Angela Merkel: Germany's mother
Last weekend, as the German election campaign moved into its final week, the Social Democrat candidate managed to insult the entire electorate. Peer Steinbrück approved a cover photo for one of Germany's biggest weekend supplements that showed him thrusting a middle finger at the reader with a sneer of contempt on his face.
It delivered, the pundits agreed, the fatal blow to his chances. But it was also a fitting gaffe to close on, because it worked as a vulgar counterpoint to the hand gesture that has dominated this election: Chancellor Angela Merkel's Raute ("rhombus") – fingers touched carefully together, pointing down, held in front of the abdomen to make a diamond.… Seguir leyendo »