He won't go out for a cup of tea

View Larger Map

The Right is already in anticipatory outrage over Barack Obama's visit to Dresden. It's part of an itinerary that will also take him to Buchenwald. The pre-outrage is due a supposed equivalence that the trip will draw between the Holocaust and the firebombing of Dresden. Leave aside that the White House has given no indication that such a link is intended where the focus is instead on Obama's wish to visit part of the workers paradise 100% voting turnout old eastern Germany.

One of the unreasonable aspects of this particular outrage is its apparent assumption that there's somewhere in Germany one could stay that wouldn't have some awkward historical echo. For example, he could stay next to Buchenwald in the scenic town of Weimar. As in the Weimar Republic. Think of how much fun the critics would have with that.