Posted on 09/01/2005 11:38:49 AM PDT by lizol
This is correct. I first heard her name here on Freerepublic, mentioned by a Polish FReeper.
"How big influence has Putin on German voters?"
Zero. :)
Michael gave us a really good overview about the role of the Bundespräsident in the German Constitution. But you need a littlebit more information to get the full picture. Since Michael and Wolf on one side and me on the other have different perceptions about the seriousness of our "Grundgesetz" (Constitution), they will probably stone me to death if I tell you, that a quite common expression of critical Germans in acquisition of the "Bundespräsident" is:
Grüßaugust (Greeting August).
To explain the term: "Greeting" from greeting the troops and the funny "August" is a traditional clown in the German circus.
;-))
To be fair it must be said, that the predecessor of Horst Köhler, Mr. Johannes Rau ("Kahn von Gutmenschistan" - Khan of the caliphate of the do-gooders), damaged the office of the Bundespräsident through his insufferable dullness. He was (and still is) famous for the most political correct, lutheran and boring blah blah! Therefore Köhler has a really hard job to do in earning the respect again, that the office of the Bundespräsident deserves, because many non-German friends had to listen to Raus dorky effusions during the previous years. Since I also have been forced to listen to him for more than one hour I know what torture means. I would prefer Abu Grahib to any official banquet together with our former president.
Anyway Köhler is a good man, a real friend of the Poles and he does everything that he can do.
P.S.
Someting funny: Only one of the forerunners of Rau was even more destructive to German foreign policy: When the German Bundespräsident Lübke visited Liberia in 1962, he started a speech with: Dear Ladies and gentlemen, dear negroes...
:-)
No. That Lübke quote is an urban legend.
You said:
"...This is correct. I first heard her name here on Freerepublic, mentioned by a Polish FReeper..."
Have you been in Liberia in that time?
Can you name ONE person who actually heard President Lübke saying that?
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