that extensive snooping, interrogations and quasi-military justice had dreadful echoes of the Nazi period. They flinched when he urged America to beef up its nuclear presence in Europe in response to the Soviet Union’s growing stockpile of medium-range missiles. But for him social democracy was based on fairness, not fads. He had no time for greenery, feminism or culture wars. Anyone with a vision should go and see a doctor, he once said. Far more important was bolstering the welfare system, building more houses and making Germany safe at home and abroad.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by catswiththum

An ardent fighter against domestic terror during the worst days of the cold war.

Also, a former Hitler Youth instructor, but WTF - half of the German gov. ministers were former Nazis in the 70's and 80's.

No big deal, right?

Originally Posted by catswiththum

But, I suppose everyone has to decide how much good outweighs how much bad. Von Braun got us to the moon - no telling how many Jews perished slaving away in his complex.

If I were Jewish, I wouldn't live anywhere but Israel - everyone gets around to f*&king with them sooner or later.

Yeah, mentioning the name Hitler is always good for a knee-jerk negative reaction but, as it happens, Schmidt was basically kicked out of the Hitler Youth for his anti-party views. This was pretty early on, in 1936. It also happens that Schmidt had Jewish ancestry.

[HarmanKardon]

Thank you so much for mentioning the Barking Monster in this memorial thread. You are so wonderful! Thank you very very very much. I deeply appreciate it!

THANK YOU!

Nothing could be more typical of America. And once more:

THANKS!

[Pio1980]

The dogma of the Third Reich was wallpaper for Germans of a certain age for 12 years, it's to be expected that it would involve him somehow, tho he did not dishonor his legacy with his experiences with its inevitability.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by HarmanKardon

Thank you so much for mentioning the Barking Monster in this memorial thread. You are so wonderful! Thank you very very very much. I deeply appreciate it!

THANK YOU!

Nothing could be more typical of America. And once more:

THANKS!

I certainly hope you're wrong about that, Chris, but more and more I'm coming to think you're right.

[HarmanKardon]

However, sometimes cynism is the only solution.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by HarmanKardon

However, sometimes cynism is the only solution.

Cynicism is never a solution. It's a response which tends to preclude solutions.

[HarmanKardon]

Okay. Sometimes cynism is a device for coping with certain issues a bit better.

[ebacon]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Here's a nice article about Herr Schmidt.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/13/op...t-schmidt.html

RIP, sir.

"Mr. Schmidt would be the first to disagree. He would have brushed such an idea aside with a wave of his hand, letting the smoke from his ever-present cigarette cover his grumpy face."

RIP. Sounds like he was a fun guy. Seriously.