It's best to remain quiet at this point.
Before the European election, Germany underwent a week of violence and immorality. However, politics seems unlearned from these inconveniences.
In Mannheim, an assailant, Sulaiman A., sliced through the life of Officer Rouven L. at a marketplace. Meanwhile, in Upper Bavaria, a firefighter lost his life in the floods. Both these men were serving others, maintaining the public good, unaware of their victims' religious, political, or personal beliefs.
The loss of these two contributors to the public well-being did not spark a nationwide uprising of unity and spiritual reflection. Instead, the flood and the stabbing amplified divisions: It seemed as if the calamities of the week were produced by a political personality splitter.
The Green Party's domestic policy spokeswoman, Lamya Kaddor, fumbled in a social media post by naming the immediate target of the knife attacker as an "Islam critic" who "certainly spreads degrading and despotic things about Islam." This might be a blunder on Kaddor's part - and yet it resembles "victim shaming," a curse word in Green Party circles for when they blame the victim, such as the archetypal example: Yes, it was rape, but she wore a short skirt.
They laughed about it
It was also giggled at. Not in the flood, but at the Berlin state parliament where SPD Interior Senator Iris Spranger used the clumsy statement "the ghastly passing of an individual in Mannheim." The Greens' representative, Tuba Bozkurt, shouted incredulously, "Mannheim is gone?" and laughed aloud. This is recorded in the session's minutes. It reflects a lack of urgency and indifference - already criticized by Eva Högl and has been the death kick to Laschet's campaign. It's never been more casual and chillingly unconcerned.
Björn Höcke wanted to know how many of "us" had to expire. His dramatic question was intended to provoke, but against the backdrop of his "Pride Month" profile picture bearing sunglasses, it was grotesque.
They could at least agree on one thing: The debate needed to be shifted. The true causes do seem intricate and multifaceted, so scrutinizing the role of political Islam and implementing a series of alliances and institutions is preferable.
The FDP's leader, Christian Lindner, lampooned "faux tolerance." But which tolerance did he imply? Tolerating immigrants? Tolerating Islamists? Maybe: While Green politicos harped on closing the Islamic Center in Hamburg, the Federal Interior Ministry remained mired in confusion.
Despite the deluge, top officials failed to provide viable solutions. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder was taken aback by the situation. "Nobody would have presumed this would occur" - except, of course, those who carefully monitored environmental rhetoric for forty years.
And those who thought the nation was returning to rational politics after Putin's assault on Ukraine were disenchanted by SPD's lead candidate, Katarina Barley: When challenged about notable Social Democrats, she mentioned - surprisingly - Manuela Schwesig. That's the politician who used a Russian-backed organization puppet to ensure the Russian gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2. In her re-election campaign, she calls herself "Katarina, the Just." - a nod to Catherine the Great - the Russian empress who seized the Crimea.
Do these events resemble last year's? Perhaps. Are they merely small communication flubs? That's debatable. However, collectively, they induce an unwelcome suspicion: Are significant political events like Ukraine's aggression, Mannheim's tragedy, and the deluge without transformative effect?
Catastrophes can forge a nation's course temporarily. The 9/11 attacks in 2001 were case in point. The Twin Towers' brutal strike presented me with the first close-up view of someone dying - a small human shape disappeared from the burning towers, leaving one in no doubt of the person's passing. Anyone witnessing Suleiman A. stabbing Rouven L. with his knife would have shared the traumatic experience.
The aggressiveness of the 9/11 perpetrators, the exposure to death prompted an astonishing effect on Americans: For a moment, people came together, displayed their passion, and increased their trust in their government. They also trusted the media more than in the past four decades. However, with the next disaster, Hurricane Katrina, but for a while, America united. Mannheim is not New York, and 2024 bears little overlap with 2001. Nevertheless, one would expect a more poignant response than a meaningless bedlam after the death of Rouven L.
Is Germany still movingforward? Plans for deportation aren't going well with the Greens. Disasters in our country costing too much funds, the FDP isn't doing so well either. And let's not forget about aid for Ukraine, it's stalling with the SPD's peace initiatives. Olaf Scholz - a man with the fluidity of a feather in the wind. Firing the TU president last Friday from his advising panel for some offensive social media likes, it wasn't leading... just normal protocol.
Simply put: Politics doesn't stay as promising as it seems initially. Nature, economy and conflict are out of our direct control. But we can mask these restrictions with skillful communication. Yet, it's unreal. Olaf Scholz spoke the sentence "We can't let climate change caused by humans go unchecked." like a torpid animal found on the side of the road.
Germany's shaky in 2024, like a wobbly plane on the runway. May the powerful not embarrass themselves at the voting booth... if they even choose to vote.
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Read also:
- Despite the floods and terrorist attacks affecting Germany, it seems that Christian Lindner's calls for addressing the role of political Islam and implementing necessary alliances and institutions are being overlooked.
- After the tragic events in Mannheim and the floods in Upper Bavaria, German leaders, including Olaf Scholz and Markus Söder, have been criticized for failing to provide adequate solutions or respond with the required urgency.
- In the aftermath of the terror attacks and floods, Christian Linder and other politicians have highlighted the need to address the role of Islamism in German society, sparking debates about tolerance and integration.
