We should have kept Habeck instead. He was one the right track.
this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2025
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Oder direkt Gysi.
Naja, wir wollen mal nicht übertreiben :)
Ok so hear me out: fuck the New York Times. I don't even bother to read the article and I happen to think the CDU is a bunch of yahoos. But an ...American newspaper, telling a European democracy what it does or what it doesn't need? Get the fuck out of here.
Sure, the essayist is probably German and probably makes some good points. But, honestly fuck MAGA USA and their newspapers.
Signed, a dual EU/Canada citizen.
The NYT is hardly a "MAGA USA paper". Which is not to say that they've found a good style to deal with Trump.
The current incarnation of the USA is not the usual USA, it's MAGA USA, just like we characterize Fascist Italy, Peronist Argentina or Frankoist Spain. The NYT is in opposition but it's still a newspaper from the MAGA USA.
Still better than trump.
Most STDs are better than Trump.
Well, he actually is new to being part of a government...
I don't understand this view of Merz. He seems like decent leader material for Germany, replacing Scholz at the right time.
I am not a conservative, yet I think Merz's rhetoric so far is spot on when it comes to the current problems with our crumbling transatlantic alliance. His stance on the toxic US government is a welcome relief at a time when compassion, respect and critical thinking seem to be in short supply.
My hope is for a constructive outcome with him and Boris Pistorius in the same government.
This guy is a short-fused, greedy, power-hungry asshat with a long career as a lobbyist. A guy who made his campaign all about "criminal foreigners". A guy who blocked new debt for the past two years, who campaigned on "no new state debt!!" until exactly the election day, Feb 23, and who's now trying to get sign-off on €900bn of new debt. A guy who campaigned against heat pumps and climate legislation, but who it appears will only stop heat pump subsidies for households, but not remove the climate-friendly heating mandate, thus sticking it to the people, presumably to later blame it on the Greens. A guy who pro-forma distances himself from Trump or the Afd but who gives the Trumpists in his own party a platform and who copies many the far-right talking points and tactics.
To add onto this, he left politics because his party didn't like him for his further right beliefs - then he goes and works for Black Rock and makes millions (a company that I've never heard or read about in a good light) only to come back to politics and make one of his highest priorities lowering corporate tax rates. It's, to me, a clear quid-pro-quo isn't it? Make me rich, I'll get back into politics, help me get reelected, and then I'll lower your taxes.
There's no defensible political analysis that says lowering corporate taxes leads to things we should care about, it's just giving money to the rich. If the goal is for those companies to invest in themselves, hire more people, and pay those people better wages, then why not give the money to the people instead who will then buy more things from corporations they like and you get the same effect.
Except instead of the policy be "give money to the rich and hope it trickles down (historically it doesn't)" it becomes "give money to the workers and it'll trickle up".
He is bought and paid for by corporate interests, just like every other conservative, and people should stop falling for it. Tax the rich more, give workers more money and power, reinvest in public services and watch your country thrive.
He is trump lite. He is not at all „decent leader material“ by any stretch. His views align far too often with the far (not to say extreme) right wing party AFD.
Another similarity with Trump is that half of his own party tried their best to keep him from any positions of power for more than a decade because he is such a loose cannon with zero experience in governing anything. He has "good" industry connections though...
Are you sure? Doesn't sound like that to me: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PRsF-yy6RGc (only German subtitles)
His views align far too often with the far (not to say extreme) right wing party AFD.
Can you please share some concrete examples to back that up?
He is and he has been for a long time. It's not subtle. Presumably you're not German?
https://taz.de/Totalausfall-von-Friedrich-Merz/!6071285/
https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/merz-kritik-100.html
https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/bundestagswahl/parteien/migration-pro-asyl-cdu-merz-habeck-102.html
https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/bundestagswahl/merz-linke-kritik-100.html
Presumably you’re not German?
That's true. Thank you for this material for insight.
Back when Germany finally criminalised marital rape, he was one of very few voting against it. He is more conservative than most of his party.
More recently, he invited wanted for war crimes Netanyahu to Germany and thus break Germany from the ICC. His views on how to handle immigration also align with AFD: he and his party did start a motion in parliament to handle immigration (non-binding) and did try to pass a law to limit it, both with the help of the AFD. 2 Years ago, he sparked controversy nationwide by claiming asylum seekers are clogging up all the dentist appointments for Germans.
He's a pos.
He doesn't really have convictions. He says whatever he thinks will give him power at that moment.
I mean he knows that Trump and Putin are not friends. That means he is already better than Merkel.
Yeah so ... It looks a lot like outspoken Trump apologist Jens Spahn may be getting a cabinet position.
Let's see. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) has the power to determine the coalition negotiations, as there is only one option for forming a government. We will see how much the CDU/CSU will have to bend over backwards to govern.
There are at least two options to build a majority (in fact, Spahn is the kind of person to publicly suggest the other, the taboo option). In any case, CxU will almost definitely privately use the threat of building a coalition with Afd to shape the coalition agreement with SPD.
Never, ever. The SPD would pass on these internal documents and discussions to the media and Merz would have to resign and there would be new elections.
No paper trail and gentlemen agreements for suitcases full of money is a core competency of the CDU. You think they are amateurs in fucking everyone else over?
The SPD is spineless and will fall in line for anything the CDU wants. They will never fight for anything worthwhile under CDU leadership.
The Linke tried their best to give them a better bargaining position in recent days, but it looks like the SPD couldn't even wait beyond the first day of negotiations to backstab their voters and fall in line with the CDU position.
Let's see how long this holds.