Posted on 04/11/2005 2:27:55 PM PDT by lizol
Trans-Atlantic Conspiracy Theory Du Jour
Germany's highest ranking female member of parliament has a new theory: the US government set the Catholic pedophilia scandal in motion because it wanted to weaken an already frail pope. That's also why it made Poland its chief partner in the Iraq war: to make the Vatican look bad. Yeah right.
She may not be the country's most powerful politician, but as the vice-president of the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, Antje Vollmer of the Green Party is one of its highest-ranking women in political office. When she talks, people listen. But last week we were a little baffled when we saw her shameless contribution to the growing canon of anti-American conspiracy theories and baseless analogies circulating in Germany.
First, in Sept. 2002, then-Justice Minister Herta Däubler-Gmelin compared George W. Bush to Adolf Hitler. Then came Andreas von Buelow, the former federal education and research minister whose 2003 conspiracy theory alleging the CIA and Israeli intelligence were responsible for the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington made for a best-selling book. Now Vollmer comes along, implying that the US government chose to draw attention to the Catholic pedophilia scandal not because of the crimes in and of themselves, but because Washington wanted to weaken the pope.
As a guest on the weekly talk show "Berlin Mitte," Vollmer seemed to be starting off with the right intentions. She spoke of the "wonderful image" of President George Bush, his son President George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton before the body of the pope in St. Peter's Basilica. But then, out of nowhere, she veered straight off a cliff.
Her theory? It seems the U.S. had to do something to weaken the influence of the pope, who was an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq. Vollmer finds it all very suspicious that after the war, "Poland was made a top occupying power in Iraq, naturally to weaken the pope's hinterland. Or how then, of all times, the campaign against the Catholic Church and the pedophilia was started, which was, of course, totally justified, but at this point in time was definitely a tit-for-tat response." Vollmer found it somehow strange that the US presidents traveled to the Vatican despite the "tough power struggles."
Like a good conspiracy theorist, she doesn't point fingers directly, but lets her comments hang in the air so that others can piece together the message. In essence, with her bizarre ramblings she was saying that the US tried to undercut John Paul II's political influence in Poland by giving his countrymen an important role in occupying Iraq and instigating a pedophile scandal against the church as a sort of smear campaign against the Catholic leader.
In an editorial, DER SPIEGEL's Henryk M. Broder remarks: "Statements like this aren't even commented on these days, just like the popular opinions that that terrorism is the result of poverty and SUVs are responsible for climate change. None of the guests (on the show) attempted to contradict these statements in any way." He points out that, in truth, "the Poles didn't need to be forced to send troops to Iraq, because they trust Washington more than Brussels, Paris or Berlin. The Catholic Church has a recurring history of pedophile scandals in the US as in Europe -- even before the Iraq war. "But all this is meaningless compared to the rage of a Green politician trying to impose her conspiratorial views on a complex reality until everything fits together seamlessly. Whatever the deceased pope had longed for and meant: He does not deserve Antje Vollmer as the executor of his will." (2:30 p.m. CET)
Collectors Get Euro-Phoric over Pope Coins
Last week, millions of pilgrims flooded into Rome to pay tribute to Pope John Paul II for one last time. With the funeral now over, the unexpected and unprecedented rush to the Vatican could be followed by yet another tribute to Karol Wojtyla -- this time in the form of coin collectors. At the start of May, the Vatican will issue this year's annual eight-piece euro coin set. As a rule, the coins must display the image of the pope in power. Only 100,000 sets are usually issued and they are almost always snapped up by collectors. This year, production was so far underway at the point of John Paul II's death that there is no way of reversing the mint to show the face of the new pope after he is selected. Already, last year's standard set, which has a face value of €25 is selling for €1,000. But the year could turn out to be a double hitter for collectors of rare coins -- in addition to the last ever coinage bearing the face of Wojtyla, the Vatican is also expected to mint "papal transition coinage" with the visage of the new pope. Better line up at the Vatican soon. (10 a.m. CET).
More proof that radical environmentalism and liberalism are mental illnesses.
Damn, she's ugly.
Hmmmm....Karl Rove must have a new button in his flying saucer.
And you thought the one that turned Kerry's brain to mush was bad....
"Vollmer seemed to be starting off with the right intentions. She spoke of the "wonderful image" of President George Bush, his son President George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton before the body of the pope in St. Peter's Basilica. But then, out of nowhere, she veered straight off a cliff."
It's like some kind of bizzare Tourettes syndrome with these people.
But how smart, isn't she?:-)))))
Here's the original Henryk M. Broder article for those who read German.
"Spiegel-Online"....Henryk M. Broder....Wie Frau Antje eine Verschwörung aufdeckte
longjack
The wars have done a lot more damage to Germany and France than I had imagined.....
Their gene pool has really been reduced to the lowest common denominator...
Semper Fi
"Poland was made a top occupying power in Iraq, naturally to weaken the pope's hinterland. Or how then, of all times, the campaign against the Catholic Church and the pedophilia was started, which was, of course, totally justified, but at this point in time was definitely a tit-for-tat response."
Ditto that.
Fo shizzle.
Member of the Green party. Everything is explained with that one revelation.
Danged Watermelons. Green on the outside, Red on the inside.
Except for the ridiculous haircut she doesn't look like a German. What kind of a name is Antje anyway?
She even looks stupid.
Buaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahaaa! Wow, she has great imagination I guess!
Antje is mostly given in the north of Germany, Holland etc. :)
Bingo! She is NOT hot.
She comes in first for the ugly prize. Yikes!
BLARGGH ..
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