Subtleties of German / Turkish Relations Highlighted by Euro Cup Match

Lovely piece in the NYTimes about the rather sophisticated way that both "native" and Turkish Germans are dealing with the Euro Cup Group Final between Turkey and Germany ...

Yet another example of how well Germany has come to terms with the horrific legacy of the Nazi period -- and, indeed, everything that led up to it -- by developing a new identity based on a conscious rejection of the self-acknowledged sickness of much of its past ...

Again, the contrast with the US -- which, despite its enduring history as a nation of immigrants -- has been stuck in a paralyzing muck for, by now, the past 30 years, since the turning point year of 1979,

and the ushering in of the Reaganist legacy, which has done so much to kill what was once a forward- and outward-looking society that has now stagnated into the mess it's in today ...

And it's THAT which provides the real contrast with the evident progress made in Germany during those precise same 30 years ...