After Robert Habeck’s speech on anti-Semitism, his opponents’ campaign boat listed. Suddenly those who would otherwise beat him to the ground with joy and verve were full of praise. In order to get back on course, his helmsmen are now pulling at the rudder. And lurch towards cliffs.
“Are you okay?” several “X” users asked Julian Reichelt on Wednesday evening. Reason for their concern: The boss of the outrage portal NIUS had just commented on the Vice Chancellor’s still fresh speech on “Ex-Twitter”: “What Robert Habeck says here is hard to beat in terms of moral clarity, rhetorical brilliance and, above all, deeply touching, sincere empathy .”
Reichelt had honored a politician who he would otherwise wish to go to hell every day. Unbelievable. Where was the false bottom? Was the praise poisoned? Where was the “but” that smeared at least the heating law, if not deindustrialization and the decline of the German economy, on the Minister of Economic Affairs’ bread and butter? Nothing. For now
Those who follow Reichelt in order to be reliably supplied with visions of doom and Green Party bashing rubbed their eyes.
It wasn’t just him: many people who otherwise didn’t like Habeck agreed. The conservative think tank “The Republic” reported a “positive surprise”: “Every word fits.” Half of the CDU applauded, from Laschet to Linnemann to the otherwise rather grumpy Tilman Kuban. Habeck is serious, confirmed Ulf Poschardt from Die Welt. “Historic” was the word in large letters at Bild. “A hammer”.
Video | Habeck’s speech: “Do not tolerate anti-Semitism in any form”
Those: Social Media
After sleeping twice, you woke up with a hangover. A wake-up call: the jubilant atmosphere in the trench opposite. The opinion makers who always enthusiastically hang on Robert Habeck’s lips were too loud: Finally a winning story! The breakdown Robert of the heating law as a quick talker. Some people sat at the front of the fan bus: He can be Chancellor!
Of course that doesn’t work. Nothing is as old as the praise of the day before yesterday. In the meantime, the camp of Habeck’s critics has come around again. Especially via “X”, formerly Twitter, the shadowy realm of the Internet.
“Cheap nonsense” from someone who “failed badly” as economics minister, raged expert Roland Tichy. Birgit Kelle, Tichy’s contract flak, complained that his (Habeck’s) government had caused anti-Semitism through population exchange, so to speak. And Dieter Stein from the right-wing journal “Junge Freiheit” spoke of “word diarrhea,” which Habeck read from a teleprompter in a “trembling voice.”
Now one can reply to Habeck that this speech must be followed by action: prosecution for Hamas propaganda. Expulsion of anti-Semites. Clearly pro-Israel – even before the UN. All of this needs to be talked about.
But behind that, things quickly get bizarre again. Children’s book author! Enemy of Germany! Guilt cult! Nuclear shutdown switch! And especially, see above: teleprompter.
“Teleprompter” is a favorite buzzword for anyone who is dissatisfied with politics. A good speech is always “readable” in their eyes. Subtext: No personal contribution, insincere, staged. An unsuccessful performance? Then the subtext is reversed: “He can’t do anything without a teleprompter!!!” Lots of exclamation marks are always important at this point.
What both arguments have in common is that they are only used by people who don’t know what a teleprompter is: a monitor with the pre-formulated text, a one-way mirror in front of the camera – the phenomenon of “reading and still maintaining eye contact with the viewer” is complete. Brilliant.
A Teleprompter Is Not: A Leased Line to Wisdom. Or a remote control for bad speakers. It gives no power of persuasion, neither empathy nor linguistic force. Without clever text and a good speaker, a teleprompter is empty. Even with a teleprompter, US President Biden sometimes seems wooden. The Chancellor also “scolds” with a teleprompter.
