It was the perfect show and thanks to the mayor of Berlin a spectacular place to hold such a speech. And who pays for it? Theoretically the citizens of Berlin-Brandenburg. But that is mere theory. As Klaus Wowereit put it: Berlin is “poor but sexy”, in other words bankrupt. So who pays for it? Well, we have a magical thing in Germany called “Länderfinanzausgleich” which means that the richer states like Hesse, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria (all conservative-governed by the way) have to transfer money to the poorer states like Berlin-Brandenburg (red-red governed). So party-mayor (that is his nick-name in Germany because he seems to be partying all the time) Klaus Wowereit did by generously inviting Obama to Berlin what leftists are best at: Spending other people`s money.
Let`s talk about the speech now. That won`t take long. Hardly ever heard such an empty speech. Or did anyone find only one original thought in it? Apart from saying we should all become brothers and sisters and that there should be no longer any differences what did he say? What Obama completely ignores is that people are different and like to be different. Differences do not create problems, it is people who cannot accept differences that cause problems.
Here is how Star Parker (“Kumbaya Falls Flat In Berlin, July 28, 2008) puts it:
(…) His message: “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.”
At least some of the Germans listening to Obama surely sensed there was something problematic with what he was saying. His analogy of the tearing down of the Berlin wall to tearing down all lines of distinction between nations and religions was obviously fractured. The Berlin wall was a political wall that divided one people. It separated Germans from other Germans, a far cry from distinctions between nations and religions that Obama apparently wants to obliterate. (…)
For Obama, differences seem to be what cause the world’s problems. We endlessly hear the story of his mixed-race background and his translation of his personal history into a message of the meaninglessness of difference.
It may come as a surprise to Obama, but for Christians, for Muslims, and for Jews, their differences do not amount to barriers to a better world but sources of meaning that define themselves and the world.
They want to be Christians, Muslims, and Jews. They just want protection. They want to be able to be who they are and live peacefully and securely. Those disturbing this security are the problem. Not the differences.
Which gets to Obama’s very problematic idea about freedom.
He does not seem to grasp that the beauty of freedom is its respect for differences and creation of conditions, legal and political, which allow them to exist, flourish, and provide benefits to all. In fact, politicians with agendas to “unify,” who think they know who and what everyone should be, are invariably those who threaten freedom.
Obama used the occasion of this speech to apologize to Europe about his country. “We’ve made a lot of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.” But, covering his bases, he made a point to follow up and assure the crowd that “. . . I know how much I love America.”
What every American should demand from Obama is clarification of what, if anything, he sees unique about the America that he claims to loves so much. For a man whose ideal seems to be the global village, with no barriers or differences, is there anything special about the United States that makes it distinct from other nations — that defines it as uniquely great?
Also what I do not understand about Obamania: There is a lot of talk about the necessity of “healing relations” between Europe and the U.S. But take Germany e. g.: I indeed believe that German-American relations were poisoned – as long as Gerhard Schröder was Chancellor. But as soon as Angela Merkel became Chancellor relations dramatically improved. And look at Angie and George today: what a “dream team”! Also in my humble opinion GWB gets along very well with Sarkozy, Berlusconi and Brown. So where is the necessity of healing? Oh, and when you are thinking of everyday anti-Americanism in Germany, you do not really believe that if Obama becomes president of the United States my 80 years-old neighbour will stop believing that Americans have ruined German culinary culture, do you?
So I absolutely agree to David Frum (“Mixed metaphors and soggy logic”, July 25, 2008) when he says about the speech:
It was a great moment — so long as you viewed it with the sound off.
And he goes on by saying:
But it’s not just Obama’s language that is soggy. The Berlin speech revealed more starkly than ever the most dangerous weaknesses in Obama’s thinking about the world.
Here he is talking about the early days of the Cold War: “The Soviet shadow had swept across Eastern Europe ….” Here he is discussing current threats to security: “Poorly secured nuclear material in the former Soviet Union, or secrets from a scientist in Pakistan could help build a bomb that detonates in Paris.” Here is his summons to combat terrorism: “If we could create NATO to face down the Soviet Union, we can join in a new and global partnership to dismantle the networks that have struck in Madrid and Amman; in London and Bali; in Washington and New York.”
In all these phrases — and many more — there is always something missing: human beings. It was not a “shadow” that spread across Eastern Europe in 1945. It was an army. Nor is it “materials” and “secrets” that build bombs — it is bomb-makers. It was not “networks” that struck in Madrid and London and the rest. It was terrorists acting in the name of Islam. (…)
Obama’s vague language is the product of an unrealistic mind. He denies the reality of conflict — and flinches from the obligations of self-defense. Obama has risen to power by using a soothing cloud of meaningless words to conceal displeasing truths and avoid difficult choices. His more worldly supporters will quietly whisper that Obama thinks more incisively than his speeches suggest. Let’s hope so. Yet the speech in Berlin should cause us all to wonder: Maybe Obama’s mind really is as foggy as his language.