Berlin Was Wrong Place for Obama's Wall Speech

I think it's terrific that Barack Obama went abroad to connect with leaders and some people in Europe and the Middle East. I think he should have gone to Brussels -- but I can certainly embrace that he emphasized 'engagement' with this trip.

But besides skipping Europe's institutional heart, his speech in Berlin had a few lines that were disappointingly absent from his remarks in Israel -- where he spent more than 30 hours while spending just an hour or so in Ramallah.

He said in Berlin:

That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another.

The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. 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. These now are the walls we must tear down.

Had he given those remarks in Israel, at any of the checkpoints that have been added since the Annapolis process began, or at the large divididing wall Israel has constructed, or just about anywhere frankly in Israel or Palestine -- it would have been a "game-changing speech."

John F. Kennedy's famous "Ich bin Berliner" remarks in the same city were brave, original, impactful. Obama's speech had high points and deserves applause -- but it's ultimately forgettable because he failed to deliver the most important lines where they most mattered.

One can't be about hope, no walls, and leap-frogging into a different reality than the mess we have today when there's no pressure and nothing on the line. What matters is whether or not that message is as resonant in the context of controversial issues where tough decisons and heavy-lifting are needed.

I will be discussing Obama's fascinating European and Middle East journey with Amy Goodman tomorrow morning (Friday) on Democracy Now! some time after 7:45 am EST.

-- Steve Clemons publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note

Comments

[Themo]

Why was Obama campaigning in Berlin? Is he campaigning for the presidency of the world? He hasn't even been elected the POTUS.

[tommybones]

I'm not even an Obama supporter and I find "criticisms" like these completely and utterly ridiculous.

[YesWeCanada]

Steve Clemons could work for the McCain camp, offering up dumb advice and critic like this. Get a clue Sherlock. Obama is in a tight GE and had to thread the needle with regards to this trip, his speeches and interviews. I and most of the world would agree that he pulled things off marvelously well and far exceeded the expectations of fans, fence sitters and critics alike.

[boogygran]

Very well said - and I hope all the jealous noodleheads out there will read your right-on comment - thanks very much.

[Jerry Weissman - Huffpost Blogger]

Berlin as a setting gave Obama a springboard for rhetorical excellence
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-weissman/what-barack-did-say-in-be_b_115002.html

[tommybones]

Let's try a very simple thought experiment.

Let's pretend the United States suddenly adopted a new Government, now called the United Christian States of America. The Constitution is thrown away and new laws are enacted. The following is a partial description of the new world we live in:

Citizens of the third class (Jews), really not citizens at all, have no rights Christians or their government are bound to respect. Their residence is forbidden in nearly nine-tenths of the country, much of which they used to own. The areas left to them are cut up into smaller and smaller portions weekly, by high walls, free fire zones and hundreds of checkpoints manned by the army of Christians, so that no Jew can travel a dozen miles in any direction to work, school, shopping, a job, a farm, a business or a hospital without several long waits, humiliating searches and often arbitrary denials of the right to pass or to return. Posh residential settlements for the Christians with protecting gun towers and military bases are built with government funds and foreign aid on what used to be the villages and farms and pastures of the Jews. The Christians are allotted generous additional housing and other subsidies, allowed to carry weapons and use deadly force with impunity against the Jews, and are connected with the rest of the Christians territory by a network of Christian only roads.

More to come...

[tommybones]

Jews are routinely arrested, tortured, and held indefinitely without trial. Political activism among Jews is equated to “terrorism” and the state discourages such activity by means including but not limited to the kidnapping of suspects and relatives of suspects, demolition of their family homes, and extralegal assassination, sometimes at the hands of a death squad, or at others times by lobbing missiles or five hundred pound bombs into sleeping apartment blocks or noonday traffic. Passports are not issued to the Jews, and those who take advantage of scarce opportunities to study or work abroad are denied re-entry.”

What would our reaction be to such a world?

a) We would call it a "democracy" and believe it to be a righteous nation
b) We would believe the Jews deserve everything they get because they "don't know how to live with others democratically".
c) We would be rioting in the streets demanding justice, the end of the "next holocaust" and restoration of our democracy?

What images does this description of the new world conjure up? Think really hard. Now remind yourself that the exact scenario is actually a reality in the occupied territories, and we are largely responsible.

The only difference is the victims.

[DrFitz]

Had he given those remarks in Israel, at any of the checkpoints that have been added since the Annapolis process began, or at the large divididing wall Israel has constructed, or just about anywhere frankly in Israel or Palestine -- it would have been a "game-changing speech."

I think he was counting on this very connection being made given where he had been the previous day. Doing it this way leads those he had just visited to realize they can't rely on walls as a long-term solution, and that they must strive to tear down the real walls they have recently constructed along with the more metaphorical walls he was addressing. You can't come on too strong with that message before a relationship and store of respect and esteem has been built. He may well revisit this theme and extend it more explicitly a year or two into his administration should he win. You are certainly right that it would have been more daring to do as you suggested, but daring has to be calibrated for the right time for it to work as intended rather than being rejected and tuned out.

[iLogos]

The problem with your realization is that Sen. Obama as a senator can't deliver that kind of speech. That is a policy changing speech. One which signifies far more than just an off thought, or gentle suggestion, but a statement of planned policy before sitting down with all the players. You don't do that in foreign affairs.

[Cosatjockomo]

Had he given the speach between South Texas and Southern California, it would have been a legitimate campaign speach, and it would have been a more important statement that wasn't simply rhetoric. Isreal/Palestine US/Mexico (current issues - walls ok (see Ben Franklin)) East/West Germany Communism/Free World (settled past - walls bad.) Obama doesn't tie his shoes without considering the political ramifications.

[sf94127]

Agreed his Berlin speech is totally forgettable.

[iLogos]

Shame that you completely missed the point of the author.

[Cosatjockomo]

Maybe the author missed the point that Obama chose to give the speach where he knew it would have no meaning, because to give it where it did have meaning would have cost him votes.

[GLaB]

I think your slightly wrong, here.

The word should be "forgotten."

[Hypomaniac]

Duly noted-- and right on-- but we all know he never could have gotten away with it. He could have added that one of the earlier steps of the FInal Solution was to build walls around ethnic "ghettos," too-- but he can't, given the politicial realities, and it is incredibly naive to suggest that he could.

Hopefully those who need to connect the dots will and those who don't won't. The gane-changing will have to wait until he is in office.

[Justsaynodeal]

There are too many Jewish votes in the US important to his GE to risk speaking the truth in Israel. The Palestinians don't have a voting block here in the GE.....................I think that the other Middle East countries will take note of the hours spent in Israel and the patronizing of the Jewish population and look unfavorably upon 0bama's sincerity, esp in the Berlin speech. Arabs may not be as important a voting group, but those ME countries certainly are important to the well being of our relations with them and solving the problems that involve the ME.

[djnoll]

Clemons comments are interesting in light of the poll released just this past Monday by a leading Jewish-American newspaper which showed that the average American Jew does not agree with AIPAC and with the Israeli and American government policies in the area. In fact, they are strongly opposed to the agendas that are currently in play, so for Obama to make such comments in Israel would not only have been inappropriate, but could seriously have hurt him with the vast majority of Jewish voters, many of whom are more inclined to vote for him that for McCain, Florida retirees not withstanding.

As for his speech, it is apparent that the author seems to have missed the several points made by Senator Obama - he noted he was not a President of the United States, just a citizen; that it was time to change how we address our common problems such as global warming, terrorism, genocide, etc. as world citizens; that it is time to look beyond religion, national origin, and the things that divide us to find solutions for the 21st Century. There were a great many Americans in that crowd in Berlin who were proud to be Americans yesterday, instead of having to apologize for it. While most Americans will not get this message clearly, thanks to the MSM and McCain clones, it was what needed to be heard around the world: that some of us embrace higher ideals and goals and we need their help to achieve them.

[susieq1001]

It's really hard to find something to criticize when a trip goes this smoothly, eh? Well, it shows.

And at least Obama didn't go around giving shoulder rubs...

[Justsaynodeal]

only our moronic prez would do that; so not doing it doesn't deserve much praise.

[FOXYLADY]

AFTER READING MANY OF THE POSTS BEFORE MINE I WONDER WHAT IS WRONG WITH SOME OF YOU PEOPLE? DO YOU THINK IT WAS FAIR FOR KATY CORIC AND HER PRODUCERS TO "ELIMINATE" THE 'HUGE MISTAKE' MCCAIN MADE WHEN REFERRING TO THE "SURGE", CONNECTING IT TO SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED A COUPLE YEARS AGO? I BET IF OBAMA HAD MADE A SMIILAR MISTAKE IN AN INTERVIEW, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN LEFT IN AND HASHED OVER AGAIN AND AGAIN. I AM NOT NECESSARILY AN OBAMA FAN....MY VOTE WOULD HAVE BEEN FOR HILLARY............NEVER FOR MCCAIN...............AND I AM "NOW" A REGISTERED INDEPENDENT AFTER BEING A REPUBLICAN FOR DECADES.

[Justsaynodeal]

You might have said something profound, but I gave up reading messages with all Caps! I can forgive easily people who make typos.....make myself, and sometimes I might use there instead of their although I certainly know the difference. But all caps.............that makes my eyes focus funny; so why bother.

[smags72]

Please stop YELLING!!

[Kache]

If Steve Clemons thinks he'd have done better, then why the hell didn't he run in the primary? It's a free country Steve - put up or shut up.

[Bobzmcishl]

Talk about nitpicking. Give Obama some credit - he went way out on a limb with this speech knowing it would be dissected by the right wing surrogates of McCain, and he was certainly not getting any support from the State Department. Given the risks he was assuming, he gave a great speech and got an enthusiastic response. He did about as well as he could given he is not president. His entire time overseas has to be viewed as a giant plus for him. I can't even conceive of Bush or McCain giving this type of speech and getting that kind of response. It was nice to hear an American get cheered for a change.

[FOXYLADY]

BOB, JUST MENTIONING BUSH OR MCCAIN GIVING THIS TYPE OF SPEECH IS RIDICULOUS. NEITHER OF THEM CAN "SPEECHIFY" WITHOUT MAKING MISTAKES AND FOOLS OF THEMSELVES. MCCAIN HAS PROVEN IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN LATELY AND AS FOR "W"... HE'S A REAL JOKE. I HAVE PAGES UPON PAGES OF HIS 'STUPID' STATEMENTS. THIS OLD WOMAN CAN HARDLY WAIT UNTIL HE IS BACK IN TEXAS ON HIS RANCH DOING 'WHATEVER' THE DUNCE DOES THERE.......OR PERHAPS IN MAINE WITH DADDY AND HIS WITCHY MOM... YOU KNOW THE MOM WHO SAID THAT SHE DIDN'T WANT TO SULLY HER BEAUTIFUL MIND WITH PICTURES OF THE COFFINS OF OUR LOVED ONES RETURNING FROM THE WAR IN IRAQ...........

[Justsaynodeal]

again the caps! Should be a law against them, or maybe it is just a courtesy.

[JonW]

I thought it was a great speech by an articulate American rather than the clumsy soundbites
and mublings by our recent leaders. And his audiences did also.

[FOXYLADY]

RIGHT ON JONW

[Justsaynodeal]

Not everyone!..........that is a sweeping statement not based in truth.

[Rosie2]

Try to imagine McCain making a speech in Berlin.............No don't it's to embarrassing a thought..........He'd be tallking to himself..