German finesse

It boggles the mind how one can write such revolting stuff (via Davids Medienkritik):

Yet joy and sympathy beat simultaneously in my chest. I am, for example, joyful at the moment that the latest hurricane catastrophe hasn't again hit some poor land, but instead the richest country in the world.
Yes, I even see in that a form of balancing justice for that which the inhabitants of that country have done to others through their war in Iraq.
I would, however, be even more happy, if I knew that only the houses of Bush voters and members of the Army had been destroyed.
I feel genuinely sorry for all the rest.

And the terrible thing is that I suspect many of the people around me, while they would reject such crude gloating, would easily identify with the underlying message and sentiments of the author.
Thankfully not all Germans have lost their minds (also via DM).

The dead in New Orleans are still uncounted, thousands of people are fighting for survival.
But instead of standing by the Americans as they cope with this terrible hurricane catastrophe, our environmental minister Jürgen Trittin shows the world the grimace of the ugly German.
With ice cold arrogance he shouts to the poor people, who are swimming for their lives: "It your own fault!". Translation: With climate protection á la Trittin it never would have happened.
Not a word of regret, no sympathy, no ... nothing! Instead, hold the German election on the American victims' backs.
If Jürgen Trittin still has a spark of decency left, he’ll shamefacedly tender his resignation without a fuss.
But you can’t expect that from the man. So the Chancellor will have to act and fire the Minister of Heartlessness.

Ironically (perhaps) this comment was published in the Bild Zeitung - the daily newspaper with the highest circulation in Europe - which as you may imagine many people regard as a purveyor of populistic gutter journalism. At least they still have their heads screwed on the right way: what is the use of being intellectually sophisticated if the result is that you gloat over the deaths of innocent people?