Posted by
Scatbug on Thursday, July 24, 2008 8:29:42 PM
As part of his welcoming remarks, Obama said this:
I come to Berlin as so many of my countrymen have come before, although tonight I speak to you not as a candidate for president, but as a citizen, a proud citizen of the United States and a fellow citizen of the world.
Let's isolate that first clause. Put plainly, what the hell does that mean? To my knowledge he's the only major presidential candidate to organize a rally in that city, although he attempts to ignore the fact in the remainder of the sentence. Beyond that, only three US Presidents have given major speeches to Berliners. So to think in terms of "many" Americans preceding him, Obama either views his presence there as akin to a B-17 pilot at 30,000 feet, a serviceman in the post war occupation force, or a tourist. I lean toward the first option, at least in a metaphorical sense. You know...droppin' the Obama Love Bomb on the good people of Berlin.
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Also in his opening, Obama made this startling claim:
I know that I don’t look like the Americans who’ve previously spoken in this great city.
Thus sayeth the post-racial candidate. Anyway, does he believe that he is the first American Black to give a speech in Berlin? The man's egotism is boundless.
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Reciting the story of the Berlin Airlift, Obama once again demonstrates his shallow grasp of history:
...in the darkest hours, the people of Berlin kept the flame of hope burning. The people of Berlin refused to give up.
Actually Senator, only one half refused to give up. Tragically the other half had their candles of hope confiscated. (And actually, were the city's darkest hours in 1948, or in 1945 when the Soviet shelling began?)
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On the dangers lurking about our open societies:
Think about it. The terrorists of September 11th plotted in Hamburg and trained in Kandahar and Karachi before killing thousands from all over the globe on American soil.
The highlighting is mine. Just under 3,000 people were killed in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. It seems Senator Obama believes most of them were foreigners.
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He does get a charge out of talking about the weather...
This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children to a world where the oceans rise, and famine spreads, and terrible storms devastate our lands.
Merciful heavens. Now he wants to end bad storms? Well, no doubt he'd get my five year-old's vote.
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And in conclusion...
But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. With an eye towards the future, with resolve in our heart, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again.
One must sit agape at this man's ambition. Hardly three years in the US Senate, Obama informed us upon winning the Democratic primaries that he was going to remake the United States of America. Now just a few weeks later, he's moved on to remaking the world. I know it's good practice to set goals in life, but jeepers... Oh. And shouldn't that be "audacious hope", or did I miss a change in terminology?