Hope and Fail

Berlin good for campaign, not for Wall anniversary

Barack Obama had no problem taking time off the campaign trail in July 2008 to visit Berlin and give a speech to a throng of 200,000. But as president, he’s “too busy” to travel to Germany and commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

According to Der Speigel:

US President Barack Obama has shelved his plans to attend festivities marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will reportedly take his place at the Nov. 9 celebrations.

Germany is going to have to wait longer than expected for US President Barack Obama’s first official visit. Citing government sources in Berlin, Reuters reported on Friday that Obama will not attend the anniversary festivities marking two decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The event will take place on Nov. 9 — just two days before Obama embarks on a long-planned trip to Asia on Nov. 11.

Didn’t the White House schedule the Asia trip? Can the president not stop over in Germany on his way?

The fall of the Berlin Wall signaled the end of the Cold War, the spread of democracy throughout Eastern Europe and portended the collapse of the Soviet Union. But the president is “too busy” to mark the anniversary in person.

As Tony Harnden of the Telegraph asks: Is Obama skipping the ceremonies because they’re not about him? Afterall, he had no problem making a quick trip to Europe to try to secure the Olympics for Chicago with a self-gratifying speech. And, he surely won’t miss the Nobel ceremony in Norway later this year.

In fact, as Allahpundit notes, the president, through a video message, did make it about himself. According to AFP, he said:

“Few would have foreseen … that a united Germany would be led by a woman from Brandenburg or that their American ally would be led by a man of African descent. But human destiny is what human beings make of it,” Obama said.