Precarious
This article "Kampf um Begriffe" (A Battle over Political Terms) appeared in the Sunday edition of the Frankfurter Allgemeine (FAZ) newspaper on February 9th, during my last visit to Germany. It refers to the efforts of Right- and Left-wing political parties in Germany to tar each other with the "Nazi" or "Commie" brush. The Nazis during World War II slaughtered millions of people; likewise the Communists in the Soviet Union. Only a fool In Germany would advertise himself openly as one or the other. That such terms linger for so long in the media culture of Germany interests me, since the Germans use them mostly for their defamatory value.