Comments on Obama's Berlin Speech

I was listening to the warm-up music and when I hear Bowie played in Berlin it still makes me feel all warm and fuzzy...

Steppin' out!!!

Ist er ein Berliner?

"This city, of all cities, knows the dream of freedom..."

It also knows how to run a hell of a good gay bar.

So far it's boring. A recitation of history well-known by the audience (and any Americans who may have bothered to read their history books).

He may be standing in the middle of a German street, but he's speaking to American listeners, not Germany today.

"Partnership and cooperation" seems to be the message...a not at all subtle slap at unilateralism.

"Tear down these New walls" -- your headline boys and girls.

More to the point: Isst er ein Berliner?

@7, Or more alarmingly, esst er ein Berliner?

Yes. Yawn. I'll be switching to the 'Young and the Restless' at 11.

@7, oops, you're right. my conjugation war verruckt.

The lighting in the video - late afternoon in Berlin, I suppose - is just golden. Should make for some good photo-ops.

In the scheme of things, I think people will say this speech was underwhelming. It was composed of safe, road-tested messages, none of which will go down in history.

The speech was designed for American ears (despite warhorses like anti-nuke...Germans love their anti-nuke!), and calibrated so as not to appear that Obama was apologizing for or explaining his country.

The single most positive outcome that may arise from this is to show that Obama has a grasp of history and a bias for a non-threatening blend of greater multilaterialism and patriotism.

The negative will be the media claiming he missed a chance to make oratorical history.

I think oratorical history ended in 1968. And Obama SHOULD be talking to an American audience; we're the ones who vote for him. Nobody in Germany matters.

We won't support ball-less NO-Bama and will re-defeat him in November!!!

Ich esse ein Berliner.

Ja, Obama!

Ja wie kannst!

@13, not sure what you mean about 1968 but you do like your grand and cryptic pronouncements.

As for your second point, I agree entirely. It would have been a mistake of the gravest order to appear to be doing too much otherwise.

@15, honey, I'm the last to wag a finger at someone';s bad German, so let me gently say that your third line basically says, "Yes, how can you?"

You mean "Ja, wir konnen" (with an umlaut over the o, all heavy metal-like and shit)

Carry on.

@14: bwaaaaaah?

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Thanks Eli--and Djubilation, deine Sprachfähigkeiten sind hervorragend, heisse weisse scheisse.

Can someone post a link to a full video of the speech?

But can we march for him in Gay Pride Parades, Eli?

@20, vielen Dank, sehr gern.

thank god he had the sense to speak in berlin & not paris. if the french like you, americans think you're a socialist.

despite the fact that the modern french are generally more bigoted & consrvative than modern germans.

@23, yeah, I was a double major in French and German, and the French are a problem relatively speaking. A little corrupt, a little vain... but beautiful windows. You can tell your train has left Germany and entered France because the windows get prettier. (Probably let in more rain though.)

@17 - I know, it was intentional.

Four years of German has only been half as useful as four years of Latin.

Je mange un Berliner.
Oui, Obama!
Oui, nous, mais toi?

Tomorrow belongs to him.

He didn't need to tell the Germans the history, he needed to tell them that HE knows the history.

I thought it was very well-crafted.

@16, there's a couple of fellows, one in particular, who were noted for their stirring oratory, who quieted up in 1968. There hasn't been much since then; the Rs have Reagan, whose abilities were constantly celebrated but didn't move me at all, and now we have Mr. O. I think he's the best in forty years, but that's not saying much.

Odrama: "blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...".