#ErdoganInsultoftheDay :
The US loves Nutanyahoo more than you,
an extra-special relationship despite all you do,
so you’ll have to settle for second-best Merkel
and throwing your detractors into prison hell.
Ludicrously, Germany retains an archaic law criminalising insults against foreign leaders which has enabled the litigious Erdogan to prosecute a German comedian who devised a satirical poem to test the limit of the German law. Eager to placate Turkey in order that it assist staunching the flow of refugees into Germany, Merkel has invoked this farcical anti-democratic law.
Whilst the poem may be very insulting indeed, political leaders getting their knickers in a knot over insults to the extent of imprisoning and prosecuting their lampooners is both sinister and side-splitting. Copping insults on the chin is obligatory for politicians who don’t wish to become global laughing stocks.
‘Among other things, the poem said Erdogan kicks Kurds, smacks Christians, all while watching child pornography. That’s one of the few lines we can repeat on NPR. It also imagines the Turkish president committing acts of bestiality.’
‘Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday authorised a Turkish demand for a German TV comedian to be prosecuted over a crude satirical poem about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a bitter row over free speech.’
‘Since becoming President in August 2014, Mr Erdogan has filed 1,845 court cases against individuals for insulting him.’
So sue me, Turdogan,
I’ll donate scatological verbosity
and poke fun at your litigious pomposity!