4 ms·

Just a comment to underline the bias generated by images: It is sad to see how the press show pictures of Kohl at the very end of his life, with a bitter mimic

Just a comment to underline the bias generated by images: It is sad to see how the press show pictures of Kohl at the very end of his life, with a bitter mimic on his face. The photo of this article makes him look frail - in real life, Kohl was tall, voluminous man, a strong politician who crushed all opposition inside and outside of his party for 16 years. Please note that I am not commenting on the politcal achievements or failings of Kohl, just at the fact that this photo does him a disservice.

mercer 8y ago
Why a disservice? Based on your comment that's not clear.
- patkai 8y ago
  Some say that journalists pick photos that support their message. (Have you ever seen a favourable photo of Trump in an opponent paper or vice versa?)
baybal2 8y ago
12 years ago, it was Kohl whom my 15 year old self found to be a starting point for new breed of politicians and the trend of "more populism with each election" that lasted to this day I found a startling continuity in electoral platforms of Kohl-Chirac-Sarco. They had one thing in common: they did not really had anything constituing a political platform. They all had slight populist tones in their campaigns, well every politician have these, but what was more important to note is that they really had nothing else besides very weak, generic, politically-amorphous "we will spend more on this, less on that la la la." Basically, their message to the electorate was nothing more than their smiling faces on billboards, and a promise of "more free bacon after you elect me" And this promise of "free bacon" was only getting more and more accepted. And with time, Western political cultures degenerated to a point where anything, but a discourse of "what kind of free bacon you want this time" became irrelevant. The moment this happened, the clique I call "ultrapopulists" rushed on to the forefront. I think that was well expected: if all buyers in a beer shop are pathologic alcoholics, it makes sense to just to sell the strongest, cheapest, unrefined booze you have. In other words: alcoholics do not come to a liquor store for a craft beer. And the same phenomenon is now happening in Western politics
- pjc50 8y ago
  What to you would constitute a platform?
  - baybal2 8y ago
    Well, at least something that passes as a joint "direction," publicly announced, and upheld. None of those types made me feel that they have that "we are going there" Nowadays politicians have very generic "liberal," "democratic," "socialist" action plans they give to the public, but you never sense that there is any "prevailing idea" or strategy formulation behind them. All of them can easily come out of random number generator.
- Mountain_Skies 8y ago
  Many politicians have figured out that large detailed platforms are full of things that are easy for their opponents to attack, in or out of context. Vague feel good (even if only to your base) declarations are much more difficult to refute. In the 1990s, the Republicans had a field day with the Clinton crime proposal including the infamous "Midnight Basketball" portion. Be vague, fill in the details once the election is over.
- zmix 8y ago
  Kohl, Thatcher, Reagan (and their voters): World Financial Crisis 2008. And the far right wing political mess, we have today. It was all a slow development...
TomK32 8y ago
His face always had a hard stand, nick-named "Birne" (pear, but also just "head") http://taz.de/!5162730/ http://taz.de/!5162730/ I'm able to recognize him on late photos and I'm born in the same year he became Bundeskanzler. I don't see anything wrong with using a current photo when writing about someone. Age happens, either get used to it or die young. On the article, the be fair, neither Kohl, Schröder, nor Merkel managed to fix the mess caused by the re-unification. Kohl, alongside Mitterand had the right feel and ambition for the EU that I'm so happy to live in. But, the problem with Kohl, Merkel and many other leaders, is not the scandals about illegal contributions (the CDU did this since it's founding). They miss the point to step back, some even fail to build up candidates for their succession. Looking back at Great Britain when Churchill lost the General Election right after the war, that's probably the best thing that could have happened to them and I wish the 1990 Bundestagswahl would have ended with the same message: "Thank you for your service, let's see what the other guys can do". PS: Whenever someone claims Germany's current government will fall due to #mersee I just laugh: There's no alternative to Bundeskanzlerin Merkel in sight and if the stubborn bavarians finally just the opposition (where they have been mentally for the last years) the Green Party will replace them and business will continue as usual.
blattimwind 8y ago
> Kohl was tall, voluminous man, ... ... and this was frequently used in photos. Just Google for "Kohl Honecker" or "Kohl Putin" and you'll see what I mean.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  I once had him pass by me at some party event I accidentally walked by. The only way to describe him was BIG in upper case letters and exclamation marks. The only person I personally saw up close and was of similarly impressive stature was Lennox Lewis, the heavyweight boxing champion.
- wuschel 8y ago
  Agreed. And I find that not applaudable as well.
onetimemanytime 8y ago
Maybe that pic was chosen to express sadness that he is sorta forgotten (unfairly): "When he died in July, Helmut Kohl had been out of public life for nearly 20 years. For many, his towering presence in Germany and Europe has faded from memory. Much of his reputation was tarnished by political scandals uncovered after he left office."
lispm 8y ago
> Just a comment to underline the bias generated by images Here is a much better picture of him in the later days: Helmut Kohl with two of his friends: https://www.bz-berlin.de/artikel-archiv/welcher-berliner-erkennt-die-vaeter-der-einheit https://www.bz-berlin.de/artikel-archiv/welcher-berliner-erk... A classic picture: https://www.bundesregierung.de/Content/DE/Artikel/2014_Deutsche_Einheit/Bilder/1990_07_15_treffen_kohl_genscher_gorbatschw_kaukasus.jpg?__blob=poster&v=2 https://www.bundesregierung.de/Content/DE/Artikel/2014_Deuts... George H. Bush about Helmut Kohl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnysQpIlP2g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnysQpIlP2g What a contrast to today.

mercer 8y ago

Why a disservice? Based on your comment that's not clear.

patkai 8y ago
Some say that journalists pick photos that support their message. (Have you ever seen a favourable photo of Trump in an opponent paper or vice versa?)

baybal2 8y ago

12 years ago, it was Kohl whom my 15 year old self found to be a starting point for new breed of politicians and the trend of "more populism with each election" that lasted to this day I found a startling continuity in electoral platforms of Kohl-Chirac-Sarco. They had one thing in common: they did not really had anything constituing a political platform. They all had slight populist tones in their campaigns, well every politician have these, but what was more important to note is that they really had nothing else besides very weak, generic, politically-amorphous "we will spend more on this, less on that la la la." Basically, their message to the electorate was nothing more than their smiling faces on billboards, and a promise of "more free bacon after you elect me" And this promise of "free bacon" was only getting more and more accepted. And with time, Western political cultures degenerated to a point where anything, but a discourse of "what kind of free bacon you want this time" became irrelevant. The moment this happened, the clique I call "ultrapopulists" rushed on to the forefront. I think that was well expected: if all buyers in a beer shop are pathologic alcoholics, it makes sense to just to sell the strongest, cheapest, unrefined booze you have. In other words: alcoholics do not come to a liquor store for a craft beer. And the same phenomenon is now happening in Western politics

pjc50 8y ago
What to you would constitute a platform?
- baybal2 8y ago
  Well, at least something that passes as a joint "direction," publicly announced, and upheld. None of those types made me feel that they have that "we are going there" Nowadays politicians have very generic "liberal," "democratic," "socialist" action plans they give to the public, but you never sense that there is any "prevailing idea" or strategy formulation behind them. All of them can easily come out of random number generator.
Mountain_Skies 8y ago
Many politicians have figured out that large detailed platforms are full of things that are easy for their opponents to attack, in or out of context. Vague feel good (even if only to your base) declarations are much more difficult to refute. In the 1990s, the Republicans had a field day with the Clinton crime proposal including the infamous "Midnight Basketball" portion. Be vague, fill in the details once the election is over.
zmix 8y ago
Kohl, Thatcher, Reagan (and their voters): World Financial Crisis 2008. And the far right wing political mess, we have today. It was all a slow development...

TomK32 8y ago

His face always had a hard stand, nick-named "Birne" (pear, but also just "head") http://taz.de/!5162730/ http://taz.de/!5162730/ I'm able to recognize him on late photos and I'm born in the same year he became Bundeskanzler. I don't see anything wrong with using a current photo when writing about someone. Age happens, either get used to it or die young. On the article, the be fair, neither Kohl, Schröder, nor Merkel managed to fix the mess caused by the re-unification. Kohl, alongside Mitterand had the right feel and ambition for the EU that I'm so happy to live in. But, the problem with Kohl, Merkel and many other leaders, is not the scandals about illegal contributions (the CDU did this since it's founding). They miss the point to step back, some even fail to build up candidates for their succession. Looking back at Great Britain when Churchill lost the General Election right after the war, that's probably the best thing that could have happened to them and I wish the 1990 Bundestagswahl would have ended with the same message: "Thank you for your service, let's see what the other guys can do". PS: Whenever someone claims Germany's current government will fall due to #mersee I just laugh: There's no alternative to Bundeskanzlerin Merkel in sight and if the stubborn bavarians finally just the opposition (where they have been mentally for the last years) the Green Party will replace them and business will continue as usual.

blattimwind 8y ago

> Kohl was tall, voluminous man, ... ... and this was frequently used in photos. Just Google for "Kohl Honecker" or "Kohl Putin" and you'll see what I mean.

maxxxxx 8y ago
I once had him pass by me at some party event I accidentally walked by. The only way to describe him was BIG in upper case letters and exclamation marks. The only person I personally saw up close and was of similarly impressive stature was Lennox Lewis, the heavyweight boxing champion.
wuschel 8y ago
Agreed. And I find that not applaudable as well.

onetimemanytime 8y ago

Maybe that pic was chosen to express sadness that he is sorta forgotten (unfairly): "When he died in July, Helmut Kohl had been out of public life for nearly 20 years. For many, his towering presence in Germany and Europe has faded from memory. Much of his reputation was tarnished by political scandals uncovered after he left office."

lispm 8y ago

> Just a comment to underline the bias generated by images Here is a much better picture of him in the later days: Helmut Kohl with two of his friends: https://www.bz-berlin.de/artikel-archiv/welcher-berliner-erkennt-die-vaeter-der-einheit https://www.bz-berlin.de/artikel-archiv/welcher-berliner-erk... A classic picture: https://www.bundesregierung.de/Content/DE/Artikel/2014_Deutsche_Einheit/Bilder/1990_07_15_treffen_kohl_genscher_gorbatschw_kaukasus.jpg?__blob=poster&v=2 https://www.bundesregierung.de/Content/DE/Artikel/2014_Deuts... George H. Bush about Helmut Kohl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnysQpIlP2g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnysQpIlP2g What a contrast to today.