Posted by
T. Thomas on Saturday, July 26, 2008 1:10:36 PM
Interesting that Obama's westward trek through France and England has been a quiet one - almost contemplative as compared to the brouhaha of Germany. That is because long ago Obama and the media realized that he had taken "hope and change" as far as he could with it, solidifying his support among those susceptible to that sort of thing before it dried up on him.
Now, he has to go beyond his base and try to gain support among middle America, most of whom are Baby Boomers and unimpressed by emotional appeals to the wide-eyed and immature. Thus emerged the idea of turning Barack into the Black JFK - appealling to a sacred Baby Boomer icon with the hopes of rekindling the idealism of the 60s. Hence Berlin.
Unfortunately, even Obama's most ardent cheerleaders such as Newsweek's Margaret Carlson, and Time's Joe Klein have ruefully noted the rather ridiculous business of trying to manufacutre the illusion of German frenzy by offering a large crowd of young partying Berliners a free rock concert from their two favorite bands, free beer and sausages, and then Obama's short speech in English. The boisterous half-in-the-bag Berliners would have cheered a side of beef if it had been driven up on stage after all the free music and beer.
It was a sham that the few people of conscience among the spreadeagled press are already noting. The Berlin masquerade was the only point of this desultory trip. The quiet, dignified and formulaic meetings with Nicholas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown are really more indicative of the burgeoning "enthusiam" of the EU.