"Whether this is related to the fact that for the past 14 years Germany has been presided over by someone who not only grew up in East Germany but seemed to do rather well under it I leave as an exercise for the reader."

Relevant question by Tim Newman in his post from yesterday:

This article is primarily about France’s descent into authoritarianism under Macron, but this passage caught my eye:

A recent poll found only 18 percent of Germans feel they can speak freely in public. More than 31 percent did not even feel free to express themselves in private among their friends. Just 17 percent of Germans felt free to express themselves on the internet, and 35 percent said free speech is confined to small private circles.

Jean points to the ECJ in his comment.

"Actually, this is caused by the ECJ; while claiming freedom of ‘expression’ exists they’ve ruled that ‘hate’ speech is forbidden. And ‘hate’ speech is defined in a least one incident as speaking badly about groups of people. Given that, with the exception of a few remaining hermits, we are all members of several overlapping groups, you’d better watch what you say! European values, FTW!"

Anyway. Sad fact is the GDR bitch had yet another trembling fit. This time when meeting some Finnish bloke. Why don't they come clean in Berlin, Merkel is bewitched by the WOKE movement.

Merkel even wrote a raving review on March 14, 2019.https://t.co/aIwpNRbnjrÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=2Z5PDWRNXUQFE&keywords=titania+mcgrath&qid=1562776624&s=gateway&sprefix=titania%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-1

— Clarky Cat Boz Boz (@ErebusSagace) July 10, 2019