Tue, Nov 17, 2015
From: Geoff Berner [email protected]**oo.ca
Subject: I Met Pegida in Dresden. Come To My Birthday! Other Stuff

Dear Everybody,

The Berner Industries Blimp is tied off at the Societaetheater culture centre here in Dresden, where we play tonight. Everybody we know in Dresden is fabulous.

But last night was Pegida night in Dresden. Apparently it’s some kind of weekly thing. This awful political party or whatever is the new face of the old nazis. Their focus is Syrians and other refugees this time. So just so Brad Wall, Premier of Saskatchewan knows, he’s totally got somewhere to hang out in Germany where he’ll feel comfortable.

There was a somewhat reassuring counter-demonstration of mostly young people but it was only somewhat reassuring on account of how the anti-nazis were outnumbered 4–1 by the massive flag waving crowd in the square. The large police presence faced outward at the lefties, as if the cops felt the need to protect the giant throng of bastards from attack by kids in Refugees Welcome, Bring Your Families! t-shirts. Amidst the usual anti-nationalist cheers, one of the boys from our side shouted “Angela Merkel is a Radical Leftist!” everybody laughed.

At the start of the rally, I had some trouble finding the counter-rally. In the crowd of nasties I noticed a strange flag. Lots of people were waving it. It looked like nothing so much as a Norwegian flag that had been marinating in the urine of an alcoholic pensioner for several decades. I went up to one of the flag wavers.

“Hey! What’s that flag there? Are you Norwegian?”

“This? No. See the yellow? This is the Stauffenberg flag. It is the flag of the resistance. The ones who tried to kill hitler used it.”

Right. Waving the flag of a guy who “basically approved of the racial principle of National Socialism, but considered it to be exaggerated and excessive.” Got it. You guys are the good nazis. I just walked away in search of the counter demo. I went up to a policeman.

“Hey! Isn’t there two demonstrations?”

“Yes.”

“So where are the good guys?”

He looked bemused. He clearly felt that it wasn’t his place to say who the good guys were. So I helped him out. “Well, the nazis are over there. Where’s the other guys?”

He pointed the way. They taught me in kindergarten that If you’re lost, you can always ask a policeman.

What an interesting time to be doing a big tour in Europe.

And this certainly is a big tour. A big undertaking. 22 dates. Where am I not playing? And most shows will be with a full band that you can dance drunkenly to. So I expect you to do that.

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