Before the largest crowd of his campaign, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Thursday summoned Europeans and Americans together to "defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it" as surely as they conquered communism a generation ago.
"The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand," Obama said, speaking not far from where the Berlin Wall once divided the city.
"The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes, natives and immigrants, Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand," he said.
The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down......
We know they have fallen before.....
Not only have walls come down in Berlin, but they have come down in Belfast, where Protestant and Catholic found a way to live together; in the Balkans, where our Atlantic alliance ended wars and brought savage war criminals to justice; and in South Africa, where the struggle of a courageous people defeated apartheid.
You have to ask why the crowd was so big. Maybe it was a Kennedy effect because the crowd looked to contain a lot of younger people.
Then you have to ask why there were not more in the crowd. A lot of hype had gone into making this look like a messianic visitation but only 200,000 responded.
The real issue is what he said which amounted to zero. It was purely and simply an exercise in "selling the image". Thus far Obama has done and said nothing of value only platitudes to keep all his options open.
Berlin's Der Tagesspiegel wondered whether so many young people had ever gathered for a political event in Germany and said that Obama's address -- which echoed speeches by former U.S. presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan when the divided city was in the Cold War frontline -- could only have been made in the German capital.
"Barack Obama's address might not have been statesmanlike and it definitely wasn't worldly-wise. But with its symbolism and the message of this 46-year-old, it certainly was the signal of a new era for a new generation on both sides of the Atlantic," the newspaper said.
"What better thing could have happened to us than the potential next president of the U.S. sending this message to the world from here?"
Originally posted by MRTIBBS.: As one newspaper put it.
quote:
Berlin's Der Tagesspiegel wondered whether so many young people had ever gathered for a political event in Germany and said that Obama's address -- which echoed speeches by former U.S. presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan when the divided city was in the Cold War frontline -- could only have been made in the German capital.
"Barack Obama's address might not have been statesmanlike and it definitely wasn't worldly-wise. But with its symbolism and the message of this 46-year-old, it certainly was the signal of a new era for a new generation on both sides of the Atlantic," the newspaper said.
"What better thing could have happened to us than the potential next president of the U.S. sending this message to the world from here?"
Disillusion is always the enemy of idealism. In one sense Kennedy's legacy is all the greater through his death because we never got to see the way he would have dealt with Vietnam and Laos. We never saw either his attitude to Iran in the 70s which would have been crucial if he was around as an elder statesman.
Obama has told us zilch so far, just rhetoric. It suits the young because they have no pegs to hang it on other than their own youthful distaste of war and distrust of the establishment.
The whole thing smacks of Kennedy, Mother Theresa, and Mandela. Possibly others.
In other words, untouchables. Lauded by the media. Created as latter-day Saints. Criticise them at your peril.
Obama has the same potential. Charismatic, moderate, says all the right things.
He is in danger of becoming an icon without having done anything at all.
The attention given to Obama by the media is already pointing him in that direction. Take a look at the news bulletins and commentary. The adulation in Britain starts tomorrow.
Obama strikes me as a plastic, manufactured candidate, based on the Dennis Haysbert character in "24" (but not as appealling). He lacks the wit or spontaneity that FDR, Kennedy and Reagan had and when not delivering a script and speaking off the cuff his speech becomes hesitant and halting as if he's afraid he might give himself away (the reverse of McCain).
I think the crucial part of the campaign will come in the debates in September and October (a format which, on past experience, he does not perform well in although the other Democrats were reluctant to attack him for fear of being branded with the 'r' word although when Hillary Clinton did finally go after him in a debate he suffered his biggest loss of support).
His arrogance and the fawning sycophancy of his media supporters may well prove his downfall and prove his hubris. Shakespeare's Henry V tells Montjoy, the French herald, who has come to ask for ransom before Agincourt:
"The man that once did sell the lion's skin While the beast liv'd was killed with hunting him."
That sums up my view of Obama's "Presidential" tour. The evidence from the Democratic primaries is that the longer the campaign gwent on the less, not more popular, Obama became. This may well prove the case in the General Election where, contrary to the primaries, all the states vote on a single day by secret ballot with no caucuses and delegates in each state awarded on a "winner-takes-all" not a proportional basis. Had these rules applied in the Democratic race Hillary Clinton, not Obama, would have been the party's nominee.
(1) Most Germans are innately attracted to any any event that is free - score one to them for being smart enough to get something without having to payout dosh
(2) Much of Germany is still locked in the 60s "free love" era - Berlin in particular has a lot of of the hippy / freeloading / socialist type who regard the Democrats as "cool" for whatever reason. Not just Germans, lots of migrants too.
Originally posted by Anonimouse: You have to ask why the crowd was so big. Maybe it was a Kennedy effect because the crowd looked to contain a lot of younger people.
Then you have to ask why there were not more in the crowd. A lot of hype had gone into making this look like a messianic visitation but only 200,000 responded.
The real issue is what he said which amounted to zero. It was purely and simply an exercise in "selling the image". Thus far Obama has done and said nothing of value only platitudes to keep all his options open.
I noted his charisma sometime ago, but I wanted to watch an wait see where he went with it, whether he would slowly reveal more, some substance, but very recently, the charm has worn off, I'm suspecting there isn't more, just another good puppet maybe, a good looking one.
He can command a stage, his words flow with ease and gives the masses that feeling that they too can have aspirations, achieve all their goals implying they can compete with the cheap labour of India and China.
Can Obama convince the global corporations to pay more for labour in American and keep their manufacturing bases on American soil? and put inplace high import tariffs if they don't, of course he won't.
How is going to tackle the private health insurances companies, what policy is he going to implement whereby everyone in American gets the best medical care no matter what their income? He states that universial health care is his top priority.
His style is bit like those management progammes showing you how to sqeeze surplus value from the staff but with no extra reward, still keeping them smiling and grateful at the same time. And the clever combo of his down to earth wife, with her fist bumping, making the masses feel they are the same as them, must be intoxicating for some.
Yes his speech delivery is good, the fathers day speech about the important role of fathers in moulding future generations, is telling America what they already know, he gave no indication on what policies he would implement that would deliver solutions.
Him and his wife mentioning the hard working families angle, = squeezing every last drop of surplus value, get every family member working, no increase in income for that family, just that more of you have to work to sustain a household income that use to take only one family member to bring in.
His style is simliar to those healing preachers that try and get the audiences into a frenzy, his appraoch is slightly different in that he leaves out the frenzy stimulation part.
Has the Obama effect worn off, he has charisma, is that enough for the Americans, he should realise that many have a short attention span, a lot of folk these days have a bit of ADHD, the Kennedy audiences probably did'nt, this probably enabled Kenndy to ride the charisma wave lot longer.
Charisma, it's ability for lasting impact no longer exists, does it?
What's been exposed underneath the charisma, just another puppet? the charisma helps to cloud that initially, a distraction from the reality that they have nothing to offer, no solutions to problems it is out of their control.
At the end of the day your on your own, only one person will look out for you in this world and that is you! and you should be careful who you you give your loyalty to, I know politicians are not deserving of it.
Politicians or should I say lawyers, he and his wife met a a law firm, they have no solutions for you they only want to make you think they have.
Once he was qualified he went and worked as a community organizer, he worked on the develpoing commnuities projects, a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland. So what are his solutions in preventig the need for these projects?
He wants to pull out of Iraq, now the Americans and Brits have colonoised it, ending wars etc but, then he talks of increasing American military presence in Afghanistan, yet he reckons he wants America to be energy independent
I suspect his aim is to soften up the europeans, probably wants europe to send even more young European sons and daughters to help fight the resource wars.
I wonder when his daughters are old enough in about 6-8 years time, will he be encouraging them to put themselves in harms way, join the military.
Is that what they have realised they need in a front man, to get armed forces recruitment levels up, they need a preacher that has intoxicating charisma for the whole of the west.
Originally posted by Louboutin: ...Yes his speech delivery is good, the fathers day speech about the important role of fathers in moulding future generations, is telling America what they already know, he gave no indication on what policies he would implement that would deliver solutions...
I think the crux of this speech (held in a church) was part sermon- intended to inspire. His criticism of absent fathers is somewhat controversial. Look what happened to Bill Cosby for taking on the subject- it's a bit more complex. Personal responsibility is just that, not about implementing government policy. Still, Obama did offer ideas on how Washington can help.
"...And by the way - it's a responsibility that also extends to Washington. Because if fathers are doing their part; if they're taking our responsibilities seriously to be there for their children, and set high expectations for them, and instill in them a sense of excellence and empathy, then our government should meet them halfway.
We should be making it easier for fathers who make responsible choices and harder for those who avoid them. We should get rid of the financial penalties we impose on married couples right now, and start making sure that every dime of child support goes directly to helping children instead of some bureaucrat. We should reward fathers who pay that child support with job training and job opportunities and a larger Earned Income Tax Credit that can help them pay the bills. We should expand programs where registered nurses visit expectant and new mothers and help them learn how to care for themselves before the baby is born and what to do after - programs that have helped increase father involvement, women's employment, and children's readiness for school. We should help these new families care for their children by expanding maternity and paternity leave, and we should guarantee every worker more paid sick leave so they can stay home to take care of their child without losing their income..." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/15/obamas-fathers...speech_n_107220.html
He might have mentioned the responsibility of both sexes to exercise abstinence or effective birth control especially at ages when they are still too immature to be parents as well as encouraging young women to choose education and a career as an alternative to parenthood rather than ask for increases in taxpayer funded programmes that encourage the indigent poor to have even more children.
Typical Obama, speaks about "personal responsibility" out of one side of his mouth whilst demanding an increase in the public sector which would only routinise poverty out of the other. All things to all men.
Originally posted by miss_allin: Obama may be popular abroad but its the USA people he needs to woo - no axe to grind but I find it a little previous his 'presidential' tour
I think though he needs to and certainly is making America popular again around the world. Can Americans really afford to spend another 4 or 8 years being hated by the rest of the world? Can they really feel safe if the rest of the world hates them?
Barrack Obama represents America around the world, but the best of America the old America that everybody liked and respected. McCain just represents more Bush and even his own Republican supporters thought bush was better than him eight years ago. So if McCain's going to be even worse than bush well..
Originally posted by Anonimouse: You have to ask why the crowd was so big. Maybe it was a Kennedy effect because the crowd looked to contain a lot of younger people.
Then you have to ask why there were not more in the crowd. A lot of hype had gone into making this look like a messianic visitation but only 200,000 responded.
The real issue is what he said which amounted to zero. It was purely and simply an exercise in "selling the image". Thus far Obama has done and said nothing of value only platitudes to keep all his options open.
I noted his charisma sometime ago, but I wanted to watch an wait see where he went with it, whether he would slowly reveal more, some substance, but very recently, the charm has worn off, I'm suspecting there isn't more, just another good puppet maybe, a good looking one.
He can command a stage, his words flow with ease and gives the masses that feeling that they too can have aspirations, achieve all their goals implying they can compete with the cheap labour of India and China.
Can Obama convince the global corporations to pay more for labour in American and keep their manufacturing bases on American soil? and put inplace high import tariffs if they don't, of course he won't.
How is going to tackle the private health insurances companies, what policy is he going to implement whereby everyone in American gets the best medical care no matter what their income? He states that universial health care is his top priority.
His style is bit like those management progammes showing you how to sqeeze surplus value from the staff but with no extra reward, still keeping them smiling and grateful at the same time. And the clever combo of his down to earth wife, with her fist bumping, making the masses feel they are the same as them, must be intoxicating for some.
Yes his speech delivery is good, the fathers day speech about the important role of fathers in moulding future generations, is telling America what they already know, he gave no indication on what policies he would implement that would deliver solutions.
Him and his wife mentioning the hard working families angle, = squeezing every last drop of surplus value, get every family member working, no increase in income for that family, just that more of you have to work to sustain a household income that use to take only one family member to bring in.
His style is simliar to those healing preachers that try and get the audiences into a frenzy, his appraoch is slightly different in that he leaves out the frenzy stimulation part.
Has the Obama effect worn off, he has charisma, is that enough for the Americans, he should realise that many have a short attention span, a lot of folk these days have a bit of ADHD, the Kennedy audiences probably did'nt, this probably enabled Kenndy to ride the charisma wave lot longer.
Charisma, it's ability for lasting impact no longer exists, does it?
What's been exposed underneath the charisma, just another puppet? the charisma helps to cloud that initially, a distraction from the reality that they have nothing to offer, no solutions to problems it is out of their control.
At the end of the day your on your own, only one person will look out for you in this world and that is you! and you should be careful who you you give your loyalty to, I know politicians are not deserving of it.
Politicians or should I say lawyers, he and his wife met a a law firm, they have no solutions for you they only want to make you think they have.
Once he was qualified he went and worked as a community organizer, he worked on the develpoing commnuities projects, a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland. So what are his solutions in preventig the need for these projects?
He wants to pull out of Iraq, now the Americans and Brits have colonoised it, ending wars etc but, then he talks of increasing American military presence in Afghanistan, yet he reckons he wants America to be energy independent
I suspect his aim is to soften up the europeans, probably wants europe to send even more young European sons and daughters to help fight the resource wars. I wonder when his daughters are old enough in about 6-8 years time, will he be encouraging them to put themselves in harms way, join the military.
Is that what they have realised they need in a front man, to get armed forces recruitment levels up, they need a preacher that has intoxicating charisma for the whole of the west.
Crikey these politicians just recycle the same rhetoric, they can't even be bothered to think up new crud to come out with.
Obama the links have been strong for some time now, keep up! infact more than six and half years, the war in Afghanistan began in october 2001 thats longer than the duration of WW1 and WW2.
Obama must be aware our soldiers are standing shoulder to shoulder with American soldiers, they are being Killed just like American soldiers, they are being buried just like American soldiers, they are being maimed alongside American soldiers, soldiers families are shedding tears and saddness alongside American families.
His calls for stonger UK link are in place, the correct interpretation he wants more Uk bodies/soldiers sent to war zones!! and he wants you to be happy to fund it.
Thanks but no thanks Obama, your little pep talk to soften the public up ain't gonna work on many. Send your own family members if you need to make up the numbers.
Your a caring guy, surely you would much rather that you feel the pain than anyone else, maybe your wife could join up she says she a strong woman.
Obama says he wants fathers to recognize the importance of involvement in bringing up their children for them to be here for there children, so why so keen on supporting the Wars? why is he prepared to send those fathers in harms way, infront of bombs and snipers? why would he want to potentially send those fathers to their deaths.
Your some sham Obama
quote:
Mr Obama said co-operation with the UK was crucial over climate change, terrorism and the economy, after talks with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Mr also thanked the British people for their support in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan."I know that the troops here in Great Britain have borne a heavy price for wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan and I think the American people are grateful for all the help that has been provided," he said.
"The prime minister's emphasis - like mine - is on how we can strengthen the trans-Atlantic relationship to solve problems that can't be solved by any single country individually," he added.
it is a little previous 
however that said 
I dont think he can afford to rest on his laurels at this stage of the game. 
