Lafontaine, political villain

[A.Saturnus]

That man, Oskar Lafaontaine, is maybe the most dangerous man in Europe.

Former head of the German social-democrats (SPD) he has now allied himself with post-communists. His clientel are the frustrated and the radical. Left or right. Without him, the current government would have a much better chance to win the election. But the conservatives should not be too happy about the split on the left. The danger is that during a conservative government, which would have to make painful reforms, he could gain even more followers and become a real political power in Germany. And that is nothing anyone should want.
I believe the man is utter unscrupulous. He has always played the defender of the little man, the poor, while massing a fortune himself. He´s that kind of radical left that blames the rich for the greed he is himself exemplar for.
Let´s hope he fails tomorrow in the election.

[Redleg]

I believe the man is utter unscrupulous. He has always played the defender of the little man, the poor, while massing a fortune himself. He´s that kind of radical left that blames the rich for the greed he is himself exemplar for.
Let´s hope he fails tomorrow in the election.

Well its the same here in the United States - many of those who claim they are the defenders of the poor - often mass great wealth at the expense of the poor.

Take Jesse Jackson for an examble - there are many others, but he is the one that comes to mind right now.

[Sjakihata]

I'd rather have a rich man fighting for the poor, than a rich man fighting for the rich.

[Red Harvest]

I'd rather have a rich man fighting for the poor, than a rich man fighting for the rich.

Agreed. The rich have plenty of power and advocates already.

[Redleg]

I'd rather have a rich man fighting for the poor, than a rich man fighting for the rich.

A rich man fighting for the poor is a good thing. A man getting rich off the backs of the poor while claiming to be their champion is a bad thing.

[A.Saturnus]

A rich man fighting for the poor is a good thing. A man getting rich off the backs of the poor while claiming to be their champion is a bad thing.

Precisely. Plus, it is likely that he came by some of his money with corruption.

[Meneldil]

I bet he's not nearly as bad as most of our french politicians. I mean, we have Le Pen, Chirac, Fabius, Laguiller, Besancenot and a whole lot of others. I'm fairly sure they are all corrupted to no end, and all use populist and/or backward arguing to get elected.

[A.Saturnus]

I bet he's not nearly as bad as most of our french politicians. I mean, we have Le Pen, Chirac, Fabius, Laguiller, Besancenot and a whole lot of others. I'm fairly sure they are all corrupted to no end, and all use populist and/or backward arguing to get elected.

Yeah, but in France, that´s normal

[King Henry V]

Doesn't look good....exit polls say that Lafontaine has 10% of the vote.

[Meneldil]

Yeah, but in France, that´s normal

Sadly, that's true. I just read articles about the political situation in France from the International Herald Tribune and The New Yorkers, and I'm amazed because foreign journalists, unlike my fellow compatriots, understand what sort of crap is happening in my country.

[Louis VI the Fat]

I bet he's not nearly as bad as most of our french politicians. I mean, we have Le Pen, Chirac, Fabius, Laguiller, Besancenot and a whole lot of others. I'm fairly sure they are all corrupted to no end, and all use populist and/or backward arguing to get elected.

And I bet you that he is as bad as our most dangerous populists:

[Louis VI the Fat]

I just read articles about the political situation in France from the International Herald Tribune and The New Yorkers, and I'm amazed because foreign journalists, unlike my fellow compatriots, understand what sort of crap is happening in my country.

With tears in my eyes, I must bring up the old adage that 'Each country, in the end, gets the government she deserves'.

[Lazul]

Former head of the German social-democrats (SPD) he has now allied himself with post-communists. His clientel are the frustrated and the radical. Left or right.

whats "post-communists" !?

[Franconicus]

Saturnus
You may be right. But the reaction of the traditional parties was rediculous. Just saying he is bad, he is corrupt, he is post-communist is not enough. (You forgot: he is vain!) People do not care about that. No party really argued against the program.

We have mass unemployment for 3 decates now. There is a terrible situation in the eastern part. The rich are getting richer while life for the majority is getting harder and more insecure. No party has a good concept.

Another problem is that you still have millions of former SED members. No other party wants them. Integration into our political system failed. So they vote for the LINKE.

And even though everything you said is right I believe that Lafontaine is still an old school Sozialdemokrat. He knows how to talk to the people Schröder could take with him.

[A.Saturnus]

Saturnus
You may be right. But the reaction of the traditional parties was rediculous. Just saying he is bad, he is corrupt, he is post-communist is not enough. (You forgot: he is vain!) People do not care about that. No party really argued against the program.

His program is mainly that Hartz IV is evil. His program is propaganda. Heck, he even wants to attract the extreme right. He speaks for the frustrated, attacking his program won´t help either.

Another problem is that you still have millions of former SED members. No other party wants them. Integration into our political system failed. So they vote for the LINKE.

And why is that? Because they don´t fit into the other parties. No one wants to burden themselves with "ewig Gestrigen".

And even though everything you said is right I believe that Lafontaine is still an old school Sozialdemokrat. He knows how to talk to the people Schröder could take with him.

He´s a greedy extreme left populist. As far as I know Schröder didn´t admit he exists since Lafontaine deserted him and I can understand that.

[A.Saturnus]

whats "post-communists" !?

The PDS (which forms now part of Lafontaine´s party DIE LINKE) is the former SED, the communist party of East Germany. They don´t call themselves communists anymore, but in essence, they are.

[Franconicus]

[QUOTE=A.Saturnus]And why is that? Because they don´t fit into the other parties. No one wants to burden themselves with "ewig Gestrigen".
[QUOTE]
So what? Just ignore them? Not letting them participate in our democracy? You know that the Union did a very good job in absorbing the "ewig Gestrigen" from the right edge. Noone did that on the left. So noone should be amazed that there is a new party on the left with the frustrated ones.

[A.Saturnus]

So what? Just ignore them? Not letting them participate in our democracy? You know that the Union did a very good job in absorbing the "ewig Gestrigen" from the right edge. Noone did that on the left. So noone should be amazed that there is a new party on the left with the frustrated ones.

Well, there are still unabsorbed right-wingers. But the far right elements in the CDU/CSU are one reason why I couldn´t bear voting for them. To integrate the radical into a party, that party must become a bit radical itself and I for one don´t think the SPD should become more left-wing. So yes, ignoring them is in my opinion better than heeding them.

[Franconicus]

So yes, ignoring them is in my opinion better than heeding them.

Then do not complain that there is a left popularistic party.

[A.Saturnus]

Then do not complain that there is a left popularistic party.

Why not? Don´t you think it is dismaying that so many people still hold to dangerous political ideologies? What I would complain about is not that the radical have found a political party of their own but that there are enough radicals to support a party. And it is not as if integrating them into other parties would make them less radical.