Obama given honor bestowed upon only presidents: Granted access to speak at Brandenburg Gate.

[Drunken Irishman]

Barack Obama to be granted JFK moment with Brandenburg Gate speech

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/2270372/Barack-Obama-to-be-granted-JFK-moment-with-Brandenburg-Gate-speech.html



Only US presidents have been given the honour of speaking in front of the 18th Century gate, whose chariot of victory overlooked the Berlin Wall and the ecstatic party that followed its destruction in 1989.

But Mr Obama could prove the exception on a whistle-stop tour to London, Paris and Berlin in three weeks time, with July 24th announced as the date for his visit to Germany.

The trip will address concerns that Mr Obama is something of a foreign-policy lightweight, and will include a major speech spelling out his vision of a new relationship between Washington and Europe.

[jobycom]

1. The rest of the world wants to ignore Bush as much as we at DU do.

[leftynyc]

2. I see it as a slap in the face

to the chimp. Front hand and back hand.

[NattPang]

3. And a deserved kick in the groin.

Feels good to imagine.

[leftynyc]

44. I can't wait to see the reception that

Sen Obama gets on his international trip. In comparison to the demonstrations for the chimp, it'll quite the difference.

[AtomicKitten]

4. Looking forward to it.

:thumbsup:

[mloutre]

5. oh, my, yes!

[theoldman]

6. The Germans love a great speaker.

They remember President Kennedy's great speech.

[petersjo02]

8. Now you've done it.

I teared up after reading your post about remembering JFK in Berlin. I can hear his voice in my ears even now saying "I am a Berliner" in the German language.

[roguevalley]

12. "He's a donut, a f**king donut! A donut!" -Eddie Izzard

[DevonRex]

17. LOL! You beat me to it. Still, the Germans didn't hold it against him.

They genuinely appreciated that he tried.

[Motown_Johnny]

21. Didn't KO debunk that last week in his Oddball intro?

I thought KO explained that it wasn't the mistake that history has portrayed it to be.

I think that the people of Berlin used a different word to refer to themselves than other Germans used to refer to them, and JFk used the word that the people of Berlin use.


Maybe I misunderstood (it was just the intro to Oddball) but that was what I thought he was saying.

[flpoljunkie]

22. Indeed, he did!

[DevonRex]

16. I love it too, even though he said he was a pastry. :) nt

[Occam Bandage]

25. One of the lamest urban legends around.

According to an urban legend, Kennedy allegedly made an embarrassing grammatical error by saying "Ich bin ein Berliner," referring to himself not as a citizen of Berlin, but as a common pastry<3>:
Kennedy should have said "Ich bin Berliner" to mean "I am a person from Berlin." By adding the indefinite article ein, his statement implied he was a non-human Berliner, thus "I am a jelly doughnut".
The legend seems to stem from a play on words with Berliner, the name of a doughnut variant filled with jam or plum sauce that is thought to have originated in Berlin.
In fact, Kennedy's statement is both grammatically correct<4> and perfectly idiomatic, and cannot be misunderstood in context. The urban legend is not widely known within Germany, where Kennedy's speech is considered a landmark in the country's postwar history.<5> The indefinite article ein can be and often is omitted when speaking of an individual's profession or residence but is necessary when speaking in a figurative sense as Kennedy did. Since the president was not literally from Berlin but only declaring his solidarity with its citizens, "Ich bin Berliner" would not have been correct.<6>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ich_bin_ein_Berliner

[IndyOp]

32. Thanks OB! I learned German in college and I've seen this clarification before -

The urban legend doesn't do any harm to Kennedy's reputation if you love Kennedy, but it is used by some anti-liberals to poke fun and that deserves correction.

[DevonRex]

34. Aww. I kinda liked the urban legend. It made me smile. Oh well,

I can always find something else about him that makes me smile. Like the pictures of him with his kids. Those never fail to please.

[Eurobabe]

48. Well according to my hubby who IS German

the man did refer to himself as a donut. But it's okay, the people loved Kennedy anyhow. In fact, there is a bridge named after him in DH's hometown of Hamburg. Kennedybrücke.

:hi:

You don't say "Ich bin ein Hamburger," you say "Ich bin Hamburger." Oder, Ich bin Münchner, oder, ich bin Weilheimer. Stimmt? Ja wohl.

[Faygo Kid]

30. Careful. They were mesmerized by another speaker many years ago.

I wouldn't push the "Germans love a great speaker" point too far.

[ForeignSpectator]

43. Exactly... n/t

[book_worm]

7. I can't wait to see the enthusiastic crowds that Obama will get in Europe compared to the protests

that Bush received.

[CTyankee]

11. What do you wanna bet the TV ad the Obama campaign will make after the trip

will contrast the loving welcome he gets and some of loud demonstrations/riots in the streets when W went abroad. The caption could read "Wouldn't it be nice to have the rest of the world love America again?"

[WhiteTara]

38. can you imagine CHEERING crowds of

thousands? What a change that will be.

[gateley]

9. What an amazing honor. Europe wants Obama as our President

almost as much as we do.

[babylonsister]

10. WOW! Rec'd! Remember that picture?

[yellowdogintexas]

13. considering how totally obnoxious ** has been with their Chancellor

she probably called home from Japan and ORDERED it.

[Renew Deal]

14. And the Germans seem to like him.

He might get quite a reception. I'm sure the Obama campaign is aware of that.

[DevonRex]

20. The Germans are wonderfully open minded people, even tho

they have their fair share of wackos just like the rest of us do.

[Satyagrahi]

15. German newspaper: Bush intervened with German government to prevent the speech

The most respected German newspaper (Frankfurter Allgemeine) reports that the Bush administration put pressure on the Merkel government in order to prevent Obama's speech at the Brandenburg Gate:

Nun wurde die skeptische Haltung des Bundeskanzleramts zu Obamas Plänen öffentlich. Es heißt, der außenpolitische Berater der Bundeskanzlerin, Christoph Heusgen, sei auf dem G-8-Gipfel in Japan von einem Berater Bushs angeblafft worden wegen Obamas Plänen.

Obama vor dem Brandenburger Tor
Redefreiheit für „Piesepampel"?
Von Wulf Schmiese
http://www.faz.net/s/Rub0A1169E18C724B0980CCD7215BCFAE4F/Doc~EAB6B74C273154FD99FA59D8AD147065D~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

Google translation:

"Now the skeptical attitude of the Federal Chancellery to Obama's plans (became) public. It is said that recently at the G-8 summit in Japan the foreign policy adviser to the Chancellor, Christoph Heusgen, got an earful (?) (wurde angeblafft) from a Bush aide because of Obama's plans."

And it seems that the German government got the message:

Chancellor, Berlin Mayor Bicker over Obama Visit

Barack Obama wants to hold a speech at the Brandenburg Gate when he comes to Berlin later this month. The city's mayor wants to grant him his wish, but the German chancellor has misgivings.

More:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,564635,00.html

Obama's Berlin Visit Sparks Debate Among German Politicians And Irks Bush Administration

Meanwhile, all the recent attention Obama has been getting in Germany has ruffled some feathers with the Bush administration. "It would be nice if the German government would intensify the contacts with us again and not already look over our shoulders at our successors," Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt told the German daily Bild.
http://blogs.dw-world.de/acrossthepond/michael/1.6788.html

[beachmom]

18. Unbelievable. Angela Merkel was okay with the idea before.

I mean, who gives a flapjack what Bush thinks? He's a lame duck!

[grace0418]

24. Maybe he threatened her with another one of his shoulder rubs.

The horror!

[Satyagrahi]

28. Perhaps a face saving measure because the German government knows that

in the end it is the Berlin Mayor who will make the decision and he is likely to approve the speech:

Berlin mayor backs Brandenburg Gate for Obama speech

Berlin's mayor gave his backing Tuesday for Barack Obama to speak at the Brandenburg Gate during a visit to the capital this month, after reports the government has reservations about the venue.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g35LF-fHA-oitS0omLXVRPT9o5Ag

[ForeignSpectator]

42. AFAIK, the Berlin Senate has to agree, too but they seem to be for it so...

... I am looking forward to it. Maybe I am even going...

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

23. Does anyone know when he's going to be in London?

I'd love to have the opportunity to listen to him him while he's over here.

[Satyagrahi]

29. "Next week"

according to this report:

Barack Obama heads to London for European tour
Democratic nominee likely to come under fire for appearing to backtrack on plans to pull out US troops from Iraq
Tom Baldwin in Washington and Roger Boyes in Berlin

Barack Obama will make his first trip as Democratic presidential nominee to London next week, at the start of a tour of Europe where a warm embrace may be overshadowed by his effort to explain how - and when - America's military should disentangle itself from Iraq.

In his debut on the international stage Mr Obama will visit seven countries in as many days, with stops in Britain, France, Germany, Israel and Jordan. He is likely also to make undisclosed trips to Iraq and Afghanistan.

His appearance in London is expected to be fleeting, British sources said. Mr Obama's advance team had made plain that he wants to get in and out of the city “as expeditiously as possible”.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article4296994.ece

[AspenRose]

40. Back off Lame Duck Bunnypants

The MAYOR of Berlin can have whoever the hell they want speaking at the Gate :mad:

It's not Obama's fault the world can't stand you....

[Eurobabe]

49. Hey O, call Christian Ude in München

We have better beer anyhow. Come south young man!!

[mucifer]

50. I bet bush "convinces" the USA msm press not to cover the event.

[Hope And Change]

19. K & R!

[hedgehog]

26. Based on the response I got to wearing an Obama button in Europe,

Obama won't get to see much but adoring crowds reaching out to shake his hand!

[Faygo Kid]

31. That's very cool. They love him over there.

The Hillary sites ain't too happy with the Europeans, to put it mildly.

[Eurobabe]

47. I had on my O'bama 08 St. Patty's Day t-shirt on the beach

in the Caribbean, and several native islanders commented, OBAMA!! He's loved everywhere, the world wants to be rid of Asshat and the terra regime.

[Greyskye]

51. What kind of reactions did you get?

And where in Europe were you? Sounds like an Obama pin is this years version of wearing a Canadian flag while in Europe.

I was in Europe for a couple months when the Lewinski scandal broke. Nobody over there understood why the hell we were making such a big deal over it. All I could do was :shrug: and say that I didn't get it either.

[Kaleko]

27. It would send a tremendously powerful message to let Obama speak

in front of the Brandenburger Tor.



Germans LOVE Obama, as do the majority of Europeans. And they understand the symbolism of a half-black man claiming the US Presidency in front of these Gates which divided Berlin for decades only too well.

I know, I hail from there.

Yes, go for it, Germany!

[Faygo Kid]

33. My goodness, some anti-Obama sites appear a tad bitter about it.

Feel the hate: http://www.hillaryclintonforum.net/discussion/showthread.php?t=19299

[NattPang]

36. The jealousy is really thick on that forum

Very catty and petty.

[RNdaSilva]

37. Why hasn't Hillary shut that down?

Are they delusional or McCain supporters? Both?

Why even post the link?

[Drunken Irishman]

41. They're actually pissed he's well liked around the world.

[ProSense]

35. Very cool. n/t

[skooooo]

39. Yee Haaaa!

[liberalla]

45. This is going to be good! Wow, what an honor.

Rachel covered this on countdown - I can't wait to see it!

[Eurobabe]

46. Any DU'ers in Berlin?