German Press Reports Obama "Running Amok"

Under the headline "Plans for the Legislative Rampage" [Amoklauf="running amok"], the Munich-based Sueddeutsche Zeitung writes that "Obama does not have a majority in Congress for his health reform. Now, the President is considering unsound political tricks." The article goes to say that being Commander-in-Chief in the U.S.A., Obama has the right to order the use of nuclear bombs, "but he is not supposed to make policy at home with such explosive means."

"Via interview, he basically gave his Democrats permission to detonate the political system of the U.S.A.... There are raw nerves in the White House; only that explains Obama's hard-line approach." It is a "political declaration of bankruptcy," and "most worrisome for America's political culture," the paper writes. "The atmosphere in Washington is poisoned already now. A legislative running amok like the one that Obama is flirting with, would turn the nation's capital into a political civil war zone." If Obama succeeds, future U.S. Administrations will discard democratic principles as well, the paper warns.