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A Twitter user insulted a German politician, then police raided his house
21–30 of 189 posts
Re: A Twitter user insulted a German politician, then police raided his house
#22And as an American, Germans/Australians/etc. will still insist they're more free than me because of something arbitrary like free healthcare. I don't think there's anywhere I'd feel particularly more "free" all things considered aside from maybe Mars.
It’s possible for a democratic political system to exist, and still prohibit insulting politicians. It’s quite possible to criticize any politician without resulting to ad hominem attacks. Even the former US Vice President Dick Cheney nearly faced consequences for violating senate rules by telling a senator to “go f___ himself.”
Do you genuinely believe that laws that try to separate criticize versus insult can work?
I can't see anything other than laws like that being abused by politicians and government officials to quell speech and create a chilling effect amongst the populace.
Re: A Twitter user insulted a German politician, then police raided his house
#23And as an American, Germans/Australians/etc. will still insist they're more free than me because of something arbitrary like free healthcare. I don't think there's anywhere I'd feel particularly more "free" all things considered aside from maybe Mars.
It’s possible for a democratic political system to exist, and still prohibit insulting politicians. It’s quite possible to criticize any politician without resulting to ad hominem attacks. Even the former US Vice President Dick Cheney nearly faced consequences for violating senate rules by telling a senator to “go f___ himself.”
As another commenter pointed out, it looks like it's against German law to insult anyone, not just politicians.
If only politicians were protected from insult, I don't think that would be compatible with democracy at all.
Re: A Twitter user insulted a German politician, then police raided his house
#24And as an American, Germans/Australians/etc. will still insist they're more free than me because of something arbitrary like free healthcare. I don't think there's anywhere I'd feel particularly more "free" all things considered aside from maybe Mars.
It’s possible for a democratic political system to exist, and still prohibit insulting politicians. It’s quite possible to criticize any politician without resulting to ad hominem attacks. Even the former US Vice President Dick Cheney nearly faced consequences for violating senate rules by telling a senator to “go f___ himself.”
Are you talking about Cheney swearing at Durban? I don't recall him facing any consequences. All I remember is some pearl clutching about it and then nothing else. I don't think he even broke any senate rules, as the senate was not in session at the time he swore. Since then, public swearing and insults by US politicians seems to have only increased.
Re: A Twitter user insulted a German politician, then police raided his house
#25I would like a balanced perspective on this. What do our German/European think about this? Is this expected or a random event? Does this have public support?
This has no support at all in Germany. The uproar was huge today and its seen as a misuse of power by the politician. Especially as he is not acting as a politician but as representative of the public office of interior. The search warrant needs to be issued by a judge and I'm sure there will be formal investigations how this happened. I would not be surprised if he will be forced to resign. There are also elections happening and misuse of power is seen very badly throughout the people.
Re: A Twitter user insulted a German politician, then police raided his house
#26As a German I have to emphasize that this has no support at all in Germany. The uproar was huge today and its seen as a misuse of power by the politician. Especially as he is not acting as a politician but as representative of the public office of interior. The search warrant needs to be issued by a judge and I'm sure there will be formal investigations how this happened. I would not be surprised if he will be forced to resign. There are also elections happening and misuse of power is seen very badly throughout the people.
Re: A Twitter user insulted a German politician, then police raided his house
#27Before the coup that happened a few days ago, my country was casually known as a dictatorship. You don't insult politicians, not especially on a public place. When you are home, you check if the coast is clear before you call the president names. Otherwise you get an armed and humiliating response, if not tragic. Looks like lots of democratic countries are looking at us with envy and for inspiration these days.
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Re: A Twitter user insulted a German politician, then police raided his house
#28Before the coup that happened a few days ago, my country was casually known as a dictatorship. You don't insult politicians, not especially on a public place. When you are home, you check if the coast is clear before you call the president names. Otherwise you get an armed and humiliating response, if not tragic. Looks like lots of democratic countries are looking at us with envy and for inspiration these days.
It's also reminiscent of Lèse-majesté --something Thai Royalty likes bandying about. Politicians should not think themselves above the population and the police should not act as their shushers.
Re: A Twitter user insulted a German politician, then police raided his house
#29I didn't want to editorialize the original title, but to add to it: 1) The insult used was "pimmel", german for "dick". 2) According to netzpolitik.org, the offender was summoned by the police before that, did show up, and did confirm there that it was his account. https://netzpolitik.org/2021/andy-grote-was-fuer-eine-pimmel... [german]
The wordplay in that article is just fantastic. German has this specific kind of humor that is hard to describe, but definitely stands out. Great read, thanks for linking it.
Anecdotally, looking up Rammstein lyrics translation the wordplay there seems pretty impressive to me.
Re: A Twitter user insulted a German politician, then police raided his house
#30i dunno pick your poison:
1st amendment but militarized police and huge sentences and awful prison conditions
or ppl summoned for making jokes but justice system better in every other respect