No. 44 Has Spoken

[Hope And Change]

07/24/2008

No. 44 Has Spoken

By Gerhard Spörl

Anyone who saw Barack Obama at Berlin's Siegessäule on Thursday could recognize that this man will become the 44th president of the United States. He is more than ambitious -- he wants to lay claim to become the president of the world.

It was a ton to absorb -- and what a stupendous ride through world history: the story of his own family, the Berlin Airlift, terrorists, poorly secured nuclear material, the polar caps, World War II, America's errors, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, freedom. It's amazing one could even pack such a potpourri of issues into sentences and then succeed in squeezing them all into the space of a speech that lasted less than 30 minutes.

So what still sticks? That Barack Obama is a passionate politician who is fixated on and takes very seriously his desire for a bit of uptopia and a better world. That he is an impressive speaker who knows how to casually draw his audience into his image of the world -- one who doesn't have any need to resort to the kind of cheap effects that tend to prompt the uproarious applause of an audience. That he is a typical American -- an idealist in the true spirit of the American success story who is now very casually making his claim to become something akin to the president of the world.

He also could have said: We are a world power, the only one that exists on this planet at the moment, and I am going to act as if that were the case. But you're also allowed to participate in the attempt to try to save the world -- at least a bit of it. In that sense I am different from George W. Bush -- very different. Indeed, Barack Obama has his own sound -- it's more utopian, he speaks of the general human desire for better conditions for all of humanity; and he speaks of the longing for strong and dynamic presidents and chancellors who are capable of acting on a global scale. With this drive and this radiance, he managed to drive Hillary Clinton out of the campaign. It is also the way he is going to outpace John McCain on November 4. It is the way he took the hearts of Americans by storm and it is the way he is now taking Europe by storm.

Anyone who saw him make the short way from the Victory Column in Berlin on Thursday to the podium saw a man with the serious gait of a basketball player, a man who seemed young, decisive and focused. For those who witnessed his appearance in Berlin, it is hard to imagine that John McCain still has any chance. McCain is 25 years his senior, a man who because of the torture he endured in Vietnam is in constant pain -- unable to comb his hair or lift his arm in celebration.

Europe is witnessing the 44th president of the United States during this trip. Anyone who listens to him quickly realizes that he is not only ambitious but will also make demands. In the inner circles of Angela Merkel's Chancellery, he is reportedly seen as a pleasant person, one who arouses curiosity.


more...

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,567919,00.html

[texastoast]

1. An oldster for Barack!

Really hope his hopes come true!

:grouphug:

[Aviation Pro]

2. And #43 took a #2 in his pants....

...knowing that crowbar motel is in his future. His puppetmaster, Shitstain, also has soiled panties.

[LSparkle]

4. My thoughts all day have turned to Chucklenuts ... peeing all over himself!

And I won't buy TooMuchCappuccino Perino's standard "oh, he
didn't watch the speech" excuse. He's GOT to be aware of
how large that crowd was, and the discrepancy between the
reception he received and the outpouring for Obama today.

[Guava Jelly]

3. I just heard someone on CNN saying something like

Crowds that big when it's not involving soccer is a rarity. Or something on that level..I was in the same square as Obama's speech the day of the Spain v Germany soccer game. http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/25442904/ (Spain tops Germany for European title
Torres goal gives Spain first major title since 1964)
The crowd was jubilant (before the game) very friendly,colors were everywhere,beer was being downed. This wasn't just another game.
The crowd was 1/10 the size of what I saw in pictures today..
Lets Face it, Obama is bigger than Soccer..or 'scuse me football. :D