Howard Wolfson Said It, Not Me

In a recent post on TNR's World Cup blog, Howard Wolfson, a prominent Democratic political strategist for, among others, the Clintons and Bloomberg, raises a forever-present thought among Jews: Is it ever OK to root for Germany? Wolfson's family sounds a bit like mine; he says his grandparents refused to buy a German car. I can't bring myself to do that either, or take a vacation to Germany, or root for their national soccer team, etc.

Wolfson notes the, in his opinion, mildly overrated multiculturalism of this year's German team, as does Stefan Fatsis, who views it more favorably in a reply, as one reason to be less wary or weary. When I watched the players' brutally fast and efficient counterattack last week, all I could think was, Blitzkrieg. (I realize the analogy doesn't quite hold, though, because the blitzkrieg was an attack, not a counter.)

When do we forgive?