Obama-mania sweeps Berlin as thousands flood streets to see the man they dub the 'black JFK'- Page 3

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 5:06pm

Joan Walsh writes about it in Salon.com:

I know Republicans are going to try to use the cheering Berlin crowds against him, but Barack Obama made it very hard for them today. At first I was distracted by the echo in the enormous public plaza, and a little concerned about the screaming adulation of the crowd, but eventually I succumbed to the moment. To see the American flags in the crowd, and all those rapt, happy faces, was surprisingly moving to me. Even for American liberals, there must be a psychic toll to watching George W. Bush skulk around foreign capitals, where crowds, if they massed at all, would likely be heckling him.

The best lines of Obama's speech, not surprisingly, echoed the heart of his 2004 Boston convention speech: a call for global unity, after so much division and hatred. Having hailed the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Obama told the crowd: "The greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another. The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. 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."

And as someone who has occasionally felt uncomfortable with Obama's references to "our time" or to the specialness of his "movement" -- I've never liked "we are the ones we've been waiting for" -- I felt entirely different when he ran down the list of global problems to be solved, and then told the crowd: "People of Berlin -- people of the world -- this is our moment. This is our time." It is indeed all of our time, time to get the hell to work.

Whole story here

Updated On: 7/24/08 at 05:06 PM

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 5:16pm

If he can deliver on half of what he speaks about, I will stand up tall and let all of the Obama supporters say "I told you so."

I really hope his leadership matches his rhetoric.

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 5:40pm

"If he can deliver on half of what he speaks about,"

Half of what he speaks about is supposed to come from people like you. The point of his words are just that. The president of the United States is a figurehead. The congress is the body that can make or break his legacy. Bush of course was all-powerful. In fact so much so we have people that EXPECT things in this country from our government. I'm not talking about welfare, I'm talking about things like guidance and false security. Obama's message is one of the real democratic party. Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.

Today he did what an American president ought to do. He was healing wounds and telling the world we are not all aligned with Bush and he did so in an ethical inspirational manner. Change has to come from the bottom up. That has always been his mantra in this campaign.

"well, i'm sure it's fulfilling for him that there is a somewhere that white people support him. now, how to get those germans the vote..."

Germans happen to still be a rather racist nation. That said Obama has won white votes. He has also gathered MILLIONS in white dollars campaigning. He does not have a white voter problem. There is a group that will never vote for any democrat and they weren't there for Clinton, Gore or Kerry.

Updated On: 7/24/08 at 05:40 PM

[tazber]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 5:54pm

I'm very glad you speak for white Americans so confidently.

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 5:57pm

I'm not being naive here, I'm looking at the numbers. Obama did not raise $52 million dollars last month from blacks and Latinos. It's coming from somewhere. He has also WON white states in the primary. He is very popular amongst white voters.

That said, there is a group that will never ever vote for him. They wouldn't have voted for Clinton either. They didn't vote for her husband or Gore.

[tazber]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 5:59pm

I'm not saying he's not going to win, b/c he is.

But your assessment of his white support is very naive.

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 6:02pm

How so? He can't win without the white vote.

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 6:06pm

There was a gallop poll (not that I'm one for polls) back in May I think and it had Obama at about the same place with white voters as Kerry was against Bush. That's not bad considering how rocky it was clinching the nomination so late.

I haven't seen anything that has told me otherwise. Believe me it's a concern of mine. Certainly there is a this media narrative of a "horse race" but it's just not the reality. McCain is a really bad campaigner and I'm not sure he could have won against Kerry or Gore.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 8:18pm

I'm quite proud of our next President.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 8:30pm

It's coming from somewhere.

Thatis very true.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 8:51pm

"I'm quite proud of our next President."

Me too, Jerby.

I'm tired of America being the ass of the world. Embarrassed too.

We need good P.R. abroad. A LOT of good P.R.

We've had enough arrogance to last a global lifetime.

If he can get the world excited about our country and its future again, that's saying a lot.

He's doing us proud.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 8:54pm

well in all fairness Germans will just about come out for anyone who is deemed "a person of popularity"......you should have seen the cowds in Munich in 1998 when Monica Lewinsky was signing her book there.....

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 9:15pm

We've had eight years of: being governed by a 'C' student, being perceived as arrogant around the world, and being loathed by both our adversaries and our allies. Isn't eight years enough?

McCain is trying to portray Obama's change as a risky choice. I would contend that it would be riskier NOT to change at this moment in history.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 7/24/08 at 10:31pm

Amen. The **** is really gonna hit the fan if we don't elect Obama. Bush economics is destroying this nation.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 10:20am

Don't get too comfortable, guys.
McCain Gaining on Obama in Four States

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 10:30am

I never would have thought the American people would have voted Bush a second term. After that, nothing surprises me. This election is far from a lock.

[nygrl23]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 9:58pm

I think McCain is going to be rigged into office the way Boosh was. These Amero-desiring megalomaniacs have done so much damage in the last 8 years--they don't care about anything other than their own wallets.

I saw a headline about Obama's Germany visit..."200,000 Rootin' Teutons in Berlin" and "Obama Speech a Deutsche Treat." Cracked me up.

I hope he wins, I hope Hillary helps out.