I generally will at least listen to a German Green Party argument or discussion. At some point, in the majority of situations....I'll eventually hit the 'mute' button (either on TV or via a online article) when it reaches the stage of being simply anti-capitalist or lacking any real benefit for the whole of society.
Nationally, I have no favorites in the Green Party. Amusingly enough, I will admit that regionally, there are a couple of Green folks who are more connected to the general population, than some Green ideology.
From the Baden-Wurttemberg region....down in the city of Tubingen....they have this Green Party mayor, Boris Palmer.
For about five years, I've followed the chatter over Palmer.
He has the general positions over the environment that you'd expect. But along the way, his opinions and enthusiasm goes along the route of society, business, and public safety being a concern.
Palmer has had hard positions over immigration and noted that there are in fact....limits. Palmer has hinted on a number of occasions that if some migrant doesn't make the intent and effort to integrate.....then you are inviting future problems.
This past week....the Green Party (from the state of Baden-Wurttemberg) have asked Palmer to leave the Party. He more or less....grinned, and said 'nein, danke'.
What got him deep into 'bad boy' status recently? Well....someone went and asked him about the Coronavirus, bans and the good things about shutting down society. Palmer responded that maybe it didn't really matter if you did all of this ban business.....if the guy or gal you were saving would be dead in six months anyway. Again, he has the correct point about all this ban chatter, and what the value ends up being.
Palmer prefers the Green Party, and his personal ideology fits within it. The state and national Green Party? They don't like his view.
If he did get kicked out? My humble guess is that the FDP Party from the region would gladly open up its membership and take him in.
The general issue for the Greens.....Boris Palmer is 47 years old. He's the kind of guy that by his late 50's....could be a major player in national politics, and be a weekly visitor to public TV forums. Kicking him out.....might open up various doors for Palmer to be a national figure.
2 comments:
Sad if they kick him out. It sounds like he's exactly the person they need to step the party forward a bit.
The more that Palmer talks....the more that you envision him as a 50-percent Green guy, a 50-percent CDU guy, and a 50-percent SPD guy....all bundled up into one. He has the prospective of a regular guy off the street who can understand working class people, public safety, a decent clean environment, and how things work in real life. For the Greens, he's a threat to their agenda. But the FDP is full prepared to draft him. Wouldn't surprise me if they drag him off to Berlin by the end of 2020 for their party spokesperson.
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