HEIDELBERG, GERMANY -- The streets of this quaint university town are less photogenic these days. Much to the chagrin of the city fathers -- and businesses relying on tourism -- nearly every corner is filled with very un-Teutonic piles of garbage -- the detritus of a weeks-long public workers strike. The accumulated trash may be an eyesore -- and eventually a haven for vermin and rats -- but it hasn't kept the local university students off the streets -- or dampened their enthusiasm for "bringing down the system." All this I learned quite unexpectedly while visiting here to make a documentary on the life and death of General George S. Patton. Old "Blood and Guts" had liberated this city in 1945 and died not far from here after a car crash in December that year. For two nights in a row, I was awakened by boisterous college-age shouting and laughter from the street in front of the ancient hostelry where our FOX News production team was billeted. Unable to sleep, I arose to go for a walk -- and stepped into a time warp. Most of the noise was coming from the open portals of an Internet cafe and coffee shop a few paces across the cobblestones from the hotel. A bearded young man, wearing a beret and coiffed like Che Guevara, was speaking passionately in German to a half-dozen others seated at a round table. As I started to pass, he looked up and said, "Hello! You're an American, aren't you?" "Why do you ask?" I responded. "We saw you on the bridge with the TV cameras this afternoon. You are an American newsman, yes?" "Yes, I'm an American, and I work for FOX News. We're here making a documentary about General George Patton." "Are you here to cover the strike?" one of the bright-eyed youngsters inquired. "No. I make TV documentaries for FOX News," I repeated. "Good," the discussion leader interjected, ignoring my answer and clearly seeing his moment for 15 minutes of "on-air" fame. "You should document us," he said boldly. "We're going to Caracas to help 'the Revolution.'" Continued... |