Merkel warns Obama not to use landmark for 'electioneering'

Agence France-Presse ^ | July 9, 2008 | Deborah Cole

[Free ThinkerNY]

BERLIN (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has slammed a request by Barack Obama to give a speech this month before the Brandenburg Gate as inappropriate, her deputy spokesman said Wednesday.

The conservative leader said that while she would be pleased to meet the US Democratic presidential hopeful, it would be wrong for him to hold a "campaign rally" at the historic symbol of German unity.

"It is unusual to do electioneering abroad," spokesman Thomas Steg told reporters.

"It is unusual to hold election rallies abroad. No German candidate for high office would even think of using the National Mall (in Washington) or Red Square in Moscow for a rally because it would not be seen as appropriate."

Authorities in the capital have confirmed that Obama plans to visit Berlin on July 24 and is interested in speaking at the foot of the Brandenburg Gate.

The left-leaning government of the city-state, which has the sole right to approve such a request, has not yet made a formal decision but Mayor Klaus Wowereit gave his backing Tuesday.

Steg said Merkel had "limited understanding" for such a request and found the Obama team's initiative "a bit odd". But he said it was up to candidates such as Obama to decide what was "in good taste".

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks HGC. That’s interesting.

[Miss Didi]

RUSH: Now, wait a minute, Obama -- I'm sorry -- Lord Obama, if we're supposed to learn Spanish, how come you're speaking French here? Now, you heard the audience laughing and somewhat applauding, but I have a different take on this, ladies and gentlemen, and it troubles me. This troubles me greatly. As Tom Daschle used to say, I'm concerned. This is not an isolated incident. You know, Obama wants to go over and make a speech at the Brandenburg Gate where elected presidents have made speeches, JFK and Ronaldus Magnus, and the Germans don't want him over there. They don't want that site used for electioneering. One of the German officials says, "What if Angela Merkel, what if she decided to go to the Mall in Washington while running for the prime minister presidency of Germany?" Now, I get the sense that it's not just related to Obama. I think a lot of Democrats are embarrassed of their country. Obama clearly is. He would prefer to be running for president of a Western European country. He prefers socialism over capitalism; he prefers big government over individuality and self-reliance; he prefers secularism over religion, if truth be told. He prefers pacifism and appeasement over a robust national security and military, and now, he prefers European culture to ours, and rather than urging people in our country to speak English, he urges Americans to speak foreign languages, which is perfectly fine, but when put in the context of all his other views, this is just one more indication of where his head is.

Obama and a lot of Democrats think Americans and America are backwards. You know that they're embarrassed of this country. They think we deserve to be in a constant state of decline because of our excesses and our bullying and our imperialism. They enjoy the suffering of Americans at the gas pump because they think it's Americans' fault. They want suffering and pain going into the election. It is clear to me that The Messiah, Lord Barack Obama, is embarrassed by his own country. That's why he wouldn't initially wear an American flag pin, that's why he constantly complains about America going it alone when in fact we are leading a recalcitrant world against terrorism. We are the solution to the world's problems. We are not the world's problem. Obama and many of his cohorts believe just the opposite. This is why Obama demeans tens of millions of hard-working Americans who have faith, who own guns, and who oppose illegal immigration. This little statement that he made in Powder Springs, Georgia, is not isolated. At a fundraiser in San Francisco, the bitter clinger comment, you remember that. He looks over people in the heartland, flyover country, he looks at the people who make this country work, and he is embarrassed, and he demeans them. (cont.)



Lord Obama: Ashamed of the US, Thinks Americans are Backwards

Languages Kids Should Learn First
Our children should be fluent in terrorism, markets, socialists, Marxists, Obama.

[SaveTheChief]

"It is unusual to hold election rallies abroad. No German candidate for high office would even think of using the National Mall (in Washington) or Red Square in Moscow for a rally because it would not be seen as appropriate." He's too much of a narcissist to worry about what's appropriate.

[DoughtyOne]

I like that one. Very good.

[DoughtyOne]

Yeah, sound about right.

[DoughtyOne]

YOU SAID ITCH MINE POSTERIOR!

No we didn't.

Yes you did.

No really we didn't.  Did we say that folks?

No, we didn't say that Barack.  Honest!

Now my big chance is gone and I'll never get it back!

[toddlintown]

“When JFK stood before the Brandenburg Gate and said, “Ich bin ein Berliner,” what he was actually saying in German was “I am a jelly doughnut.”

Pure nonsense. I spent 4 years in Germany as a translator and the rest of my life refuting this nonsense.

http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/jfk_berliner.htm

[toddlintown]

Nonsense.

http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/jfk_berliner.htm

[toddlintown]

http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/jfk_berliner.htm

[DoughtyOne]

Thank you.

[LayoutGuru2]

Aw, let him keep stepping in it. I will make for better reading in the history books.

[dfwgator]

Springtime For Obama.

[plain talk]

But unless right of center Americans get over their funk the haloed one WILL BE the 44th POTUS, and by 2011 he WILL control all three branches of government.

Right but those self-righteous perfectionists will still have their 'principles'. (sarcasm)

[Cacique]

Hmmm, when will they start calling Merkel racist?

[jan in Colorado]

Obama smacked down by German Chancellor Angela Merkel ping!

[Grampa Dave]

He is about experience a very brutal and high learning curve.

Not everyone in the free world hates America.

His bs of calling the UK our poodle didn’t win him any points with the Brits over there and here who aren’t on welfare.

[omega4179]

before that, Kerry called them Window dressing allies.

[blam]

"Maybe he should try Dachau? I mean, if he wants to really throw his hat into the ring, he may as well do it up right."

I was thinking about a stolen White farm in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe.

[george76]

[jan in Colorado]

Not everyone in the free world hates America.

Exactly.

Our enemies hate us, as they should, but I have no doubt that the hatred of America that the ENEMEDIA constantly tries to perpetuate, like everything else they report... is FABRICATED!