German Politics Thread

If Erich Mielke of all people was released after two years, this woman won't likely get prison time.

And he only got sentenced at all because he actually comitted two murders in 1933! Judges were really, really merciful towards culprits from the GDR regime.

I still think it is an interesting discussion, how to properly punish someone in her circumstances.

Edited by Zarastro on Oct 1st 2021 at 9:40:35 PM

Absolutely, and how to punish the elderly in general.

The AfD fell for a massive hoax. 5 Million flyers of them were not delivered due to it

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/09/29/germany-election-afd-flyers-activists-prank/

There is also a Youtube Video about it

While I gotta admit that this was pretty funny, I'm not sure if it was a smart decision. They could be criminally charged and they have given them the perfect ammunition for their victim complex.

They're fascists, the AFD is going to have a victim complex regardless of what their opponents do. If we don't give them any ammunition they'll just invent it.

Nor would I say that the possibility of criminal charges makes it dumb. As long as the person who did it is cognizant of the risk and consider the benefits to be worth it then I would argue that's no more stupid than incurring any other necessary risk for a political project.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Oct 2nd 2021 at 9:08:45 AM

I mean the AFD could always point to the written contr...oh wait

A verbal contract is also a contract.

Notorious criminal clan boss Sanger Ahmadi was arrested in Istanbul after directly threatening german police and authorities with personal details and death

https://www.haberler.com/haberler-the-leader-of-the-crime-organization-lions-cartel-14449568-haberi/

Of course, the scumbag also attempted to backpaddle shortly before being arrested

Hope he gets deported soon to face appropriate punishment.

Edited by Forenperser on Oct 12th 2021 at 3:25:47 PM

That doesn't mean we should give them actual ammunition, though?

Some time ago we had a case of some idiot in a polling place during munipical elections in Brandenburg (the town, not the state) taking AfD votes and counting them towards the Greens instead.

The AfD had a field day with this - while they're always quick to see election fraud literally anywhere, shit like this is grist to the mill for them.

I'm not a fan of the AfD being a legal party at all, but stealing legitimate votes from them is not helpful.

Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Oct 12th 2021 at 4:39:24 PM

It is in general not a good idea trying to beat antidemocratic parties by using methods they would happily use themselves if given the opportunity. Especially when they would have done poorly anyway, because that gives them the opportunity to feel like victims, instead of losers.

I wonder if they will extradite Attila Hildmann one day as well. Though I suppose that Turkey does not appreciate organized crime (at least when it is not on Erdogan's payroll).

Btw. I mentioned a few times that the city government of Berlin is the most incompetent one in Germany (their deplorably actions on GDR revisionism aside). But now they have outdone themselves. It is not enough that they struggle with basic administrative services like birth and death certificates, they now thoroughly bungled the federal and regional election:

German election chaos in Berlin — what happens now?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.dw.com/en/german-election-chaos-in-berlin-what-happens-now/a-59470335

Reported highlights include:

- Not having enough ballots at poll stations - Letting minors vote despite them stating their real age, even advising them how to vote - Not checking voting registers, with some poll stations apparantly reporting 150% turn-out rate -One polling apparantly being forced to guess results because of the votes have been lost.

This might be acceptable in Venezuela or Russia, but hardly in Germany. Then again, the Left party who is part of the government likes the autocrats of both countries so maybe this was more than a coincidence?

Edited by Zarastro on Oct 12th 2021 at 5:04:40 PM

I mean, I wasn't talking about that.

Stealing fliers is entirely different from stealing votes, it's apples to oranges.

There are obviously counterproductive means, I just don't think sabotaging their propaganda is one of them.

An interview with the author of a book about right-wing jurists in Germany about worries on AfD-affiliated jurists. I hope that this guy isn't onto something, because his examples certainly raise questions about the conduct of the German judiciary/jurists when they defend people obviously misusing judgments for political opinion-expression.

As infuriating aa those examples may be, it should be noted that it is a very difficult task to keep extremists out of the judiaciary (and other official functions) as long as they are smart enough to not cross certain lines. The Radikalenerlass in the 1970s was a good start - provided that it does focus on all sort of extremism - but there is currently no political majority for it. Thus it will remain a very fight that mostly relies on the initiative of those in high positions.

Was the bothsiding really necessary?

One argument against the Radikalenerlass was that it was enforced too selectively so naturally proponents of it would want it to be used equally.

So I noticed a while ago that Angela Merkel in caricatures always has her hands in that odd gesture and today I found that it even has a Wikipedia page.

Not just caricatures - there was legitimately a massive campaign poster just featuring the Merkel-Raute in Berlin during the 2017 federal elections.

Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Nov 1st 2021 at 1:22:44 PM

Scholz has also copied this hand signature as part of his strategy, including posing with it on campaign posters.

As a side note, it has been revealed that the man in charge of the coalition talks with the SPD on behalf of the Left party has a deeper Stasi past than some of his defenders said. Thanks to the SPD, Mecklenburg-Western Pommarania will likely soon have a vice minister president who happily and (according to his handlers in the Stasi) betrayed his fellow students with "great enthusiasm" to the Stasi. Lovely.

Edited by Zarastro on Nov 2nd 2021 at 1:20:14 PM

What?

Well, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Edited by Zarastro on Nov 2nd 2021 at 1:24:45 PM

Looks like the economic heavyweights are weighing in on the question who will become the next Finance Minister, with prominent economists making arguments against or for individual candidates. People can probably guess on which side I am on.

AfD Poster woman Alice Weidel is infected with Covid, after always stressing to be proud to be unvaxxed

https://detv.us/2021/11/11/always-stressed-to-be-unvaccinated-alice-weidel-infected-with-coronavirus/

Now I wish her a speedy recovery, but I still do find it comically ironic.

I wish her the consequences of her rethoric

Edited by 3of4 on Nov 11th 2021 at 11:38:28 AM

Traffic Light Coalition agrees on legalizing Cannabis

https://rp-online.de/politik/deutschland/drogenpolitik-ampel-parteien-einig-bei-legalisierung-von-cannabis_aid-64146103

(Couldn't find an english news outlet except for the Daily Express reporting on this, sorry)

Yay less traffic on the roads! (I live at the dutch border)