Bush arrives to Frankfurt Flughafen in 30 minutes

The road conditions are bad in Germany today...snow and ice, lots of accidents and "staus" on the autobahn.

The German news is showing protesters preparing for Bush in Mainz. One group of protesters has built a wooden structure around its automobile, which they are draping in army-colored cloths. It looks just like a Panzer, complete with turret. German media is also showing lots of anti-Bush signs: "Bush #1 terrorist," "Mothers against Bush," and a plaster Paris Statue of Liberty whose bloodied hand holds a missile.

Despite the weather, it should be a good turn-out, and German media is enjoying the reporting of it.

They've landed and are taxi-ing.

A German professor is discussing w/the media panel, that during the Vietnam War, between 50-60% of Germans had considered the US a friend of Germany. W/the "unwise and unclever" war with Iraq, Germans' considering the US as "friend" has dropped to between 20-30%.

(based on my crude understanding of German--maybe somebody on board can correct or elaborate)

Did I say that right? :)

They're about to open the plane door!

on edit: off the plane and off to Mainz

(sarcasm)What on Earth is "Flughaf3n" doing in teh English language? We can't have those furriners mongrelizeing teh pure English language, now...(/sarcasm)

Seriously though, the word 'to' should be 'at,' and for those of you who don't know a word of German, 'Flughafen' means 'airport.':)

Edit: Oooh, I hate how anything enclosed in brackets tends to just disappear...

The national athemns were played prior to that. Bush had his hand over heart for the Star Spangled Banner. Schroeder made no gesture for the German anthemn. I was surprised Bush didn't bow his head in prayer while the US anthemn was played. Still, it's strange to see nationalistic hand gestures in Europe. That, and flags, are so passe these days.

Bush also shook hands with ten German and ten American soldiers who had served in Afghanistan. There was a plaque established commemorating their service to creating a "stable" Afghanistan. No mention was made of Iraq.

Then they all went back into the Rathaus (or Residenz?).

Gooooo Mainz!

but not watching the TV coverage. Just don't want to go through the day with an upset stomach. And it just cannot be that 20-30 % of German citizens actually like Bush. I don't know anyone here who agrees with him. We have nothing but contempt for that mass murderer.

Now Shrubya has gone over there and fucked things up.

To say I'm pissed is an understatement

Bush is so embarrassing. He kept calling Schroeder "Gehard," which is so inappropriate given the formality of the situation, not to mention the fact that Herr/Frau are formal addresses that are used commonly throughout Germany. Schroeder did not call Bush "George." Bush is so uncultured.

Bush then set the stage for attacking Iran, pontificating and raising his voice about the fact that "IRAN MUST NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON, AND OUR FRIENDS IN EUROPE AGREE WITH US!" He dragged Germany and France into his tirade, saying that "our friends" would not stand for Iran having a nuclear weapon, rudely putting indirect pressure on Europe in a public forum by implying that NATO partners would back the US in its crusade against Iran.

Bush's comments are going to frighten the hell out of the remaining 20% of Germans who supposedly agree with Bush's foreign policy.

Bush also called Rice "Condoleezee," if I heard him correctly. It almost sounded like "Condosleezee."

CNNI says there are "thousands" of protesters in Mainz (and throughout Germany), but that aside from the protesters, the city is absent of the usual pedestrians.

A few minutes later, Schroeder and Bush gave their lunch speeches. Bush continued to prove embarrassing by preaching to Germans about peace, freedom and human dignity for all people. He then said "God bless you all" and left the podium before the translator could translate for those at the luncheon, although he had previously paused so she could translate every sentence before his closing remarks. She started to translate his last embarrassing sentences before he left the podium and sat down, so she didn't translate them at all. "Gott mit uns" was left unspoken. Doesn't matter. The Germans heard it enough during Hitler's rule.

Joshka Fischer had a grim expression the whole time.

Bush truly acts and looks psychotic. I think that was obvious to the Germans in attendance.

Or was it still "NOO-CUE-LAHR" ?

at least have the dignity and presence of mind to learn an ally's culture before addressing that ally's leadership on a first name basis in a formal international setting.

Bush is a psychotic bully, and Laura is a hillbilly. That's never been more apparent to me than today.

Good on the German people for recognizing pages from the First Hitler's playbook!

:evilgrin:
dbt

German TV is showing live shots. There is a huge crowd there, lots of banners.

or I'm sure our media in the US would break in to Baseball's Steroidgate to tell us about it.
<sarcasm>