Tonight, I was part of an estimated 200,000+ gathering to watch Barack Obama give a speech in Berlin. The speech was a little shorter than I had expected, but I really enjoyed what I did hear. He claimed he was speaking as a ‘citizen of the world’ and not a candidate for president, but there were plenty of politics to be had.
It is a little difficult to describe the scene. Initially, it felt more like a rock concert than a political speech. Many people filing in, hanging out, drinking beer, eating, and dancing. There were a number of workers there for people living overseas to register to vote. Lots of t-shirts, lots of stickers, lots of people. There were a couple warm-up bands (Maren claimed they were famous in Germany, I had never heard them before).
As I mentioned before, I really enjoyed the talk. I felt the talk revolved around bridging the gap between the Atlantic Ocean (newly formed over the past 7 years) and helping those that need it most. One thing he mentioned I found interesting was the unsustainability of economic growth if the gap between rich and poor continues to grow as it has. I feel this is already being felt in many parts of the world, but I also believe this is even more true even the global nature of the world we live in. He received loud applause for ending the Iraq war and eliminating nuclear weapons. However, the loudest applause was centered around climate change. The Germans definitely take the climate change issue very seriously.
A good night. I am beginning to see a bit of light and hope at the end of this very very dark tunnel. I really hope his actions come remotely close to his words. I feel that living up to words is something we (the US) have not done a very well recently.
Here are some other internet posts: BBC, CrooksandLiars, Raw Story, NY Times. I am sure it is everywhere by now.
A very funny video from the Daily Show. I felt this was sort of true tonight… Lots of press everywhere.
