Barack Obama bombs in Berlin:

A weak, underwhelming address from a floundering president

By Nile Gardiner, The Telegraph (UK)

When John F. Kennedy delivered his “Ich Bin Ein Berliner” speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate on June 26, 1963, 450,000 people flocked to hear him. Fifty years later a far more subdued invitation-only crowd of 4,500 showed up to hear Barack Obama speak at the same location in Berlin. As The National Journal noted, “he didn’t come away with much, winning just a smattering of applause from a crowd that was one-hundredth the size of JFK’s,” and far smaller than the 200,000 boisterous Germans who had listened to his 2008 address as a presidential candidate. JFK had a clear message when he came to Berlin a half century ago – the free world must stand up to Communist tyranny. 24 years later, President Reagan stood in the same spot famously calling on the Soviets to “tear down this wall.” Reagan’s speech was a seminal moment that ushered in the downfall of an evil empire, and gave hope to tens of millions of people behind the Iron Curtain. It was a display of strength and conviction by the leader of the free world, sending an unequivocal message of solidarity with those who were fighting for freedom in the face of a monstrous totalitarian ideology.

In stark contrast to that of his presidential predecessors, Barack Obama’s message on Wednesday was pure mush, another clichéd “citizens of the world” polemic with little substance. This was a speech big on platitudes and hopeless idealism, while containing much that was counter-productive for the world’s superpower. Ultimately it was little more than a laundry list of Obama’s favourite liberal pet causes, including cutting nuclear weapons, warning about climate change, putting an end to all wars, shutting Guantanamo, ending global poverty, and backing the European Project. It was a combination of staggering naiveté, the appeasement of America’s enemies and strategic adversaries, and the championing of more big government solutions.

There was little in this speech that advances US interests, or makes the world a safer place. Completely missing from Obama’s address was a call for the West to stand up to the rising threat of Islamist militancy, the defence of Christians facing huge levels of persecution and intimidation in the Middle East, strong condemnation of Iran and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, and any criticism of growing authoritarianism in Russia. The president paid lip service to the NATO alliance, which has proved critical in preserving Europe’s security for over 60 years, but made no call for the alliance to be strengthened in the wake of waning support and investment in Europe.

President Obama’s words may well have pleased his German government hosts, content to see a United States whose ambitions as a military power have been significantly clipped since George W. Bush left office in 2009. But Barack Obama underscored again why he is no JFK or Ronald Reagan. In front of the Brandenburg Gate, Obama sounded more like the president of the European Commission than the leader of the free world. It is never a good sign when a US president parrots the language of a Brussels bureaucrat when he is supposed to be a champion of freedom. Obama’s distinctly unimpressive speech in Berlin was another dud from a floundering president whose leadership abroad is just as weak as it is at home.

Nile Gardiner is a Washington-based foreign affairs analyst and political commentator. A former aide to Margaret Thatcher, Gardiner has served as a foreign policy adviser to two US presidential campaigns. He appears frequently on American and British television, including Fox News Channel, BBC, and Fox Business Network.

June 20, 2013 | 20 Comments »

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20 Comments / 20 Comments

  1. He, by his actions, has clearly indicated that he is not the leader of the free world. This notion is probably meaningless and useless for him.

  2. yamit82 Said:

    PS, I thought Swedes were tall, fair skinned and blue eyed and quite stoic?

    No the Jewish genes were dominate, my female ancestors were not Swedes, they were Geatlanders like Beowolf. Grandpa was a blond Swede. Yes Swedes are stoic. I suffered for days with an injured eye because my Mother refused to believe me. She was no Molly Goldberg.

  3. shutting Guantanamo

    Such bunch of garbage. He has been president now for 4.5 years, so why has he not shut it down?

  6. @ yamit82:
    It’s all a game. Abbas plays hard to get, Bibi entices him, and the US plays its “peace mediator” role. ~~~ But it’s nothing but a script (wink-wink). Because the real action – the process of swindling Jews out of their land – is taking place elsewhere: in those facts on the ground, the Palis new cities, the arming/training of their SA militia, the release of Arab prisoners, UN recognition, all those preparations for statehood, and the increased empowerment of Arabs on both sides of the Green Line.~~~ While Jews feel reassured by Bibi’s unrealistic preconditions for Two States, they don’t pay enough attention to those other developments that signal their own gradual loss of land, safety and sovereignty. ~~~ It’s not only Yesha that is at stake, but all of Israel. ~~~ That’s how I see it, anyway. Blame it on my distrustful nature and my belief that things are never what they seem.

  8. yamit82 Said:

    Nope?

    OMG, Then there is no trip to the Santa FE Indian Market? Did you loan Ted your Navaho blanket for his meeting with Sharon Stone?

  10. honeybee Said:

    Are you pocket still as deep? Darlin

    Nope, Long out of the markets.

    I do better at blackjack, but I put all available cash still into gold and silver contracts. No long term faith in fiat currencies.

    China, Brazil and Japan about to sink.

    Europe and the States will probably declare a Bank holiday.

    Second half of 2013 will see Riots and violence in most countries.

    PS, I thought Swedes were tall, fair skinned and blue eyed and quite stoic?     😉

  13. @ yamit82:
    Thank you, Yamit.
    Meanwhile, back at the ranch… First Congressman Allowed to Read Secret Treaty Says “This … Hands The Sovereignty of Our Country Over to Corporate Interests” – An international treaty being negotiated in secret which would not only crack down on Internet privacy much more than SOPA or ACTA, but would actually destroy the sovereignty of the U.S. and all other signatories. It is called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). – http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-06-19/first-congressman-allowed-read-secret-treaty-says-%E2%80%9C-hands-sovereignty-our-cou

    I’ve been wondering whether Obama has any friends left. Uber-leftist Bill Ayers says Obama should be tried for war crimes. Blacks blame Obama for legalizing Hispanics, making blacks irrelevant as a constituency and taking jobs away from them. The Europeans have fallen out of love. The left has many reasons to be angry too. Not even the Palis showed much affection last time he visited. So, who’s left to support him now? He must feel lonely.

  14. DOW IS CRASHING.

    Proves the bear not based on real economy but on Fed printing digital dollars with 0 interest rates.

    Dow itself is a Fed created bubble.

    If it continues Obama is in real trouble.

  19. The walls that divide us. People who rant against Israel’s protective wall are the first to hide behind their own. House walls protect every one of us. Nothing wrong with that – except when Jews protect their children. Jewish babies have been shot by Arab snipers. But anti-Semites turn Israel’s protective wall into an excuse for hate and incitement against Jews.

    See Obama’s own wall while he gave that speech in Berlin from behind a transparent bullet-proof screen. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2344787/Obamas-Berlin-Wall-US-President-issues-warning-austerity-Europe-bulletproof-glass.html?ito=feeds-newsxml ~~~ Can you imagine Obama haranguing Israelis to tear down their wall – while speaking from behind his own protective screen?