Posted on 07/09/2008 12:26:12 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
BERLIN (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has slammed a request by Barack Obama to give a speech this month before the Brandenburg Gate as inappropriate, her deputy spokesman said Wednesday.
The conservative leader said that while she would be pleased to meet the US Democratic presidential hopeful, it would be wrong for him to hold a "campaign rally" at the historic symbol of German unity.
"It is unusual to do electioneering abroad," spokesman Thomas Steg told reporters.
"It is unusual to hold election rallies abroad. No German candidate for high office would even think of using the National Mall (in Washington) or Red Square in Moscow for a rally because it would not be seen as appropriate."
Authorities in the capital have confirmed that Obama plans to visit Berlin on July 24 and is interested in speaking at the foot of the Brandenburg Gate.
The left-leaning government of the city-state, which has the sole right to approve such a request, has not yet made a formal decision but Mayor Klaus Wowereit gave his backing Tuesday.
Steg said Merkel had "limited understanding" for such a request and found the Obama team's initiative "a bit odd". But he said it was up to candidates such as Obama to decide what was "in good taste".
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
FANTASTIC! That is easily the best poster I’ve seen.
BINGO
Just when you think this man's hubris can't get any worse - it does.
Truly mind-boggling.
Will be yet another case of a huge misjudgment? Will he, once again, have to change course?
He had to take down his Presidential seal within days - illegal, a crime - and he just had to reconnoiter on the raffle scheme for seats at his coronation - that was also illegal.
Not only does he not have good judgement, and despite being a lawyer doesn't have a clue about simple legalities - but evidently his judgment in advisers isn't too solid either.
Yep. He brings a lot of change alright. Whatever he does/says today, he will need to change tomorrow.
OBAMA. CHANGE ON EVERY ISSUE/STAND EVERYDAY. ................. YOU CAN BELIEVE IT.
LOL! I love the graphic! :)
Like the end we see departing?
Obama Over Germany?
Great point.
Well, at least the donut is apropos. When JFK did it, it was a “lost in translation” flub. In 0bambi’s case, it’s the truth. It signifies his campaign. “I’m 0bama, and I got nothin’ “
... German Chancellor Tells Obama “Nein” on Speech Location
It is just a matter of the appropriate backdrop. Negotiations are underway between the Obama advance team and the office of the Berlin Mayor, Klaus Wowereit, to hold the speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate, close to the line that traces the route of the Berlin Wall. The newly built US embassy nestles alongside. So too does a museum honouring John F. Kennedy. If, as expected, Mr Obama is going to deliver a phrase in German (the insider tip is: “I can listen!” — “ich kann zuhoeren!”) and fling out his arms in the direction of Russia and Central Europe, then this surely is the place.
But, say advisers to Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, it would be tantamount to giving the German stamp of approval to Mr Obama, an undue interference in the election campaign.
Technically the decision lies with the Berlin Mayor, a flamboyant, openly gay Social Democrat, who quite relishes the idea of irritating the conservative Chancellor. The toing and froing between the various seats of power in Berlin is thus likely to continue until the last minute.
I will stop
I will stop at nothing
Say the right things when electioneering
I trust I can rely on your vote
Or to go to Alaska (you know, the largest of our 57 states). But he has plenty of time to go to Berlin.
This guy is an entirely new kind of jerkoff.
He’s a black hole.
He wants to rebuild the Berlin Wall.
He will build a wall to keep Americans in the U.S., to rape them of their accumulated wealth to share with his voters.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2043035/posts
Obama is a vacuum into which reason, common sense and intelligence disappear, never to be seen again.
This guy has accomplished a couple of things I once thought was damn near impossible. First, he has made me actually nostalgic for Hillary - cankles, cackles and all. Second, he has turned me into a strong fan of John McCain. So all I can say to Obama is ‘keep it up!’, because you might turn out to be exactly what is needed to unite the Republican Party again.
Did Kennedy use the wrong words. Seems I may have heard of that at one time, but it isn’t clear to me now.
Thank you for the background. Very nice.
Maybe some German’s are upset about this because they know a dictator wannabe when they see one. They’ve spent the last 60+ years trying to apologize for their brutal anti-semitism during WW2, now an anti-semitic US prez candidate wants to campaign on their soil. Barack Obama: The Global Candidate.
I thought I remembered him using the wrong words too, but was corrected the other day that it was just a long held urban myth, and that he’d actually used the proper phrase and grammar.
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