The renewed pitiful failure of the AfD with an urgent application in Karlsruhe cannot hide the fact that there is a fundamental problem at stake: the funding of party-affiliated foundations must be regulated by law in a precise and equitable manner.
The point is not that the foundations – which are actually quite party-related – do important work for democracy;
nor is it about the fact that anti-constitutional activities should of course not be funded by the state.
But when every year hundreds of millions of tax dollars are distributed to the foundations of the established parties in addition to the usual party and parliamentary group funding - the Greens and Left Party have long been part of this group - then a coffee party with the parliamentary managers or the relevant budget politicians is not enough as a basis for this.
Rather, it must be regulated by law who should receive money for what and under what conditions – and who shouldn’t.
The AfD is by no means entitled to the same piece of the political cake everywhere.
But as on other occasions, dealing with the AfD should be a reason to pause and reconsider cherished habits.
Good standards are required for everyone.
Political competition should then take care of the rest.