Merkel defends her plagiarist

It's all over but the shouting.  In the end, Baron zu Guttenberg made a pathetic appearance before the media to announce his resignation as Germany's defense minister, seemingly blaming the media and his political opponents for his heavy-hearted decision.  The adulation of BILD-Zeitung and the support of Angela Merkel were not enough to keep the charismatic aristocrat in office.

Angela Merkel immediately went on the offensive, lashing out at her political opponents:

Kanzlerin Angela Merkel hat den Gegnern des zurückgetretenen Verteidigungsministers Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg Scheinheiligkeit vorgeworfen. Der Opposition gehe es nicht um den Erhalt der wissenschaftlichen Werte, sondern vor allem um die Schwächung der Union, sagte sie bei einem Wahlkampfauftritt in Karlsruhe. Der baden-württembergische Ministerpräsident Stefan Mappus sprach von einer Jagd auf zu Guttenberg. All jene, die jetzt geschossen hätten, müssten zeigen, ob sie in einer ähnlichen Situation ebenso viel Charakter hätten.

(Chancellor Angela Merkel accused the opponents of defense minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg of sanctimoniousness.  The opposition is not interested in preserving academic values, but rather in weakening her party, she said at a campaign stop in Karlsruhe.  The president of Baden Wurttemburg, Stefan Mappus, spoke of a persecution of Guttenberg.  All of those who took aim at the baron should show that they would display a similar character in such a situation.)

What character?  Guttenberg never admitted to the full extent of his academic fraud, nor did he apologize to the real authors whose work he put forward as his own.  Angela Merkel has done real damage to her office and to her party throughout the entire affair by attempting to sit out the crisis and letting the tabloid BILD control the narrative.

 

Comments

[John in Michigan, USA]

Congrats to David for his correct reading of the tea leaves.

To address an earlier question I posed, this (poorly sourced) report suggests that there may indeed be crime(s) here, but also, the Minister had immunity, at least until his resignation:

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1622864.php/Report-Prosecutors-mull-charges-in-Guttenberg-case-Extra

Has anyone seen any evidence that Merkel should have been aware of this problem in 2009 when she appointed him?

[Zyme]

Lena - who won the Eurovision song contest for Germany last year - amounts to a total of over 400.000 supporters at facebook after one year.

The same for "We want our Guttenberg back!" - after 24 hours :-)

He will return. Hopefully it won't be long.

[David]

Zyme - Dream on!

[Strahler 70]

Facebook? LOL
As long as everyone can have multiple accounts, those numbers are worthless.

[Zyme]

Alright, why don't you look at polls then:

http://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2011-03/19523847-n24-emnid-umfrage-zum-guttenberg-ruecktritt-mehrheit-glaubt-an-guttenberg-comeback-menschlich-nicht-enttaeuscht-mitschuld-der-medien-007.htm

There is a mood in the streets I have not witnessed before. When the screens in the tube station displayed his resignation, people woke up from their early morning lethargy and tried to see as much as possible. Especially the younger generation is deeply disappointed by the witchhunt of our media.

My prediction is: While Sarrazin has highlighted the rift between the political class and the people, Guttenberg highlights the rift between the leftist media and the people.

There are demonstrations going to take place on Saturday, against a politician's resignation! I guess this has never happened before in this country :-)

[David]

Before he makes a comeback, Prince Charming may have to do some jail time:

"Wie am 2. März 2011 bekannt wurde, sind bei der Staatsanwaltschaft sowohl in Hof als auch in Berlin rund hundert Anzeigen gegen Guttenberg eingegangen. Die Vorwürfe gegen ihn: Titelmissbrauch, Untreue und Urheberrechtsverstöße. Die Staatsanwaltschaften werden sich in den nächsten Tagen mit den Anzeigen befassen."

[John in Michigan, USA]

"The opposition is not interested in preserving academic values"

This Merkel statement is, no doubt, self-serving. Still, I can't help but agree with it.

Consider, for example:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12613617

"And the LSE is looking into allegations that Colonel Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam plagiarised his PhD thesis."

If the London School of Economics (LSE) verifies this allegation, will this opposition attack (metaphorically) Saif with the same energy and enthusiasm?

Compared to the UN or the ICC, Merkel's CDU-CSU is a model of efficient accountability.

Also,

"But more recently Helene Hegemann, a 17-year-old German author, defended herself against allegations of wholesale lifting by reference to 'mixing' and insisting: 'There's no such thing as originality anyway, just authenticity.'"

We don't know Ms. Hegemann's politics, but one source of her belief seems fairly clear: the post-modern movement. When will the post-moderns give up this stance whose effect is that the rules only apply to other academics, not themselves?

Post-modernism today is nowhere near as strong as it was in the 1980's, but the incalculable damage it has done it still very much with us. When will there be accountability?