An interesting episode of Maischberger on German TV discusses the term “Lügenpresse” (lying media), that is used by many ordinary German citizens these days to describe German mainstream media.
By and large one could say that German politics & media disgust right now reflect exactly what’s been going on in the US about a year and a half ago. German elections are coming up in 2017.
A busdriver on the panel who is also a member of the new anti establishment party AfD, sums it up perfectly at the 12:40 mark:
“Da sehe ich einen grossen Teil Realität, der berichtet wird, selbstverständlich der allergrösste Teil. Was die Sache dann schwieriger macht ist dass auch Halbwahrheiten untergemischt werden, bis hin zu Unwahrheiten. Weiterhin wird dann tendenziell berichtet, und daraus ergibt sich dann letztendlich, dass man das Gefühl hat, dass da eine Meinungsmanipulation stattfindet. Es gibt Menschen, die spüren das vielleicht etwas frueher, es gibt Menschen, die spüren es etwas später, und es gibt Menschen, die spüren es nie.”
Translation:
“I see a lot of reality reported, most of it in fact. What makes it more difficult is the fact that lots of half-truths are being mixed in. Furthermore we see biased reporting, and from that we get the sense that opinion manipulation is occurring. There are some who sense it earlier on, some later, and some never.”
What happened in the US a year and a half ago and moving forward? The US mainstream media, mainstream politicians, and their trigger happy, careless, and overconfident readers didn’t even consider having a moment of pause or reflection. No, instead they happily coronated a widely unpopular establishment candidate, and went on the most embarrassing and disgusting political bullying binges I have ever had to observe in my entire life. And they got precisely the hangover they deserved.
The AfD’s success in the German elections in 2017 will hinge upon the treatment of its supporters and candidates. The more people alienate them, spin, lie, and manipulate, the more successful I expect the AfD to be. Step 1 is already complete: they just happily coronated a widely unpopular establishment candidate.
#AfD is now second largest force in 5 regional #German #election polls. In a recent nationwide poll they have jumped to 15%! #Germany2017 pic.twitter.com/ev2Mrx4uj1
— EconomicsJunkie (@EconomicsJunkie) November 24, 2016