The View from Germany

We cite articles from the United Kingdom with some frequency. It is less common to link to an article from somewhere else in Europe, as we do here with this piece from Der Spiegel. It is a German's discouraged view of U.S. politics.

Jakob Augstein takes as his basic thesis that there is no longer something called "the West," something that includes both Europe and the U.S. He says we Americans have a "broken political culture" marked by hate. He finds the Tea Party values particularly distressing and un-European.

I particularly like this quote, as it suggests Augstein is understanding our differences:

From a European perspective, it all looks very strange: it's a different political culture. There are other rules at play, different standards. More and more we view America with the clear notion that we are different.

He is correct that where Europe is, and wants to be, is not where American conservatives want the U.S. to be.