“Awoke the appearance of purchasability.”
What Germany’s penultimate Bundespräsident, Christian Wulff (C.D.U.), is on trial for in Hanover, to determine whether he did this by accepting ~700 euros in gifts from someone in the film industry during a weekend at the big Munich Oktoberfest in 2008 while Mr. Wulff was still governor of Lower Saxony. It was because of corruption charges from his days as governor that Mr. Wulff was forced to resign from office as president of Germany.
Germany’s president is supposed to be apolitical, party-neutral. They give speeches, judging and encouraging people in Germany and abroad. They attend funerals. If Germany were the U.S.A. the Bundespräsident might also take over some of the permanent fundraising work that can keep a leader from governing, but perhaps the proceeds would have to go to all (both) parties to preserve neutrality.
Great Bundespräsidents include Richard von Weiszacker and apparently Joachim Gauck.
There is only one Bundespräsident jokes are still told about: Heinrich Lübke. Famous Lübke quotes include, on a trip to Africa, “Ladies and gentlemen, and dear Negroes, …”
(Dane ON shine dare COY flichh kite ehh VECK teh.)
