President Obama chose not to be in Berlin for the 20th anniversary celebration of the falling of the Berlin Wall. Instead, he delivered a detached message via videotape. Of course, Obama took the opportunity to pat himself on the back for his own perceived historic significance:
"Few would have foreseen ... that a united Germany would be led by a woman from Brandenburg or that their American ally would be led by a man of African descent. But human destiny is what human beings make of it," Obama said.Eh. In the realm of Obamatory, this is pretty standard fare. But why wasn't Obama in Berlin to deliver the speech himself? He isn't scheduled to be in Fort Hood until Tuesday - a full FOUR days after a horrific terrorist attack on a US military base. Paul Rahe has a theory on Obama's absence from Berlin:
Source: AFP
President Obama chose not to go to Berlin for a reason. Once again, he is signaling that his administration is in the process of turning its back on our erstwhile allies in Europe. He has thus far persistently made it his practice to embrace our enemies and to stiff our friends. We should not for a moment underestimate the significance of this. It means that he believes our policy in the Cold War wrong-headed, and it means that he intends to line us up now with the likes of Hugo Chavez, Vladimir Putin, Fidel Castro, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It is by no means an accident that the man in the State Department now in charge of our policy towards Iran is on the board of Iran's main front-organization in the United States. Ed Lasky's report regarding this matter is well worth reading.
Source: Powerline Blog
Europe is taking note of the snub. Toby Harnden of the UK Telegraph adds this:
There was one world leader absent for today’s commemorations marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Surprisingly enough, it’s President Barack Obama, who found time last year to give a campaign speech there last year, which Der Spiegel summed up as “People of the World, Look at Me”.
The White House has cited a packed schedule, though looking at it he had nothing much on yesterday (brief chat to reporters about healthcare – by far his biggest priority) and just blah briefings and a bill signing today until a metting this evening with Benjamin Netanyahu. This time, Der Spiegel has reported it as “Barack Too Busy”.
But Obama is, of course, making time to trot over to Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in December. Didn’t seem to have too much of a problem clearing the diary for that – though his acceptance of the prize and decision to give a another soaring, historical, epoch-marking etc etc speech there will be looked back on as a colossal political mistake and sign of hubris.
Source UK Telegraph
Bonus: Monica Crowley on Obama's decision:
