Obama did not travel to Berlin for the commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years hence. The wall "fell" when the East Germans opened the Brandenburg Gate rather than forcibly dispurse the thousands of East Germans who had gathered there after a sequence of events had given hope that liberation from Soviet control and physical separation from the "west" was at hand. The date was November 9, 1989.
The wall had been there for over 30 years. As President Kennedy said during his great speech at the wall in 1961, as the wall was being constructed, it was the physical as well as symbolic divider between the governing doctrines of democracy and communism, of liberty and totalitarianism. The opening of the gate on November 9, 1989 was the physical as well as symbolic end to communism and totalitarianism in Europe. It was the end of the Cold War, and with that, it was the true and final end to World Wars I and II. And it was the end to the conflict which had been the primary concern of all past U. S. presidents back to Truman.
And President Obama stays home? He sends...a video? Oh my God...
Thankfully, Hillary was there. Symbolically, Hillary is always more than just Secretary of State. But, still...
How does President Obama expect to make good on his campaign promise to forge better ties with Europe if he is going to snub their most significant historical commemorations?
Hillary's been all around the world and back recently, with her trip to Pakistan. News reports of that trip were that notables accompanying her on that trip, as the trip wore on, looked progressively more exhausted. But not Hillary. So, she travels well. Good. But, for goodness sakes, President Obama, go with her to Berlin! Don't pass on Berlin. Don't send an emissary. Don't send a VIDEO - holy jeez - just freaking be there! JFK is rolling over. And so is President Reagan, whose "...bring down this wall!" speech stoked tremendous hope in East Germans and all under Soviet control that the west had not forgotten about them.
He sent a video...
I can't believe that...
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