Story Created:
Jul 18, 2008
Story Updated:
Jul 18, 2008
Charles Krauthammer skewers the Messiah's latest burst of vanity.
Barack Obama wants to speak at the Brandenburg Gate. He figures it would be a nice backdrop. The supporting cast -- a cheering audience and a few fainting frauleins -- would be a picturesque way to bolster his foreign policy credentials.
What Obama does not seem to understand is that the Brandenburg Gate is something you earn. President Ronald Reagan earned the right to speak there because his relentless pressure had brought the Soviet empire to its knees and he was demanding its final "tear down this wall" liquidation. When President John F. Kennedy visited the Brandenburg Gate on the day of his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, he was representing a country that was prepared to go to the brink of nuclear war to defend West Berlin.
Who is Obama representing? And what exactly has he done in his lifetime to merit appropriating the Brandenburg Gate as a campaign prop? What was his role in the fight against communism, the liberation of Eastern Europe, the creation of what George Bush the elder -- who presided over the fall of the Berlin Wall but modestly declined to go there for a victory lap -- called "a Europe whole and free"?
Does Obama not see the incongruity?
Uh, no, why would he? He's the candidate who will stop the seas from rising and heal the planet...
Sunday, Jul 20 at 3:33 PM ijeff wrote ...
At some point you would think the American electorate, whether Democrat or Republican leaning would finally realize Obama is not even a credible candidate for President. I think thats exactly what the Clintons were trying to say in the primary, but they never found a effective way to communicate it. Its almost as if Obama's candidacy resulted from one of those silly American politics movies from Hollywood. But, this is reality. Can it really happen?
Saturday, Jul 19 at 7:25 PM Jim wrote ...
Bill, the article says as much. The point is not that the Germans aren't steering him away from the Brandenburg gate--they are--but that, if Obama had his druthers, he'd have HIS "JFK moment" there. Not a great surprise for a candidate who created his own "Great Seal" and visits the gym six times in one day. He'd better beware. The ancient Greeks held that hubris brings grief, and he's got the hubris market cornered.
Friday, Jul 18 at 10:33 PM Mark wrote ...
Remember the ears? He had to tell a female reporter to refrain at all costs from referencing his protruding ears...something like "I'm putting you on notice not to go there with me". WOW. This guy is, well, precious. Do we want that in a president? No thanks, I say. Spooky kind of makeup, Obama's.
Friday, Jul 18 at 12:48 PM Shane, Wauwatosa wrote ...
When will supporters with any degree of intelligence jump the Obama showboat and swim towards sanity? The mad masterminds who manufactured the Obama candidacy have a real Frankenstein on their hands. Obama's arrogance is off the charts and out of control.
Friday, Jul 18 at 12:42 PM Bill wrote ...
The chancellor, Angela Merkel, has made it clear that, like Brown, she wants to appear neutral and has effectively ruled out Obama speaking at the Brandenburg Gate. His team are looking for another location down the historic thoroughfare, the Unter den Linden.
Friday, Jul 18 at 8:10 AM jeffw wrote ...
Earn? It is all about "change". The "change" is that you don't need to earn anything. It should just be given to you.
Friday, Jul 18 at 6:49 AM Jim wrote ...
I wonder if anyone else has drawn a connection between Obama's audacity of vanity and the fact that comedians haven't found much "funny" about him? I get the feeling that the man takes himself VERY seriously and expects us to take him seriously, as well. Imagine the petulant hissy fit that's coming if he gets elected and millions refuse to show the necessary, reverential obeisance to him.
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