How to escape the maelstrom of bad news? Maybe with a good dose of nostalgia, or a love story.
Not only FC Bayern Munich remembers the late honorary president Franz Beckenbauer Photo: reviewerfoto/imago
It is assumed that there are people who, even after a week of mourning for Beckenbauer, cannot understand why so much fuss is made about a former footballer who is not completely clean when it comes to corruption. If the art philistines are young, that's fine. But if you ask me why even the Taz, which otherwise opposes any monarchy, has dedicated a title and two pages to a supposed emperor, although today we have completely different and much more important concerns, then I can only say: Yes, that's why!
Of course, it's the longing for the good times that never were, whether in football or the insignificant rest of life, that many currently revel in to distract themselves from the devastating present where you have to be cooler than that. temperatures so as not to perceive the situation as threatening.
When AfD politicians and their far-right accomplices speak euphemistically but seriously about the racist “remigration” – that is, the deportation – of millions of citizens, a chill runs down the spines of everyone who still feels something human. The bad word of the year seems to have already been announced in January. But who knows, it could get worse, just look at the polls.
It stands to reason that the ban debate is gaining momentum. Although a procedure would be risky and could even help the AfD. A dilemma. For now, it would be a step forward in democracy if the traffic light finally managed to make coherent decisions that were valid for more than three days and that perhaps, we hardly dare to hope, could once again spread more confidence and satisfaction. Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) recently demonstrated with depressing clarity how great the frustration is in his own ranks: he first described the eternal dispute between the traffic light partners as “destroying democracy” and then immediately provoked a new dispute by strongly criticizing the agreement. on agricultural diesel. They seemed to be calling for a ban by impotent and desperate government parties.
Perhaps blood cells can help against anxious thoughts and AfD, if you really believe in them. Unfortunately, the scientific evidence clearly speaks against this, so health insurance companies will no longer pay for pearls in the future. Unless, after the farmers' revolt, there is another rebellion of homeopathy fans and the traffic light breaks down again.
Karl Lauterbach may have already evoked new symbols of resistance when he noted that climate change cannot be fought with dowsing rods. At least, despite everything, the Minister of Health has not lost his sense of humor. Seriously, that comforts me. Because complaining and complaining doesn't help.
So it is better to remember the happy past from time to time to recharge your batteries. I admit that my heart warmed when I saw once again how Franz Beckenbauer managed, as a highlight of his career, to throw a ball from a glass of wheat beer directly into the goal wall of the ZDF sports hall. Back then, such luck didn't make anyone jealous. Even Bayern haters laughed at his Kaiserschmarrn and his impudence when he commented on the outcome of an adventure at the Christmas party: God is happy for every child.
The mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner, and the Senator for Education Katharina Günther-Wünsch now seem to follow this attitude, who, despite all the criticism of their relationship, continue to share an office table and a bed. The question of whether they were already together when Günther-Wünsch was appointed is legitimate, but it is difficult to impose the required transparency. Unless you want an investigative committee asking about oral sex and sperm stains like Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton. That doesn't have to be the case. Or as Beckenbauer would have said: God is happy for every couple in love.