Monday
Thomas Haldenwang is the weak point of the federal government. The president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution suffers from arrogance and embarrasses his superiors, especially Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, as well as Chancellor Scholz, who allows him to gossip with impunity.
No member of the government moved when Haldenwang declared in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine” magazine: “Freedom of speech is not a license.”
The head of the domestic secret service has no right to such instructions. His reasoning that statements can be processed even below the criminal law line is a threat. Haldenwang threatens citizens, politicians and journalists who, with the approval of the Federal Constitutional Court, harshly and forcefully criticize the government, state activities and political opponents.
His colleague Hans-Ulrich Jörges, who loves frank words, writes that with this “border crossing” Haldenwang places himself in the “Gestapo tradition”.
He's not the only one upset. Constitutional lawyer, former defense minister Rupert Scholz writes that Haldenwang violates the constitution and exceeds his authority. His conclusion: “If the federal government does not draw conclusions from the behavior of this high-ranking official, it itself raises doubts about the understanding of democracy.”
Wolfgang Kubicki also spoke. The Bundestag vice-president criticizes Haldenwang's supposed “ability to define” in the FAZ article. The government and subordinate authorities should not tell the people of the country what is right and what is wrong.
It is up to the court alone to decide what kind of criticism is permitted under the crucial Article 5 of the Constitution. Separate press chambers have been installed in major German cities. You can professionally distinguish between what is a statement of fact and what can be considered an expression of opinion.
Expression of opinion: According to a New York Times chart, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is perhaps the most unpopular head of government in the entire Western world because he doesn't hold back figures like Haldenwang.
on Tuesday
A young woman walks through a supermarket and sorts products. In the video, he shows the standards he uses when shopping. He gives up his favorite chocolate milk, which he says has given him so much comfort. Now he learned from the app that the parent company of the Belgian milk replacer production is the food giant Danone. Founded in 1919 by a Jew, it invests in Israeli startups and is therefore on the boycott list. A Palestinian software developer programmed the app. With this, you can find out if the product comes from Israel or if its manufacturer supports Israeli partners.
A young woman with a large following promotes this boycott app. He works as a presenter at ARD's second largest station, Südwestrundfunk. Her show is called “MixTalk” and she is Helen Fares. The native of Leipzig with Syrian roots has already attracted attention several times due to his growing aggressiveness. Their campaign resembles “Don't buy from Jews” and does not fit with the dictates of public broadcasting.
Now SWR has released the fares. Who hired him anyway?
Helmut Markwort, founding editor-in-chief of FOCUS, was an FDP member of the Bavarian state parliament from 2018 to 2023.