OBAMA'S EPIC FAIL IN BERLIN

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.  Of course, Obama was never actually mighty.  He simply had sycophantic media to portray him that way.  But I digress...

Barack Obama bombs in Berlin: a weak, underwhelming address from a floundering president

In stark contrast to that of his presidential predecessors, Barack Obama's message on Wednesday was pure mush, another clichéd "citizens of the world" polemic with little substance. This was a speech big on platitudes and hopeless idealism, while containing much that was counter-productive for the world's superpower. Ultimately it was little more than a laundry list of Obama's favorite liberal pet causes, including cutting nuclear weapons, warning about climate change, putting an end to all wars, shutting Guantanamo, ending global poverty, and backing the European Project. It was a combination of staggering naiveté, the appeasement of America’s enemies and strategic adversaries, and the championing of more big government solutions.

There was little in this speech that advances US interests, or makes the world a safer place. Completely missing from Obama's address was a call for the West to stand up to the rising threat of Islamist militancy, the defense of Christians facing huge levels of persecution and intimidation in the Middle East, strong condemnation of Iran and North Korea's nuclear ambitions, and any criticism of growing authoritarianism in Russia. The president paid lip service to the NATO alliance, which has proved critical in preserving Europe's security for over 60 years, but made no call for the alliance to be strengthened in the wake of waning support and investment in Europe.

Devoted fanboy Chris Matthews did his best to spin the disaster, claiming it was that horrible Berlin sun that ruined everything.

"I think a lot of the problem he had today was the late afternoon sun in Berlin ruined his use of the teleprompter and so his usual dramatic windup was ruined," Matthews said immediately after the speech. "I think he was really struggling with the text there."

But let's face it, when you lose 97% of your audience (200,000 in 2008 compared to 6,000 yesterday) you're dealing with a much bigger problem. And no, it really isn't global warming.

"More severe storms. More famine and floods. New waves of refugees. Coastlines that vanish. Oceans that rise. This is the future we must avert. This is the global threat of our time. And for the sake of future generations, our generation must move toward a global compact to confront a changing climate before it is too late. That is our job. That is our task. We have to get to work."

There was actually some question as to whether or not there were even 6,000.  According to a pool reporter the crowd was even smaller than that, perhaps as few as 4,500.

Not only was Obama's emphasis on "global warming" misplaced (undoubtedly an attempt to pander to a German audience) but his tribute to the heroic Germans who resisted Communism during the Cold War was characteristically lame:

Today, speaking at the Brandenburg Gate, President Obama paid appropriate tribute to the brave East Germans who rebelled 60 years ago against Communist dictatorship:

"Today, 60 years after they rose up against oppression, we remember the East German heroes of June 17th.  When the wall finally came down, it was their dreams that were fulfilled."

But he drew a strange lesson from their uprising:

"Their strength and their passion, their enduring example remind us that for all the power of militaries, for all the authority of governments, it is citizens who choose whether to be defined by a wall, or whether to tear it down."

If only.

In 1953, the citizens of East Germany chose freedom. But their uprising failed. It failed because it was repressed by superior power - by armed force, by military might. If you were a 30-year old who sought freedom in 1953, your dream of living in freedom wasn't fulfilled until you were 66. And it was fulfilled in large part because of Western military strength, and in particular Ronald Reagan's military build-up.

So it's not enough for citizens to "choose" freedom or justice. Freedom needs to be backed by strength. Otherwise it loses. Otherwise we see what Leo Strauss called "the sorry spectacle of justice without a sword or of justice unable to use the sword." Contra Obama, the lesson of 1953 - and of the Weimar Republic, to which Strauss was referring - is that merely wishing for justice, and seeking freedom, is not enough.

It would pay greater honor to the brave men and women of 1953 to acknowledge this fact.

With the shit hitting the fan on a daily basis at home it's no wonder Obama ran to a foreign capital to get some love.  If that was his intent then there is only one way to describe the junket to Berlin: EPIC FAIL!