Who will tell Merz and Spahn?: The Merkel muddling-through era is over!

Fifty days after taking office, the coalition is shaky because of a supposedly "ultra-left" candidate for the Federal Constitutional Court, Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf. It's a catastrophe with deep roots.

On the first day a judge, a specialist journalist, on the second a candidate for the absolute super job of a lawyer at the Federal Constitutional Court - and on the third a plagiarizing, childless embryo murderer with the staring, ice-cold eyes: We are talking about Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, a lawyer who is currently shaking up the young government coalition.

She was supposed to be elected to the Federal Constitutional Court on Friday, along with votes from the governing coalition, the Greens, and the Left Party. It's actually a quiet process, even a clandestine one until recently. Democratic customs govern the proceedings: you give, you take, you deal a bit, but in the end, you have a court with 16 members, red robes, and trustworthy verdicts.

But the vote has been postponed. A momentous mudslinging match has erupted because Brosius-Gersdorf, the SPD candidate, represents some rather progressive fringe positions. This is why there is talk of an Americanization of the Karlsruhe court: politics is supposedly being made through the bench, and a "systematic institutional overthrow" is even taking place (according to the "Welt" newspaper).

One of these is supposed to go to Karlsruhe?

Indeed, several of Brosius-Gersdorf's issues are politically charged. Some even form the nucleus of global ideological debates, such as the question of the criminal liability of abortion (Section 218 of the German Criminal Code). The American Supreme Court has caused a stir in this area; here in Germany, it's so sensitive that the FDP, in the "traffic light" coalition, refused to vote on it.

Brosius-Gersdorf is also left-leaning on many other controversial issues (but not all): headscarves in civil service, the splitting of income between spouses, mandatory vaccinations, the deprivation of basic rights. And such a case is supposed to go to the Federal Constitutional Court, with the approval of the Merz-Union? How could this happen?

The history of this massive disaster is only just beginning. It is already clear that large segments of the public have apparently still not noticed the social shift to the right—including Friedrich Merz.

Zero personnel! Right-wing extremist narratives!

Several commentators are questioning the extent to which this "zero-personnel issue" (as one "Zeit" editor put it) is even relevant. As if the Federal Constitutional Court hadn't repeatedly shaken the Federal Republic with its rulings, be it on climate protection, abortion, incest, crucifixes, or budgetary issues—the latter, after all, brought down the traffic light coalition government.

Others portray the criticism of Brosius-Gersdorf as manipulation by right-wing extremists, because many voices are expressed in the riot organ Nius or on the riot platform X. These attempts to delegitimize the entire Brosius-Gersdorf discussion as a sham debate controlled by shadowy figures or algorithms are, above all, one thing: an economic stimulus package for Nius, AfD & Co.

When two Bavarian bishops and Cardinal Wölki spoke out and people demonstrated against abortions in front of the Bundestag, they probably no longer understood the world.

No sense of priorities

And that's the crux of the matter. Parts of the political elite still believe they're in Merkel territory and, despite all the evidence, refuse to acknowledge that the German public has shifted to the right. They believe they can somehow muddle through, like the former chancellor did with migration policy in 2015.

Take the electricity tax debacle, for example: Despite record billions, there's supposedly not enough money for the electricity tax cut – but there's still some left for the mothers' pension? Who's supposed to understand that? FAZ editor Julia Löhr therefore rightly accused politicians of clearly lacking a sense of priorities.

It's an alienation that can be exemplified by many issues, such as migrant-driven safety problems in swimming pools or the fairness debates surrounding the citizen's income. The seriousness of the situation and the desire for policy change appear in speeches, but too rarely in action.

Like hysterical monkeys in a cage

But Merkel's era of muddling through is over. Criticism, especially on the political fringes, can organize itself in a flash, and what was once the center is shifting to the right. One can turn a blind eye to this – or do everything possible to keep the center together. Merz and Spahn, the spearheads of the political change, apparently failed to recognize the signs of the times when they supported this candidacy.

What remains? Whether the Federal Constitutional Court will be damaged, as the SPD, the Greens, and the AfD believe with strange unanimity, will only become clear once the judicial election is complete. Perhaps Karlsruhe has just been protected from damage: With this appointment, the Federal Constitutional Court would be vulnerable to any tough decision.

In any case, a highly respected lawyer has been damaged: like hysterical monkeys in a cage, Brosius-Gersdorf's critics have thrown everything at her that was at hand.

Misunderstood plagiarism hunter

This includes not only essay snippets or legal opinions taken out of context. Brosius-Gersdorf is childless, a concerned father and editor-in-chief sardonically notes. This suggests that she obviously hates children, whether born or still in the embryonic stage.

Thousands of people online mocked the judge's posture and gaze. The finale, however, came at the end: "Plagiarism hunter" Stefan Weber supposedly pointed out the way out by pointing out textual anomalies in Brosius-Gersdorf's academic work. This immediately prompted enthusiastically puffing up the issue in the CDU/CSU to raise professional doubts.

Wonderful: Now we can bully them away and have a solid reason, Spahn and Co. may have thought. But they were wrong again, because Weber himself stated shortly thereafter that the Union had misunderstood him: The CDU was "wrong" in accusing his work of plagiarism.

Neither left-wing extremist nor ultra-left

What the Merz government is performing here just before its summer recess sounds like Shakespeare. Let's be clear: Brosius-Gersdorf is neither left-wing extremist nor ultra-left. Her isolated legal opinions don't disqualify her from the Federal Constitutional Court—after all, the judges don't make decisions alone.

Merz's government didn't fail because of legal issues. It was simply uninformed about how today's public sphere functions. It underestimated how strongly the desire for political change can mobilize people – from political influencers on X to deep within the party's parliamentary group.

Spahn has weathered the mask deals well. If he doesn't pull the cart out of the mud with flying colors now, it will be damaged.