German Politics Thread

I've never heard of that Green Day single before.

It'd make for a great song. "The Bavarian Idiot" by Rammstein.

Get on it, Germany!

While it does look like Paris will be the main beneficiary from Brexit, there is now some hope that Frankfurt will also receive a decent pound of flesh from the City of London.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/nov/29/london-to-lose-800bn-to-frankfurt-as-banks-prepare-for-brexit

We'll see...I think Paris, Frankfurt, Dublin and Amsterdam will all get part of the cake.

All this talk of cake makes me wonder if someone has already made a real life Brexit Cake recipe.

Instead of an oven you use a burning house.

Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Nov 29th 2018 at 12:49:28 PM

Not that I know of, but I am working on a list of Brexit Lingo.

Merz is continuing to bait to the right by claiming the CDU abandoned the people over the Refugee debate

When Söder is calling you out on your bullshit...

Well, according to the Deutschlandtrend, AKK is leading by BOTH voter and specifically union voters (and is gaining every time Merz opens his mouth). Hopefully the CDU members won't ignore this little fact.

But you know what, maybe we are lucky that Merz has turned up. Because otherwise, all those who are now pro-Merz would have been pro Spahn, and it is a little bit harder to remind people why Spahn is a bad idea than it is the case with Merz.

Edited by Swanpride on Nov 30th 2018 at 1:00:00 AM

Oh Joy, a Hessian Businessman who only joined the party this year wants the job..

Seems the usual 'Economy will fix it's stuff from him, *würg*

Edit: Oh boy, seems Gauland got caught up in the Af D Donation scandal.

Edited by 3of4 on Nov 30th 2018 at 2:26:34 PM

At this point, I'm willing to bet damn near everyone at the top of AfD is involved in some way or the other with that scam.

Also, wuerg? What does that even mean?

So how bad is Spahn in comparison with all the other picks? Merz is a piece of work, sure, but Spahn I don't know much beyond Der Spiegel making him out as a jackass with his seeming majoritarianism and leitkultur yap.

Edited by TechPriest90 on Nov 30th 2018 at 1:41:19 PM

würg means 'to gag' or 'about to puke'

Spahn is the kind of person who wants to make healthcare more "efficient", speaks about "Christian Values" without really having any and explained that Hartz 4 (benefits for the poorest of the country) is not poverty but the avoidance of poverty. But that's not even why I dislike him so much. Well, it is why I dislike him, but that doesn't necessarily make him a bad choice for a conservative party. But he is currently misusing his position as minister for health care in order to drag out the euthanasia question (because he personally is against it), and that is in my eyes a misuse of his office. No matter what HE thinks, he should allow the matter to proceed as it should.

So...Spahn might not be quite as bad as Merz, but he is bad enough. Mind you, with AKK we would still get a party leader with some very questionable views, especially regarding gay marriage and abortion, but with her you can at least trust that she will follow the law and has some principles.

Edited by Swanpride on Nov 30th 2018 at 11:16:55 AM

"To hurk" or "to hurk up" — specifically for cats and dogs about to hurk up on the carpet (or behind the radiator), but I'm spotting a certain similarity... Germanic languages: never letting an onomatopoeia get away if we can help it.

Edited by Euodiachloris on Nov 30th 2018 at 8:38:12 PM

Today the CDU will vote on their next party chairman, after Merkel announced that she will step down as head of the CDU. Whoever succeeds her is expected to succeed her as chancellor as well. The two favourites are either AKK who is Merkel's protege, or Friedrich Merz, an old rival of her. It is widely believed that if Merz is chosen, Merkel will step down as chancellor within the next months.

https://www.google.de/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/world/europe/ally-or-rival-in-germany-merkels-party-faces-a-choice-that-could-define-her-legacy/2018/12/06/967772f2-e832-11e8-8449-1ff263609a31_story.html

Let's hope for the CDU being smart enough to vote in AKK. If they pick Merz, they will most likely follow the way of the SPD. Not that I am particularly against having the Greens as strongest party in the future, but our parliament shouldn't fracture even more.

Yeah, letting the...obvious issues with Merz aside, him as Chancellor Candidate would be a massive turnoff for a huge part of the electorate.

First round of voting is done:

AKK: 45,0 % Merz: 39,24 % Spahn: 15,72 %

Now they go into a second round. Let's hope that Merz doesn't get too many votes from the Spahn fans. And that enough of them rather have AKK as leader than some lobbyist.

Habemus Parteivorsitzende.

Thank God!

AKK: 51,7 Prozent Merz: 48,2 Prozent

That's a reason for celebration!!!!!

Well, least evil but thank fuck.

Hopefully Merz fucks off again, now.

Who knows...he might candidate to be her vice...

No. A wannabe middle classer millionaire who worked as political mercenary to the shady upper end of capitalism?

I feel he's not the type to play ball either and would end up De Maizere 2.0

Edited by 3of4 on Dec 7th 2018 at 5:25:00 PM

We will see...now let's hope that the choice will get rewarded. Because if AKK doesn't succeed, the party is bound to move further to the right.

So AKK ended up taking it, I see. Looks like enough people within the CDU decided against having two raving loons as candidates for the Chancellorship.

Germanic Efficiency is still a thing, I see. Well done, people.

Though the real question is whether the CDU is going to be the ruling party next election as well. Could the SPD make a comeback? Or could the Greens conceivably make a Dark Horse victory at the eleventh hour?

It's interesting times ahead for German Politics.