prefectly Frank [rquoter]SPIEGEL: Mr. Payne, early in June your great-nephew, President Barack Obama, will visit the former concentration camp Buchenwald, which you helped liberate at the end of the war. Will he be travelling in your footsteps? Charles Payne: I don't buy that. I was quite surprised when the whole thing came up and Barack talked about my war experiences in Nazi Germany. We had never talked about that before. This is a trip that he chose, not because of me I'm sure, but for political reasons. [snip] SPIEGEL: What were your thoughts when you were confronted with these images [of a concentration camp]? Payne: You know, I am unable to tell you what I was thinking then. That was a long time ago, and as I told you, until Barack misspoke, I hadn't thought about any of this for a very, very long time. In fact, I guess I prefer not to think about it. I can assure you I was horrified by the lengths to which men will go to mistreat other men. This was, to me, almost unbelievable. There was more: There were sheds full of dead bodies that had been stripped and thrown in and then stacked up on top of each other. I don't know how many, but many high and the whole length of the room. They sprinkled lime to keep the smell down. That's about the extent that I remember actually seeing. SPIEGEL: What do you think about the Germans today? Payne: I am puzzled by intelligent people who stand by and allow their country to be taken over and run by extreme radical types. I'm still somewhat puzzled by that. And I am fully aware that it could happen and has almost happened in this country. You know, I lived through the McCarthy era in the 1950s, when it was getting dangerously close to that sort of thing. SPIEGEL: You're a Democrat? Payne: I was a Democrat from way, way before Barack was born. SPIEGEL: Are you proud of your great-nephew? Payne: Yes, naturally. I was at the Democratic Convention in Denver, where I was introduced by Sen. John Kerry, and then also at his Inauguration. He encompasses so much: self assuredness, competency, leadership and the great good luck that he had. Finally he had the good luck, if you will, of the financial crisis that got him elected, but now he also has to deal with it. SPIEGEL: How would you describe your relationship with Barack? Payne: Our relationship is warm and friendly, but I'm not part of his inner circle. We always have an interesting chat when we get in the same room together. He doesn't call me up and ask what I have to say about world policy or anything. And I never offer my opinions on any of this. SPIEGEL: And will you join your great-nephew on his trip now to Germany? Payne: If he invites me on Air Force One, I'll be there. [/rquoter]
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From http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,626703,00.html (that's the site that the original article, sans the [snip] from basso's politico blog where he acquires most of these articles - here is what was behind the snip). I know this is rather pointless - but basso believes he is being read by a significant number of people who read his selective copy n' pastes and agree with him. He believes he's influencing the opinions of people by posting this material - so opposition, and often rationality, matter little to him. Of course, he won't say this to you - he's just disseminating the party line in yet another place where people will pay attention to it. Argument is not the point - exposure and attention are the point.
