Hi Luke, I will watch the video and see if I can hear the phrase. Thanks!

Maybe the strangeness from the EP elections is becoming the norm?

Or, maybe it related to the Berlusconi? Have politicians are jealous of his success (so far)?

Re boobs - in France that would be normal? I'm not joking (or at least, not joking very much). Seriously, it is no more strange than the new German friend, Putin, and his shirtless rituals.

Re the Green's ad -- yes, it is somewhat racist, and sexist as well. It is an example of what the feminists call [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_objectification]Sexual Objectification[/url]. The generally negative stereotype of a black person woman as a sexual object is well known to everyone, or at least, it should be. Granted, we see this stereotype everywhere in pop culture, but the Greens should know better.

The stereotype of predatory white lesbians exploiting black women is less well known but again that is no excuse, particularly for the Greens. The ad in effect says, if you are White and vote Green, you get a free pass.

Of course, it will not get nearly as much attention as when someone on the right commits this type of blunder. Remember when Berlusconi described Obama as "[url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/11062008/news/worldnews/berlusconi__obama_is_young__handsom__tan_137390.htm]young, handsome and even tanned[/url]." It made headlines worldwide.

Speaking of Berlusconi, I have yet to hear the French complain about how prudish and judgmental the Italian press has become. Rememer Clinton's interns and the nonchalant French response? Unlike Berlusconi, with Clinton there were credible accusations of rape ([url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/janedoe022099.htm]Juanita Broaddrick[/url]) and sexual assault (multiple accusers, including [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Willey]Kathleen Willey[/url].

"We don't really have those stereotypes in our society."

I'm sorry, but you need to examine your own society more closely. I don't know how you can look at the red painted nails of the white woman's hand and not think, "predator". Of course the ad is well done, they can pretend that the hand only symbolizes passion or lust...but there is more than that, or they're could be.

The Spiegel caption identifies the woman in the Green's ad as "black". What does that mean? She certainly is too light-skinned to be sub-Saharan African. Is she Turkish? North African? Mixed-race? Is she one of the other non-white ethnicities of whom negative stereotypes are quite common in Europe and especially Germany?

More important her actual ethnic background (after all, she is probably simply a model they hired) is her perceived or intended ethnic background. What did the creators of that photo want us to see? Most likely, they were trying to make people think of a generic, non-white person...fitting whatever stereotype (negative or positive) the viewer already has. The makers of the image don't seem particularly concerns that some of the stereotypes they trigger could be very negative.

This is because the Greens think they can get away with it. Remember that if conservative media has any convievable, negative racial implications, it is assumed to be what the conservatives intended, even though most of the time the conservatives are not making a racial appeal. Why shouldn't the Greens be held to the same standard? After all, the Greens do have crossover appeal with certain populist groups that formerly were facists....

I am a little bit tired of Europeans pretending that Europe doesn't have a race problem. Slavery ended in America about 150 years ago, but, as they say, we are still dealing with the legacy. Slavery in Europe ended in 1990, and no, Communism wasn't race-neutral -- remember the Soviet propeganda re the Great White Russians? How many non-Whites were Party members? In parts of Germany, slavery ended about 1945. I think there might still be a huge legacy to be dealt with.

Having said that, Europe in the late 20th century made progress on its race problems much more quickly than America did in the late 19th century. As to which society (US or Europe) has a bigger race problem in the 21st century...that is hard to say...it depends on which race you're asking about...