In the South Park episode ?Funnybot?, Germany?s leaders take exception to the notion that Germans have no sense of humour. To prove it, German president Christian Wulff tells a German joke: I will now tell you a German joke. ?A sausage maker buys a box of cereal.? I will now tell another joke. On the other hand, Blackadder opined that, the Teutonic reputation for brutality is well-founded: their operas last three or four days; and they have no word for ?fluffy?.
Fittingly, a Guardian column by one of its German correspondents quickly passes from what appears to be a mystifying attempt at Teutonic humour to a dismissal of democracy almost Prussian in its brutal bluntness. Quote:
Who could pass up an opportunity to retaliate for 70 years of jokes about the Huns, the Blitzkrieg and Germany?s inability to make sense of humour?
The problem is, am I too late? As Theresa May arrives in Berlin in desperate search of a friendly word from Angela Merkel, have we reached the point where mockery and ridicule are out of order? The only appropriate response to British efforts to carry out Brexit seems to me to be to offer condolences. But sincere sympathy is not a good basis for jokes. End of quote.
Please: You are making a German Spectacle out of yourself, to quote Sheriff Bart from Blazing Saddles. Quote:
In my view, there is only one solution: Her Majesty, the Queen must take back control. If there is someone who still reacts in the most difficult situations with dignity and decency, it is Queen Elizabeth II. I mean, this is the woman who survived Hitler and his V2s, the Great Smog, the ?winter of discontent? and all the other trials and tribulations of her kingdom over the last nine decades. Surely, some well-placed words from her and this whole mess can be resolved. End of quote.
Or not. While the Jerry Joker here claims to be aware of the limits to the British monarch?s authority, he doesn?t appear to have any inkling of just how limited it is. For the Queen to openly comment on politics would provoke a constitutional crisis to dwarf even Brexit.
Even worse, with typically Prussian disregard he simply sweeps aside any notion of constitutional authority. Quote:
If you ask [Speaker] John Bercow to take a close look at the archives, he may find a precedent?somewhere there is always a clause that legitimises you. End of quote.
Then it?s the turn of democracy to meet its G?tterd?mmerung. Quote:
Democracy is overrated anyway. The truth is, it only works reasonably well if the number of voters who have no idea (or perhaps worse: are convinced they do) are not too big on the day. Most commentators complain about poor turnout. If there are more people staying at home in Germany during an election than during the previous one, it is immediately said that democracy is in danger. The exact opposite is true: we owe the fact that our system is relatively stable to the fact that a not inconsiderable part of the electorate is incapable of getting out of bed on election day. So, let the Queen sort this one out. End of quote.
theguardian.com
Perhaps this is Germanic japery, and something is lost in the translation?
Or is it just that, as always, leftists hate democracy? For all their palaver about ?the people?, they?re elitists who think that the hoi polloi are just too stupid for their own good. They fondly imagine themselves as the benevolent dictators born to rule: democracy be damned.