has "birtherism" gone international?

[Syrinx]

Just a few minutes ago, I was "flipping." I landed on CSPAN (or maybe CSPAN 2), and they were rebroadcasting a program from Germany's Deutsche Welle channel. I can't tell you the name of the interviewer, nor of the interviewee. But I was struck by a question that the host asked of her subject, that seemed straight out of Fox News. I'm paraphrasing here, so don't take the "excerpt" tag as gospel.

But it was something like this:

The African-American politician Barack Obama was able to be elected president of the United States. Do you think something like that is possible in Germany, where an immigrant could be elected to such a position of power?

The answer was in the affirmative, but the person being interviewed never for a second questioned the premise of the question.

Is there really a strong birther base in Germany, or in Europe generally?

I realize that Deutsche Welle is intended primarily for an outside audience, but do Germans, or Europeans generally, really believe that Obama is a foreigner in relation to the USA? I was kind of shocked by this. Does Murdoch own DW?

[NutmegYankee]

1. I think it was more on the racial aspect.

Germany is a country composed of a majority ethnic group (Germans) and smaller immigrant populations like Turks. I think the intent was could a Turk win election to a high German Office. It's possible the Germans think of their minorities as "immigrants" regardless of birthplace, given the ethnocentric foundation of most European nations. Incorrectly applying that to the USA, a nation made up of anyone and everyone, may have been the mistake here.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. If you're only paraphrasing,then analysing it will be useless

Note that, literally, what you have written does not say that "Obama is an immigrant" (let alone 'a foreigner'); it says that in Germany, an immigrant can be elected to a position of such power. It's possible that they were contrasting this to the US where only someone born a US citizen can become president.

But as NutmegYankee says, it may well be more about the racial nature. The German, speaking English as their second language, may well think that 'immigrant' is an acceptable noun to apply to a son of an immigrant.

[Syrinx]

3. I'm not one to beg for recs

But why in the world would anyone vote to kill this post? I don't get it.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. I haven't reced or unreced, but I can understand it

As I said, I don't think your question can get anywhere, because you don't remember exactly what the person said; and, most likely, you misinterpreted it. So it's not a very good thread.

[Lasher]

4. Stupidity knows no borders.

There has never been a shortage of dumbasses in any country.

Edit: I see one of them has figured out how to work the unrec button. I just canceled that out with a rec.

[Syrinx]

5. .

:hi: