Obama to germany

[GermanDunk]

Obama is going to deliver a speech in Berlin on Thursday.

Seems they open up a major street, during sports events called fan-zone .

Going to be interesting to see how much people will gather just to watch that guy.

Could be a nice boost on the road to Pen. ave.

[Zaknaf3in]

I'm currently planning to be there.

[GermanDunk]

Three hours to go until " Yes we can but Mc will do it " lol

[Flacolaco]

Be careful, he might raise your taxes while he's there.

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

Be careful, he might raise your taxes while he's there.

I rather would say he is looking for some advice how to raise taxes, as our´s are already high...

[GermanDunk]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

Be careful, he might raise your taxes while he's there.

No one will ever beat germany in creating new taxes. We still pay taxes on Champagne and sparkling wine, that our good old emperor invented to pimp the Navy.

That was 1920 and is still paid ... and ...

the ships are still not delivered.

[GuerillaBlack]

McCain's campaign says "OBAMA HAS NEVA BEEN TO TEH IRAQ!!!", among other thing. So, Obama took it overseas, and where he has visited, the leaders have agreed with him. For example, Iraq's prime minister likes the timetable Obama set for Iraq. But McCain and friends "UH...NO! HE WAS MISQUOTED!!!" Uh...no he wasn't. He was translated by his own private translator. He's being a really bitter bear about this speech and his tour. He gets mad that Obama hasn't gone over seas in awhile, but then when he goes, he gets mad about him being gone.

McCain's campain for the loss this week. Major loss.

[GuerillaBlack]

Spoke to easily 100,000 today in Berlin. German Police say it was closer to 200,000.

[AxdemxO]

wow thats pretty good

[Usually Lurkin]

When claiming to be a "citizen of the world" like Obama, of course, visiting the actual US troops would be "inappropriate"

Obama aide: Military visit would have been 'inappropriate'

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs explains the cancellation of a stop at a U.S. military base in Germany during a leg of the trip paid for (unlike the Iraq and Afghanistan visits) by his campaign:

During his trip as part of the CODEL to Afghanistan and Iraq, Senator Obama visited the combat support hospital in the Green Zone in Baghdad and had a number of other visits with the troops.
For the second part of his trip, the senator wanted to visit the men and women at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to express his gratitude for their service and sacrifice. The senator decided out of respect for these servicemen and women that it would be inappropriate to make a stop to visit troops at a U.S. military facility as part of a trip funded by the campaign."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmi...e.html?showall

[DirkFTW]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

He gets mad that Obama hasn't gone over seas in awhile, but then when he goes, he gets mad about the three major networks tripping over themselves to follow him as if no one has ever made this trip before.

Fixed.

[jefelump]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

Spoke to easily 100,000 today in Berlin. German Police say it was closer to 200,000.

Impressive.... and not a single one of them can vote for him.

[chumdawg]

Don't think that American voters aren't noticing.

[GuerillaBlack]

Originally Posted by jefelump

Impressive.... and not a single one of them can vote for him.

Like when McCain was in Latin America last month?

[jefelump]

Originally Posted by Usually Lurkin

When claiming to be a "citizen of the world" like Obama, of course, visiting the actual US troops would be "inappropriate"


http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmi...e.html?showall

I don't care who paid for the trip. Obama just dissed the injured troops. These men will receive purple hearts, and then will probably serve under a Commander In Chief who didn't take the time to go see them in the hospital when he had the chance. How can they be expected to respect him? Amazing...

[GuerillaBlack]

Originally Posted by DirkFTW

Fixed.

Nope. McCain is the one who urged Obama to go. Now that he went on this trip, it is backfiring on McCain's faced as he is choosing between Kraft or Bordon Cheese.

[jefelump]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

Like when McCain was in Latin America last month?

Sure, like when McCain was in Latin America.... However, I didn't see any massive media reports about it. No pictures of the thousands of people waiting to hear the speech. Or perhaps nobody cared and there was nothing to report. Doesn't really matter. The point is campaign speeches should be made to the people who will be voting. It seems Obama is trying to make official US policy while over there... kinda like he's paving the way for his presidency to begin.

And you can say McCain did the same when he was in Latin America, but then that would imply you think I care what McCain does. I don't.

[jefelump]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

Don't think that American voters aren't noticing.

Oh, I certainly hope they are...

[Usually Lurkin]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

Nope. McCain is the one who urged Obama to go. Now that he went on this trip, it is backfiring on McCain's faced as he is choosing between Kraft or Bordon Cheese.

So far no European boost for Obama in the polls (unless you think he'd be losing a lot of ground now without the theater of world travel).
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epo...225.html#chart

Maybe people are as easily impressed with a 15 cent reduction in gasoline prices as they are the use of 200,000 Germans as a campaign prop.

[jefelump]

Originally Posted by Usually Lurkin

So far no European boost for Obama in the polls (unless you think he'd be loosing a lot of ground now without the theater of world travel).
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epo...225.html#chart

Maybe people are as easily impressed with a 15 cent reduction in gasoline prices as they are the use of 200,000 Germans as a campaign prop.

No offense to our German friends on this chatboard, but I, as an American voter, I am far more impressed with decreased gas prices than I am with a crowd of 200,000 people at a campaign speech.

[DirkFTW]

Which is worse, decreased crowds for German speeches or $200.00 barrel of gas?

[Dr.Zoidberg]

I can promise you, Germans would be also much more impressed with decreased gas prices than with Obama...

[DirkFTW]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

Nope. McCain is the one who urged Obama to go. Now that he went on this trip, it is backfiring on McCain's faced as he is choosing between Kraft or Bordon Cheese.

Nope what? I didn't argue that McCain pressured Obama to go. Obama needed to go.

The media needed to stay objective.

[GuerillaBlack]

Why question his priorities? He went to Germany to speak to the people and meet with their leaders. Or were those not his priorities?



meanwhile...

[jefelump]

You're right Guerilla, other candidates have spoken overseas during presidential campaigns, but that doesn't make it right. What exactly does a candidate hope to achieve while giving a speech to a crowd of people who can't vote anyways? Obama is trying to gain favor with people of other countries. He wants to be liked around the world. So when I'm in the polling both, do you really think I care how much German, France, England, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries like or dis-like him?

[GuerillaBlack]

Originally Posted by jefelump

You're right Guerilla, other candidates have spoken overseas during presidential campaigns, but that doesn't make it right. What exactly does a candidate hope to achieve while giving a speech to a crowd of people who can't vote anyways? Obama is trying to gain favor with people of other countries. He wants to be liked around the world. So when I'm in the polling both, do you really think I care how much German, France, England, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries like or dis-like him?

You shouldn't too much, but it does count. You don't want other nations hating us and not wanting to cooperate.

[dude1394]

This guy is starting to disturb me. He's starting to sound like an antichrist.

[GuerillaBlack]

Originally Posted by dude1394

This guy is starting to disturb me. He's starting to sound like an antichrist.

So let me ask you, what is the difference between 200,000 people watching a speech live, or millions who watch it live on the news?

[jefelump]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

You shouldn't too much, but it does count. You don't want other nations hating us and not wanting to cooperate.

We will always have other nations that hate us, no matter who is in office. 9/11 didn't happen because the terrorists didn't like GW. Their little jihad against us started long before, and is well documented.

Castro doesn't hate us because of GW. He hated us long before... Bay of Pigs invasion anyone?

My point is nations that are generally friendly to us are going to remain so, irregardless of who is in power. Take Iraq II for example. France and Germany were against us at the UN. The retoric got pretty bad there for a while. You would have thought we had made enemies for life out of France and Germany... And then their leaders were voted out of office. We now have good relations in those countries, but we still have the same GW in the US. So whether or not another country "likes" us changes with the wind. It is not a basis for me in choosing a President. I couldn't give a rat's @$$ who likes GW. I voted for him twice, and would do it again.

[jefelump]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

So let me ask you, what is the difference between 200,000 people watching a speech live, or millions who watch it live on the news?

The drive home when it's over. Talk about a traffic jam.....

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

So let me ask you, what is the difference between 200,000 people watching a speech live, or millions who watch it live on the news?

It's not really that, it's the rhetoric really. The blank slate that he seems to be and the lack of core convictions that I can see. His willingness to let thousands of iraqis to genocide without blinking an eye and talking about attacking Pakistan.

[GermanDunk]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

Why question his priorities? He went to Germany to speak to the people and meet with their leaders. Or were those not his priorities?

No, his speech was mainly designed for the US folks. I watched it and think it was medium. Not one single joke. He tried to act as a real statesman and somehow it worked.

Crowds, mainly young citizens, in germany were pleased to listen to him, because they are tired of crappy german government.
And they were looking for entertainment.

[Flacolaco]

Shouldn't people in other countries be afraid that the United States of America is about to elect a commander of its armed forces who's only experience is handing out fliers in Illinois?

[GermanDunk]

Ronny was a middle class actor who sometimes even didn´t understand what he is talking about. But he was not that bad. Obama made it out of the crap to a senator. So where is the problem.
But i don´t think he will win the elections. It´s four month to go and it seems he has shot his bolt.

[Usually Lurkin]

Originally Posted by GermanDunk

Ronny was a middle class actor . . . .

Do you mean former governor of California Ronald Reagan?

[GermanDunk]

Originally Posted by Usually Lurkin

Do you mean former governor of California Ronald Reagan?

Sure

[Maringa]

Those pictures above aren't actual Germans...they are pictures of the press core.....

[Usually Lurkin]

200,000 or 20,000?
http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/b...g.aspx?id=2492

By 8 p.m. -- as the crowd filed out, obediently following the order to disperse given over the loud-speaker system -- the number being cited had grown to fully 200,000. As this German timeline indicates, the original source for the rapidly growing estimates was in fact the rally organizers: i.e. the Obama team.

As the Berlin-based writer Christian J. Heinrich notes: "During the big anti-Bush demonstration after the fall of Baghdad, there were 250,000 people. And it looked totally different from yesterday. Then, you couldn't move all the way from the Brandenburg Gate to the Technical University [on the western side of Tiergarten park, another kilometer beyond the Siegessäule]."

[rabbitproof]

"During the big anti-Bush demonstration after the fall of Baghdad, there were 250,000 people."

250k? That's a lot but not surprising, I suppose, as people will make more noise about what they dislike than what they like. Anyways, it looks like 20,000 from that pic unless they're counting the tree climbers and the pocket-sized people.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by GermanDunk

Ronny was a middle class actor who sometimes even didn´t understand what he is talking about. But he was not that bad. Obama made it out of the crap to a senator. So where is the problem.
But i don´t think he will win the elections. It´s four month to go and it seems he has shot his bolt.

I think many would say you have misunderestimated Renaldous Maximus.
From the best and worst reviews of his own writings.
http://www.amazon.com/review/product...owViewpoints=1

the best

82 of 91 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Many of Us Underestimated Ronald Reagan, March 19, 2001
By David Thomson "Second Rate Eric Hoffer Imitator"
This selection of 670 radio commentaries Ronald Reagan wrote between 1975 and 1979 astonishes me to no end. Although I was an ardent supporter of the former President, it seemed to me that Reagan's intellect left much to be desired. At best I concluded that Reagan had superb gut instincts, but was primarily the mouthpiece of those far more intelligent than himself. The first question concerning--Reagan, In His Own Hand--that came to mind was whether Reagan relied upon a ghost writer. After all, it is well established that some political leaders such as John F. Kennedy were credited for books they never wrote. I was therefore amazed to learn that it appears Ronald Reagan didn't even have an editorial assistant. These writings are indeed the result of Reagan's many years of intellectual inquiry in issues dominating the last three quarters of a century.

The editors of this collection rightfully describe Reagan as "a one-man think tank." His insights on why Communism would inevitably disintegrate alone justifies the purchase of this work. Reagan's detractors were upset when the President called the now defunct Soviet Union an "evil empire." Nevertheless, Reagan refused to mealy mouth the truth. In the end Reagan insisted that we stay the course in our opposition to World Communism. A weaker but still dangerous Soviet Union might still exist today had it not been for President Reagan. He was proven correct and his opponents should have the integrity to admit their errors in judgment. The great leader also clearly understood the values of Democratic Capitalism. Some may legitimately nit-pick Reagan on some of the specifics, but substantially he was on target. Reagan's own words reveal a profound realization that dire poverty can only be eradicated by an essentially free economic system; government policies may be well meaning, but inadvertently often do more harm than good.

Ronald Reagan was one of the greatest Presidents in our nation's history. Even many professional Liberal historians are favorably reevaluating Reagan's Presidency. --Reagan, In His Own Hand--deserves a prominent place in one's library. These radio commentaries allow us to more fully comprehend how fortunate we were that Ronald Reagan lead our nation during such a crucial era.

The worst

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars More depth than I thought, August 20, 2001
By Peter Ingemi
I must admit I had a personal bone to pick with Mr. Reagan. The changes in the Social Security laws enacted in 82 caused my best friend to lose his SS benefits and work like a dog (Somedays as much as 20 hrs a day at a local diner) to afford college. That same friend and godfather of my son still blames him, although that same friend has a killer job at a killer pay. I didn't like or trust Reagan in the 80's. Even as I grew more conservative and saw the results of his years I still remained ambivalent toward him.

This Book changed much of my mind. Most of the arguements are straightforward and well put. It also shows Reagan had a sense of history, that alone would increase my respect toward him. I was struck at how timely many of the arguements therin apply today over 20 years after they were made. Even the arguements I disagreed with were made properly and without the mallace and spin of the current day.

If nothing else this book should dismiss the idea that Reagan is a simpleton who didn't have his own ideas. (where have we heard this lately?) Those who disagree with those ideas must admit at last that they were his own.

After reading this book I find that I like and respect Reagan much more. If nothing else from reading it you will find him more interesting. It can on occasion be dry reading so beware. I can't say I loved the book but I'm glad I read it.

I think that maybe you are being a person who doesn't know what they are talking about.