News and Politics | July 25, 2008 | 27 comments

Obama rocks Germany!

source: http://rawstory.com//news/2008/Live_video_stream_of_Obama_speech_0724.html

bansheewail
BERLIN (AP) - Before an enormous crowd, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Thursday summoned Europeans and Americans together to "defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it" as surely as they conquered communism a generation ago.

"The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand," Obama said, speaking not far from where the Berlin Wall once divided the city.

"The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes, natives and immigrants, Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand," he said.

Obama said he was speaking as a citizen, not as a president, but the evening was awash in politics. His remarks inevitably invited comparison to historic speeches in the same city by Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, and he borrowed rhetoric from his own appeals to campaign audiences in the likes of Berlin, N.H., when he addressed a crowd in one of the great cities of Europe.

"People of Berlin, people of the world, this is our moment. This is our time," he said.

Obama's speech was the centerpiece of a fast-paced tour through Europe designed to reassure skeptical voters back home about his ability to lead the country and take a frayed cross-Atlantic alliance in a new direction after eight years of the Bush administration.

Republicans, chafing at the media attention Obama's campaign-season trip has drawn, sought to stoke doubts abut his claims.

In Die Welt, the German publication, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., said: "No one knows which Obama will show. Will it be the ideological, left-wing Democratic primary candidate who vowed to 'end' the war rather than win it, or the Democratic nominee who dismisses the progressing coalition victory as a 'distraction'? Will it be the American populist who has told supporters in the United States that he will demand more from our allies in Europe and get it, or the liberal internationalist hell-bent on being liked in Europe's salons?"

Obama met earlier in the day with German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a discussion that ranged across the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, climate change, energy issues and more.

Knots of bystanders waited along Obama's motorcade route for him to pass. One man yelled out in English, "Yes, we can," the senator's campaign refrain, when he emerged from his car to enter his hotel.

Obama drew loud applause as he strode confidently across a large podium erected at the base of the Victory Column in Tiergarten Park in the heart of Berlin.

This video is from CNN.com, broadcast July 24, 2008.

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27 comments // Obama rocks Germany! // Video

  • MaikVukan
    • 0
      MaikVukan  
    • Image

    • More than 200.000 people were listening to Barack Obama's speech at the Siegessäule in Berlin. The democratic candidate managed to dominate the headlines for days and caused a real media-hype in Germany. But what is the secret of his success in this country? German politicans just dream about such an admiration...

      Obamania in Berlin - a film by Maik Vukan.

    • 3 years ago
  • maasanova
    • 0
      maasanova  

    • Globalism and world government may sound like a good idea until you realize that you will be ruled over by an oligarchy that will not have humanity's best interests in mind; the same oligarchy that is formenting war and terror and hoarding the earths resources right now.

      The bottom line is this: we don't need the Patriot Act, Homeland Security, FISA and an endless war on terror and a president with dicatorial powers and that's what Obama supports. We need more than a flashy leader who can give a good speech on globalism and world government.

    • 3 years ago
  • mrp726
    • 0
      mrp726  

    • It is pretty bold to say that globalism ruined the economy when energy prices are so high and completely out of our control, or what about the deregulation of the the banking system thats lead to the housing crisis, or the fact that were spending billions of borrowed money to fight a war? Those don't affect the Economy at all I'm sure of it, but hey I'm no economist. Plus If all those jobs were still in the US, we'd be paying a lot more for the same products and services... so it might have all evened out in the end anyway.

      I like to believe that the destiny of humankind is to truly realize the oness and connectedness of everything only then will there truly be peace. A global economy/globalism is a step in that direction in my view. Borders and walls and everything that says I am not like you or I'm better than you creates separateness, hatred, and wars.

    • 3 years ago
  • phukna
    • 0
      phukna  

    • McCain was a retard to be in German restaurant when he did his interview,
      he should have been in texas where the hurricane hit. to get more simpathy for rambo.

      Obama!
      rock out with your .... out

    • 3 years ago
  • omordn
  • maasanova
    • 0
      maasanova  

    • Globalism has ruined America's economy and sent all of our jobs to China and India.

      Barack Obama is a globalist, or a citizen of the world as he likes to call it, but is anti-American. That's why he voted for FISA, voted for the Patriot Act and continues to fight Bush's phony war on terrorism and has basically given no opposition to anything the Bush administration has done over the past seven years. Obama has also vowed to continue to fund Israeli aggression in the middle east, including the illegal occupation of Palestine.

      Everyone may love Obama now, but when America's conditions do not improve, you will no longer think he is the next best thing since sliced bread. And remember those swathing, dictatorial powers Bush gave himself? Well Obama has them, as well as all future presidents/puppet dictators.

    • 3 years ago
  • omordn
  • charlirunner
    • 0
      charlirunner  

    • global warming? the
      earth has actually been cooling, GW is a mantra for the
      New Age religionists to maintain a base of power to show up much we need them. Al Gore is a clown preaching to the masses about how we should conduct our lives when his own house requires 238 times the energy the average persons home does. McCain and
      Obama, both ass kissers to the GW crowd! Obama on his statement about Germany coming together! Did he sleep thru History class or what? Germany came together because they were beaten. It makes
      about as much sense as when Obama talked about
      the "Bomb" being dropped on Pearl Harbor!! Harvard must not teach History or require its students to do so.

    • 3 years ago
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  
    • charlirunner:

      That's nonsense! Over the past several decades, I have observed winters geting milder and shorter, summers getting longer and hotter, and the last ten years have seen the five hottest years, globally, since 1890. You are merely repeating the mendacious propaganda which the oil industry pushes and pays people like you to spread.

    • 3 years ago
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  
    • charlirunner:

      Furthermore, Al Gore's mansion is covered with photovoltaic panels, he uses a geothermic pump as well as small wind turbine - he in fact produces more electricity than he uses, and puts some into the grid. Your ugly lies behoove you not.

    • 3 years ago
  • maasanova
    • 0
      maasanova  
    • charlirunner:

      Al Gore owns controlling stock in Occidental (Oxy) Petroleum. He is also set to profit handsomely in green technology. All of this wouldn't be so bad except for that global warming is a faulty science and many scientist disagree that man is the cause of it. Meanwhile, real environmental problems (species that pollenate crops dying, depleted uranium in the atmosphere, poisons in the water supply) aren't being addressed.

    • 3 years ago
  • maasanova
    • 0
      maasanova  

    • Obama gave us two enemies to rally around: terrorism and global warming; it's what great dictatorial leaders throughout history have done.

      The war on terrorism and the the war on global warming, like the war on drugs, are not wars meant to be won.

      These kinds of "enemies" that political leaders always insist that we rally around are just mechanisms to be used against the populace.

      Other than that he really said nothing new, in fact the entire speech was rather frightening to me.

    • 3 years ago
  • mrp726
    • 0
      mrp726  
    • maasanova:

      Really!!! "frightening" Yes trying to bring countries together around common goals that benefit humanity can be scary.. I say we continue to act as if the rest of the world means nothing to us and our Country can continue the nose dive that its in!

    • 3 years ago
  • maasanova
    • 0
      maasanova  
    • maasanova:

      Globalism has ruined America's economy and sent all of our jobs to China and India.

      Barack Obama is a globalist, or a citizen of the world as he likes to call it, but is anti-American. That's why he voted for FISA, voted for the Patriot Act and continues to fight Bush's phony war on terrorism and has basically given no opposition to anything the Bush administration has done over the past seven years. Obama has also vowed to continue to fund Israeli aggression in the middle east, including the illegal occupation of Palestine.

      And remember those swathing, dictatorial powers Bush gave himself? Well Obama has them, as well as all future presidents/puppet dictators.

    • 3 years ago
  • bishopobispo
    • 0
      bishopobispo  

    • I just want to share a blip of inspiration with all you current users and Barack supporters.

      I live and work in Korea. This morning while I was eating breakfast at work my Korean boss came to me to talk about American politics. 'I was watching the news', she said, 'Obama is up by 6 points'.

      'That's good', I responded, 'I'm a democrat'.

      Her follow up?

      'I am too'.

      American policy, both domestic and international, has a huge impact on the world. My boss is intelligent enough to know our next president effects not only Americans, but herself and other Koreans as well (see Korea-U.S. FTA that George McCain supports and Obama, and many Koreans, oppose). To expose yourself, to communicate to only those who are capable of voting for you would be doing the world a disservice. Obama understands that.

      Now if I could only get him to swing through Asia.

    • 3 years ago
  • cleansouth
  • Vierotchka
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  

    • Most Germans are quite fluent in English. Most Europeans speak English, English is one of the compulsory subjects in the schools of most of Europe, so I doubt very much that there were many in attendance who didn't understand what he was saying.

    • 3 years ago
  • cleansouth
  • Vierotchka
  • parisinla
  • Vierotchka
  • goldenways
  • bansheewail
    • 0
      bansheewail  

    • What do you think would happen if a German candidate came to America and gave a speech in German?? 200,000+ people is a strong turnout considering that many in attendance didn't understand one word he was saying.

    • 3 years ago
  • Adumbration
  • parisinla
    • 0
      parisinla  
    • bansheewail:

      Its common place in germany for people to speak english. I'm not at all surpized about the turnout. but the same thing would never happen in the states. Becasue none of us speak German ... nor do we care about german politics. We're a seflish people.

    • 3 years ago
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