t
az: Mr. Küppersbusch, what was bad last week?
Friedrich Küppersbusch: Polluted States of America.
taz: And what gets better in this one?
Küppersbusch: Canada in the EU.
taz: French President Emmanuel Macron wore aviator sunglasses in Davos. Former Chancellor Olaf Scholz preferred the eye patch. Who will win the style test?
Küppersbusch: The British “Guardian” is on the trail of a very cold matter: Macron had the “Pacific S 01 Double Gold” ordered as a gift for €659 in 2024 for the G20 summit in Brazil. More charming than Scholz’s humorous “Well, Boche, big mouth again?” However, calling for it would have come a good year too late for the Chancellor’s misfortune. The presidential office insisted on self-payment after the Italian manufacturer assured that the deep gold-plated glasses would be made entirely in France. Lawful premiumeverything, but anything that distracts from Trump is welcome.
Donald Trump creates a peace council19 countries sign, France and Germany reject and refer to the UN. Can Trump only fail with this project?
Küppersbusch: The UN has castrated itself, quietly but thoroughly: With Security Council Resolution 2803 from 11/25, the UN “welcomes” the “Board of Peace” as a “temporary administration and legal entity”. As part of Trump’s also approved “20-point plan”. Chancellor Merz quickly screwed on a replacement argument from the trunk and now sees “constitutional obstacles”. The World Bank, UN and EU estimate the cost of rebuilding Gaza at at least $70 billion, while Trump’s hooligan group is collecting billions without earmarks. All that is missing is for board member Netanyahu to accuse the Germans of stinginess, disloyalty and terrorist sympathies, then Merz will fail. Now new on the torture shelf: peaceboarding.
taz: At the EU level, the Greens voted together with far-right parties for an examination of the Mercosur agreement. Rest in Peace Firewall?
Küppersbusch: Take it slow! None of the green arguments against “Mercosur” is undermined: climate protection, rainforest deforestation, the rights of indigenous people, product standards. Nothing has improved in this matter, and the fact that conservatives are giving in to agricultural aggro and right-wing extremists are bluntly sabotaging everything is no surprise. The destructive majority was foreseeable. What’s new is the idea of “annoying Trump by shitting on green content”. And the party had no strategy for this gently suicidal nonsense. Now they want to ratify quickly and consider the legal review later. That would be completely okay – if they had thought of it beforehand.
taz: The video platform TikTok can now remain active in the USA thanks to a newly founded joint venture. Any luck?
Küppersbusch: The social media platforms X, Insta, Facebook and YouTube can now remain active in the EU through newly founded joint ventures. – Ha ha. Fun! “The manipulation of public opinion and spying on users” and, needless to say, a lot of money – were the US reasons for threatening the Chinese company with a ban. He finally gave up, certainly with an eye on the US market and political considerations. The EU market is significantly larger, the problems with foreign platforms are the same, and you could also try politics here.
taz: ICE officers take children into custody in the state of Minnesota. The image of a five-year-old kidnapped causes outrage online. When is enough?
Küppersbusch: After another death in Minnesota: When there is civil war. With ICE as a lawless private army, the Trump administration fulfills another criterion of classic definitions of fascism, which also includes the false predominance of evil, against which any means is acceptable.
taz: A “patriot radio” run by the FPÖ has been broadcasting on the Internet for a week. Your song recommendations?
Küppersbusch: “The hits of the thirties and forties and the latest from Kickl.” 60 to 80% of listeners tune in to radio stations based on the color of the music. Moderation, broadcaster personality, attitude, information often only make up the rest of format radio. “Austria First” is still haggling with “AKM”, Austria’s “Gema”, for a license and is currently broadcasting semi-legally – preferably with decidedly unpatriotic foreign nonsense. Things get trickier with the artist representation “LSG”, where individual stars such as Christina Sturmer and “Alphaville” have already refused after their songs were misused by the FPÖ. But that will not stop the general trend towards digital party media. Classic party newspapers ended in West Germany in 1945 at the latest; So there’s an airwave full of zombies looming.
taz: And what is RWE doing?
Küppersbusch: Striker Marek Janssen demanded a starting eleven place on TV, had to pay a penalty for this disloyalty, then got a starting eleven place and scored three goals against Havelse. Maybe coach Koschinat is wise.
Questions: yes
Friedrich Küppersbusch is a journalist, producer and listens to the non-party RadioEins.