Berlin’s governing mayor Michael Müller reveals the incompetence of Markus Lanz on ZDF in a “sham debate”.
Hamburg – Which topics can be added to Markus Lanz’s “Corona-Chat”, because that is what his ZDF program should have been called for a year and a half? The smart South Tyrolean and his editorial team face the not-so-easy selection three times a week.
On yesterday’s mild Thursday evening, the debate about the still ubiquitous virus pandemic flanked the balance sheet of Berlin’s Governing Mayor Michael Müller (SPD) and the water shortage in this country. The latter, eminently important problem, has so far been rarely taken up by the media because it is simply “not sexy enough” for opinion makers and lobbyists, as the 22-year-old journalist and blogger Yasmine M’Barek aptly remarked in the discussion group .
Markus Lanz (ZDF): Michael Müller is gently peened
Before systems scientist Claudia Pahl-Wostl was able to speak in a refreshingly factual manner well after midnight, the two other women, SZ science editor Christina Berndt and said “Zeit Online” author Yasmine M’Barek, and moderator Markus Lanz were the only ones male studio guest gently put into the mangle, which sounds like a contradiction in terms, but can sometimes be all the more perfidious: Michael Müller defended himself calmly.
The politician, who after his time as governing mayor of the capital, was striving for higher ambitions, but posing on his website in a white and blue checked shirt, looks as if he belonged to the CSU in Bavaria rather than the SPD in Berlin, but did not reveal what was considered possible Incompetence on the subject of “return travelers”.
How did that happen? According to consistent media reports, a general test for returning travelers should take place on Sunday. Markus Lanz wants to know from Michael Müller whether children who come back with their families from a holiday risk area would have to be sent to quarantine. Behind this is the assumption that the school start would be missed after the summer holidays, which could even lead to penalties.
The guests at “Markus Lanz” on ZDF on Thursday, July 29th:
| Michael Müller | Berlin’s Governing Mayor |
| Claudia Pahl-Wostl | Systems scientist |
| Christina Berndt | SZ science editor |
| Yasmine M’Barek | “Zeit Online” author |
Berlin’s head would like to dispel Markus Lanz’s concerns nonchalantly: German children do not need to be quarantined after a stay in the high-risk area; there is no vaccination offer for them. Unlike adults, they do not yet have the opportunity to free themselves from the quarantine obligation with a double vaccination! Instead, Michael Müller adds: “We start the school year with compulsory testing.” In future, teachers and students should be tested three times a week in school. Not only Markus Lanz is more than perplexed.
Christina Berndt intervenes: “In my opinion, that’s not true.” Children, like unvaccinated adults, have to “test themselves freely” after traveling to high-risk areas in order to be able to participate in school operations again. “I don’t really know that either,” reveals Michael Müller. “As head of government, you should know that exactly,” Markus Lanz rightly criticizes him, and he insists: “How can that be?”
Markus Lanz (ZDF): For a brief moment, Michael Müller is upset
For a brief moment, Michael Müller, who has also been chairman of the Prime Minister’s Conference since October 1, 2020, which is committed to containing Corona, is upset. You can literally see how he thinks about it – and then calmly replies to the outside world: The measures are constantly changing. Even as a politician, you could lose track of things for a short time.
Christina Berndt also admits this to him, who, according to her own statement, “does nothing other than Corona”. She finds the faux pas “forgivable”. The virus is constantly creating new mutants. Loosely, she says: In the other countries things are going “like Schmitz Katzen” because people are celebrating “Freedom Days” and thus driving the number of cases up again. At this point, the reviewer thinks: Can one really look at Michael Müller’s mistakes so mildly? After all, it is the politicians who are constantly changing the corona rules according to the recommendations of scientific institutions!
Markus Lanz (ZDF): Corona has a “communication problem”
And that’s probably why Christina Berndt and Yasmine M’Barek do even more than Markus Lanz has already done: Both see a “communication problem”. The external presentation should be clearer. Christina Berndt thinks that politicians should not interfere by submitting data to the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) and using this as the basis for an assessment of the COVID vaccine for children, because the STIKO is an independent body.
For Michael Müller, however, this interference is “not reprehensible”. On the contrary: with a view to the safety of everyday school life, a vaccination offer for children could simplify some political debates. Vaccination for adolescents, he makes it clear, would be a possibility, not a must. In Berlin alone 11,000 air filters are in use, more than in any other federal state. These and regular tests would make everyday school life safer again, even in Corona times. In his opinion, the biggest problem in the vaccination campaign is the group of 20-25 year olds, whose reaction is “cautious to say the least” – despite offers at club nights or even when shopping at IKEA.
Markus Lanz (ZDF): A lot of anger at the often illogical Corona policy
Yasmine M’Barek, who is known to belong to this age group, cannot stand up to this on behalf of her generation. Young people have built up a lot of anger at the often illogical corona policy. The “sham debates” had ensured that young people, who for what felt like an eternity, could no longer attend universities or other educational institutions, became tired of politics in this country. That is why, according to the student, solidarity and altruism are written in small letters and so after the EM with full stadiums in Germany, too, people are firing en masse again across the country, as was the case most recently at the well-attended Christopher Street Day. “The old ones” did what they wanted again now.
“At this moment,” assures Michael Müller, a letter he signed was going to all students, which would offer the prospect of a “semester in attendance” in the event of collective vaccination. “Vaccination is always worthwhile because you protect yourself and others,” he says simply, but also plausibly.
Markus Lanz (ZDF): Let vaccine be chased in the arm – “What did I actually do that for?”
For a change, all participants in the conversation agree that from now on the incidence alone can no longer be decisive for the corona policy with its often drastic measures that restrict fundamental rights considerably. For Michael Müller, the situation in the hospitals, the occupancy of the intensive care beds, for example, and of course the number of deaths, which has fallen far compared to last year, are at least as important.
Christina Berndt, who currently wants to have more rights than those who have been vaccinated, also wants to have the incapacity for work due to Corona taken into account. The refreshment of the vaccinations would soon be due for those who were completely vaccinated for the first time in February / March. How this should be organized, however, whether by vaccination centers or family doctors, the otherwise talkative group does not say a word.
Markus Lanz (ZDF): Michael Müller consoled
Markus Lanz remarks somewhat succinctly that one day – as the virologist Henrik Strik once formulated it – has to learn to live with the virus. Then he throws an important question about double vaccination in the room, which none of the guests really answered: “What did I do this for?” would, but these would still be very reduced.
Markus Lanz, who insists on always expressing his own opinion, criticizes: “We are protected to death!” For a long time, one should not have visited old people in nursing homes: “Then the old woman dies of loneliness!” Michael Müller , who decided last year to ban visits to the Berlin Senate at the height of the first corona wave, agrees with him. That is why this inhumane ordinance was withdrawn when the situation eased somewhat. He consoled those present (and also the television viewer): With a vaccination rate of 60-65 percent, unfortunately, one cannot yet afford all freedoms again. He is not an expert, but he estimates that this would be the case for around 85 percent.
Markus Lanz (ZDF): The flood disaster is also an issue
Sudden change of subject: everyone is talking about the terrible flood disaster. Claudia Pahl-Wostl, Professor of Resource Management at the Institute for Environmental Systems Research (USF) in Osnabrück, points out the increasing scarcity of water in this country. The waste of this vital resource is concretized with the help of a picture panel: A hamburger that is tasty for many with all its ingredients is shown. 15,000 (!) Liters alone would be used to process one kilo of beef, which is an essential part of burgers. Markus Lanz can’t believe it: “That’s 80,000 full bathtubs or showering five minutes a day for a year!”
We would find ourselves in extreme times, especially when it comes to climate change, says Claudia Pahl-Wostl. Floods like 2002 were followed by a year of drought. The people from the city should be better informed about the chemical compound H2O, which consists of the elements oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H), because: “Water is not only destructive. Water is life! ”Yasmine M’Barek jumps to one side:“ Europe’s arrogance towards climate change ”is unbearable. In doing so, she attacks the politicians who would not see it as an “election campaign hit”. One has to rethink, also with regard to the Gigafactory in Berlin-Brandenburg. It would then be better to say: “Tesla is not happening now. Wake up!”
Markus Lanz (ZDF): Michael Müller is more of a manager than a visionary
After this too short digression, Markus Lanz leaves the final word to the youth in the form of Yasmine M’Barek. What would remain of the Governing Mayor Michael Müller in Berlin if he moved into the Bundestag? He asks. Your answer is blunt: “Not very much.” The SPD politician, who worked as a freelance printer until 2001 and made it to the highest offices without a high school diploma, is more of a manager than a visionary. Regardless of all objections, however, she considers him to have “diplomacy and the ability to mediate”.
“Maybe we will see you again as a minister!”, Says farewell to Markus Lanz Michael Müller, whose “rent cover” decided on January 30, 2020 by the Federal Constitutional Court according to the decision of March 25, 2021 is incompatible with the Basic Law for reasons of legislative competence and therefore declared null and void became. “That was not a political feat,” admits the still ruling mayor of Berlin. Self-insight is often the first path to improvement. (Marc Hairapetian)
