De Maizière seems blissfully unaware Germany was once home to a powerful dictator who killed millions of his own citizens while deploying a secret police force. And once that period ended, part of Germany rolled directly into a program of intense domestic surveillance utilizing the Stasi — one of the most brutally effective secret police forces ever wielded by a government against its own people. De Maizière‘s proposal is so tone deaf — given the history of the nation he serves — it‘s tempting to believe he‘s an under-recognized satirist. But de Maizière seems completely serious.