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Shame on Obama for Skipping Berlin Festivities

By Will McCahill,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 19, 2009 7:41 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Skipping the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall is a bad choice by President Obama, Rick Richman writes, for several reasons:

  • It’s a snub of a personal invitation from German Chancellor Angela Merkel—a key ally and one going all out for the festivities.
  • It’s a chance for Obama to give credit to Presidents Kennedy and Reagan for their role in winning the Cold War—credit he forgot during a campaign speech in Berlin.

  • It’s “an embarrassment” for the US president not to be at such a momentous gathering, Richman adds in Commentary, cautioning that if Obama doesn’t change his mind on the Nov. 9 party, “history will notice his absence, and the electorate may as well.”
  • Finally, “it is an opportunity for Obama to give a speech in which he does not apologize for his country but celebrates the triumph of freedom that has been the driving force of American history from its beginning through his own election.”

The art installation Vanished Berlin Wall by Korean artist EunSook Lee is displayed in front of the Brandenburg Gate, Oct. 31, 2007 in Berlin, Germany.
The art installation "Vanished Berlin Wall" by Korean artist EunSook Lee is displayed in front of the Brandenburg Gate, Oct. 31, 2007 in Berlin, Germany.   (AP Photo)
A plaque marks the site of a section of the Berlin Wall.
A plaque marks the site of a section of the Berlin Wall.   (Wikimedia Commons)
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The American president should be in Berlin on Nov. 9 to celebrate a moment that was a triumph for America as well as Germany. - Rick Richman

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 34 comments
Shannonals
Oct 21, 2009 12:41 PM CDT
Quite doubt it Jayster999.
kokuaguy
Oct 21, 2009 12:23 PM CDT
In a recent poll only 46 percent of Germans in the former communist east said their personal situation had improved. That number was as high as 71 percent in 1989.
kokuaguy
Oct 21, 2009 12:11 PM CDT
The POTUS can go in 2012-- I'm sure the volks will forgive him.
Politics • US • World

 
Angela Merkel • Germany • US foreign policy • Cold War • Berlin Wall • President Obama

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