Cafferty: Berlin mayor says "would be delighted" for Obama to give speech...

..and Brandenburg gate.

Just now on CNN! Let's hope nothing changes!!!

:bounce:

:bounce:

I remember it was pretty controversial at the time.

Reagan Joins Kohl in Brief Memorial at Bitburg Graves
By BERNARD WEINRAUB, Special to the New York Times

Published: May 6, 1985

<snip>

White House aides have acknowledged that the Bitburg visit is probably the biggest fiasco of Mr. Reagan's Presidency. The visit, which was made at the insistence of Mr. Kohl, was overwhelmingly opposed by both houses of Congress, Jewish organizations, veterans' groups and others.

Up to the last moment, White House officials sought to minimize the effect of the visit. As Mr. Reagan left Bonn this morning for Bergen-Belsen, officials disclosed that the President and Mr. Kohl would be joined at Bitburg by two prominent retired American and German military officers.

The two were Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway, 90 years old, who led the 82d Airborne Division in Europe and later fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and Lieut. Gen. Johannes Steinhoff, 71, a World War II flying ace who later rose to the highest ranks of the West German Air Force. After the brief ceremony at the military cemetery, the two men shook hands.

Visit to Adenauer's Grave

Mr. Reagan, starting an official visit to West Germany after the end of the seven-nation economic summit conference in Bonn on Saturday, began his day with an unscheduled drive in the hills overlooking the Rhine to place a wreath at the grave of Konrad Adenauer, West Germany's first Chancellor. White House officials said the idea for the visit had come from Billy Graham, the evangelist.



More:
http://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/06/international/europe/06REAG.html

who told me two things.
One: that Angela Merkel said no to a speech at the Brandenburg gate, which would be following JFK, Reagan, and Clinton who have done so before.
Her comment was: We will not be used as a back drop for an American Campaign. I agree with her, though I respect Senator Obama for having had the idea and the courage to ask.

Two: that in all the pictures in German papers and Mags showing the recent Summit, wherever it was ?, Merkel was seen RUNNING from Bush, or being as far from him as she can be.
Message: If you put your hands on me one single more time the Body Guards and Secret Service will arrive too late. I will have done you in myself.

And they can't stand Merkel who is tied right now in power after losing elections in various German states.
The mayor has a lot of say on what happens in Berlin.

did not come up !
No question there is Obama Mania in Germany. They sell Obama dolls. My friends ask me for bumperstickers and buttons. They, too, want relief.

What I heard now is that Merkel is coming around to what Germans want
because she is being played by the press as a Bush lapdog and can ill
afford to lose any more power.

...It's downright criminal for a sitting President to put diplomatic pressure on foreign nations in order to influence the outcome of an election. Not that criminal behavior is a new thing for him, but it deserves some coverage.

It's a pretty significant misuse of the office. They should keep it up until Bush is forced to admit or deny it himself, and verify everything he says.

I don't think it will go away as a story because Obama is very popular in Germany, at least from what I hear. Americans will follow Obama's trip just to see some positive image of the US.

I'm personally against Presidential candidates conducting campaign events on foreign soil. I understand the speech by Kennedy was great, but he was actually President at the time and not in the middle of a campaign (he actually never saw the next campaign). This is one thing that Bush would do, go to foreign countries and talk up his policies like it was a campaign stop. Remember the Jewish Kennesset thing? I know, not the same thing, but I'd prefer he give huge speeches on US soil,

From a security standpoint, it's an absolute nightmare for the secret service. Stadiums can be protected, many of the metal detectors needed are already in place. The entire area can be locked down and free from explosives days in advance. If Obama was to give a speech there you would have hundreds of thousands of people, many of who haven't been checked for weapons or explosives, free to roam for miles in all directions. The worst nightmare for a secret service detail is a high powered rifle from a thousand yards out.

I honestly think it would be nice for him to do a townhall in Berlin with about 500 people. Let the Germans ask him about America.



EDIT: One other thing to consider, the Germans don't have a stellar record of providing protection, even recently. Our Secret Service would be depending heavily on the Berlin Police, mostly swat and special forces. Are you comfortable with Obama's safety depending on German police?

Obama knows it's important how it plays at home too, so we'll see what happens I guess.

You got proof on that? I have the highest regard for the German Security Forces.
Have you ever been to Berlin?

for decades....

which he turned into a campaign event. We can't let * and McSame play by their own rules

Why shouldn't Obama do some traveling? "Because I don't like it" isn't a legitimate argument.

since I was last there, I don't see there being great difficulty in implementing security--at all.

..with machine guns (or at least someone with a gun) in front of and around synagogues.

Wooohoo.

bowing to pressure by the Bush administration official who evidently persuaded her to attempt to block the speech.

I'm happy the Mayor of Berlin stepped in to provide a little perspective and a solid punch in favor of the address.

And again, if Merkel's "concern" is that a German city would be used as a prop for an American election campaign -- well, that's been done once or twice before, and we didn't hear her or anybody else sqawking about it. It's done on her own soil, for example, by herself. The Mayor had a very convincing point. Merkel has had no response to it, either.

The significant content of an address obviates criticism that it is delivered for political purposes. The thousands of people who will come to listen want to hear the speech. Period.

Merkel should have known better from the start than to try and block this, and it's my strong hope that the Mayor prevails and the address is delivered after all.

..are saying it won't happen:

Der US-Präsidentschaftsbewerber Barack Obama wird bei seinem Berlin-Besuch in zwei Wochen voraussichtlich keine Wahlkampfrede vor dem Brandenburger Tor halten.

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/,ra1m1/ausland/artikel/990/185408/

Die letzte Entscheidung über eine öffentliche Rede des US-Politikers in der Hauptstadt liegt bei der Bezirksverwaltung Berlin-Mitte.



The final decision on a public speech by the U.S. politician in the capital lies with the district administration Berlin.

..after I posted the other quote. We'll just have to wait and see. At least it's fun to think about as opposed to all the other cr*p going on!!!

My fingers are crossed that it will happen.