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No, Netflix really isn't going tonight.
This March 24th is a day when you reach for the remote control at 8 p.m. and switch on the first one because you want to see once again on the news that everything has just happened.
Chancellor Angela Merkel apologized three times during the day;
with the citizens, with the Prime Ministers, in the Bundestag.
She has collected the “Easter rest” that has just been ordered in association with the country chiefs, she is completely on her mind to back down.
Angela Merkel has not admitted any mistakes in the refugee crisis, nor in the nuclear phase-out, nor so far during the pandemic.
But now, because of the mini lockdown on Maundy Thursday and Holy Saturday: "This mistake is solely my fault, because in the end I have the ultimate responsibility for everything - qua office it is like that."
It was a day in which chaos, dissatisfaction and mismanagement culminated in the Corona crisis.
It was not until the easing at the beginning of March, which Merkel and many country leaders doubted from the start.
Then the suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the reputation of which had been tarnished before.
Finally, the run on Mallorca with simultaneous appeals to stay in your own state or, ideally, not to take an Easter holiday at all.
The whole thing with sluggish vaccinations and rapid test promises that could only be partially redeemed.
The mood in the country fluctuates between tired and crumbling, between fatalism and gallows humor.
"Unfortunately we haven't planned much"
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The ARD hotspot follows the daily news, which documents Merkel's mea culpa, and the weather report is followed by a ten-minute conversation with the Chancellor.
It was recorded before the broadcast, apparently nothing was edited.
Moderator Oliver Köhr wants to know how it can happen "that it is not checked at all whether this is even possible?"
The answer is amazingly honest.
"Unfortunately, we didn't plan as much as we might have had to plan," says Merkel.
The aim was to "bring even more peace and quiet and less mobility into the country over Easter and that's when this thought arose".
But a little later it dawned on her that “this cannot be realized at all in the short time and perhaps also because of the complexity.
And that's why I said we'd stop this rest.
And I think that was the right decision. "
As expected, Merkel believes "not at all" that the government has now completely slipped away from the crisis management.
Progress had been made.
"And if you make a mistake in such a tense and difficult time, then you don't have to keep making this mistake on principle, but you have to say, I'll stop it."
More authority was seldom.
But today?
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And now?
Easter holidays?
The only thing left for the Chancellor to do is to appeal to the population to stay at home over the holidays, "I am making this request and I also know that many citizens will comply".
That will of course only yet be shown.
When the Chancellor spoke to the citizens on television a year ago and warned, “It's serious.
Take it seriously ”- the streets were empty the next day.
More authority was seldom.
But today?
Angela Merkel seems tired in the conversation.
Merkel speaks in focus about the old and the new virus, about lockdown and shutdown, she emphasizes again: “This virus is different.
The emergency brake alone won't stop the ascent. ”Will it still get through to the millions who are currently sitting in front of the screen?
The poll numbers of the party, which she carried as Chancellor for 16 years, speak a different language.
Confidence has been crumbling for weeks.
The Union is now between 26 and 28 percent, five weeks ago it was a whopping ten percent more.
It's not a miracle.
The CDU has always presented itself as a reliable government machine, ruling the Chancellery for over 50 years.
But when the Union's ability to govern is questioned, its electorate turns away, which is happening en masse.
The Chancellor expresses complete confidence in herself - a novelty
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The mood in the ranks of the CDU and CSU is not yet panicked, but there is an alarm.
Three opposition parties in the Bundestag, FDP, Linke and AfD, sense their chance to present the coalition.
This Wednesday you are calling for the Chancellor to ask the vote of confidence.
And will she?
“No, I won't do that,” says Merkel.
The Chancellor, also a novelty on this day, expresses full confidence in herself.
They have "the support of the entire federal government and, to that extent, also the parliament".
A vote of confidence is not necessary.
Incidentally, she “turned to the people today”, “there was uncertainty and I asked forgiveness for it”.
Now it is about "that we get the third wave under control."
And how?
She is "very happy that we will be getting a lot more vaccine doses in April," BioNTech now has a plant in Marburg.
“Basically there must not be an appointment in the country that is not taken when you have the vaccine dose.” Family and company doctors would also soon be able to vaccinate, in April “we will get up to 15 million vaccine doses.
That is significantly more than in January, February and March ”.
Merkel remains vague about how future decision-making processes between the federal government and the states should run, whether the Bundestag will finally be more involved.
The Prime Minister's Conference is the right body.
“We have to talk again about some of the way we work, and 15 hours of discussion is certainly not the last word in wisdom.
But I think everyone understood that and we will think about it. "
The Chancellor says goodbye to the conversation with a final warning.
“The virus is more aggressive.
It's more infectious and it's more deadly ”.
Then the green party leader comes into the studio.
Merkel is leaving, Baerbock is coming.
Is the preview of the autumn change of power currently running in “Brennpunkt”?
Baerbock shows a skill that was previously attributed to the Chancellor
The Greens are the only opposition party who have not joined the demand for a vote of confidence.
The moderator asks briskly whether they are already in government.
Baerbock cannot be lured out of reserve.
The federal government is acting “haphazardly” and “headlessly”, all of this is a big “mess”.
Baerbock says, “if you think it through to the end” - an ability that was previously attributed to the Chancellor - “in the middle of the third wave, where the country is in chaos, to change the federal government”, so: “No!” Then demands they an "emergency brake", also "rapid tests" and "vaccination, of course, 24/7".
The situation is dramatic, people are frustrated, and trust is low.
Baerbock does not want to speculate about how firmly the Chancellor is still in the saddle. Firstly, there are many other problems and, secondly, this is “not my kind of policy”.
However, Angela Merkel has not exercised the guideline authority “that we all needed” for “at least six months”.
Then she lists failures: rapid tests, vaccinations, the situation in kindergartens, again and again: the burden for families with children.
Their support must now come first.
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Baerbock pays “great respect” to the Chancellor for her apology, which is also a “question of humanity”.
Now it would depend on “that something follows from this”.
She herself once asked the Chancellor to apologize because she knew "how difficult it is for you".
Then Baerbock demands to finally give something back to the people in the country “who have achieved so much”.
She talks about perspectives, about the fact that "everyone together, from the federal level to the municipalities" should ensure that the vaccination works by the summer.
So Baerbock encourages everyone, including the “weakest in society”.
Almost like the Chancellor in her best days.