Redstate

Posted at 10:38am on Jul. 11, 2008 Barry at the Gate. He's not wanted.

Angie Merkel: "Nein!"

By Mark Kilmer

German Chancellor Angela Merkel does not want Obama to speak at the Brandenburg Gate.

Earlier, I had whined, as is my recurrent wont, about Barack Obama's strangely arrogant desire to speak at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate when he visits Europe later this year. That Gate, when it was metaphorically closed, was the scene of one of the modern world's historic speeches, when Ronald Reagan challenged Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to open the gate and to "tear down this wall!" Now, Barry wants to invite the requisite Reagan-comparisons by talking HopeChangeHope at a place where the world's reality changed. What a lightweight!

Well, this is apparently getting some bad air in Germany these days.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she opposes the idea, referring to the highly symbolic landmark as an “inappropriate” setting for a speech linked to a domestic American political campaign.

And, as Politico.com reports in the same peace, an anonymous "American in Berlin with high-ranking diplomatic experience" describes:

“If he comes here, and does something like [speak at Brandenburg] against the wishes of the head of Germany’s government, he could be seen as somewhat arrogant, as presumptuous, that he disregarded her wishes and went ahead to do this anyway,” said another American in Berlin advising the German government on the matter.

Barry says he wants his foreign policy to be based on folding to the whims of foreign governments, though he phrases it differently. His politics of personal appeasement would be on shaky ground if he were to try to play Reagan in a TV event at the scene of one of Reagan's greatest symbolic triumphs.

Read More:

Posted in 2008 | Brandenburg Gate | Merkel | Obama — Comments (46)/ Email this page » / Read More »