Corona doesn't wait
Anyone wondering who is actually Federal Chancellor will get an answer today.
It is the man who
is
grilled with questions in the Bundestag from 1 p.m.
His name:
Olaf Scholz
.
Age: 63. Party: SPD.
Prototype: Angela Merkel.
Even she made very little appearance as Chancellor.
But Scholz seems to want to surpass them in the art of disappearing.
In the first weeks of the traffic light coalition it was almost invisible, inaudible.
It was a quiet start.
Everyone needs time to get used to a new position.
For the Federal Chancellor, however, the deadline is short.
Corona, Vladimir Putin and other challenges don't wait until he's ready.
Today, during Question Time in the Bundestag, Scholz has the opportunity to explain how he intends to run this country.
(Scholz will play a role again below under the heading »Loser of the Day«.)
Column about top German personnel: Praise of the Laue
One man, two strategies
Federal President
Frank-Walter Steinmeier will be
discussing compulsory vaccinations
with citizens in Bellevue Palace today
, some of them virtually. According to reports, people who have not been vaccinated should also be invited. Steinmeier had tackled this head on in November. "What else has to be done to convince you?" He snorted. In addition the accusation: "You endanger us all!"
Here the two possible strategies in dealing with anti-vaccination opponents
can be seen in one person
: aggressive lack of understanding and the attempt to enter into a dialogue.
It almost seems as if Steinmeier is shocked by his little outburst and is returning to the big issue of his term in office: keeping society together, reconciliation, talking to those who think differently.
I admit that I also hesitate between the two approaches.
Controversial corona vaccination requirement: It comes, it comes later, it doesn't come at all ...
Strange silence
Today, after a long break, the
NATO-Russia Council is meeting again in Brussels
, a discussion format between the Western alliance and the Russians. In addition, the
defense ministers of the European Union
will meet for two-day talks in Brest. The main topic in both cases will be the
Russian deployment on the border with Ukraine
.
A colleague of mine said today that there is a peculiar silence around this conflict.
He himself was maximally alarmed, feared a war in Europe, but did not think that this was reflected in politics and in the mood of the population.
I also assume that these are Putin's muscles, that he has no intention of officially invading Ukraine.
In many comments I read similar assessments from more competent colleagues.
On the other hand, you know who didn't expect them to break out shortly before the great wars.
For example, Stalin did not deal with Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union.
I don't mean to compare, but it's a good reminder to be prepared for anything.
Russia's troop deployment on the Ukrainian border: party mood and fear of war
Lost idyll
If you go to the homepage of the community of
Schuld in Rhineland-Palatinate
, you can see an idyll in the photos: green hills, a white village, a little river.
But what the pictures show no longer exists in this form.
In July 2021, the Ahr
swelled
so dramatically after heavy rain that the floods damaged half the village.
Half a dozen houses had to be demolished.
Today the Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister
Malu Dreyer
and two ministers visit the village of Schuld, which has become a warning to take decisive action against climate change.
Reconstruction after the flood in the Ahr valley: "We have to say clearly that it is dangerous"
Loser of the day ...
... is
the tie
, because the traffic light coalition has made it less important for politics. Economics minister Robert Habeck made his grand appearance before the federal press conference yesterday without a tie. For his green predecessors in important positions - Joschka Fischer and Jürgen Trittin - formal clothing was still mandatory, perhaps because they wanted to dispel any doubts that people like them could really be federal ministers.
Even the publicist Ernst Moritz Arndt at the beginning of the 19th century called for the neck to be freed from the "servile cloth", I read in the "Handbuch der Politische Ikonographie" under the heading "Clothing, political".
Before his time as Federal Chancellor, Scholz was also often seen without a tie.
If he were to make his appearance today in the Bundestag (see above) with a bare neck, that would be the final end of the perceived tie obligation in politics.
However, I don't think he dares to do that so soon after taking office.
The latest news from the night
As Novak Djoković explains his corona tests and false information on the entry form:
For the first time since his trip to Australia, the Serbian tennis star has spoken out in detail about the case.
He mainly commented on his PCR test in December
According to the US expert, Omikron will affect almost everyone:
The American virologist Anthony Fauci sees Omikron as a corona variant of "unprecedented effectiveness."
And: The Canadian province of Québec wants to introduce a tax for unvaccinated people.
The news overview
Member of the "Atomwaffen Division" in the USA sentenced to imprisonment:
In the USA a neo-Nazi of the group "Atomwaffen Division" has been found guilty.
The 25-year-old is said to have intimidated people who campaign against anti-Semitism
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I wish you a good start to the day.
Yours Dirk Kurbjuweit