All right, maybe the Iranian and Palestinian elections, but that's about it.
Related: Germans Toast Bin Laden
"crucially for the United States, a new center-right coalition will probably be steelier in its continued commitment of troops to the war in Afghanistan, a deeply unpopular undertaking in Germany."
How can an ANTIWAR PARTY in a LARGELY ANTIWAR COUNTRY finish SO POORLY, readers?
And as with any election, the first question must be CUI BONO?
"Victorious Merkel planning turn to right for Germany; Coalition with probusiness party expected" by Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times | September 28, 2009
LONDON - As an added plus for Chancellor Angela Merkel, the small libertarian Free Democrats came in third with 14.6 percent, official results showed. That will allow her to rule in a coalition with the probusiness party and to pursue an agenda of lower taxes and an overhaul of labor....
The election ends the awkward government of the past four years, which yoked the Christian Democrats, or CDU, with their archrivals, the left-of-center Social Democrats, in a “grand coalition.’’ For the Social Democrats, yesterday was a humiliating defeat that saw the party plunge to its worst performance since World War II: 23 percent. The rout will almost certainly propel them out of the coalition government for the first time in 11 years....
They were kind of frauds anyway: Prop 102: Iraq and Government Lies
Merkel... running a soporific campaign almost devoid of substantive debate... held on to her high personal-approval ratings to win reelection as Germany’s first female leader....
She said she would initiate talks with the Free Democrats about forming a center-right coalition. Such a pairing would enable Merkel, 55, to tackle the contentious issue of overhauling the labor market in Germany, where companies complain about stringent worker protections that they say drag down business and competitiveness.
Yeah, you can't take care of workers and people! WTF were you Germans thinking?
Now corporations and banks, on the other hand.... !
With the Free Democrats in her corner, Merkel also could try to halt the planned phase-out of nuclear power, another highly emotional issue in Germany, where a strong Green Party and many ordinary people oppose such plants.
But somehow the Greens finished in last?
And now we get to the WHY of what I believe is a RIGGGED VOTE!
And crucially for the United States, a new center-right coalition will probably be steelier in its continued commitment of troops to the war in Afghanistan, a deeply unpopular undertaking in Germany. Following usual practice, the Free Democrats’ leader, Guido Westerwelle, as the junior coalition partner, will probably be named foreign minister. He would be the first openly gay person to hold the post.
The agenda-pushing crap never ends, does it?
Though widely predicted by the opinion polls, Merkel’s reelection was not an unmitigated victory. Critics will ask why, despite her immense popularity, she was unable to lead the CDU to a larger share of the vote than in 2005, when the party drew 35 percent. But the Christian Democrats’ inability to improve on their last outing at the polls, and the Social Democrats’ steep dive, also reflect the steady splintering of Germany’s political scene. The two big parties used to count on 80 percent of the vote between them, but in recent years, smaller groups such as the Greens, the Free Democrats, and the Left Party have grown in influence....
That's where the printed Globe cut it on me -- WITH the RESULTS EDITED OUT!!!!
WTF?!
Here are the ELECTION RETURNS that are IN MY PRINTED PAPER!:
Social Democrats -- 23%
Free Democrats -- 15%
Left Part -- 12%
Greens -- 10%
I find it odd the pro-labor, antiwar Germans elected such a government, don't you?
--more--"
Something smells rotten in the state of Germany, readers.
