She did a lot of dumb shit while we still had her in Germany.

Not a fan of her, but can you name 10 things ("lot of") that are "dumb shit" that she did?

She did not "accidentally" erase her phone, it was someone else. The one she erased was not accidentally but on purpose (when there were no laws or guidance I erased also my phones before I got them back to my former employer, so we differe here on what "dumb shit" is).

So we have two, black lists for websites and spending millions on consultants while choosing Accenture and McKinsey instead of some other charlatans. The problem here is obviously not how the companies were chosen but that millions were given to consulting companies with no clue. I might add "throwing away a rather good gun" - others would debate this. So we might have three. Lots of? And I'd only really consider black lists as "dumb shit" but YMMV.

But we may vary on "lots of". If someone says "I have lots of beer at home" I would be rather dissapointed if in the end it were three beer (1.5 for each of us! ;-)

She said and did several dumb to horrific things during her Zensursula time, I do not feel like dragging all the quotes out of the depth of 2009/10

"zensursula" is quite well-known. "Accidently" erasing her phone and destroying files during an investigation. Several scandals and affairs in relation to the Bundeswehr.

Not ten, but these immediately come to mind.

Didn't she lie about her education?

The introduction of her PhD didn't contain enough footnotes.

Cf Wikipedia[1]: According to the investigation by the university, about 20% of her work suffered from missing or incorrect citations, including 3 'grave errors'.

However, there was no evidence of fraud, merely sloppiness, and she got to keep her 'Dr. med'.

[1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_von_der_Leyen#Plagiate_...

Is Germany considered central Europe? I had always put them as Western, besides maybe the eastern most parts?

Yes[1], but this can depend on context (eg Western vs Eastern Bloc).

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grossgliederung_Europas-e...

She only became president because Merkel forced the issue.

I think Frans Timmermans (an excellent option!) had a chance to win it before that, as well as Vestager (the antitrust champion in the previous EC). They gave Vestager the VP job to pacify her and her allies.

Also, somehow, Vera Jourova, which has been absolutely terrible in her job in the previous EC, especially with the terrible Privacy Shield she negotiated with the US gov (which has now been invalidated - again - by the CJEU) got the VP role, too, in the new EC.

Germans need to get rid of Merkel already. She's been terrible in the past 2 mandates, even doing stuff like protecting the coal industry as as well the diesel/gasoline car industry against new EU pollution norms. She also continued to push for new mass surveillance laws, even as the previous ones were being declared unconstitutional by the German courts.

I'm almost convinced the only reason she won again last time was because the US/global media kept propping her up as the "world's savior against Trump" - whatever that means. So I'm sure that had an effect at home, too, possibly giving her the edge. I know she was starting to be hated due to the all the local immigration issues prior to that.

She was pushed out, so that she cannot succeed Merkel. She was promoted out of her target job.

Merkel was reelected because there was no feasible Alternative. She is a good politican with proper experience and Connections especially on the international stage, But her politics is as shit AS the rest. One of the reasons why right wing parties are on the up. Think of her as the equivalent to biden. The only thing she has going is that one can assume with certainty she is not gonna fuck shit up so hard, but there are certainly better ways. Fun fact: merkel actually announced she would not be up for re-election in 2021.