The spooks can’t keep their eyes off the left

Is that a country in which individuals are totally devoid of common sense and judgement. Do people always have to follow rules and orders because 'orders must be followed' in the national and social interest! Why are people not allowed to exercise independent thought and judgment? Why does that country implement and follow outrageous and inappropriate rules that don't make sense and not question them? Can people in that country really not be trusted. That country should shift from a rules-based to a principle-based society and give its people more latitude.

Well the left is not known for democracy and liberalism. That is all I can say.

They're playing with fire. By indicating that the Linkspartei is beyond the pale, the establishment runs the risk of making it the conduit of popular anger against the system (if, God forbid, the German economy tanks and the Euro sinks). I agree that there are "creepy" elements embedded in the Linkspartei, crypto- and outright communists and some who probably thought the Berlin Wall was better off up and live in a "Good Bye Lenin" fantasy world. Nevertheless, democracy often means accommodating the weird and the creepy.

Hi,
Germany’s intelligence services, the sea,eye,hay.
“A band of blundering idiots”, if these where my words you would have probably censored me. The words are from last Saturday’s most respected German newspaper “The FAZ”. The problems seem to be in that Germanys Bundesland have each an intelligence service that don’t talk to each other and sometime without knowing it spy on each other. The German satire program the “Heute Show” will have enough material for some time. Funny.
Regards Terence Hale

especially piquante is that the people of the left wing party who are being monitored are not the extreme socialist hell raisers, but the way more moderate and realistic people who actually are within the constitutional framework with their views. This leads to the accusation that the protectors of the constitution are way more interested in protecting the status quo ...

Maybe it is based on the principle that people without understanding have no say.

Can a democracy be more "accommodating" than having "the weird and the creepy" in parliament?

Protection of the constitution does not mean to do police work.
It is not about political crimes but about criminal politics.

It's getting even more distateful that they are actually predominantly spying on the more liberal and reform-minded wing of the party instead of the actual loonies.

Instead of wasting resources on people like Gysi (which wouldn't stick out in the mainstream SPD), they could have actually done their job and protect people from Nazi serial killers.

"predominantly spying on the more liberal and reform-minded" - die Maulwürfe