Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Your German name for the day...

...is David McAllister. Huh? What? David McAllister?

From an article in the Times today, "Merkel’s Strong Standing Takes a Hit in Local German Elections" (my emphasis):

Speaking to reporters after meeting with her Christian Democratic party leaders, the chancellor did not try to play down the outcome of Sunday’s vote in the state of Lower Saxony. “I don’t want to beat around the bush — after such an emotional roller coaster, a loss hurts all the more,” said Ms. Merkel, standing beside her party’s lead candidate from the state, a visibly shellshocked David McAllister, who had led the polls for months. 

That name just doesn't sound German to me, somehow. 

Turns out, according to Wikipedia, McAllister:

...was born in West Berlin on 12 January 1971 to a Scottish father and a German mother. His father, James Buchanan McAllister, was a British civil servant, originally from Glasgow (where the family still has relatives), stationed in West Berlin since 1969, where he was attached to the Royal Corps of Signals. His mother, Mechthild McAllister, is a music teacher.

I wonder if there's a birther movement about this guy, too. Is that why McAllister lost? I can just hear a couple of drunks in some bierstube in Hanover:

"He's British, I tell ya! And probably an Anglican as well."

"Yeah; and the next thing you know he'll want to bring Common Law to Deutschland!"

"I'll bet he even wears a kilt when no one is looking!"

Again, from Wikipedia:

McAllister proposed to his wife at Loch Ness, and married in August 2003, wearing a kilt. He later explained it was a family tradition.

Ach du lieber. 

"I want my Fatherland back!"

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