by Peter Löcke //
Let someone else claim that the stage of the German Bundestag is a boring venue. On the afternoon of October 18, 2023, a play was performed that was well worth seeing. It was entitled "Brandner gegen Brantner" and was embedded in a question and answer session on Germany's economic situation. The protagonists, or rather the title characters, were Dr. Franziska Brantner, State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection at Habeck, and Stephan Brandner, lawyer and AfD MP. The Vice President of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Kubicki, and the Grande Dame of the Greens, Renate Künast, played supporting roles. The following is a review of the tragicomedy shown. You can watch the original here in the Bundestag media library from minute 38 and 40 seconds. Curtain up.
Prologue
During Question Time, the first question is submitted in writing in advance. Franziska Brantner, who was questioned, was therefore able to prepare herself. In his question, MP Stephan Brandner asked for an assessment of the economic situation in view of the current recession in Germany. Ms. Brantner was prepared. Definitely.
Appearance Franziska Brantner
According to the definition, there is no recession in Germany. As proof, the State Secretary reads the new definition of the term recession from two A4 sheets of paper. The old definition is therefore invalid. Because the new technical definition from the USA is a bit long, I translate it using an understandable simile. When you brake as a driver, you are not really braking. Physically and technically speaking, braking is a negative acceleration. That sounds better. What applies to cars also applies to economies. Otherwise, the State Secretary is optimistic. Although the German economy will stagnate and shrink in 2023, future projections for 2024 give hope for better times.
Appearance Stephan Brandner
The time of rehearsed questions and answers is over. The time for spontaneous infighting has begun. The AfD MP is allowed to ask questions. Brandner does not, of course. Instead, he complains. He does not want to hear any new definitions and insists that all the indicators of a shrinking economy are fulfilled in Germany and that this is the result of green policies. The temperature rises in the Bundestag. The first heckling can be heard. The ball is back in Brantner's court.
Appearance Franziska Brantner
She thinks "attack is the best defense". She accuses Brandner and the AfD parliamentary group of not caring about facts. After all, the fact is: difficult situation yes, recession no. No recession according to the new definition. The theatergoer senses that in this war of words and quibbles, all it takes is a single verbal spark to escalate the situation. Now the blue firebrand is known for preferring the verbal sabre rather than the linguistic foil. The spark follows.
Appearance Stephan Brandner
"It's nice that you have documented that you can read aloud."
Backdrop
The atmosphere in the hall boils over. Understandable indignation and gasps from the Green fan block, who find this statement disrespectful. Was Brandner's sentence disrespectful, mocking or even condescending? Of course it was. It was pure sarcasm. But the sentence was also correct. Dr. Franziska Brantner spent most of her time reading from a sheet of paper.
Appearance of Wolfgang Kubicki
The Vice President of the Bundestag gives Renate Künast a first, then a second reprimand and threatens the Green veteran with a third, which would be tantamount to expulsion from the House. This calmed things down a little. Stephan Brandner is allowed to ask one last question. He wants to know where the German State Secretary sees Germany's inflation and energy prices in two years' time. A harmless question, one might think, but this is where the play finally turns into a comedy. Below is the remarkable non-answer.
Appearance Franziska Brantner
"Dear Mr. President. I think that we really should be able to have a respectful discussion here. You may not share my position, you may not appreciate me as a person, but to simply accuse someone here of not being able to read or not being able to read is simply a kind of politics that should have no place in this House."
Objection, Ms. Brantner. The accusation was that you only read out definitions. Nobody accused you of not being able to read. But let's continue with the text.
"And allow me to say that even if a German citizen does not know how to read, they have every opportunity to be in the German Bundestag, because we do not require anyone to have any kind of educational qualification, but this is the place of democracy. This Bundestag represents the population."
Objection, Ms. Brantner. I am certainly no friend of university thinking. Nevertheless, I would like to see competent people in the Bundestag who can read and write. At best with an educational qualification, life and professional experience. What you have in mind is not democracy. It's called kakistocracy.
Epilogue
Dr. Franziska Brantner insists that she was insulted. Nevertheless, she offers to ask her almost namesake from the AfD a final question after she completely ignored his penultimate question. However, this is not allowed under the rules of procedure. Wolfgang Kubicki promises to look into the accusation of vulgarity.
What does the protocol review reveal? Do we need more illiterates in the Bundestag? Do we need further redefinitions of terms such as freedom and democracy?
"We ourselves stand disappointed and look concerned / The curtain closed and all questions open." (Bertolt Brecht)
Articles identified by name do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher.
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6 Responses
The last elections show that large sections of the population are aware of the competence of the federal government. The polls look similar, but confidence in the largest opposition party is just as low. I wonder why, with a total of almost one million party members, no one can be found who can fill the offices better than the well-known personnel. That can't really be the case. For me, this negative selection is a clear indication of a defective internal party democracy. This problem has been rampant for decades and more and more people are turning away from these parties. They vote for AfD or small parties with no chance - many, thirty to forty percent, abstain. The established spectrum does not shy away from slandering and demonizing those who think differently instead of taking a good look at themselves and asking their voters what they actually want. On the contrary, we hear about red lines that no longer exist, that the will of the voters is irrelevant and so on. It's not far from there to vote rigging, because the end, the implementation of one's own world view, apparently justifies the means. Rumors, or should we say conspiracy theories, already exist. As is the case with these theories, the evidence will probably soon be on the table. If the members of the established parties are interested in the continued existence of our democracy, and this can be strongly assumed, they should finally demand internal democracy in their parties and renew them from within, which would be nothing less than a silent revolution against the ruling nomenklatura. The forthcoming new foundations from Ms. Wagenknecht's camp and from the Werteunion are signs that the old parties lack the capacity for renewal. These are interesting times. The dullness of the Kohl & Merkel era has outlived its usefulness and there is movement in the political landscape.
It never ceases to amaze us how such incompetent and, in some cases, intellectually disadvantaged people can reach such high political positions. But perhaps this is just a reverse application procedure and the last one standing is elected in order to eradicate the incredible injustice of allowing intellectually disadvantaged people to participate in parliamentary life. And they even confirm it themselves in their simplicity. And when their lack of ability becomes so obvious that they squeak, they quickly pull out the victim card. Mimimi.....
Dear Mr. Löcke,
Your "linguistic foil" is now well known to me and always a pleasure. I had already watched the play described above and enjoyed myself immensely, but your review is even more delicious. It is always a pleasure to read your contributions.
Best regards,
Ines Maas
I'm curious to see when the necrology in the tragicomedy "Deutschland" will be written. And, above all, by whom. I have to say...in the end it will be difficult to tell the individual roles apart. By then at the latest, the prompter (of the prompter?) will have gone off. Whoever that is...
And the dessert from the Lower Saxony state parliament on October 12:
...when AfD MP Lilienthal asked the previous speaker, Lower Saxony's Economics and Construction Minister Olaf Lies (SPD) "...when the first apartments would be ready for occupancy?", he replied "...when they are finished."
...when the speaker Lilienthal wants to step up to the podium, he is first reprimanded for his walking speed and then for the volume of his speech and, in response to Lies' flippancy, "...But to say when they are ready to move in - yes, how arrogant is that...?" He is interrupted by the President of Lower Saxony's state parliament Meta Janssen-Kucz (Greens), lectured, ...accused of insulting him and the microphone is turned off several times...
...and Janssen-Kucz with a VOICE that rather fits into the smoke and alcohol-filled air of a left-wing pub at 2 o'clock at night...
Also delicious, dear Mr. Löcke, there's a system to it, the system of the 1st-2nd grade elementary school... and that's why there's no AfD vice president of the Bundestag, he could...
https://www.pi-news.net/2023/10/niedersachsen-landtagspraesidentin-verbietet-afd-kritik-an-spd-minister/
Wonderfully to the point. Thank you. One can only shake one's head at the comments made by this State Secretary. Germany seems to be "on the right track".