200k hear Obama in Berlin

I don't know what I like more, listening to Barack Obama's truly inspiring speech in Berlin earlier today, or jealous Republicans griping and complaining about the coverage that Obama is getting. I think it's hilarious that the insipid Sen. Lindsay Graham was on TV just days ago, bragging that McCain and his fellow Republicans had "chased him to Iraq and Europe," and yet now, these same people are complaining about the world of good the trip is doing his campaign. Serves them right.

Obama's speech was a breath of fresh air to our stale, partisan politics - he really is the most charismatic political leader in my lifetime, or at the very least in my adult life. Sure, Obama is a great speech maker, but he's more than that - he's giving us hope, something that's been snuffed out in many ways during the last eight years. Many of Obama's critics love to say, "Sure, he's a great speech maker, but what is he going to do?" Well, his speeches are laying the groundwork for what he will do as president. I mean, he's a candidate for president - what's he supposed to do, invade a country?

Quite frankly, I'm not at all surprised at the reception he's received on his trip, for many reasons, but perhaps the biggest is how Bush has treated much of Europe during his presidency, especially during the run-up to the War in Iraq. Many countries, including Germany, were reluctant to go to war, but Bush had made up his mind that war was the way, and anyone who was against the war, Bush took it as a personal insult. (See France.)

It was widely reported that Bush bashed German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder when he wouldn't support the invasion of Iraq. This is one of the many miscalculations that passes for Bush foreign policy - disagreements are taken as personal slights, and immediately diplomacy goes right out the window.

It's little wonder that Europe and the Middle East are crying out for a different kind of American politician, and Obama is that man.

You can read the full text of Obama's speech Here (If you're reading this longer than a week after my original post, you will have to be a New York Times member to view it).

I was impressed not only by Obama's delivery (who isn't other than the most rabid Republican?), but also the breadth of his speech. He touched a lot of bases today in a very short amount of time.

I was heartened to hear him mention global warming, because quite frankly I haven't heard enough to date from him on the subject:

As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya.

Great to mention it, but we need more specifics from him, and soon (But, I know Berlin wasn't the place to do it). I urge you all to write him and ask for those specifics. I will be writing his campaign a long-overdue letter shortly.

I found this particular passage inspiring, too:

Now the world will watch and remember what we do here – what we do with this moment. Will we extend our hand to the people in the forgotten corners of this world who yearn for lives marked by dignity and opportunity; by security and justice? Will we lift the child in Bangladesh from poverty, shelter the refugee in Chad, and banish the scourge of AIDS in our time?

Will we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe? Will we give meaning to the words “never again” in Darfur?

Right on, although we can't take on these many challenges ourselves - we do need Europe's help. This particular passage is one of the many reasons I'm proud to call myself a Democrat and identify with liberalism - helping others and the least among us. Granted, we have a lot of work to do here at home, too, and New Orleans tops the list.

However, this administration hasn't done a damn thing about Darfur, other than issue a few words of condemnation. As I wrote yesterday, too bad for the people of Darfur that there isn't billions of barrels of our oil under their soil. If there were, Bush would no doubt be on TV saying, "The people of Darfur deserve freedom" and "Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir (the Sudanese President) is a brutal dictator" and blah, blah, blah. We all know the Bush boilerplate by now. Bush has blood on his hands for doing nothing, and so does America. We should have done something, just like President Clinton should have with regard to Rwanda in the mid-1990s. (Clinton has often stated that it was one of the biggest mistakes of his presidency.)

Another passage I found interesting, which was very obviously no accident in this speech:

But I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived – at great cost and great sacrifice – to form a more perfect union; to seek, with other nations, a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom – indeed, every language is spoken in our country; every culture has left its imprint on ours; every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us – what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America’s shores – is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please.

Also, when you watch the footage above, notice that Obama has a flag pin on his lapel, something he now wears with regularity. I don't view that as a bad thing, but I think it's disgraceful that there are mindless morons in this country who feel that you have to wear a flag to be patriotic. That point can't be repeated enough, either, because stupid rumors persist on the Internet that Obama won't say the Pledge of Allegiance (not true), hates America (Really?!?) and won't put his hand over his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance (also untrue, and there's video evidence to prove it).

It's a little ironic that Obama had these patriotic words to say about America in a city that once passed laws that required members of the Nazi Party to wear the sinister swastika as a sign of party loyalty. Sometimes, I feel we aren't that far away in America, when a nominee for president has his patriotism impugned for not wearing a 50¢ pin (that was probably made in China). Sickening.

Anyway, I found his speech truly inspiring, and probably one of the finest in his career. And I'm happy he didn't go too overboard with a German phrase, circa President Kennedy.

Predictably, McCain is taking great pains to downplay Obama's trip and today's speech, calling it a "premature victory lap." (Sort of like McCain's last stroll through Baghdad, where he nearly talked himself to death about the Surge and how great he thinks thing are going?) Just wondering.