Cool

Cool RP ONLINE • 13 hours • 3 minutes reading time Düsseldorf. The election campaign has suddenly entered the hot phase after the collapse of the traffic light coalition. The current chancellor believes he is cooler than his biggest opponent. Can that be true? Olaf Scholz thinks he is cool. At least "a little cooler when it comes to state affairs" than his challenger in the next federal election, Friedrich Merz of the CDU. In addition to the chancellor's announcement that he might ask the vote of confidence in the Bundestag before Christmas, this was another surprise during the talk with Caren Miosga on ARD late on Sunday evening. People know Scholz as someone who delivers speeches in speech bubbles with a straight face, which earned him the nickname "Scholzomat" during his time as SPD General Secretary between 2002 and 2004 - a derogatory term that the Social Democrat described as quite "apt" at the time. The "taz" newspaper once printed an interview with him in which all the answers were blacked out because they seemed so profoundly meaningless. Scholz often seems cool, but does that mean he's cool? As a word from youth culture, cool is a little dated. But it has been in use for a surprisingly long time and is therefore not unlike the SPD in its persistence in the political arena. In 1983, "cool" first appeared in the Illustrated Dictionary of German Colloquial Language, where it was described as a synonym for both "vigorous" and "calm." However, the disco group Boney M. released the pop song "Daddy Cool" in 1976, their first big success. But that certainly wasn't Olaf Scholz, who had only been with the Jusos for a year at the time. The only person who could be found on the political stage at that time was Helmut Schmidt, Scholz's great-great-great-predecessor in the highest government office. Linguists believe they have found the root of the word in the jazz scene. In the 50s and 60s, American clubs were often extremely hot, and the musicians in particular were sweating profusely. So, to cool down, they would play quiet pieces that didn't require much physical exertion, and - whoosh - not only was cool jazz born, but also the attitude of a young, up-and-coming generation. "Cool" became one of the highest predicates that can be given to things or behavior. Anyone who is really cool doesn't just feel superior to everyone else, which is certainly important at a certain stage in life. They also find the corresponding confirmation from their fellow people, who have always paid homage to the coolest among them because they all want to be like their role models. Yes, "cool" is so ultimate that there is even a superlative, only increased by supercool, ultracool or megacool. Now it is actually not the case that Friedrich Merz also seemed cool in any way. On the contrary: next to Scholz he seems downright overeager. Merz speaks much faster, with much more temperament, and the Christian Democrats have often wished that he had used one of his Social Democratic opponent's famous speech bubbles or had kept quiet altogether instead of talking himself into trouble. Whatever the case: Scholz may be the cooler of the two, but "cool" is something else. A really cool saying by the 33rd President of the United States, Harry S. Truman, is a memorable one. He once described the political business with the words: "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." During his presidency from 1945 to 1953, the Democrat, who was famous for his direct speech, used the saying repeatedly when decision-makers complained about their situation in difficult situations. In any case, Olaf Scholz's coalition kitchen in Berlin has definitely become too hot in the past week. In any case, he has fired one of his top chefs. How heat-resistant, let alone cool, Friedrich Merz will be? We'll have to wait and see.