#höcke? was just last week sentenced to pay a 13k fine for using a nazi slogan

[bookshelfdreams]

There's been some news articles here that the AfD wasn't kicked out of the ID for being too Neonazi, but by being too obvious about it. RN cut ties because while they do in fact agree on politics, RN is trying to appeal to more moderate conservatives. AfD is just being too overtly nazi, especially currently. So it isn't really that AfD was too far right-wing for the others, even though RN and others may say that for publicity reasons to save their image, but that they didn't have the forethought to hide it a bit more.

I mean, that's kind of true. Part of it is definitely that Krah couldn't just keep his big dumb mouth shut. That he had to go and be #notallSS. In an interview. With an Italian newspaper. Being "well, acshully" about the most notorious war criminals in European history still doesn't go over well with our neighbours who were the victims in said war crimes (like, say, literally erasing entire villages). Who would have thought. That's the line he crossed.

(Yes, he's an idiot of truly incomprehensible magnitude)

It is also correct that Le Pen and friends are distancing himself from him and the AfD in general more because of optics than any actual political stances. This is calculation, not the sudden emergence of a moral core, I agree with that.

However.

It really can not be overstated just how bad the optics are. This isn't just about a controversial quote.

This is also about the fact that the second in line after Krah, Petr Bystron, is accused of being entangled in the whole Voice of Europe affair - a misinformation network, revealed to have been controlled by the Russian state, and accused of having paid political actors to spread propaganda. Bystron is alleged to have taken 20,000€ from them. Supposedly, there's tapes of this. He denies it, of course, but there was enough evidence to lift his immunity and to issue a warrant to raid his office, so. (There's also reports that he initially complained about being paid in 200€ bills. Allegedly, he would have preferred smaller ones.)

Consequences from the party? He was advised by Krah to keep to the background during the election campaign. Other than this, nothing.

Then, of course there was Krah's employee Jian G., who was arrested on accusations of espionage for the Chinese government. Krah had no idea this was even happening, you guys, seriously! Taken aback he was. Shocked. Scandalized, even.

And there was the time chats came to light in which pro-Russia Ukrainian Oleg Voloshyn assured him that "problems" with "compensation" had been sovled and from May on, "everything will be as it was before February". Seems like he took money from Russia too, doesn't it? He denies it. He never answered the message, Voloshyn probably just wanted to invite him to the opera. or the message was meant for someone else. (No, really. That's what Krah said).

Again, consequences? From the party? For any of this? Nada.

This is the problem. The AfD is openly corrupt and incompetent, the chairs clearly have 0 control over their own members, and none of these absolute buffoons can behave like civilized people in public. This isn't even touching on all the many, many scandals the party had on a national level this year alone!

f course you can't be a far right populist and have manners or a modicum of decency, so the fact that even people like Marine le Pen find the AfD unbearable - honestly gives me a little hope? There's an election in my state this year, and the AfD is predicted to get about 30%. That's very bad.

I do not think any of the clowns in I&D are better people for excluding the AfD. I don't think any of them will take this as an opportunity to take a good long look in the mirror and examine all the hatred they have in their heart.

This is, however, another little act of self-destruction. Another brick crumbling from the foundation of the party. I hope it all comes crashing down.