RSS Feed MenuThe president has reportedly declined to travel to Berlin for the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Commentary’s blog carries an apt comment from Rick Richman.
[P]erhaps [Obama's] political advisers will consider the optics of his ending his first year in office with (1) a trip to Copenhagen on behalf of his hometown, (2) a trip to Oslo to pick up a prize he admits he does not deserve, and (3) a failure to take a trip to Berlin to help celebrate his country’s historic accomplishment.
On the plus side, November 9 is a good moment to begin planning for a Ronald Reagan memorial to be ready by the time of the 25th anniversary. My nomination for the location: the big empty traffic circle on the Virginia side of the Memorial Bridge, in line with both Arlington Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial.
It’s now a perfectly blank piece of greensward, but visible to every commuter en route to the airport named after Reagan. Here’s where America should memorialize the president who led the country to final victory in the Cold War – and maybe remember the wall that once symbolized the divide between freedom and unfreedom, and whose overthrow seems such a secondary concern to the current president.
mickster99 // Oct 20, 2009 at 5:20 am
In order to control the people we will need powerful voices to ensure only our message is heard 24/7. A master stroke of vision is Ruppert Murdoch’s Fox News. Only problem is it should directly control by an american and visionary that rouse the people. This is the gift and power of our own is Herr Beck. Ruppert is only sad aussie puppet to which we can control and eventually must eliminate. Our blood ine must be pure. No Mongrelized Australia blood please. We must be all Americans. As soon as we annex Canada David’s problems will be solved.
johnmarzan // Oct 20, 2009 at 8:41 am
so, is david frum going to comment about the WH war vs. FOXNEWS? was it smart for rahm emanuel to pursue that tactic? what say you david? you’re awfully silent.
torourke // Oct 20, 2009 at 8:43 am
balconesfault,
Are you really that dense? Do you think China has become one of the world’s great economic superpowers because of Communism? Ever hear of Deng Xiaoepeng? The guy who liberalized China’s economic policies, liberalized free trade, and helped China undertake a dramatic rise in living standards? China is an authoritarian police state whose record on human rights is a disaster (which the Obama administration papers over), but their economic policies are a far cry from Mao’s.
There’s also a big difference between claiming that we no longer possess an inordinate fear of Communism in 1977 when Cambodia is in the midst of one of the greatest bloodbaths in human history and when the Soviet Union is imprisoning Eastern Europe while exporting money and personnel to various third world countries, and today when the Soviet Union has collapsed and international communism has been utterly discredited. But I can always count on you to provide the sneering moral equivalence that has been a hallmark of American liberalism for decades.
sinz54 // Oct 20, 2009 at 9:37 am
balconesfault: since about 1/3 of the US debt is currently held by a Communist country who we granted permanent most favored nation trade status to on December 27, 2001.
First of all, China now has a vibrant free market. Many state-owned businesses have been privatized. (When is Obama going to privatize General Motors?)
Secondly, China never vowed to “bury” America, as did Khrushchev. In 50 years there has never been the equivalent of the Cuban Missile Crisis with China. China’s history goes back some 5,000 years, but in all that time, China has very rarely ever launched an aggressive war against a foreign land. The U.S. has projected its power more in the last 50 years than China has in 5,000 years.
Thirdly, the U.S. ought to fear China, but for a very different reason:
They now hold much of our skyrocketing debt.
That certainly wasn’t true of the USSR during the Cold War.
I suspect that particular crisis is going to hit some time during the Obama Administration.
MI-GOPer // Oct 20, 2009 at 9:39 am
Returning to the topic for a second –and, yes, I know that will piss off the Democrat FarLeft trolls here– but Obama is wrong to pass up any opportunity to get away from the agenda of the Democrat Congress and travel abroad. Presidents, even ineffective ones, look better when on the international stage underscoring American accomplishments of prior generations.
To skip the celebration of the Berlin Wall collapse, the implosion of communism, the unification of a free & democratic Germany, the release of millions of Eastern Europeans from the harness of Russian hegemony… those are hugely significant moments in our recent history that no President should bypass… especially one with falling approval ratings.
I’d love to see the 2012 hopefuls, the GOP leadership in the House and Senate, the past GOP Presidents and Michael Steele go to Berlin and remind Americans of how crucial having the right person as Commander in Chief at the right point in time can make a lifetime of difference in the world… far more difference than can be wrapped up in a deflated Nobel Peace Prize.
Of course, for that to happen would require leadership and bold vision. We ain’t got that yet.
sinz54 // Oct 21, 2009 at 9:43 am
mi-goper: Presidents, even ineffective ones, look better when on the international stage underscoring American accomplishments of prior generations.
It didn’t help Jimmy Carter.
I remember that after Carter got Israel and Egypt to sign the peace treaty at Camp David, his approval rating didn’t budge a bit.
In normal times, foreign travel can provide favorable publicity for a POTUS. But when the economy is in deep trouble (as it was in the second half of Carter’s term and as it is now), Americans aren’t going to care. In fact, I remember all the grumbling that Carter was traveling around the world signing pieces of paper–why doesn’t he come back home and devote his full energies to solving the economic mess?
sinz54 // Oct 21, 2009 at 5:35 pm
mi-goper: To skip the celebration of the Berlin Wall collapse, the implosion of communism, the unification of a free & democratic Germany, the release of millions of Eastern Europeans from the harness of Russian hegemony… those are hugely significant moments in our recent history
It will be a national embarrassment for the U.S. that Mikhail Gorbachev will be there in person–but the POTUS will not be.
I hope at least one of the foreign dignitaries takes the time to remind the assembled crowds and the worldwide media of Reagan’s call for the Berlin Wall to come down. Then Jake Tapper can ask Obama about that.