Obama Berlin Speech: US Foreign Service Workers Instructed Not To Attend

**UPDATE 7/25** ThinkProgress now reports that the bar on Foreign Service workers attending Obama's speech in Berlin --through what a diplomat's union called an "unnecessarily narrow interpretation" of the Foreign Affairs Manual-- may be even more partisan than initially reported. Despite railing against Obama for giving a speech outside the country, John McCain himself gave a speech in Ottowa as recently as June of this year, as reported by The Huffington Post's Rachel Weiner yesterday. Now, ThinkProgress reveals that McCain's speech in Canada prompted no such restrictions for the country's Foreign Service workers. In fact:

The event was reportedly organized in part by U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins, whom President Bush appointed in 2005. But more than that, the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa confirmed to ThinkProgress that Wilkins also attended the event.

Not only did McCain make clear references to and critiques of Obama's policy positions in the speech, but he also referred to his own presidential campaign six times.

***

Although it appears most of Berlin is heading to Obama's speech today, US Foreign Service personnel will be banned from the event. And they are not happy. The American Foreign Service Association, a union of Foreign Service workers are opposing the rule. Read more from The Washington Post. And watch the speech live here.

The U.S. Embassy in Berlin has instructed Foreign Service personnel stationed there not to attend Sen. Barack Obama's public rally today, which the State Department this week labeled a "partisan political activity" prohibited under its regulations for those serving overseas.

Government employees serving in the United States are permitted to attend such events under the Hatch Act, which bars other partisan activity, such as contributing money or working in behalf of a candidate...

...The American Foreign Service Association, the union of the diplomatic corps, objected to the ruling, calling it an "unnecessarily narrow interpretation" of the Foreign Affairs Manual. "The fact that you are working for the U.S. government overseas should not preclude political activity that you could engage in in the United States," one retired senior Foreign Service officer said.

HuffPost blogger Jacob Heilbrunn looks into the political connections around the rule:

Indeed, the administration has a long and tawdry record of trying to browbeat government agencies into submission, whether it's the CIA or the Centers for Disease Control. The State Department is perhaps highest on the list of conservatives and neocons who see it as the center of disloyalty and treachery. But this latest action represents a new low. If it's going to these lengths, the Bush administration must be really worried about Sen. John McCain's prospects.

Comments

[brushfinch]

Bush and cohorts are in the throes of PANIC....they are being utterly ridiculous!!! I hope the foreign service workers went anyway...

[Oilygarch]

-prolly went under-cover. It ain't every-day you get a chance at such historic events.

Yes, the current Admin feels like a cornered rat. It a lizzardly fight or fight response as it contemplates its own demise. .

[llmitchellb]

Bet they went anyway!

[kellygrrrl]

sure hope so

[bikerdude]

Despite the best efforts of the the State Department and this failed administration, Senator Obama was still able to draw over 200,000 people to hear him speak. They fear him and for good reason. He will lead the mass destruction of the Republican party for the forseeable future. Git 'em dude....

[gladys46]

Interesting how we heard of no such rules or regs promulgated against Mc in any of his travels! No MSM spins or who or what crowds gathered for him in Iraq, not even troops of any creed!! Mc travels to Colombia discussing/representing free trade with no mention of regs!!

Is Mc the only FREE american!? Free to fumble all over places and words and borders and timelines!?

[Mingpeke]

No one was intrested in McCain when he went.

[jp5472]

Excellent observations and questions...unfortunately the MSM won't be answering anytime soon.

[notthistime]

didn't you hear? Different rules apply to Obama.

[laserbob]

Let's see, these folks that are American citizens, who will most likely be voting for their
candidate while posted overseas are not allowed to attend an event where a possible
candidate that they may vote for is speaking? That's total BS. I was in Kuwait City during
the first Clinton election, and they had a HUGE party at the US Embassy where it was
truly a "Come out and support Bush Sr. Event". They were soooo terrified that if Mr.
Clinton got elected that Saddam would invade the next day, the majority of folks were
in tears when Mr. Bush lost.. But it was def. a State Dept. function, and those same
workers were all running around wearing Bush pin's, t-shirts, etc. In fact, I tried to
calm down a few of the locals that I was at the party with that it was NOT the end of
the world. That went over like a lead balloon and I kept my opinions about Clinton
to myself for the rest of the evening.. I guess these Bush folks do play their own
brand of dirty poker, and they've passed along the marked decks to Mr. McCain..

d.

[go4thegold]

Amazing... We're supposed to be the land of the free... As long as you don't go to see someone speak who's not a republican. Do you think they'd have issued this edict if it was McCain speaking. No way. It's criminal what this administration is doing. D.

[KareninSac]

Wonder what the Bushies are going to do now that 200,000 American flag waving Germans showed up to the speech. Bomb 'em? They are becoming the Windmill people--just flailing around, and blowing in the breeze. You can't even get that many Americans in one place, unless it's a sporting event.

[DemocracyIsComing]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OETwbVBPI1U

"Democracy" by Leonard Cohen

It's coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It's coming from the feel
that this ain't exactly real,
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It's coming through a crack in the wall;
on a visionary flood of alcohol;
from the staggering account
of the Sermon on the Mount
which I don't pretend to understand at all.
It's coming from the silence
on the dock of the bay,
from the brave, the bold, the battered
heart of Chevrolet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the sorrow in the street,
the holy places where the races meet;
from the homicidal bitchin'
that goes down in every kitchen
to determine who will serve and who will eat.
From the wells of disappointment
where the women kneel to pray
for the grace of God in the desert here
and the desert far away:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on
O mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
Past the Reefs of Greed
Through the Squalls of Hate
Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.

[DemocracyIsComing]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OETwbVBPI1U

"Democracy" by Leonard Cohen (part 2)


It's coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It's here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.
It's here the family's broken
and it's here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the women and the men.
O baby, we'll be making love again.
We'll be going down so deep
the river's going to weep,
and the mountain's going to shout Amen!
It's coming like the tidal flood
beneath the lunar sway,
imperial, mysterious,
in amorous array:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on ...

I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can't stand the scene.
And I'm neither left or right
I'm just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay,
I'm junk but I'm still holding up
this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

[booker52]

How petty. I bet if this was McCain the ruling would of been different. Wanna bet???

[olderdem]

Of course there would be no need to ban them from a McSame speech. No one would come anyway.

[ZimboChick]

and when I said Mugabe and Bush were similar u all scoffed...from waterboarding, to wiretapping to this ...what is the difference?

[RTIII]

I would NEVER listen to such an order - I'd do it anyway if I were so inclined - and I am.
.

[gladys46]

That's the spirit ... FREEDOM ... America is a FREE country and that includes its citizens!!

[MarkInEugene]

No here's a patriotic American !

[Oilygarch]

*LOL*

G-dspeed!!

Before the 1st Gulf-War, I marched in Washington DC along with 200K other peeps.

Somehow I got away wearing my full-dress-blues!!

Maybe it was because I was younger and more reckless then.

Oh, and the place wasn't as riddled with the current array of redundant surveillance cameras..

[MarkInEugene]

If I were a Republican, I would be worried that all the lying and cheating that my Party has done particularly in the last 8 years has nearly destroyed unity in this country. Your leaders have manipulated, lied, cheated and undermined brilliantly. You've subverted the will of the people and twisted the legal system to the point where justice is unrecongnizable. And before you go complaining about Democrats, just focus a second on this fact.

All the lies and manipulations in the world aren't going to get you genuine heartfelt, patriotic respect for this Union of States. Keep it up and you will end up with a population of citizens who feel they are prisoners in their own country; citizens with nothing but contempt for their government culminating in a civil war. Is that what you want? Because you've raised the bar to a level of oppression that just won't fly in a free country!

[SouthernYankeeBelle]

Are you kidding. In the TN where I live you have people still drinking the cool aid of the republicans. I said if Clinton had been carrying on like this you republicans would be going for impeachment instead you went for impeachment for having sex. Heck Clinton and Nixon come off like Choir boys. Shame state department. The only thing you fear is fear that a democrat will win. I expect an Oct surprise with the republicans in some back room church trying to workup the fear on terror on the American people. Shame, republicans you are the low of the lowest.

[lisakaz2]

I'm guessing many of 'em don't care and will continue to pay lip service to what they actually despise in real life.

[Donnat]

Ich bin ein Berliner!

[grailknight]

You're a jelly doughnut?

[smoocat]

Nicht so einfach, grailknight:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ich_bin_ein_Berliner#Jelly_doughnut_urban_legend