Tun what to say and say what to think? Don’t object straight away: How boring! As if the coherence model of the public appearance produced the secretive person whose forehead reveals everything that happens behind the forehead! After all, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann is not an open book either, although she represents the type in the German parliament who, all in all, stands for the connection between clear thoughts and clear language.
Even Strack-Zimmermann can’t always do what she thinks she wants and doesn’t say (so she wasn’t allowed to become defense minister in the end). How she finds it is part of her trade secret. So although not everything is running smoothly for Strack-Zimmermann either, her thinking, saying and doing converge in a way that would entitle this FDP politician to say a coherent “And point!” after every second or third sentence . In the long version of the point: With me you know where you are.
“It is honorable to dream of peace”
Of course, the claim (to want to say what she thinks and ask others to do what she says) cannot be maintained without rhetorical maneuvers. In an interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, for example, Strack-Zimmermann was asked how she, as Chair of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, assessed Switzerland’s position that countries such as Germany are prohibited from re-exporting weapons purchased in Switzerland.
The first sentence of her answer is correct: “It’s not my place to explain to Switzerland what needs to be done.” To then continue straight away with sentence 2 “What to do?” was unlawfully excluded. Then, in sentence 3, the neutral Switzerland, which is not part of NATO, also gave the answer to the “What to do?” question: “The answer is obvious. In the future, ammunition should only be bought from NATO countries or manufactured directly in Germany.” There are different ways of explaining to Switzerland what needs to be done in Bern.
Does this woman always have to be rowdy (“I like rowdy”)? Sure, of course! How else can defensiveness as a spiritual project gain momentum? For Strack-Zimmermann, this is about the superstructure of an armaments industry that has become politically central: “Dreaming of peace is honorable. But we have to be aware that the Vladimir Putins of this world are not interested in that. Defensiveness is the key issue for the next generation.” And period.