“I have taken the rudder into my own hannds; my course is set straight and I am guidingyou to glorious times. Those who wish to help me are heartily welcome; whoever opposes me I will smash. There is only one master here and I am her. I am responsible onlty to God and my own consciencer. You can always count on my fatherly benevolence, but revolutionary sentiments will be shattered against my unbending will.”Actually, it is Diederich, the hero of Der Unterthan, one of Heinrich Mann’s satires on Wilhelmine Germany.
I had been discussing in a rambling and desultory way, leaning against The Whiskey Bar, what kind of Germany the present Washington regime reminds me of. It’s certainly not the Third Reich; not at all. But there is a gamy flavour of the Second Reich around. Pulling a nice quote out of The Proud Tower isn’t exactly doing real research to back my theory, but it is astonishing how well the tone of that speech, and much of its substance, fits the current rhetoric. Now all I need is to learn the German for “bring them on!”.