A first result: no income tax cut for the rich until 2009. A first disagreement: about nuclear power (CDU wants to revoke the law on its phasing out, the SPD so far holds against with surprising firmness). The SPD also declared the regenerative energy feed-in law as taboo (again something surprising - their former economy minster was a big proponent of curbing it) -, while the CDU already signaled a climbdown (now they ony want to 'review' wind power in regions of weaker winds 'on the longer term').
Interesting stuff from the same SPIEGEL article: the youth section of the CDU thinks they should talk about conservatives' successive failure to take 50+% of the vote. (I suspect they'd take soe 'lessons' from Rove/Bush and Berlusconi...) *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
After Gonzalez stepped down Almunia, an old faithful, took over. He then lost a primary to Borrell, who was undermined by the "Barons" (incumbent regional presidents). After he and Almunia left the scene, there was a 4-way race between Bono (Baron), Matilde Fernandez (apparatchik close to Gonzalez's VP Guerra), Rosa Diez (hip Basque leader) and a young parlamentarian called Zapatero that nobody outside the PSOE had ever heard about. The rest is history.
So, I wonder whether Merkel will go the way of Almunia and Borrell, and the Anden Pakt will go the way of Fernandez and Bono.
Whaddayathink? guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper
But, let's start a fun game for those who know German politics (where is our German crew, BTW? Jandsm, Saturday, brainwave, Detlef, anyone I missed?): who could be the CDU's Zapatero? *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
