Editorial
stern Editor-in-Chief
Dieter Bohlen in an interview and research on femicides in Germany: Gregor Peter Schmitz on the current star
Dieter Bohlen in an exclusive interview: The entertainer about his TV comeback, the fear of insignificance and Vladimir Putin
© STERN ASSEMBLY; PHOTO: STEPHAN PICK/STERN
“Don’t you want to be a disgust anymore, Mr. Bohlen?” he asks star in its current edition. Also: Kevin McCarthy becomes Speaker of the House and Christine Lambrecht’s bizarre New Year’s Eve video.
Discussing the sense and nonsense of cover photos is considered good manners in our editorial office. Rarely, however, have my colleagues been so divided as to the question of whether Dieter Bohlen was on the star heard. Some people cried that he had fallen out of time, that he was a misogynist, and often rudely towards journalists. Hey, wait a minute, people, others said, the man is as well known as Angela Merkel, he fascinates, many tune in to him on TV, even if they don’t admit it, also because he says what many people think. In short: the man polarizes. That’s always good for title characters.
Isabelle Zeiher and Moritz Herrmann tipped the scales. In three hours, the two defied Bohlen for an open conversation about what he still thinks he can say and what not, how much he fears aging – and why it is still so important to him despite his many successes, starting Saturday raise or lower your thumb again in front of millions of viewers on “Deutschland sucht den Superstar”. It was a tough duel on fair terms: Bohlen stood by almost all of his statements in the usual authorization of the interview, even the tricky ones.
“Does the chancellor want to stick with a minister who looks like a crackpot?”
Being a woman is life-threatening. We know that from countries like Mexico, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan too. This upsets us, but there is one thing we must not forget: how dangerous it is to be a woman in Germany. “Every third day” is the name of our research on femicides. She describes that every 72 hours a woman in Germany is beaten and killed by partners and ex-partners. Simply because she is a woman.
Is it then okay to demand in the next sentence that a woman absolutely has to resign? Yes, because being a woman is not the only quality a minister has, anything else would do emancipation a disservice. With her bizarre New Year’s Eve video, Christine Lambrecht has shown that she is not suitable as Minister of Defense. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has to dismiss her. After the attack on Ukraine, he proclaimed a “turn of the tide”. And he wants to stick to a minister who looks like a cracker?
Look at the USA
It took Kevin McCarthy 15 attempts to become Speaker of the US House of Representatives. Some scoffed that there were even more attempts than Friedrich Merz needed to become CDU leader. I can’t laugh about it, I’m too shaken by the split in Congress, in which even coffee with a political opponent is now considered high treason. Both camps polemicize, but the Republicans have taken this art to a new level. They not only tolerate those who despise democracy in their own ranks, but also people like George Santos. The deputy is 34 years old, that’s true, but otherwise there’s almost nothing wrong with him. He lied about his degrees, his job, his debts, his religion, and his mother’s death.
In the past, the proud Republicans would have laughed at you like Santos, now the Trump fan sits among them despite all the lies, his vote against the Democrats counts. Political scientist Barbara F. Walter has just authored a book on how civil wars begin; she sees the United States not far away. She writes that it didn’t happen under Donald Trump because he was too stupid and clumsy. What if the next Trump is smarter?
Cordially you,
Gregor Peter Schmitz, Editor-in-Chief