Neutron
Sorry, my rant was imprecise due to emotional stress… 😉 Just to clarify about the “democracy” issue:
a) The Bavarian conservatives won 60.7% of the votes.
b) Only 57.3% of all eligible voters participated in the election.
Now let’s do a little arithmetics: 60.7% of 57.3% votes equals ca. 34.8% of the total voting population, and they have now a two-third minority in Parliament which can make fundamental changes. Is this democracy? I won’t bore you with the complex election system or the details on non-voters (the so-called “vote-cattle”) who don’t care about politics at all.
But the most undemocratic aspect of a two-third majority is the complete command over the parliamentary control systems: In any case of power abuse by a party member (i.e. corruption), a parliamentary investigation committee is formed, usually chaired by a member of the plaintiff party. This chairmanship has the power to subpoena witnesses and to decide when the investigation has fulfilled its purpose; it can be overruled only by a two-third majority, in this case the indicted party itself has complete control over the committee. IMO, democracy includes also a system of checks and balances to avoid the abuse of power, and this kind of majority ridicules the whole system thoroughly.
There are several other important control offices of parliament and state, and they are all controlled by a two-third majority. Not to mention the election system itself which can now also be altered at the whim of the ruling party. Democracy? Bah! Another clarification: I’d rant in the same way if any other party had this amount of power in their hands, the political side is irrelevant.
Your slur against German history was unnecessary, so I restrict myself to one single comment: The Americans drilled their idea of democracy into all West German brains after WW2, they taught us all they knew about it. Obviously it wasn’t enough…
BTW, why would Bavaria be better off if they left the German Federal Republic (not Union, that’s a historic term)?
