The Arnold Effect - It's

The Arnold Effect - It's too early to tell, of course - but it's possible that Arnold may have a every bit as great an effect on politics in Europe as in California:

The straight-talking Hollywood action star's election win in California has had an electrifying impact on Germany, leading to calls Friday for top politicians to voice clear ideas in simple language or be swept away at the polls.

"The more confused we are by what they say, the greater our longing for a man or woman with simple words," wrote Bild newspaper columnist Franz Josef Wagner. "The only problem is that it's the wrong ones who usually master simple language."

Schwarzenegger's victory in the California race for governor has led to editorials calling for German politicians to abandon their barely comprehensible speaking style in favor of "Klartext" (straight talk).

He's right - political German is like sitting at a county water board session on easements; dry and technical, it is to German as educationese is to French.

Of course, there's baggage with that approach:

But Wagner and others also warn of the dangers of falling for simple remedies from loud Austrians who enthrall the masses. Austrian-born Adolf Hitler still casts a long shadow in Germany.

Celebrities, columnists, ordinary citizens and even some politicians have joined the chorus of calls for less talk and more action to get Germany moving again after years of economic stagnation and political standstill.

"My first thought was 'Oh my God, not another Austrian emigrant -- the first one caused enough damage"' wrote Peter Boenisch, a former government spokesman and newspaper editor, in an analysis on Schwarzenegger for the tabloid Bild.

Nice to know they're watching for that sort of thing these days!

"But Germany urgently needs something Schwarzenegger-like: a can-do spirit, unconventional thinking, courage, strength and vision. We're facing the worst crisis since the war," he wrote.

It's interesting to see that such a person could make an impact in German politics - and, by extension, perhaps the bureaucratic, exclusive world of politics in the entire European Union.

Of course, the other extreme is alive and well, as we see in our next article...

From The Top - The EU is working on a European Constitution. Says the relatively-conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine:

We, the people“ - these are the opening words of the most successful and durable constitutio-nal creation of modern times, the U.S. Constitution of 1787. The European convention's tome of several hundred pages, however, is a far cry from the straight precision and pleasant pathos of this exemplary document. Its preamble starts with the somewhat pompous statement that the European continent is a pillar of civilization, the cradle of humanism, and it concludes in all seriousness by thanking the convention members.

Worth a depressing read.

Posted by Mitch at October 13, 2003 06:00 AM