The situation in the morning: Russia's hells

Way towards hell

meet in Geneva today

, primarily to negotiate

.

This is underlined by a massive

.

The fiction is that American and Russian influences could be somehow comparable.

Take the

.

There, the political freedoms of a country or area are recorded on the basis of various criteria.

The best possible value is 100, only achieved by Finland and Norway.

At the bottom is Tibet, brutally suppressed by China, with a value of 1, a hell on earth.

The Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, has a value of 7. The eastern Donbass, which split off from Ukraine under Russian influence at armed forces, is rated 4, only 1 point better than North Korea.

.

Therefore it can only be right to reject the demands from Moscow.

Even the negotiations are absurd in principle, but they have to be because you have to do everything to prevent a war.

By the way, Russia itself achieved a value of 20, Ukraine 60. USA: 83. Germany: 94.

• Troop deployment on the border with Ukraine: now the negotiators are talking about Biden and Putin

Hearty words

For a few days now I've been trying to find out

.

This is due to a sentence by Canadian Prime Minister

.

He said, "When a bunch of idiots decide how to go on vacation like the Ostrogoths, it's extremely frustrating, demoralizing."

Honestly, I haven't gotten much out of it so far.

The most famous trip by the Ostrogoths is probably that of the year 489, when they invaded what is now Italy under the leadership of Theodoric.

But can that be called a vacation trip?

Trudeau related his sentence to a group of young Canadians who danced on a party flight

.

That fit in with an outburst from French President Emmanuel Macron, who had complained that an opponent of vaccinations was irresponsible for him and therefore “no longer a citizen”.

He wanted to annoy these people "to the end".

Whereby he used the difficult-to-translate word »emmerder«.

The »Süddeutsche Zeitung« recommended the German »go on the sack«.

Two leaders of the West are losing their composure, talking like street boys (or like Ostrogoths, who knows) because not all of them are following their corona policy.

Apparently they no longer have the cool head that is needed to guide societies through these difficult times.

Today opponents of the corona policy demonstrate in several cities in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

.

I'm not on their side, but I'm also glad that there is another side.

Doubt is at the core of democracy, even in this situation.

• Controversial corona vaccination requirement: It comes, it comes later, it doesn't come at all ...

Ostrogothic appearance

The most

was committed in 2013 by

, who was then the SPD's candidate for chancellor.

He campaigned with the core message that he was not boring.

So he wanted to offer himself as an alternative to incumbent Angela Merkel.

In fact, she was not a paragon of charisma, but that was precisely what went down well.

Steinbrück failed.

This peculiar preference of the Germans was confirmed in the 2021 election campaign, when Olaf Scholz offered himself not as an alternative to Merkel, but as a keeper of boredom.

To be fair, one has to say that, unlike Steinbrück, he did not have to compete against Merkel and did not do better than his colleague in terms of numbers: Both won 25.7 percent for the SPD.

Steinbrück is 75 years old today

.

He said goodbye to the 2013 election campaign with a stretched middle finger, an, if you will, Ostrogothic appearance.

• Column on the middle finger in politics: A gestural »Fuck you«

German hell

What it means for people when democracy disappears and hell breaks out, I read impressively in the

by Uwe Wittstock.

He describes how German writers experienced the

: Thomas and Heinrich Mann, Erich Mühsam, Egon Erwin Kisch, Erich Maria Remarque, Alfred Döblin, Else Lasker-Schüler and many others.

Most of them had a good life, did what they loved, were recognized or famous, some were wealthy.

They had created their own worlds - and these dissolved in days, weeks, months after Hitler's appointment as Reich Chancellor.

Some disappeared in the concentration camp, most went into exile without being able to reach their readers.

Reading this book was very close to me, I can only recommend it.

• "Seizure of Power": When Hitler became Chancellor

Winner of the day ...

… Is

, whom the top bodies of the Die Linke party will probably appoint as their candidate for the office of Federal President.

Trabert, 65, independent, takes care of the homeless in the Mainz area, looks for them on the street to provide them with medical care.

He also holds a professorship for social medicine and social psychiatry.

In the election on February 13, he will have no chance against incumbent Frank-Walter Steinmeier, certainly not an Ostrogoth who is supported by the SPD, Greens, FDP and Union, also an example of the high value of cultivated boredom in German politics.

Nevertheless, Trabert's candidacy is not in vain, because it draws attention to a good cause, and the absence of alternatives also enhances a presidential election.

The latest news from the night

• Judge on the Djoković case: "What more could this man have done?"

  In Melbourne, the negotiation has begun on the question of whether tennis superstar Novak Djoković is allowed to travel to Australia.

  The statement of the "somewhat excited" judge caused a stir

• At least 19 dead in fire in New York.

  A serious fire broke out in a house in the Bronx, New York.

  At least 19 people were killed and dozen more injured.

  The trigger was apparently a defective fan heater

• Actor Bob Saget is dead:

  his role as Danny Tanner in the popular US sitcom "Full House" earned him the reputation of America's father.

  Now the actor and comedian Bob Saget was found dead in a hotel room

The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today

• Energy crisis: Germany is so dependent on Russian gas

• Torture, rape, murder: what good is a trial of Syrian intelligence officers - in Koblenz?

• Cliché reporting in West German media So isser nich ', the Ossi

• »End in Sight« by Ronja von Rönne: This novel is a personal success - and a literary one too

I wish you a good start to the day.

Yours Dirk Kurbjuweit