Barack Attack!

July 27, 2008 · Filed Under Politics 

I’m guessing that if you hadn’t heard Obama was in Berlin last week, you probably live under a rock and are therefore not reading this blog.

I really wanted to go to the speech, but had to watch it on television instead. In retrospect, it was a really good speech, but when I was watching it, I was just a wee bit disappointed. I guess I’ve bought in to the whole messianic thing a teensy bit and I was waiting for one of those “Ich bin ein Berliner”-moments that would bring me to tears and have me giving a standing ovation in the middle of my living room despite severe dehydration from food poisoning.

As far as the family goes, Rainer was impressed by Obama’s vow to rid the world of nuclear weapons. “Poh, big words,” he whispered, his eyes opened wide in approval. Oliver also clapped at this point, so I’m assuming he supports this as well. The other point at which Oliver clapped was when Obama said that Iran must be dissuaded from pursuing nuclear weapons. The little guy already has an opinion on US foreign policy, I guess that’s one of those benefits of raising children abroad.

There are a couple of controversies that have cropped up about the visit:

  1. That Obama shouldn’t speak at Brandenburg Gate/he just wanted to copy JFK - First, JFK didn’t speak at the Brandenburg Gate, he spoke at Rathaus Schöneberg. Second, why shouldn’t Obama speak at Brandenburg Gate? As my opinionated German hubby put it, “If Green Day can play there, Obama can speak there.”
  2. The Victory Column was a Nazi monument - It was a Prussian monument. If it were a Nazi monument, the Germans would have taken it down a long time ago.
  3. Obama shouldn’t have cancelled his visit to injured US soldiers in Germany - I gotta agree on this one. Even if it would have been criticized as a campaign thing, think of the poor disappointed soldiers.

For more on Obama’s visit to Berlin, here are some posts from people who actually attended the speech (and blogged about it):

  • BenPerry.net: The Grand Spectacle in Berlin Yesterday About Which I Will Avoid Making a Clever Pun with Obama’s Name - It was worth swilling expensive beer and slow-mo bumping-and-grinding through security lines to get within 30 meters (that’s 30 yards) of the Großer Stern—the base of the Victory Column rather than an object “beside” the column as some of the wires had it last week.
  • Berlin Bites: Bamalama - Yes, the obligatory Obama post. Of course I went. I’d seen Clinton in…’94?…and couldn’t remember a word he’d said and wanted to see if Obama could do better.
  • Radio Free Mike: Am grossen Stern - Obama did away with the babble about the Victory Column with a single deft line, which I can’t find in his official text — something like “We stand here at a monument to war, in the middle of a Europe at peace.” That took care of his critics, even if you fully swallowed the stuff about Hitler.
  • Tessa Approves: Super Post - My final bit of news is that on Thursday we decided to take the train to Berlin and see Obama speak at the Siegessäule (Victory Column). Maybe you had not heard, but there was some controversy over where he would speak.
  • 50% of my DNA: Go Obama Go!!! - Unless you are living under a rock, Obama spoke in Berlin last Thursday night at the Siegesssaeule and we were there. The gates opened at 4pm. We wanted to get there early so we got there shortly after that.

What did you think of the speech? Did you go? Leave a comment and I’ll add you to the list!

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6 Responses to “Barack Attack!”

  1. tessa on July 28th, 2008 8:19 am

    Hey, I thought the speech was inspiring. I just wished I could have gotten a little closer to him after waiting an hour in a pack of people like cattle! I was too short to see!

    tessas last blog post..Super Post

  2. Danielle on July 28th, 2008 1:45 pm

    The speech was VERY well received but too short for me! I blogged about it here.

    http://50percentdna.blogspot.com/2008/07/go-obama-go.html

    On another note, I am so sorry you have food poisoning! I remember being that sick and having trouble taking care of my little guy! Hope you feel better soon!

    Danielles last blog post..Go Obama GO!!!

  3. Christina G on July 30th, 2008 10:08 pm

    @tessa: It was inspiring, I think I was just expecting WAY too much :)

    @danielle: He is/was teething, which made it even worse!

  4. Sarah on July 30th, 2008 10:42 pm

    I wasn’t all that impressed upon listening to it live (probably from not being able to properly focus on one language). Then when I heard it played back on some of my podcasts, it really got to me. At first I thought it was lacking in substantive policy goals, but, considering his audience, it was a well-crafted and engaging message. Now hopefully, he’ll start getting down to brass tacks back in the U.S.
    Sarahs last blog post..Cripes, just say what you mean!

  5. Diane Mandy on July 31st, 2008 11:25 am

    I am sorry I missed it. My parents were here, otherwise I would have driven across country to see him.

  6. The Where We Live Interview and More on How Germans View the US Presidential Election : an american expat in deutschland on October 29th, 2008 6:44 pm

    […] posted once about making my first every campaign donation (to the Obama campaign), again about Obama’s visit to Berlin, and twice about how the German media is covering the election (on Palin just after the vp debate […]

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