Probably Only Slightly Better Than Seeing Helmut Kohl's Ass

The British tabloid The Sun is catching heat for publishing a papparazzo's photo of the bare ass of German prime minister Angela Merkel. The photog caught Merkel poolside while she changed into her swimsuit. Merkel's ass crack appeared in print editions and at The Sun's website under the snarky headline I'm big in the Bumdestag.

Most other papers chose not to republish the photos. Since The Sun itself has removed the article in question -- and its accompanying photo -- from its website, and since we're all about the race to the bottom (so to speak), we are proudly displaying the image at left (in a we-are-all-Danes sort of way).

The German media is bashing the cheeky Sun, defending their leader's right to privacy. "The English are mocking our Chancellor," wrote the equally tabloidy Bild. "Where does this hatred come from?"

Oh boo hoo. Bild's cries of prurience alonside NSFW images like this sound a lot like hollow attempts to sell more papers.

I'm all for privacy, but having spent a good deal of time on beaches in Europe and South Florida, where I've witnessed countless thousdands of other, unfortunately Merkel-esque (or worse) German men and women strip down pretty much wherever and whenever they please, I'm not buying the argument. (I can personally attest to the fact that for every hot chick on Miami's South Beach wearing very little, there are three fat Germans wearing even less.)

More on the controversy here, sans photo.