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German politics xth attempt


kiko

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Just here to leave a comment with regards to the causa comedia Maaßen. Right wing wanker, spewing right wing conspiracy theories and feels victimized, that was probably the least surprising news, since the SPD losing elections. And Crazy Horst is disappointed in Maaßen. That begs the question why? Some batshit crazy rightwing conspiracy was what got him into hot water in the first place, with Seehofer backing him, but him doubling down on the crazy is now a disappointment? Sorry, Hotte, he is your very creature, so you own it. I'd never thought I'd have to live to see the day, where I'd look back at that jackass de Maiziere with some sort of nostalgia, but that Bavarian buffoon managed to make him look good.

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Seehofer is resigning as party chair, according to Zeit:

https://www.zeit.de/2018/46/horst-seehofer-csu-vorsitz-aufgabe-ministerposten/komplettansicht

I wonder how much longer Nahles can cling to her post. Her party is doing worst of the three coalition partners. Would be funny if she was the one chair who stays. Looking at the opinion polls, the SPD can't just go on like this. They're approaching single digit territory.

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42 minutes ago, Loge said:

Seehofer is resigning as party chair, according to Zeit:

https://www.zeit.de/2018/46/horst-seehofer-csu-vorsitz-aufgabe-ministerposten/komplettansicht

I wonder how much longer Nahles can cling to her post. Her party is doing worst of the three coalition partners. Would be funny if she was the one chair who stays. Looking at the opinion polls, the SPD can't just go on like this. They're approaching single digit territory.

Thought a spokesperson for him dismissed that already. Anyway....

With regards to Nahles, she might very well be the face of the further decline of the SPD, but to single her out as the cause is a bit too simple. The SPD's problems run much deeper than Nahles. The party as a whole lacks profile, as bad a merchant Nahles might be, but she really has nothing to sell. The SPD needs to develop a clear profile again first, they can then decide to either give Nahles a chance or axe her as a second step. They have changed party chairs so often during the last 10 years or so, and it has not really helped them that much.

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Well, Die Zeit never retracted their story and it's back in the media.

As for the SPD, of course it isn't just Nahles, but she has been part of the party leadership for some time. There won't be any radical change while she is party chair.

 

ETA: Meanwhile, Seehofer has confirmed his resignation as party chair.

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Moving on from the senile grandpa in charge of the police, and the decline of the SPD under Nahles.

There was something else, I wanted to get back to. And that's our small disagreement over Wagenknecht, Aufstehen and how Left Wagenknecht actually is.

Remember what I said about her being as divisive as Oscar I mean, how morally devoid you have to be to distance yourself from "Unteilbar" because part of your base is just wee bit racist, that is something I leave for the Wagenknecht fans here to discuss.

Also, I find it encouraging that the Left has apparently started to grow a pair and is making moves towards stripping her of her position of co-party whip - even if she leaves the party and joins Frauke Petry (or whatever her longterm plan is).

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

So, AKK is atm the frontrunner for the party chair in the CDU.

Then there was also this news about Merz already being a total bellend fifteen years ago (surprise!).

For the people not up to speed with silly German news reports, here's the story.

Merz takes cab, and loses his notebook. A homeless guy picks it up, and instead of selling it on the blackmarket for big bucks (as in, there was apparently some sensitive data on it), the guy is honest and hand it in at the police, with a homeless shelter as his address. How did Fritze Merz show his gratitude? You will love this. He send him a personally singed copy of his then recently released with a personal message (for the honest finder or some bs like that). The theme of the book was of course some conservative, neo liberal gibberish about reinventing oneself be the change nonsense. So he didn't even bother to show up in person. The book found its just end, as the homeless guy just tossed it into the Spree.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, you international folk better start practising pronouncing this name: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. (Just elected CDU party leader and very likely next chancellor.) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/07/annegret-kramp-karrenbauer-elected-merkels-successor-as-christian-democrat-leader

On a strictly soap opera level, I enjoyed this fight and (again, ignoring their politics) the best person won. Or, well, the least unpleasant personality won.

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Well, she's still to the right of Merkel on social issues. She's not as arrogantly clueless as Merz and Spahn, so I agree she was probably the least objetionable on a personal level. On the other hand, Merz or Spahn might have presented a starker image to rally against from the left; I think the SPD would have more problems continuing the coalition if Merz or Spahn were chancellor compared to Kramp-Karrenbauer.

So, I don't expect the current trends to change all that much under her. Both SPD and Union will hemorrhage votes while the Greens and AfD keep growing.

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I'm afraid Merz threatened to remain active within the party, too...

You know, I pondered this a lot: How it would probably be better for the SPD (I won't call them 'the left') and worse for the AfD if Merz (or Spahn) had won. I believe both would be true, but the effects would be smaller than predicted. Some who voted AfD would return to the CDU. Because they would now cover part of their politics. How is that better, apart from the fact that those AfD people are even more unpleasant...

Same with the SPD: They would gain some votes back and muddle along, as they always do. They will pretend to be progressive and willing to change as long as they a) fear the next elections or (even more) b) if they are relegated to opposition (not that they'd ever leave government voluntarily, Merz or not). They will refuse to even discuss center-left coalitions whenever they are possible. And look what they did the last time they were in charge...

Yeah, I'm a pessimist.

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4 minutes ago, Mindwalker said:

You know, I pondered this a lot: How it would probably be better for the SPD (I won't call them 'the left') and worse for the AfD if Merz (or Spahn) had won. I believe both would be true, but the effects would be smaller than predicted. Some who voted AfD would return to the CDU. Because they would now cover part of their politics. How is that better, apart from the fact that those AfD people are even more unpleasant...

I think that was part of Merz problem, as Merkel (give her some credit) has more or less purged parts of the most nauseating parts of her party. If people like (SS) Erika Steinbach were still active in the CDU, Merz would have won. Ok, you can argue that Merkel did not do that on purpose, as that alienating those far right folks was more down to the frustration with Merkel's lack of any position (conservative in this case). I don't think AKK will offer them enough to keep the remains of the far right of her party happily on board for the long run either.

xdrei last night was fun with Leube at the Juso convention.

I am curious whether Die Linke will finally find the political courage to kick out Wagenknecht, which is long overdue.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/12/2018 at 5:25 PM, A Horse Named Stranger said:

I mean, how morally devoid you have to be to distance yourself from "Unteilbar"

Rather how politically inept one would have to be to take part in the celebration of free movement of labor under the current economic and political conditions. Of course it's not moral to deny solidarity to those most affected by it (which are migrants still) in order to gain political support but do keep in mind that they don't get to vote.

I understand plenty of germans have taken to this notion of patriotic diversity which is wonderful but a large part of the electorate favoring economically left policies remain very much 'brocalist' or whatever the racist version of that is.

Honestly, the whole 'aufstehen' thing is great. At worst (or best) Wagenknecht does move to the right and splits votes with the AfD, at best (or worst) she pulls the wool over some racists' eyes to biuld a stronger opposition from the left. Plus it keeps her far away from any sort of future movement on the left that might actually be able to win major elections.

(not the topic i expected to end my years long lurking here btw)

 

 

 

 

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  • 4 months later...

*dusts off ages old topic*

So... I guess I will now use this one to vent about the upcoming European Elections and how I get the feeling that all established parties really ask for an ass-kicking. At least when it comes to conveying their positions, but at least with their posters they compete with each other who gives the most the impression that they don't stand for anything.

A few weeks ago the first posters were put up. God are they all bland. CDU, SPD and FDP are especially terrible (the latter is odd, given how Lindner's campaign at the last parliamentary elections actually wasn't too shabby at least in their posters and slogans, I give them that). But now I am actually convinced to recognize some of them from the last local elections, they are just recycling them here. The Greens at least have a somewhat feasible slogan "Come, let's build Europe together!", but also bland posters, while only Die Linke at least makes heavy use of photos (and stealing positions that really should be Green ones). Heck, even the AfD look fairly boring, but they have the advantage of fear-mongering and actually having positions on them, even if they are either bald lies or simple racism. It boggles my mind. These are the most important European Elections ever, we have to decide about massive reforms to the entire institution, but our parties can't be assed to actually campaign for anything. This doesn't bode well at all...

Only bright side is that the AfD at least is as much target of vandalism as the others. Yesterday I saw with shock that they had thrashed a few Die Linke and FDP posters and replaced them with AfD ones (while the old one were still hanging below them, folded together). Today I saw that someone nicely taped and addition to the AfD poster: "Paid by illegal campaign donations from Swiss bank accounts." Right in that regard, but the AfD constantly self-destructing apparently doesn't really influence stupid voters that much, even though the they are currently trying to broaden their topics with more climate change denying and verbally deriding protesting kids.

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11 hours ago, Toth said:

It boggles my mind. These are the most important European Elections ever, we have to decide about massive reforms to the entire institution, but our parties can't be assed to actually campaign for anything. This doesn't bode well at all...

Not sure about the importance of these elections. What kind of reform do you have in mind? Anyway, it's the Council that calls the shots, i.e. the national governments. And that doesn't bode well for any kind of reform that leads to more integration. If that's to happen it would have to be Eurozone only, and decided outside the official EU institutions.

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18 minutes ago, Loge said:

Not sure about the importance of these elections. What kind of reform do you have in mind? Anyway, it's the Council that calls the shots, i.e. the national governments. And that doesn't bode well for any kind of reform that leads to more integration. If that's to happen it would have to be Eurozone only, and decided outside the official EU institutions.

Well, if we ever manage to kick out Britain and the Council decides to make the constitutional leap (at least Macron seems to be very eager to at least do some notable reforms), I really don't want too many anti-EU idiots dragging their feet during the drafting process. This election will be understood as the people voicing the direction they want the EU to take and we can't allow ourselves to be dragged down by misery and defeatism.

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2 hours ago, Toth said:

Well, if we ever manage to kick out Britain and the Council decides to make the constitutional leap (at least Macron seems to be very eager to at least do some notable reforms), I really don't want too many anti-EU idiots dragging their feet during the drafting process. This election will be understood as the people voicing the direction they want the EU to take and we can't allow ourselves to be dragged down by misery and defeatism.

You are aware, that the biggest idiots atm (Poland and Hungary) do have vetos, and that the Baltic states are also somewhat uncomfortable with a much deeper political integration? Thus Macron's gymnastics with the Europe of different paces. Add to that, while Merkel is mostly indifferent to that (as with most political content), AKK is closer to the idiot side than you might think.

With regards to her, I am really beginning to wonder whether she really was the less objectionable choice to Spahn. At least he's doing an okay job at the health department (how much of that is down to him, or whether Lauterbach deserves the credit for pushing a few good policies is down for debate obviously). I mean the change in the law for organ donations he is trying to get thru, mandatory vaccination for a few diseases at least.

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1 hour ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

You are aware, that the biggest idiots atm (Poland and Hungary) do have vetos, and that the Baltic states are also somewhat uncomfortable with a much deeper political integration? Thus Macron's gymnastics with the Europe of different paces. Add to that, while Merkel is mostly indifferent to that (as with most political content), AKK is closer to the idiot side than you might think.

Oh, I am aware. I'm just arguing that we don't want to add our very own homegrown nutjobs who have no vision beyond 'fear everything I tell you to fear!'. Also AKK... given the outrage about the copyright reform I am also aware that the CDU will likely lose a ton of seats, very much diminishing their political leverage. Yes, I know that voters are bloody goldfish, but "They are going after our Youtube!" is not just a sore issue among teenagers below the voting age.

... the question is just who is going to get these votes. Right now it looks like they are mostly going to the Greens and the AfD. As much as I am generally viewing the Greens as one of the better options, it's a shame that they are only riding on the wave of frustration and don't use the opportunity to make a strong case for themselves.

I guess I'm also frustrated to currently watch how the conversation in a fanfiction forum mostly frequented by teenagers, but run by a MRA and overrun by AfD trolls has right now turned to "Black people have lower IQ than white people because of evolution and that's why immigration is bad" and I'm myself too exhausted and emotionally drained to counter anything.

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