Politics German Politics & News

[muck]

@Serj & @Picanha

Merkel's long reign was due to her ability to avoid a losing battle. I do think she erred when she saw the "signs of the times" in the refugee situation, but there's no point in denying the populace was heavily in favour of e.g. abolishing nuclear power, ending conscription or introducing gay marriage. I'm not surprised she didn't put up a fight there.

Personally, I'd much prefer a politician willing to die on the proverbial hill – but I also have to concede it's futile to resist a policy if the resistance will inevitably lead to one's being replaced by a politician who will implement said policy without your being there to at least offer a bit of moderation. That's what Merkel did, I think, or at least what she thought she was doing.

Obviously I don't presume to tell you what your political leanings should be, but I do fail to see how you could possibly expect any positive impulses from this election (especially you, @Picanha). The stagnation you felt will subsist. The main culprit, the SPD, is still in power. The same Greens whose looming shadow prompted many of the Grand Coalition's worst ideas have become even stronger.

Do you consider plans to lower the voting age, legalise Cannabis or create a veto power-wielding minister for climate change as positive impulses? If so, I guess you have a reason to be happy. Myself, I dread these plans. I dread their effects, and I dread the mentality they represent. We live in a country where it takes twenty years to build a bloody airport. Perhaps we should fix what we have before we dramatically reconstruct our society.

 

[Musashi]

Official result

Party​	Results, in %​	Seats​	2017 Elections, in %​
SPD​	25.7​	206​	20.5​
CDU/CSU​	24.1​	196​	32.9​
Greens​	14.8​	118​	8.9​
FDP​	11.5​	92​	10.7​
AfD​	10.3​	83​	12.6​
Left¹​	4.9​	39​	9.2​
SSW²​	0.1​	1​	0.0​

(missing to 100%: no caucus recognition won)

¹) failed to win caucus recognition, but won some constituencies directly
²) SSW = Südschleswiger Wählerverband/Sydslesvigsk Vaelgerforening, party of the Danish-speaking minority, exempt from caucus recognition clause

The Left is the biggest loser due to old Ossis dying out. The Party with the dick-shaped logo has become less popular as well. It looks like Easterners are becoming less Easternish.

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[muck]

I'm afraid you're mistaken.

In Germany's general elections, voters have two votes. One half of the Federal Diet consists of directly elected representatives; the other half is elected by way of proportional representation. It's true that AfD's share of secondary votes went down, but their share of primary votes did increase – they were able to win five times as many constituencies as they had in 2017. Almost the entirety of Saxony and Thuringia is now their territory.

As for the Left; electoral behaviour analysis suggests the Left and Greens each lost a couple of percentage points to the SPD. A few weeks back I'd predicted this would happen. Knowing a weakened SPD would increase the likelihood of the Greens entering into a coalition with CDU/CSU, the leftists voted tactically to prevent that very thing from happening. It doesn't mean they're done as a party just yet.

 

[Musashi]

I'm afraid you're mistaken.

In Germany's general elections, voters have two votes. One half of the Federal Diet consists of directly elected representatives, the other half is elected by way of proportional representation. It's true AfD's share of secondary votes went down, but their share of primary votes increased – they were able to win five times as many constituencies as in 2017. Almost the entirety of Saxony and Thuringia is now their territory.

I'm curious about why AfD did not achieve the same success in Saxony-Anhalt that is a well-known neo-Nazi hotbed. It may have been due to the fact a neo-Nazi party was banned a few years ago.

 

[Picanha]

@Serj & @Picanha

Merkel's long reign was due to her ability to avoid a losing battle. I do think she erred when she saw the "signs of the times" in the refugee situation, but there's no point in denying the populace was heavily in favour of e.g. abolishing nuclear power, ending conscription or introducing gay marriage. I'm not surprised she didn't put up a fight there.

Personally, I'd much prefer a politician willing to die on the proverbial hill – but I also have to concede it's futile to resist a policy if the resistance will inevitably lead to one's being replaced by a politician who will implement said policy without your being there to at least offer a bit of moderation. That's what Merkel did, I think, or at least what she thought she was doing.

Obviously I don't presume to tell you what your political leanings should be, but I do fail to see how you could possibly expect any positive impulses from this election (especially you, @Picanha). The stagnation you felt will subsist. The main culprit, the SPD, is still in power. The same Greens whose looming shadow prompted many of the Grand Coalition's worst ideas have become even stronger.

Do you consider plans to lower the voting age, legalise Cannabis or create a veto power-wielding minister for climate change as positive impulses? If so, I guess you have a reason to be happy. Myself, I dread these plans. I dread their effects, and I dread the mentality they represent. We live in a country where it takes twenty years to build a bloody airport. Perhaps we should fix what we have before we dramatically reconstruct our society.

Well I have no real indications in what might come. Maybe chaos, maybe change. In the end its not so easy to realize your political dreams.

Of the three examples you mentioned maybe Cannabis legalization will be the only subject to come into effect. And thats not wrong imho, people do it anyway. Why run after some joints? Thats pretty pointless. They should concentrate more on the out of control cocaine business and organised crime. And get some taxes out of it. Works well in the US for example.

The other issues are far off, as the FDP is always included in the government. The climate change minister is a joke and will never by accepted by the industrial lobby. Parties like the Greens will learn their lessons in reality quite quick. Lowering the voting age is a purely clientele oriented move. But If you Look at it objectively
Most teens would probably give only an unreflected joke vote. Like "Die Partei".


I just hope for some political change out of the parties own will to reform. How good or bad that result will be remains to be seen.

And thats the difference to Merkel she was so bland and only reacted for her own survival like you excellently analysed above.

Building airports for 20 years will continue because the underlying issues is lack of responsibility and that will never change because only the ordinary man can be held responsible.

 

[Redav]

German Greens, FDP cosy up as coalition dance begins

Germany's Greens said on Wednesday they had held a good first round of talks with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and planned to meet them again, though the two 'kingmakers' were at odds over which larger partner to join in a new coalition government.

www.reuters.com

 

[Jake84]

It's called: play stupid games - win stupid prizes.
Who spent months propping and shielding the Belarussian version of Juan Guaido? Has anyone in EU, Germany including, lifted a single finger to tell Balts and Polaks to stop waging political/diplomatic warfare against Belarus? No. Why? Because "protecting democratic values" is more important than "preventing inter-state conflicts and instability". To the same degree as "protecting human rights worldwide" is more important than "preventing the rise of ghettoed radical Islam in European capitals that directly endangers the lives of all European citizens."

So now that the children screwed up their little game of regime-change, they got bitten in the ass, and now Luka, stronger and more entrenched than ever, will continue to put the pain on them in retaliation, both economically and politically, while the rest of EU has to clean up their mess. But will the EU come out of their closet and say "Actually, Balts F***ed up! We need to find means to rebuild our relationship with Belarus"?
No, of course they won't say that. To them, Belarus that is headed by Lukashenko is now an enemy state. Why? Purely and only because of ideology optics.
Does it somehow benefit EU citizens if EU leaders view and treat Belarus as an enemy? Of course not. Never did, never will. But they will continue doing it. Because muh values.

The main threat to EU are the retarded policies and ideologies of the EU that lead to hostility with their neighbors as well as to the multiple migrant crises and ensuing collateral damage exemplified by terror attacks, rape, and ruined city streets.
Energy deals, economic partnerships, security partnerships, sharing vital intelligence, geopolitical decisions - all of these things in EU are dominated and ruled solely by ideology. Or as I like to call it: brain cancer.

Big whoop if you don't like Lukashenko. But he's not your business, your business is to follow the basic ethics of diplomacy and international relations with all countries, regardless of whether they align with your values or not. Because as liberal democracies, it is your job to ensure a peaceful and pleasant environment for your own citizens. But for now, everything the EU does only sets both its own borders and its own streets on fire. Because muh ideology. The EU is basically doing the same thing to itself what it had already done (with US help) to Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan. Deep inner instability brought to you by democratic values™



Chechnya and Dagestan are Russian territories, that are inhabited by indigenous Muslims.
What indigenous Muslim territories does the EU have? Well, if the, again, retarded policies and ideologies of EU will persist, soon all of Europe will be classified as indigenously Muslim.

It's really a weird comparison you made there.

Your posts are, as usual, long, meandering and you overall just come across as someone with much deeper issues in your life.

 

[muck]

The head of the CDU, Armin Laschet, has made thinly veiled offerings of his resignation; the media expect him to resign as soon as his SPD-aligned rival, Olaf Scholz, is able to form a new government (should Scholz prove himself unable to do just that, CDU/CSU would lose their claims to power without Laschet). However, Scholz' success is highly probable at this point. He expects to be able to be elected Chancellor before Christmas.

Meanwhile, CDU has fallen to its lowest ever approval rating in the polls (19.5% on October 11). Just a wee reminder: At the peak of the first wave of the pandemic the polls had them a 41.5%. In other news: Joerg Meuthen, the chief of the right-wing AfD, has announced he will not run for office again come December's general convention. With the last prominent moderate gone, the party is now firmly in the hands of Neo-Nazis.

 

[Jake84]

Angela Mutti bid farewell to France today with Macron in Burgundy. She was doing bro fist ? to a number of French along with the French president

Some commentators here stated that Mutti actually had a good relationship with respectively Chirac, Sarkozy, Hollande and Macron. Sadly it may not be the case with the new chancellor.

Merkel was a flawed politician especially in the end, even more about the « Flüchtlinge willkommen » in 2014-2015. She still managed to maintain a healthy relationship with other leaders, PM and Presidents around Europe and the World.

 

[muck]

The upcoming administration has drafted the weirdest coalition agreement I've ever seen. It contains an aweful lot of social justice cringe and ecological extremism – for instance, children as young as fourteen are to be allowed to "select" their gender; abortion is to be made cost-free; all government policies must pass a check to assure they're "environmentally friendly"; immigration is to be made even easier etc. pp.

It's a nightmare in that regard, and I can't help but reiterate what I said last summer: If you thought literally anything would be preferrable to the outgoing government of that old hag Angela Merkel, boy have I got news for you. With all that said, it's quite surprising how reasonable – yes, you've read that right – the coalition agreement sounds where it pertains to the economy and – what interests us here – security policy.

Ignoring its pacifist roots and long-standing reservations, the new government has pledged itself to the Two Keys Agreement (under which the United States provide nuclear weapons to be dropped by German aircraft); it is determined to replace the ageing Tornado strike fighter as soon as the new government is constituted (!); and the left has even rescinded its age-old opposition to armed drones.

It'll be interesting to see if the Scholz administration will survive a full tenure; I kinda don't think it will. It is as if that crazy doctor from 'Human Centipede' had tried to sew together Greta Thunberg, Ruby Rose, Elon Musk and F.A. Hayek. (And it's just as gross as the movie.)

 

[Jake84]

Danke Muck for those latest political news from Germany. Doesn’t look good in any way, but having someone actually on the ground so to speak is still better than foreign assumptions.

Best to move forward now, Merkel overdid her time IMO, and there was no way someone better than her would come along. Economy wise, you’re still doing good. Covid wise not as much. Again neither did the UK “plague island” or France and lately Romania in this regard.

 

[morris]

Time to write memoir has come.

 

[muck]

Time to write memoir has come.

For any public figure with half-way decent work ethics, writing one's memoirs has to be the easiest way to earn a million or two. You don't even have to be good. People buy them autobiographies just to appear smart.

 

[BCNTM]

For any public figure with half-way decent work ethics, writing one's memoirs has to be the easiest way to earn a million or two. You don't even have to be good. People buy them autobiographies just to appear smart.

Biden's will just be the dust jacket without anything in the middle

 

[Jake84]

Several months later, what do our German users think of Olaf?

Can’t say I like him a lot but he’s had quite a number of funny antics, like when he was asked during an interview if he respected journalists (a question often asked these days for reasons well understood) and he replied: “I usually mainly respect hard working people.”

Case in point, few politicians of today dare say such things even if he isn’t quite a spring chicken.

@muck @Serj @Fish&Chips @Picanha

 

[Fish&Chips]

Several months later, what do our German users think of Olaf?

Can’t say I like him a lot but he’s had quite a number of funny antics, like when he was asked during an interview if he respected journalists (a question often asked these days for reasons well understood) and he replied: “I usually mainly respect hard working people.”

Case in point, few politicians of today dare say such things even if he isn’t quite a spring chicken.

I have to say I had high hopes for him that he hasn't fulfilled so far. Especially his handling of the Ukraine situation made him quickly look like another version of Merkel. The problem may be, however, that he is constantly reigned in by his party while it seems he would like to act much more like an actual statesman.

 

[Musashi]

Several months later, what do our German users think of Olaf?

Can’t say I like him a lot but he’s had quite a number of funny antics, like when he was asked during an interview if he respected journalists (a question often asked these days for reasons well understood) and he replied: “I usually mainly respect hard working people.”

Case in point, few politicians of today dare say such things even if he isn’t quite a spring chicken.

@muck @Serj @Fish&Chips @Picanha

Here we go. It's the lowest support since 1887:

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It looks like Gründiots have taken over SPD-rasts' votes due to showing some cojones when it comes to their stance towards monsieur Putain.

 

[Jake84]

Yeah, I think both of you are onto something and I’d assume the other Germans I tagged will vastly agree too.

If it hasn’t been for Ukraine and Putin crossing the line, maybe his rating/poll and opinion would be higher. Actually almost post Covid we were all, Germans or not looking forward something else, and better, quieter days…

 

[Musashi]

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[NoOne]

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It's that or freeze.