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u/bandaidsplus Sep 22 '13
I dont get this comic but ill upvote it anyway.
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Sep 22 '13
I guess it's a bit out of context for non-Germans (and if the mods wanna take it down because of that, they will) but Merkel basically won by a landslide in the German election today and said "tonight we will celebrate but tomorrow we will work" (referring to her coalition-making). I thought, that sounded very ominous, especially for non-German Europeans.
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u/DickRhino Sep 22 '13
Comic is of good, will stay up. Very representative of German Spirit. Much hue.
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u/Grenshen4px Sep 24 '13
doesn't the three left wing parties have a majority?? granted they will become super unpopular, but if they just joined up then they can technically overthrow merkel.
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Sep 24 '13
They certainly won't come together this time around. But for the next election, I wouldn't rule it out.
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u/imliterallydyinghere Sep 22 '13
it is a bit weird since they were in power the years before. it's a more common phrase for parties who get into power.
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u/TetraDax Sep 23 '13
Her Party got the most votes since many years. Their won was just glorious, extremly surprising that they won so high.
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Sep 22 '13
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u/imliterallydyinghere Sep 22 '13
that makes even more sense. you're pretty smart for a texacan. must be your german ancestry showing!
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u/adencrocker Sep 22 '13
hasn't Perry been Governor for 13 years or something?
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u/blurbie Sep 22 '13 edited Sep 22 '13
Yeah, and he's not as bad at governoring as he would have been at presidenting, if you would believe it.
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u/gingerkid1234 Sep 23 '13
In coalition-based governments, you have to do things a bit differently. In order to govern effectively the PM (the head of the largest party) has to get the majority of parliament to agree with them broadly on policies and directions for the next year. Coalition-building is often a difficult and drawn-out process, though it depends on the country.
Even though she won by a landslide, she still doesn't have a majority, though she's very close--see here.
Hitler, for example, never actually won a majority--his party was the largest, and had to form a coalition with the DVNP, a right-wing party, to get a majority. To pull a Chamberlain and appease the Germans by not discussing the Nazis any further, the UK has a coalition government between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. They made an agreement by which they would support the same goals, with a little compromising. The UK usually doesn't have coalition governments, though. Jewish physics supports using coalitions, since it's the way it works in Israel, too. Israel's current PM's party only holds 31/120 seats in parliament, but he's in coalition with 2 other parties, one right-wing and one centrist, to get a majority.
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u/Durzo_Blint Sep 23 '13
In America, we don't use coalitions. We just see who has a majority and glare at each other until the next election. You need a supermajority in both houses to get anything done nowadays.
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u/atomfullerene Sep 22 '13
I guess it's a bit out of context for non-Germans (and if the mods wanna take it down because of that, they will)
Nah, obscure references to the goings-on in other countries are what polandball is all about! (at least, to an American--who knows what you foreigners think about it)
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u/michaelisnotginger Sep 22 '13
Am I the only one who is slightly aroused by merkel. Must/hope it's the power dynamic...
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Sep 23 '13
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u/whatIsThisBullCrap Sep 23 '13
I must say, for a woman nearing 60, and who has held one of the most important and stressful jobs in the world (just look at the US presidents; Obama aged 15 years in a single term), she doesn't look half bad. Gorgeous is a bit of a stretch, but she definitely does have some attractive qualities
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u/TheActualAWdeV Sep 23 '13
but she definitely does have some attractive qualities
Two of them. Big ones.
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u/brain4breakfast Sep 22 '13
What is a bad about Merkel? I never heard much about her until these last couple of days and everyone seems to hate her.
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u/eonge Sep 23 '13
If I could speculate as a somewhat ignorant American: her pushing for policies of austerity in some of the Eurozone countries (Greece, Spain, etc.) would make her unpopular outside of Germany, but apparently well liked in Germany, considering she just won.
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Oct 02 '13
It's ironic that Germany and its leader is hated seeing as how they're behind the loans countries like Greece needs to survive. The austerity is just a requirement that they don't spend more than they can afford.
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Sep 23 '13
Why is reddit so happy about Merkel and her Christian conservative parties dominating the elections. Fuck that noise.
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u/Jonisaurus Sep 23 '13
Her party isn't Christian just because it's still in the name.
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Sep 23 '13
I find that hard to believe. I think we in the West like to think our shit doesn't stink. We talk down other countries for having religion in politics then we act like it isn't pervasive in the West. Whether you like it or not it's not a coincidence that heavily Christian areas vote for the party that talks about Christianity and all of that.
It really fucking grinds my gears. I wouldn't mind so much but the fucking holier than thou attitude we have is disgusting.
What! A muslim party! How outrageous! A Buddhist party!?! Must be crazy, they need secularism! A hindu party? Who trusts them!? Etc etc.. especially from the media.
Unless it's Jewish or Christian parties.. Then nobody says anything.
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u/Jonisaurus Sep 23 '13 edited Sep 23 '13
Thanks for the rant but your attacks aren't really valid against the German CDU. They don't support Laicité and never have. So what exactly are you saying?
There are different types and definitions of secularism. The UK has a state church. France has strict Laicité. Germany's conservative party is called Christian Democratic for historical reasons. And yet all of those are secular democracies.
That alone doesn't make the CDU any more Christian than the Spanish Partido Popular (which btw is a lot more conservative economically and socially than the CDU) or the UMP in France.
The CDU is the successor of the Catholic Zentrum pre-Hitler that's why it was named Christian in 1945. The party today is a normal European conservative party with moderately conservative social policies and (in comparison to other conservatives) fairly left-wing/centrist economic policies.
So is Germany's government not secular? Is there freedom of religion? Are there crosses in parliament? Is Christianity especially endorsed? Do people have to follow Christian rules? Have you ever heard Angela Merkel say "god bless Germany"? Have you heard Merkel base her political decisions on her Christian belief like constantly happens in America? No and no and no and no and no and no.
Germany has a few historical remnants of times when government was less secular than it is today, but except for some very minor issues they are de facto irrelevant. And people criticise the Muslim Brotherhood not because it's Muslim but because they are radicals in our standards. The leader did call Jews apes and pigs.
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Sep 24 '13
Unless it's Jewish or Christian parties.. Then nobody says anything.
Where the fuck do you even have Jewish parties outside of Israel?
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u/Vaird Sep 23 '13
CELEBRATION? FUCKIN FDP IS STILL IN HESSEN! >.<
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u/Grenshen4px Sep 24 '13
ewww you would of thought the fdp would of died already, i'm hoping for a red-red-green coalition there.
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u/[deleted] Sep 22 '13 edited Sep 22 '13
I haven't found a video of it yet but Merkel closed her speech to her party with the words "Heute wird gefeiert - morgen wird gearbeitet." Here's a link to the Focus-news-update mentioning it A Polandball-opportunity if I ever saw one.
So, fellow Europoors, you know what to do.
edit: Also, like an idiot, I fucked up the title. It should read "Germany Election Results"... should I delete this and be done with it?