German politics. Flinten-Uschi defying the laws of gravity

[The Wondering Wolf]

42 minutes ago, Varysblackfyre321 said:

Hmm I  thought the AFD is the opposition to Germany and that the CDU had been deliberate in trying to isolate them specifically?

The CDU party establishment is eager to draw red lines when it comes to working with the AFD, that's right(!), there are people in the party who would like to see some kind of cooperation though. At least as long as the CDU would be harshly punished in the western federal states for openly flirting with the AfD, they won't leave their course. What I meant is that the CDU could favour a coalation with FDP and SPD more than one with the Greens. Not because they want to isolate the Greens, but because the SPD party establishment seems to like coalations with the CDU a lot (three of the last four terms were governed by that coalation) and the FDP is a natural partner for the CDU anyway.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

1 hour ago, Varysblackfyre321 said:

Hmm I  thought the AFD is the opposition to Germany and that the CDU had been deliberate in trying to isolate them specifically? 

Not really. They are a far right party. But not really in a position to form a goverment.

The main opposition party right now are the Greens. They are polling around 20%, which won't be enough to lead the next goverment. They may or may not end up in goverment after the election this fall. Past few weeks have been a bit rough as Baerbock, who is on top of the Green ticket, faced quite a bit of scrutiny over relatively minor stuff. But when you are up against the right wing media, the proverbial storm in the tea cup can be made look like a Tsunami.

Now with the flooding climate change will probably be more talked about than the lack of citations in her book. Laschet (topping the conservative ticket) chuckling while Steinmeier was delivering a consolatory speech to the flood victims, or Amthor (Brainy Smurf) posing on a photo with Neo-Nazis.

So let's see how this pans out.

[The Wondering Wolf]

17 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Past few weeks have been a bit rough as Baerbock, who is on top of the Green ticket, faced quite a bit of scrutiny over relatively minor stuff. But when you are up against the right wing media, the proverbial storm in the tea cup can be made look like a Tsunami.

While I would prefer a chancellor Baebock a hundred times over a chancellor Laschet, in my opinion she has to take a lot of that blame on her self and her team. Of course the media went over the top with their reporting, but that's what they always do and always have done. There has never been a campaign only focused on topics, it's always about the candidates themselves, as well. I do not really like that, but that's how it is, and as a would be-chancellor she had to know that. Late declarations of sublimentary income (even if it only was a Christmas bonus from her own party), imprecise details in her CV, publishing a book (written for the sole purpose to flank the campaign) which contains unmarked quotes... That looks pretty amateurish and is just too much. When she was nominated by her party, the CDU was struggling a lot and Laschet looked weak and inadequate then (and the media played a part in that, too). I'm not sure that would have changed if the Greens' campaign hadn't been so bad after that. As I said before, she wanted to run, so she has to make sure stuff like this does not happen. That does not change the fact that BILD, Welt and all the other right wing media are a shame for honest journalism, though. Maybe I sound a bit too harsh, but for a short amount of time I saw the chance that the next chancellor wouldn't come from the CDU, and I'm actually disappointed that the chance has gone.

 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

1 hour ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

but that's what they always do and always have done. There has never been a campaign only focused on topics, it's always about the candidates themselves, as well.

Wasn't complaining about it. It's the nature of the beast. Like you said, she chose to run and as the main competitor for the office of the chancellor, she was going to get attacked over it.

1 hour ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

Late declarations of sublimentary income (even if it only was a Christmas bonus from her own party), imprecise details in her CV,

Yep, that's on her. It was annoying, but that's the purity curse on the left. We kinda expect our guys to lead by example. So there the blowback was harder than it would've been for the conservatives.

 

1 hour ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

publishing a book (written for the sole purpose to flank the campaign) which contains unmarked quotes...

With that one, I have mixed feelings. It wasn't a scientific textbook or a dissertation to achieve an academic title. So for those books are usually different, lighter standards applied. So that was rally partisan hackery and more of a nuisance. Yes, it annoyed me, but like I said, it wasn't really scientific textbook, so I am willing to cut her and her lector some slack there.

It's three months to go, and she is now out of the news cycle. If there isn't anything more to come, and if the Green party manages to change the debate back to climate change and policies and the inadequacy of the CDU, that should make things a bit more competitive.

1 hour ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

Maybe I sound a bit too harsh, but for a short amount of time I saw the chance that the next chancellor wouldn't come from the CDU, and I'm actually disappointed that the chance has gone.

I never entertained those illusion. While I also had some not so small degree of fun with the few polls that saw the Greens polling above the CDU, I never truely believed that was gonna last. As soon as the they closed ranks and Söder stopped taking cheapshots at Laschet their numbers would recover somewhat. And even if the Greens were to get half a percent more on election day, the failure to pass an election reform would mean that the over representation of Bavarian MPs would give the CDU very likely a small majority.

[Luzifer's right hand]

https://twitter.com/ARD_BaB/status/1418180945790836738?s=20

Finde ich irgendwie lustig. 

Edit: lol

 

 

[Mindwalker]

LOL. That's Merkelian for "I don't give a f***!"

[Varysblackfyre321]

On 7/21/2021 at 12:00 PM, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Amthor (Brainy Smurf) posing on a photo with Neo-Nazis.

Looking this up I hoped you’d be exaggerating. But it doesn’t appear you are.

Its a travesty that a man like him has not been rendered politically obsolete from it.

[Alarich II]

On 7/21/2021 at 11:53 PM, A Horse Named Stranger said:

With that one, I have mixed feelings. It wasn't a scientific textbook or a dissertation to achieve an academic title. So for those books are usually different, lighter standards applied. So that was rally partisan hackery and more of a nuisance. Yes, it annoyed me, but like I said, it wasn't really scientific textbook, so I am willing to cut her and her lector some slack there.

Actually, the two bigger (and largely ignored) problems I have with this book is first that it was written by a Ghost author who is not named, so basically she's claiming this book as her own work, when it is at least a shared piece of work. And second it doesn't provide any insightful substance, which ironically is now the defense for why not citing a direct quotation (i.e. taking another authors words via copy/paste and pretending they are your own) is okay. As one commentator said, she should have called it "Dinner Talks with Annalena", named her co-author, and there wouldn't be any issue.  It's not like she's a second Guttenberg.

[kiko]

Ghost writing is an okay practice I think. Everyone is outsourcing stuff and I prefer her to do the stuff she is supposed to do  instead. I worked with our company's pr department for a while and learned that our product manager and higher management have targets on how many articles, interviews and so on they have to do. Since they can't do it on their own, we have a bunch of agencies churning out those things for them. It's a quite amazing process actually which doesn't touch the idea of producing anything of value anywhere along the way.

But I like your idea, would be much more honest and those books don't sell anyway, they are marketing instruments. So she doesn't need to appear to be the sole author. 

Maybe I get a copy later today at their local elections event... 

[Loge]

Allegedly she fell out with her ghostwriter, so she had to finish the book on her own. Or had her staff do it by copy and paste.

[Alarich II]

38 minutes ago, kiko said:

Ghost writing is an okay practice I think.

See, I think that's a more problematic practise than for example sloppy citations in dissertations in the 80ies and 90ies, where it was really hard sometimes to actually get hold of a copy of the original source. 

Because using an unnamed ghost author is purposefully deceiving the audience about who did the work. I mean, whatever the criticism about the content, the citations etc. - writing a book is hard work, you need a grit, especially when you're not a full time author or journalist. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Die Anstalt had a segment about that non-controversy about her book yesterday. It's in the ZDF mediathek if you missed it. Not their strongest ep. but that's a different story.

[kiko]

8 hours ago, Alarich II said:

See, I think that's a more problematic practise than for example sloppy citations in dissertations in the 80ies and 90ies, where it was really hard sometimes to actually get hold of a copy of the original source. 

Because using an unnamed ghost author is purposefully deceiving the audience about who did the work. I mean, whatever the criticism about the content, the citations etc. - writing a book is hard work, you need a grit, especially when you're not a full time author or journalist. 

Well, yes and no. It's marketing. Someone gives their name for the recognition and probably topic and general or specific knowledge about the topic at hand and someone else contributed with their - specific - talent. As long as we are talking about non-creative work like "auto"biographies, think pieces or other things that are basically marketing, why not?

Imagine someone with a very interesting life or important thoughts but who couldn't write a damn. Shouldn't we be able to hear their story?

Also see it like that : who is stopping the ghost writers to publish under their own names? Nobody, that's who. So in a way, they also very much depend on the recognized name for some reason or another.

It's a give and take for every stakeholder including the audience. 

I would obviously draw the line when somebody claims to be an intellectual giant but is only a dwarf standing on the back of ghostwriters. But for marketing and for bringing their story to the public - not so much.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Prize for the biggest dumbfuckery in the upcoming election goes to:

The Saarland chapter of the Greens.

Just when I thought you couldn't beat the clownshow at Die Linke surrounding Wagenknecht and Lafontaine.

That's not talking about neihter Baerbock or Laschet looking like a person that actually wants to be chancellor, while the the Scholzomat (who has two really big scandals attached to him) basically gets a pass and is topping popularity polls for reasons that quite frankly elude me.

I give up.

[Mindwalker]

In Gera, an anti-vaxxer attacked doctors/ nurses in a vaccination center after demanding a vaxx card without getting vaccinated.

[kiko]

What a vaxxer!

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Doesn't that one belong into the corona thread? Not really a political news item imho.

[Varysblackfyre321]

9 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Doesn't that one belong into the corona thread? Not really a political news item imho.

It happened in Germany so it seems appropriate here right?

[A Horse Named Stranger]

22 hours ago, Varysblackfyre321 said:

It happened in Germany so it seems appropriate here right?

I'd still file that under a Covidiot being a Covidiot. This is a global phenomenum, and  I simply feel this news item lacks a political aspect.

If it were an MP or some other political figure then, by all means, I wouldn't argue it. I mean, fortunately we don't have this American idiocy, where politicians try their best to spread misinformation. Yes, with the exception of the Neo-Nazi party. But I prefer to give them as little air time as possible.

[Luzifer's right hand]

4 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

I'd still file that under a Covidiot being a Covidiot. This is a global phenomenum, and  I simply feel this news item lacks a political aspect.

If it were an MP or some other political figure then, by all means, I wouldn't argue it. I mean, fortunately we don't have this American idiocy, where politicians try their best to spread misinformation. Yes, with the exception of the Neo-Nazi party. But I prefer to give them as little air time as possible.

Aren't the Freie Wähler anti-vaxx too? But the are only relevant in Bavaria I guess.