Everything included, everything addressed, everything honestly classified: But what was the bottom line? A courage speech, can we do it? A speech to shake up, so for the jolt that may now go through the country? No, neither one nor the other really, and that was the weakness of the Federal President's speech that had been announced so big: it lacked the powerful core that pulls you along. Honesty was not lacking, but clarity and specifics about what is most important for the next few years in Germany and what should give the insecure people courage and purpose.
A new defensiveness in all areas? A new cohesion between the groups and generations and East and West Germany? Or is it the fight against climate change, without which "everything is nothing", as the Federal President said?
So what does a normal person take with them, who looks anxiously into the future and cannot foresee what is going to change: that things are getting more serious than they have been for a long time, that the matter is by no means hopeless and that everyone has to do their part. Hardly any of these passages will arouse objection, and the reference to the "rich" who should contribute more was too short and too soft.
It is a kettle of truth that Frank-Walter Steinmeier put there with the best of intentions. Is that enough for people to say: Now I see more clearly. Now I draw new courage. Or even just: Now I understand why the government is so costly against Russia front.
Frank Walter Steinmeier had his strongest moment when he drastically condemned Russia's attack and classified it as what it is: "evil" and the end of many German certainties and comforts. This finding cannot be repeated often enough, because word hasn't really gotten around yet: the great upheaval won't be over after the coming winter. The old life from before the war will not return for a long time. The state cannot do that, no matter how much debt, and that is why people should not demand it every time. This honesty of restriction and renunciation was the strongest thing about the Federal President's appearance.
