I may have the largest collection of Tracht in the greater Washington area. (Actually, I am sure of it.) Accordingly, I was shocked to learn that the Bavarian government has heartlessly decided to stop subsidizing the purchase of Lederhosen (I have only three, myself) for members of folk groups. How could they? What role, what function, could be more central to the justification of the exercise of state power than the purchase of leather pants? Edmund Stoiber, Minister President of Bavaria, announced “We no longer want to sponsor the Lederhosen with subsidies.” Cold-hearted bastard!
Hat tip to David Kaspar.
I myself am *shocked*, *outraged* even, to now look back to my very own Lederhosen-purchase (I am two-thirds the way to Mr. Palmer’s Washington-D.C. record-setting Lederhosen-ownership-number), purchased *in* Munich, mind you, and *not* having received my subsidy.
Can I apply for this very necessary monetary incentive to keep the /Tracht/ alive retroactively? It is unconscionable that I should spread good Bavarian citizenship and culture without receiving my more-than-deserved cut.
I am seriously considering quitting my CSU membership. “Sappralottkruzinesenhallelujanochmalneibirnbaumundhollerstauden!”
j.
When Lederhosen stops being supported by state subsidies we are only a very short step away from anarchy and chaos.
Let’s hope Bavaria can still be saved by the SPD…