The Federal Chancellor is not a pacifist, he is a patriot.

And he's upset.

Angered by the "slanderous portrayals of the SPD's Russia policy".

That's what gets him going: the "caricature of social democratic politics" that is being drawn.

The questions about Nord Stream 2, about his comrade Schwesig, how far he was involved in her foundation financed with Russian money - that doesn't help now.

Not him, that much is clear!

As cool as Scholz still finds himself, he now seems so hot to others.

In the thunderous “Spiegel” interview, which is currently making a name for itself, it is above all the many snappy, insulted exclamations that give the impression of a touched conversation partner.

Not counted yet, not that, but clearly irritated by the debate.

What makes him procrastinate?

You get the feeling that someone went into defense here in the first round.

That he nervously pays attention to his cover, wants to reduce the attack surface and only hits back briefly every now and then: "I accuse you of drawing a distorted picture".

The Chancellor "accuses" - to counter allegations against him.

Scholz is not doing a good job, even their own coalition partners agree on that.

Exactly what makes him seem so procrastinated isn't entirely clear.

The lack of will to deliver tanks?

The fear of being identified by Putin as a war party?

The knowledge of dangerous backgrounds that he cannot let his people in on?

It seems a bit as if the chancellor had been backed into a corner by his own strong word.

The "turning point" he described at the end of February left him speechless and now makes him look weak.

So was the word too big?

No it was not.

Anyone who reads the reports of the bestial crimes being committed by the Russian army on Ukrainian soil, who sees the images of the mass graves that are emerging around Mariupol, cannot help but seek refuge in their terror in superlatives.

The future is history

Where Scholz could get the word from has so far remained open.

In the interview he now reveals himself to be an impressed reader of Masha Gessen's book The Future is History, in which the Russian population is described as a community trapped in totalitarianism, slipping back into its own past.

Scholz' reflections on time and its ruptures could be inspired by this.

In the meantime, however, the social-democratic chancellor is already on the move in other vocabulary: he is looking for a "patriotic majority" to make the Bundeswehr more quick-witted, he asserts.

"Patriotic" - that could be his next big word.