Baron Guttenberg bites the bullet: Resigns from politics
Germany's "Shoe Revolution":
Angry grad students take to the streets of Berlin on February
26 to demonstrate against the lying baron's cavalier attitude
toward footnotes and intellectual property
(Source: Berliner Morgenpost)
THERE WAS A WHIFF – but only a whiff – of North Africa in Berlin last weekend. Or was George W. Bush in town? Hundreds of demonstrators, mostly academics and university students, converged on the Defense Ministry, carrying signs and waving shoes. The target of their "day of rage"? None other than Germany's disgraced defense minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.
You'd think that a man christened as Karl Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Baron von und zu Guttenberg already has more than enough letters in his name. But the Black Baron, as he is sometimes called (black is the color of conservatism), apparently felt he needed the prefix “Dr.” in front of the rest to tie it all together and help launch his political career. He proceeded to copy and paste together a phony dissertation on European and American constitutional law, which he defended at the University of Bayreuth in 2007. The thesis contains more than 3,000 plagiarized passages covering seventy percent of its pages. Only five consecutive pages have been found to be free of online pilfering. Although even the introduction had been copied straight off the website of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the university nevertheless awarded him summa cum laude. (I have written about the plagiarism charges here and here).
Baron zu Guttenberg's "dodgy diss," much of it slapped together
from various online sources, actually opens with
the words "e pluribus unum," appropriately enough -
he even copied and pasted the introduction from
a newspaper article
(Source: wiki)
The Guttenberg affair has been topic number one throughout the country for the past two weeks. Will he or won't he resign? has been the question clogging online forums and TV chat show phone banks. It's no surprise that the opposition - the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Left Party – wanted him gone. They're the usual suspects, after all. But as of the weekend, things were looking very bad indeed for the Baron. Zu Guttenberg’s doctoral advisor gave up his spirited defense of his former student and denounced him as a fraud. Over 50,000 academics signed an online protest letter to Chancellor Merkel demanding that she fire her Münchhausen-like “lying baron” as defense minister. (The shoes that the demonstrators carried in Berlin on Saturday stood for footnotes.) News spread that he had commissioned six large sections of his dissertation from the Bundestag’s own research service: illegally, without proper attribution and at taxpayers’ expense.
It also turned out that zu Guttenberg had plagiarized other texts after leaving the university, and unpleasant new details surfaced about his university studies. He was a C-student at best, who once said that he had managed to muddle through his high school years without any particular effort, and it was revealed that he was only allowed to begin the college’s doctoral program after receiving special permission from politically well-connected professors. Then it was announced that Guttenberg, who has a personal fortune of some 600 million euros, organized a donation of a total of three quarters of a million euros to the university between 1999 and 2006. That appeared to explain the summa cum laude business.
The former German defense minister may have more in
common with "Lying Baron" Münchhausen than with the
gallant Red Baron: Hans Albers riding a cannon ball
in the Ufa film version from 1943
(source: wiki)
The weekend before, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and other publications revealed that zu Guttenberg’s entire CV is inflated, if not to say invented. His website described a smattering of internships in German and European companies as “professional positions in business.” A brief newspaper internship, during which he penned a mere handful of minor articles, most of them in cooperation with other minions like himself, was dressed up as a “freelance writing career.” Germany's most popular politician was starting to look like a natural born phony.
Naturally the academics and the professionals were outraged by the antics of this aristocratic upstart. And yet, zu Guttenberg still had the support of the Bild tabloid, Europe's largest newspaper, with which he has maintained an increasingly questionable relationship during his career, and among a majority of the country's star-struck population. But then his own party began reaching for the long knives. Education Minister Annette Schavan told the press that he was “ashamed” of the Baron’s behavior. Norbert Lammert, President of the Bundestag, called zu Guttenberg’s fraud “a nail in the coffin of our democracy.” This kind of talk would sink any other politician, but common wisdom in recent days has been that if he could just hold on for another two weeks or so, he could ride out the scandal.
First couple:
Stephanie and Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg
(Source: spiegel.de)
Then the news broke that he was facing actual criminal charges for the misuse of Federal funds and for copyright violations arising from his plagiarism. This morning, Baron zu Guttenberg read out a brief statement at the Defense Ministry, announcing his resignation from all political offices. He said that this step was “the most difficult in my life,” but that he had no choice but to go now that his personal affairs were overwhelming his official duties and overshadowing much more important issues. He made a full apology and thanked his party, the soldiers and the German people for their support.
Zu Guttenberg’s fall from power was almost as meteoric as his rise: the young aristocrat, who is only thirty-nine years old, had gone from a simple Bavarian Bundestag Deputy to general secretary of the conservative Christian Social Union, to economics minister and then to defense minister within a mere two years. The question was no longer if he would become Chancellor one day, but when. His glamorous image and common touch, plus his beautiful and politically savvy wife, had been a tremendous asset to his party. It is hard to imagine any other politician filling the gap he leaves in Germany's otherwise dowdy political culture anytime soon.
Stephanie zu Guttenberg (neé Countess von Bismarck-Schönhausen)
accompanied her husband to the troops in Afghanistan last year
(source: Süddeutsche Zeitung)
Baron Guttenberg leaves office at the most awkward imaginable moment. Not only are German soldiers dying in Afghanistan with no end in sight, zu Guttenberg is also leaving his successor to deal with a controversial reform of the Bundeswehr that appears lost at sea, with or without its disgraced captain. For one thing, Guttenberg successfully pushed through a permanent “suspension” of conscription, but now no one knows where to find enough volunteers. So far, the Bundeswehr has only been able to pick up ten percent of the slack through an American-style recruitment campaign. The departure of one of the Afghan War’s chief cheerleaders presents the United States with problems, too. Long before WikiLeaks broke the story, it was obvious that zu Guttenberg was "America's great white hope..., an Atlantacist and friend of the USA" in Berlin.
Unemployed but not homeless:
Guttenberg Castle, the family seat, in Bavaria
(source: mdr)
Baron Guttenberg closed his statement “with a sentence that may appear unusual for a politician: I have always been willing to fight, but I have reached the limits of my strength.”
With his dramatic and surprising announcement in Berlin today, Baron Guttenberg may no longer be his nation's king of hearts, but there's no doubt that he is the crown prince. Get ready for a political comeback after a year or two. There's an election coming up in 2013, after all. He may make it to Chancellor yet.
_usa-reise_zu_guttenberg_-_new_york.jpg)
Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg in Manhattan:
Germany's Manchurian American candidate for Chancellor?
(click to enlarge)
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Comments
Regarding the value of degrees from this university, a short time before the scandal broke Guttenberg was shown making a testimonial for it online. He says: "Study law at the University of Bayreuth - it's worth it!"
The university has since taken the video down, more's the pity :-)
Nope, they're defending themselves from the Afghans, of all people, as part of the Global War on Terror! As former defense minister Peter Struck memorably said, "We are defending our security on the Hindukush." To which the demonstrators on Saturday responded: "Go and defend your dissertation on the Hindukush!"
First, I have no animosity whatsoever towards Guttenberg and will actually miss the color he brought to an otherwise political landscape. But look at it this way: he plagiarized a dissertation in order to gain a politically useful academic title (a big deal over here), even though he is nominally the head of two military universities, where such behavior is severely punished. He also violated Federal law by ordering up six scholarly studies from the Bundestag research team, at taxpayers expense, which he pasted into his dissertation without attribution. He also lied repeatedly in the early stages of the affair, and his whole CV is pretty dodgy. The man is now under criminal investigation for the misuse of Federal funds and repeated copyright violations. Anyone else in his situation, in any other job, would have been thrown out weeks ago. Should he receive special treatment because he is a baron? No wonder those demonstrators started hanging shoes up on the fence at the defense ministry.
I don't see the connection to Clinton, who I did not think should have resigned. Remember, we're talking about a consenting adult BJ in his case and not systematic fraud.
I have enjoyed this scandal for all the fascinating tidbits it reveals about the culture over here, which is why I write these blog posts in the first place. Since I can't vote, I don't really care about politics and am a mere observer. The affair shows a lot about middle class sensibilities and the country's sustained preoccupation with the aristocracy, a class that was nominally toppled in 1918 but still plays an important role in society, arousing both fascination and resentment. Like I say in the article, I don't think Guttenberg is done for. People are already talking about his comeback.
what is comforting is the pursue of his demise (albeit maybe temporary) by the germans
i can only envy this as an italian (i am not commenting on you americans) who sees so many of our politicians hanging on to their seats even though they may have been condemned by the judges or under investigation for presumed crimes
and the creme de la creme is our ineffable berlusconi that will hold on for dear life (you know of all the scandals)
and we just let him........go germany!
♥R
Thank you for your thoughtful response. To clarify, the similarity with the Clinton case is that both men did something that obviously reflected poorly on their character and then lied—or at least extensively equivocated—once it became an issue. In both cases, I do not see it, in principle, as discrediting their abilities to govern or their political qualifications. His misuse of taxpayer money, though, does make the issue considerably more serious.
I admit I still view recent attacks on Guttenberg with some cynicism. As you mentioned, there seems to be overriding resentment, for some reason, of an aristocracy that has no legal basis anymore—not to mention an opposition all too eager to single out Guttenberg during every step of his tenure. I also wonder how accurate the belief that people are simply amazed by the "Baron" title really is—perhaps they simply find his personality refreshing and his position on topics compatible with their own. Personally I hope to see him take a break and return to politics, as forthright in addressing his own faults as he was in advocating for reforms of the Bundeswehr, etc.
@SheilaTGTG55
The same could be said for all politicians, regardless of whether they are conservative or not.
germany, nor any other nation, has no shortage of people who should not be in charge of a canary, much less a government. there will be another smiling narcissist along in a minute, or this one will get off the floor.
you can tell who should not be in charge of a government quite easily: they seek the position.
Yes indeed!
@FusunA
I don't think money was decisive here, but a personal fortune is certainly helpful. A lot of people were working on putting Guttenberg at the top of the pyramid (quite possibly the CIA too). No doubt his demise was also something more than mere bad luck.
@Sheila
Guttenberg's true motives are a mystery - perhaps to himself as well.
@Abalt
You touch on some fascinating issues. You're right, the aristocratic title is only part of the equation. I think part of his appeal was, however, his aristocratic aloofness from the normal political machine, and his lack of interest in middle class attitudes and ethics. Call it "coolness" or, perhaps, "transcendence." The less privileged in society love to see someone stick it to the uppity nouveau riche and academic elite, with all their obscure doctoral titles and petty pretentions, whether it's a rock star or a baron. That's why "the Black Baron" always comes off better than his disagreeable petty bourgeois critics in parliament, even though they have the facts on their side. Guttenberg just went a little too far, that's all. Were it not for the criminal investigation, he may have held on.
I agree that Guttenberg had to go under the circumstances, but here I must admit that I can't help smiling when I see PhDs climbing the barricades over this issue, as if there weren't far more pressing issues in the world (e.g. the current massacre in Libya), but they sure do think a lot of their hard-earned doctoral titles, which actually form part of their legal names. (Full disclosure: I have a doctorate myself, but don't work in my trained profession and consider it a joke to call myself "Dr."). I see the affair as a delayed echo of the feudal system and the muddled revolutions of 1848 and 1918, and as such a source of endless fascination.
@Abrawang
Thanks.
@al loomis
Yes indeed, as Lord Acton figured out long ago...