The Obama road-show is building up to quite an event. It would come as no surprise if one were to discover that a Hollywood director had a hand in the staging of the show. A shot of the air force plane landing in Berlin, suitably adorned with Obama’s logo, made a statement; never mind the 700 police required to close down roads and protect the candidate.
It is quite funny though to have followed the German press the last few days and seen how sentiment has changed. When the visit was first discussed, there was a fairly loud rumble about the choice of unsuitable venues amongst other lesser gripes. In the meantime, politicians and public have been gripped by Obama fever.
I thought they were hallucinating when they speculated that the organisers were expecting 100 000 people in front of the Victory Column in Berlin’s Tiergarten. But the pictures now on Spiegel’s website definitely show a mass of fans and the most recent article states 200 000 people congregating on the fan-mile. Rather appropriately. Anyone for World Cup Football?
A political idol has arrived. Even Chancellor Merkel sports a fairly large grin on her normally somber face. Since when has a candidate for the American presidency been able to boast such overwhelming support? Hero worship, almost. No wonder there is a murmur that is getting louder that Obama could be the next JF Kennedy. Let’s just hope it doesn’t end in the same way.
It surely suggests though that Europe, (if one can measure Europe in terms of the German response), is anxiously looking for a better solution to the American leadership than what Bush has been able to dish up. After all, Europe has generally looked up to big brother America with respect and some envy as being the golden land of opportunities. Most of that respect has faded away in recent years.
What has been almost stranger than the adulation for a presidential candidate has been the reaction in America. One would have thought that the folk back home in the States would have been thrilled to see a citizen get a hero’s welcome. After all it hasn’t happened for a while, that is if one excludes the reception various vacuous film stars have received.
Of course one can understand that McCain, the Republican candidate, might feel a bit miffed that he has lost out on a similar opportunity. After all the public relations coup of articles on the visit, pictures and videos of hundreds of thousands waving arms as the hero of the moment and possibly for at least four and a half more years arrived on stage. Although one could guess that McCain might not get the same reception. Best not to try his luck.
But the US media seems to be painting as silly a picture of this as McCain has drawn. Surely they should be thrilled that for once there are not the masses of protesters demanding the American visitor should go home and this besides all sorts of other unspeakable messages of disdain and anger against the USA. Here, for once, is appreciation and adulation.
Of course the media could be following the leadership of the present government. Condi Rice announced the day before the start of Obama’s trip that no embassy or consulate was allowed to provide support. So if some terrorist shot at Obama the gates to the heavily armed and barricaded embassy compounds would have to remain tightly shut.
Not only that, the Bush administration advised today that no American embassy or state department official was allowed to be seen to participate at any of the Obama events. One wonders whether the CIA had been dispatched to keep a head count at the embassy and any other state departments.
However, with all the hype and crowd pleasing scenes at the Berlin ‘fan-mile’, an analysis of the event by Spiegel provides the final illuminating point. Lest we forget what this event was all about, the final minutes of Obama’s speech reminded the local press.
During the last crescendo of sound bites uttered by Obama such as ‘the road ahead will be long’ or ‘ we are heirs to a struggle for freedom’ or what about ‘we are people of improbable hope’ and then ’seize our common destiny’, the accompanying press corps was already being ushered off the stage.
Obama had scheduled a final press conference. Forty reporters representing such famous media brands as CNN, New York Times, Newsweek, Chicago Sun-Times etc. were allowed into the venue. Not one representative of the media outside of America was allowed to participate.
As the article in Spiegel so appropriately ended: ‘Sorry, Berlin.’ Doesn’t that tip a bucket of ice cold water all over us? What were we thinking? Did we really think we had a genuine person who wanted to reach out to Europe and mend fences? Or was this after all only a pressing of the flesh voter junket directed at the folk back home in the U of S A. Let’s hope not. The world really needs a change that we can all believe in.
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