obama in berlin -- part II
Headlines in the US may be reading: This News Just In!!! Europeans can't vote for the American President!
I say that this is the good news...
But is is a bad thing that Obama is popular abroad? I remember the aspersions that were cast against John Kerry precisely because he was more popular abroad than our beloved leader, W.
Will that kind of criticism stick to Obama? I am not sure...here we have a presidential candidate who may or may not speak French...that true sign of iniquity for pseudo-populists, but who can speak to a broad range of experiences, recognizable to broad swathes of the world's restless populations...This quality will be described as "superficial" -- or "insignificant" with regard to policy. Cynics may say, on both sides of the Atlantic that foreign policy won't change whether it's Obama or McCain in the White House.
Of course, I disagree. Already the trade negotiators are worried about Obama's protectionist tendencies and Europeans are urging him not to give in to "populist" temptations. There is a problem in Europe with that logic as populist sentiment has gone increasingly to the Right...and those left behind by the EU and globalization find themselves at the economic and cultural margins...Obama, in part hailing from the heartland at least gives some indication that he understands this problem.
We can only see if that understanding turns into something more negative with regard to liberation of markets and its alleged production of worldwide wealth!
I say that this is the good news...
But is is a bad thing that Obama is popular abroad? I remember the aspersions that were cast against John Kerry precisely because he was more popular abroad than our beloved leader, W.
Will that kind of criticism stick to Obama? I am not sure...here we have a presidential candidate who may or may not speak French...that true sign of iniquity for pseudo-populists, but who can speak to a broad range of experiences, recognizable to broad swathes of the world's restless populations...This quality will be described as "superficial" -- or "insignificant" with regard to policy. Cynics may say, on both sides of the Atlantic that foreign policy won't change whether it's Obama or McCain in the White House.
Of course, I disagree. Already the trade negotiators are worried about Obama's protectionist tendencies and Europeans are urging him not to give in to "populist" temptations. There is a problem in Europe with that logic as populist sentiment has gone increasingly to the Right...and those left behind by the EU and globalization find themselves at the economic and cultural margins...Obama, in part hailing from the heartland at least gives some indication that he understands this problem.
We can only see if that understanding turns into something more negative with regard to liberation of markets and its alleged production of worldwide wealth!
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I forgot to mention how tall Germans are! My son sat on my shoulders and had a great view, and I stared into people's backs or strained to see Obama between people's heads....I'm not short -- I think...clocking in at 1.6m, but I was certainly shoulder height for a lot of these former Goths and Visigoths...You can see why a group of these very tall, wiry types emerging from the dense woods of northern and central Europe were able sack Rome once the Romans had abandoned their armor for less martial activities...Vomitorium anyone? If this speech had taken place in France, I would have been able to look over people's heads...
July 25, 2008 4:12 AM | Reply | Permalink