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Kumbaya Falls Flat In Berlin
Scripps Howard News Service ^ | July 25, 2008 | Star Parker

Posted on 07/25/2008 6:28:32 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY

The headline on the website of German magazine Der Spiegel about Barack Obama's speech in Berlin: "Huge Crowds Left with Mixed Feelings."

Two hundred thousand turned out for the speech, but CNN's Candy Crowley reported an "absence of euphoria" at the event.

As Senator Obama went global with "Yes, we can" and "Change we can believe in" he left at least some of the horde in Berlin scratching their heads. Perhaps these Germans, out to hear what all the excitement was about, were looking for leadership and substance rather than kumbaya.

What they got was the global version of "There is not a White America and a Black America and Latino America and Asian American America -- there is the United States of America."

Obama spoke not just as a "proud citizen of the United States but a fellow citizen of the world."

His message: "The walls between races and tribes, natives and immigrants, Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down."

At least some of the Germans listening to Obama surely sensed there was something problematic with what he was saying. His analogy of the tearing down of the Berlin wall to tearing down all lines of distinction between nations and religions was obviously fractured. The Berlin wall was a political wall that divided one people. It separated Germans from other Germans, a far cry from distinctions between nations and religions that Obama apparently wants to obliterate.

The German, French and British each have a strong sense of national history and identity.

Efforts for a European Union constitution that would establish links in Europe going beyond economics and extending to politics have thus far failed.

(Excerpt) Read more at shns.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Germany; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: backfire; foreignpolicy; obama; obamasbigadventure; obamavisit; starparker; victorycolumn
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1 posted on 07/25/2008 6:28:32 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
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To: Free ThinkerNY

Maybe some of those in the audience actually can tell a real person from a straw man. I hope so.


2 posted on 07/25/2008 6:30:59 PM PDT by Shady (The Fairness Doctrine is ANYTHING but fair!!!!)
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To: Free ThinkerNY
Two hundred thousand turned out for the speech,to watch a free concert...

There, fixed it.
3 posted on 07/25/2008 6:31:36 PM PDT by DocRock (All they that TAKE the sword shall perish with the sword. Matthew 26:52 Gun grabbers beware.)
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To: DocRock

Yep, they had rock bands, beer and bratwurst to attract the crowd … most stayed for the Obama freak show, as an afterthought. ;-)


4 posted on 07/25/2008 6:35:50 PM PDT by doc1019 (I was taught to respect my elders, but it's getting harder to find one.)
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To: Free ThinkerNY
The German, French and British each have a strong sense of national history and identity.

I think Barrie overplayed his hand. As much as we bitch about the Euros, they're not stupid. They recognize shallow minutia as much as we do.

5 posted on 07/25/2008 6:35:50 PM PDT by LiberConservative ("Typical" white guy)
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To: Free ThinkerNY

“Two hundred thousand turned out for the speech...”

The Germans are in steep decline from their admirable industrious, innovative and creative past, but they haven’t yet reach the point of abject stupidity under socialism.

200,000? Maybe

Whatever the number, only a handful of zealots would have come principally for the junior high school composition class speech.

Free concert, food and St. Pauli Girl....


6 posted on 07/25/2008 6:37:02 PM PDT by EyeGuy
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To: Free ThinkerNY

Only the university students/Socialists were enraptured with Barry Hussein.
Older Germans well remember mass rallies by a splendid orator...


7 posted on 07/25/2008 6:39:31 PM PDT by kittymyrib
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To: LiberConservative

I think they also recognize similarities to Germany circa 1933 in Obama’s speeches, mannerisms, supporter’s actions and words, and eager to propagandize, gushing media allies.

They’ve seen the Obama’s movies before, be it 1933 Germany or Soviet ruled East Germany. I do not think many there with a brain and true sense of history want to see the third in the series.


8 posted on 07/25/2008 6:41:06 PM PDT by M1Tanker (Proven Daily: Modern "progressive" liberalism is just National Socialism without the "twisted cross")
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To: Free ThinkerNY

These now are the walls we must tear down.”
++++++++++++++++++
Playing games with Reagan’s “tear down this wall” speech. I think he truly believes he can walk on water. He’s going to fall and fall hard I think. Obama, be a proud American first, work on American problems first. You’re not running for President of the U.N. There will be time later to trash the U.N. and then try to fix the world’s problems. You are going to trash the U.N. aren’t you? How else will you be able to tackle the problems of the world?


9 posted on 07/25/2008 6:42:16 PM PDT by Joan Kerrey
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To: Free ThinkerNY

Obama really frightens me——an empty suit running for president.

I hope American voters can see through his nonsense.


10 posted on 07/25/2008 6:42:37 PM PDT by Mears
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To: Free ThinkerNY
The headline on the website of German magazine Der Spiegel about Barack Obama's speech in Berlin: "Huge Crowds Left with Mixed Feelings."

It doesn't matter any more now than it did "then."

Propaganda rightly has its critics, but that doesn't stop it. What matters is that compelling images were captured to fuel the momentum and emotions were tweaked to fuel the momentum.

The world feels a bit different after that crowd left. And I have my own "mixed feelings." But they don't matter, either, because the momentum is being built.

11 posted on 07/25/2008 6:44:21 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (reviewing my list of worse case scenarios.)
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To: DocRock

“Two hundred thousand turned out for the speech,to watch a free concert...”

200,000 on a work day??


12 posted on 07/25/2008 6:44:31 PM PDT by Thinkin
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To: Free ThinkerNY
He does not seem to grasp that the beauty of freedom is its respect for differences and creation of conditions, legal and political, which allow them to exist, flourish, and provide benefits to all. In fact, politicians with agendas to "unify," who think they know who and what everyone should be, are invariably those who threaten freedom.

Germans had a series of harangues by a world-class unifier from 1923-45. This is not how you Americans say their first time at the rodeo.

13 posted on 07/25/2008 6:44:45 PM PDT by PhilDragoo (Hitlery: das Butch von Buchenvald)
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To: Thinkin

Lived in Germany for several years … free beer, music and bratwurst … you bet. ;-)


14 posted on 07/25/2008 6:47:41 PM PDT by doc1019 (I was taught to respect my elders, but it's getting harder to find one.)
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To: Free ThinkerNY
The German, French and British each have a strong sense of national history and identity.

But the leftist elements here revile Americans who believe in having a strong sense of national history and identity. Such sense of identity is called xenophobic, imperialistic, etc. etc. by Obama's friends.

15 posted on 07/25/2008 6:50:21 PM PDT by keepitreal ("I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message. . . until I don't.")
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To: the invisib1e hand

“The world feels a bit different after that crowd left. And I have my own “mixed feelings.” But they don’t matter, either, because the momentum is being built.”

Momentum…? Like lemmings over a cliff ???


16 posted on 07/25/2008 6:59:23 PM PDT by Thinkin
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To: LiberConservative

they are stupid... they allowed for the European Union.


17 posted on 07/25/2008 6:59:33 PM PDT by Porterville (I hasten karmic justice through revenge.)
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To: Free ThinkerNY; keepitreal

Obama spent his formative years in Indonesia, in a Third World non-Christian country. He may not view American culture as special or distinctive. He did not seem all that interested in tearing “walls” down when he took up with Rev. Wright for 20 years. If he really means it, it’s a late conversion.


18 posted on 07/25/2008 7:02:17 PM PDT by HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity
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To: Free ThinkerNY
Kumbaya Falls Flat In Berlin

Falls flat???? They MOCKED him! Listen to the "my father is a kenyan goatherder" routine. They busted a gut. Then they made the camel woman in heat sound, and I thought they were gonna die!

19 posted on 07/25/2008 7:05:51 PM PDT by rawcatslyentist (I will stand with the Muslims ~B Hussein Obomber Verito Possumus~Verified Sleeper!)
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To: Free ThinkerNY

Hitchens: If Obama’s race speech was so memorable, try quoting one line from it
posted at 3:35 pm on July 25, 2008 by Allahpundit
Send to a Friend | printer-friendly
As immortalized by C-SPAN, here’s the incident I had in mind yesterday in writing about the Berlin speech. Click the image and scroll down to chapter 17 to watch. In fairness to the left, no one except the most embarrassing, slackjawed Obama disciples went as far as to compare the speech to the Gettysburg Address. And of course it’s not the case that Lincoln’s speech was universally recognized as a masterpiece immediately afterwards. But it’s surely true that Barry O aspires to Lincolnesque heights of oratory, in which case I humbly offer two bits of advice. One: When you’re hunting for a killer line, try to aim higher than something Stuart Smalley might plausibly say to himself while staring into a mirror. And two: Try to avoid sentiments you might be forced to retract six weeks later.

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/07/25/hitchens-if-obamas-race-speech-was-so-memorable-try-quoting-one-line-from-it/


20 posted on 07/25/2008 7:05:52 PM PDT by enough_idiocy (http://politicallydrunk.blogspot.com/2008/05/in-their-own-words-carter-reagan-and.html)
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To: Free ThinkerNY

Maybe there’s a human gene that leads some humans to blindly follow charismatic figures. If there is, I suppose it would have been largely weeded out of the greater German population some time ago.


21 posted on 07/25/2008 7:12:50 PM PDT by metalcor
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To: Free ThinkerNY

Perhaps the worst list of cliches in search of a thought Berlin has ever witnessed.

Pray for W and Our Troops


22 posted on 07/25/2008 7:27:05 PM PDT by bray (Drill Congress!!)
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To: Free ThinkerNY

al obama’s running for head of the united nations.


23 posted on 07/25/2008 7:29:54 PM PDT by ken21 (people die and you never hear from them again.)
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To: Free ThinkerNY
Barry has, in my opinion, achieved a "jump the shark" moment. He is not getting any bounce from his college-backpack-hostel tour of Europe, but actually may be approaching a free-fall. A decline in Barry's polls, and an "awakening" of the electorate to his false-god image is a real "change I can believe in".

From Wiki: "Jumping the shark is a colloquialism used by U.S. TV critics and fans to denote the point in a TV or movie series at which the characters or plot veer into a ridiculous, out-of-the-ordinary storyline. Shows that have "jumped the shark" are typically deemed to have passed their peak, since they have undergone too many changes to retain their original appeal, and after this point critical fans often sense a noticeable decline in the show's quality."

"The term is an allusion to a scene in a 1977 episode of the TV series Happy Days when the popular character Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli literally jumps over a shark while water skiing. The scene was considered so preposterous that many believed it to be an attempt at reviving the declining ratings of the flagging show. Ironically, not only was Happy Days reflecting the superstardom of real-life shark-jumper Evel Knievel in the episode...."

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

24 posted on 07/25/2008 7:32:47 PM PDT by SERKIT ("Blazing Saddles" explains it all.....)
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To: EyeGuy
Mmmm...beer....

25 posted on 07/25/2008 7:44:19 PM PDT by AndrewB
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To: doc1019

“Lived in Germany for several years … free beer, music and bratwurst … you bet. ;-)”

Plus concerts by two of the most popular Bands in Germany...

What would that go for ??? I’m talking $$$ here...

Beer,Brats, music for 200,000. people...

OMG !!

....


26 posted on 07/25/2008 7:47:18 PM PDT by Thinkin
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To: Thinkin

AND, as a plus … to hear Obama speak. What more could you ask for? /s


27 posted on 07/25/2008 7:53:38 PM PDT by doc1019 (I was taught to respect my elders, but it's getting harder to find one.)
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To: metalcor

“Maybe there’s a human gene that leads some humans to blindly follow charismatic figures.”

If they ever find this gene...I hope they can kill it !!
Followers....I truly can’t understand...

Why do people stand in line for 24 hours and pay $100. per ticket........ to see.......”BAT MAN”.....
h@ll.. wait for 2 weeks and you can check it out at the Library...for FREE... :-D


28 posted on 07/25/2008 7:58:19 PM PDT by Thinkin
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To: M1Tanker
Lots of Germans are socialists but their nationalism trumps the fuzzy one-worldism of Obama's marxist appeal. They want a strong leader for Germany, not for some amorphous conglomeration of peoples, most of whom they look down on.
29 posted on 07/25/2008 7:59:15 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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To: AndrewB

“Mmmm...beer....”

Mmmm...XX chromosomes....


30 posted on 07/25/2008 8:02:35 PM PDT by EyeGuy
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To: metalcor

As a P.S.

MAYBE ... the followers were put on this earth as an example:

of “What Not To Do”


31 posted on 07/25/2008 8:03:16 PM PDT by Thinkin
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To: Mears

He reminds me of the most popular jock in high school. So full of himself and his own greatness. Problem is, this high school jock will have more power than can be concieved by most of us plebs. That much power in the hands of an elitist punk can only do immense harm.


32 posted on 07/25/2008 8:07:03 PM PDT by SkiKnee (It snows, therefore I ski.)
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To: Free ThinkerNY


RUSH: This is Barack Obama yesterday in Berlin.

OBAMA: People of Berlin! People of the world! This is our moment. This is our time.

BONO: This is our moment. This is our time. This is our chance to stand up for what's right. We're not looking for charity. We're lookin' for justice.

OBAMA: People of Berlin! People of the world! This is our moment. This is our time.

RUSH: There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, Obama plagiarizing Bono. He also plagiarizes Deval Patrick, the Governor of Massachusetts.

As Messiah Tours with Disciples, Obama Fatigue Sweeps America

Parody: One Night in Baghdad | Shanklin
33 posted on 07/25/2008 8:15:38 PM PDT by Miss Didi ("Good heavens, woman, this is a war not a garden party!" Dr. Meade, Gone with the Wind)
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To: Free ThinkerNY

Obama went overseas to promise the “people of the world” that he would end the divide between rich and poor nations, and said, “people of the world, this is our moment, this is our time.”

Obama is running for a hostile takeover of the US on behalf of the anti-American international community. His plan is quite plainly to rape and pillage America’s wealth, and redistribute it to the rest of the world. His speech was brazenly candid about this.

He has already put forth this very plan in the S.2433 Global Poverty Act of 2007, which he authored in the Senate.


34 posted on 07/25/2008 8:37:48 PM PDT by counterpunch (John McCain - For the LOVE of Country)
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To: Free ThinkerNY

Obama seeks uniformity which is the opposite of freedom and individuality.


35 posted on 07/25/2008 8:42:01 PM PDT by yldstrk (My heros have always been cowboys--Reagan and Bush)
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To: Free ThinkerNY
HITLER "YES WE CAN" POSTER
36 posted on 07/25/2008 8:55:38 PM PDT by JACKRUSSELL
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To: EyeGuy

My husband saw a wide-shot of the crowd. He said there was no way it was 200,000 people. Maybe 50,000, but no way it was 200,000...


37 posted on 07/25/2008 9:21:09 PM PDT by LibertyRocks (LR's BLOG: http://libertyrocks.wordpress.com)
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To: Free ThinkerNY

Great post - Star Parker is a star!!


38 posted on 07/25/2008 9:42:04 PM PDT by aquila48
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To: counterpunch

You GOT it.


39 posted on 07/25/2008 9:43:57 PM PDT by patriot08
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To: rawcatslyentist

Falls flat???? They MOCKED him! Listen to the “my father is a kenyan goatherder” routine. They busted a gut. Then they made the camel woman in heat sound, and I thought they were gonna die!
_________________________________

Do you have a link to the ‘goat herder’ routine?
What is ‘camel women in heat sound’?
Thanks.


40 posted on 07/25/2008 9:46:25 PM PDT by patriot08
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To: the invisib1e hand

Europe wants to grab us by the throat right now. Their people are ready to burn us. I’m telling you. Just returned. They despise Bush because they are almost assimilated by the Middle East. Everywhere is the middle easternerner. They are like our Mexicans except they aren’t rooted in Christianity and they despise capitalism and western ‘decadence’. You can always see it in the eyes. They only use it for their pleasure. And they have opinions they’ll readily share.

If we are attacked with terrorist nuclear bombs and Obama is president, our biggest rivals will tell him to heel and he will.


41 posted on 07/25/2008 9:47:23 PM PDT by kinghorse
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Did I write “if” we are attacked? Silly me.


42 posted on 07/25/2008 9:54:21 PM PDT by kinghorse
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To: Free ThinkerNY

the usual German obession with blacks usually is only about sexual curiosity...like Heidi Klum on Oprah

man, in my day in the third world, German guys were obsessed with jungle fever...they called it “art”


43 posted on 07/25/2008 9:56:43 PM PDT by wardaddy (Myself and my ancestors take full responsibility for all racial discrimination here since 1607)
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To: Thinkin
“Two hundred thousand turned out for the speech,to watch a free concert...”

200,000 on a work day??

Don't know how many were there, but yes... a free concert!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050848/posts
44 posted on 07/25/2008 9:59:32 PM PDT by DocRock (All they that TAKE the sword shall perish with the sword. Matthew 26:52 Gun grabbers beware.)
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To: Free ThinkerNY

45 posted on 07/25/2008 10:11:35 PM PDT by doug from upland (8 million views of HILLARY! UNCENSORED - put some ice on it, witch)
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To: Free ThinkerNY
...he left at least some of the horde in Berlin scratching their heads. Perhaps these Germans, out to hear what all the excitement was about, were looking for leadership and substance rather than kumbaya.

O.K., how come this isn't getting ink in the major U.S. newspapers?
46 posted on 07/25/2008 10:20:27 PM PDT by no dems (99% of the Politicians give all the others a bad name.)
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To: Joan Kerrey

Any sensible person would avoid the word “wall” in a speech made on German soil. It would be like going to Gettysburg and doing a DJ-mashup of “last full measure” and “four score and seven” etc.

Hubris.


47 posted on 07/25/2008 11:44:59 PM PDT by karnage
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To: aquila48

She is also another one of those attractive conservative ladies.


48 posted on 07/26/2008 12:02:24 AM PDT by elhombrelibre (A fawning US press and the anti-Bush mobs of Europe cannot be wrong about Obama, can they?)
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To: yldstrk
The Left confuses tolerance with approval. They don't tolerate us, for example, very well at all. For them, we're very queer. But they approve of all types of deviancy (sexual and others) and call that approval tolerance. Tolerance, as any reasonable person knows, is something you feel towards those you disagree with. When has a Liberal or Lefty tolerated those he disagrees with?
49 posted on 07/26/2008 12:05:19 AM PDT by elhombrelibre (A fawning US press and the anti-Bush mobs of Europe cannot be wrong about Obama, can they?)
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To: Free ThinkerNY
His message: "The walls between races and tribes, natives and immigrants, Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down."

I think the subtext here is that Obama is trying to subtly be an apologist for Islam. There is no wall to speak of between Christians and Jews - most Christians and Jews accept that they have differences but few want to build a "wall." Islam, on the other hand, has created a wall between itself and everything else. You could read Obama's words to mean that Christians and Jews are mostly responsible for the "wall" with Islam.

50 posted on 07/26/2008 12:50:59 AM PDT by Wilhelm Tell (True or False? This is not a tag line.)
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