Red Scare - Will Germany's communists make a comeback?

WSJ ^ | August 1, 2002 | JOHN FUND

[Tailgunner Joe]

BERLIN--It's been more than 12 years since the Berlin Wall fell, but the ghosts of Communism still haunt this once-divided city.

Germany holds national elections on Sept. 22, and the two major political parties, the conservative Christian Democrats and the governing left-leaning Social Democrats, are close in the polls, with the CDU holding a three- to five-point lead.

[Asclepius]

"They will say anything to get into power in the city of Berlin. They will behave until they taste more power in the federal government, but they haven't changed."

After 9.11 our communist brothers and sisters seem almost lovable, like plush-toys or cartoon rabbits.

What were we so damned worried about during the Cold War?

[Paleo Conservative]

I'm glad we don't have proportional representation in the US federal government. Its main effect is to give small minority parties disproportionate influence on their pet policies. The winner-take-all system in the US forces candidates toward the center in their districts. Also proportional representation schemes place inordinate power in pary leaders at the expense of the grass roots organization.

[TexasRepublic]

You must be joking. Talk to anyone who has lived under Stalinist rule to see if you would like living under a murderous regime.

[Tailgunner Joe]

The Islamists and the Radical Left

Marxist/Islamic Web of Subversion

Islamic Revolution's Marxist Doctrine

Marxism Makes Way For Islam

The Communist Background of the Palestinian Authority

[Asclepius]

Point taken.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Good.

[Prodigal Son]

World's just going to hell in one of them basket thingies.

They made mention of a "Grand Coalition" partnering SPD and CDU. What the heck is even the point of having a party at all if you're going to do it that way? That's just like Blair and his "Third Way". He sounds conservative when he needs to, sounds liberal when he needs to, makes Green noises when he needs to. What's even the point of having a political platform? Why not just come out and say "Well, to be honest, I don't care. But I'll say whatever I have to in order to remain in power".

I'm so glad we don't have this sort of parliamentary system- it's just a formula for failure and it will always ultimately lead to these types of "deal with the devil" arrangements.

[driftless]

asclepias!!?!? So you're into milkweed or the Greek?

[LarryLied]

They were less dangerous when penned up behind the Berlin Wall. Ex-Stasi Martin Schlaff is partners with Arafat in a Jericho Casino and messing around in Bulgaria.

[Paleo Conservative]

I'm so glad we don't have this sort of parliamentary system- it's just a formula for failure and it will always ultimately lead to these types of "deal with the devil" arrangements.

I absolutely agree. It was exactly this kind of parlimentary system that allowed Hitler to legally gain power.

[dfwgator]

I don't care what the Germans do, just stay the hell out of Poland. (that goes for the Russians too!) Go figure, the ex-Communists in Poland are more loyal to the US than any other European government, so not all ex-communists are the same.

[Captain Shady]

If the Germans vote Communists in ,after half the country lived in the gulag, they must be the dumbest bunch of yokels in the world.