As Obama stood with the citizens of Germany while the world watched, Chancellor Merkel and other government illuminati’s intently listened with eyes transfixed on an extraordinary phenom named Barack Obama. Giving the speech of a lifetime, Obama presented an olive branch to the world to heal the wounds created by George W. Bush two terms as President of the USA.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., waves as he arrives at the Victory Column in Berlin, Thursday, July 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Hmmm....Is German Chancellor Angela Merkel getting captivated by our candidate even though she has not yet met him? Or is she compensating for the embarrassing flap over Sen. Obama's previous request to speak at the Brandenburg Gate?

On Thursday, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama will cap his European tour with an address in Berlin to an audience whose numbers may approach one million.  But while the media will focus on Obama's call to strengthen America's trans-Atlantic alliance with France and Germany, lost no doubt will be John McCain's essential role in undermining it.  As it turns out, back in 2003 John McCain stood shoulder to shoulder with the Berlin-bashers and Paris-hating purveyors of "freedom fries" and "old Europe."

    No, not that one: see today's Guardian, In praise of ... Rathaus Schöneberg,

    ...The Democratic presidential candidate proposes to make a keynote speech during his visit there and has been negotiating to do so against the backdrop of the Brandenburg Gate.... The problem, though, is whether at this stage in the US political cycle the Gate is a backdrop too far for US-German relations. Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose Christian Democrats have traditional ties with the US Republicans, thinks so. ...But there is surely a ready compromise to hand. Rathaus Schöneberg - the town hall for the Tempelhof-Schöneberg part of the city - used to act as West Berlin's city hall during the cold war era. As such it was the place from which John Kennedy delivered his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in 1961. No building in Berlin has more potent associations with the United States and with great American oratory. It would be an ideal alternative venue for Mr Obama's own much-anticipated speech.

    Rat-a-tat-tat!!

    (more rations below)

So reads the headline on an article in today's online edition of Der Spiegel which takes a look at how political circles in Germany regard the candidates.

In brief, Clinton isn't even on the radar there.  McCain is, and it's not a pretty sight to German eyes.  Obama is charming the socks off 'em.  Why?  The article points out:  "He's perceived here as peace-loving and cooperative, and those are the kind of traits Germans admire in a foreign politician."

Follow below the fold for more.

When asked by The Financial Times to comment on the Bush administration’s recent 24/7 no-holds-barred saber rattling, Admiral William Fallon, head of CENTCOM, made clear that an attack on Iran was not "in the offing."

"Getting Iranian behavior to change and finding ways to get them to come to their senses and do that is the real objective. Attacking them as a means to get to that spot strikes me as being not the first choice in my book ... None of this is helped by the continuing stories that just keep going around and around and around that any day now there will be another war which is just not where we want to go ... It astounds me that so many pundits and others are spending so much time yakking about this topic."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is in.
Who else is in the Bush Rat Pack?

We finally know - Who is Joey Bishop? - ta da! - French President Nicolas Sarkozy!

I started thinking about the Bush Rat Pack when I saw this photo of George Bush and Sarkozy the other day.

In my concept The Bush Rat Pack should include current world leaders who support George Bush in his quest to remake the middle east in the image of Mordor (whatever it is that Bush thinks he is doing).

More below and take the poll.

Being passionate about politics, and particularly US politics (since everything you do affects us Europeans big time - plus you have invented jazz, which is a good enough reason to like America, among a lot of other good things) I have spent the last three days surfing European media sites searching for opinions on your incoming election, with the help of Mrs AAF (between us we speak six languages so we're able to gather a fair amount of data). The results are not surprising and are pretty much in the US ballpark: HR Clinton is, by far, the preferred choice of Europeans for 08.

Before I posted this I visited a few dim-witted sites such as LFG to see if there's any intelligent life about and found a few choice comments on Europe. My favorite one is this one:

Attention Europe: We don’t give a $#!& what you think!

Ahem, so succinct, so well thought out!

Over the bump, a few findings.

Traditionally, the British prime minister's first foreign visit is to Washington, but Gordon Brown chose dinner with Angela Merkel instead. Is this the beginning of the end of the special relationship between the UK and the US?

Besides, Douglas Alexander, secretary of state for international development and Gordon Brown's "Mini-Me," gave a controversial speech in Washington DC on Thursday. He was talking about forming "new alliances" to fight global poverty. He expressed his preference of a "rules-based international system" and of multilateralism over unilateralism. This was interpreted as "coded criticism" of the Bush administration.

(Courtesy of CN'ya News)

   As per our breaking stories the last two days on President Bush's full pardon for leading dead Nazis and for various accused traitors or criminals, the President has now pardoned Al Gore III for any prospective drug convictions.
   
    "Hell, we both went to Harvard! And like to have a little fun! And it's the 4th of July! Freedom!!! like my friend Mel Giblet says when he's wearin' that Scottie skirt!!" said the President, "bonging" a large of quantity of "near beer" while in a hot tub with new friend Angie Merkel.

    Mr. Bush, seemingly tipsy, then blamed global warming on the 9/11 explosions, called Al Gore "Al Qaida", and said, "Al! Why the hell can't you be a real American like me or your son there?" before he sank beneath the suds, soap suds or otherwise.

Things are looking bleak in France this week.  Since Nicolas Sarkozy defeated Ségolène Royal in early May, he has consolidated his political momentum and looks to gain a huge majority in the National Assembly in the second round of legislative elections this weekend.  Although many uninformed Americans see France as some hotbed of radicalism, its post-World War II political tradition has been far more blue than red.**  With the exception of Mitterand’s presidency and the Socialist legislative majority from 1997 to 2002, the Fifth Republic has had conservative governments since Charles de Gaulle’s putsch in 1958.

(** Good Lord! The American media has even taken away our revolutionary red from us. Ever heard of radicals waving a BLUE flag??  Blue has always been the color of royalists and reactionaries.)

. . . so sang Ella Fitzgerald in her classic Berlinification of Mack the Knife—“the food at the Kempinski’s terrific no doubt”—but don’t tell that to George Bush. That would be George W. Bush, who, if we are to believe reports this morning, has a stomach that reacts to international banquets much like his father’s did. They just don’t fry bologna (or whatever the heck it is this guy considers “real” food) the way they do back home.

Yes, President GW Bush is playing hooky from the G8 this Friday—he says it’s on account of his stomach ache, but I say he’s playing at sick today because yesterday he just got played.

It's obvious that the EU doesn't like George Bush, and for good reason. Why then are heads of state so restrained in their criticism? It seems they would all stand to benefit not just by distancing themselves from Bush, but really going on the attack. It would require major flip-flopping for Blair and Merkel, especially if they took a strong stance against the occupation of Iraq, but if they were united in their opposition, would there really be any criticism to deflect? It might be an opportunity for Blair to salvage his legacy to some extent. Even though the U.S. is a key ally, they could exploit the president's unpopularity and drive a wedge between the U.S. and their unwanted leader; perhaps they could even convince Bush to resign by calling for it publicly, or create a ground swell of support for impeachment. Blair has already demonstrated an ability and willingness to dispense with loyalty within his very own party. Railing against Bush would be breaking with protocol and setting new precedent, but world opinion would support it, would it not? The people of Europe would welcome this, we would welcome this -- who wouldn't welcome this?

The BBC just announced that the G8 leaders have agreed to a climate deal:

Leaders of the G8 nations have agreed to seek "substantial" cuts in emissions in an effort to tackle climate change.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the G8 would negotiate within a UN framework to seek a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol by the end of 2009.

That's the good news.  A general agreement.  The not-so-good news?

No mandatory target was set for the cuts...

Merkel's preference for a 50% emissions cut by the year 2050 was included and the countries that actually agreed to Mrs. Merkel's preference:  EU, Canada and Japan.  

Okay, so I'm all for that.  I'm also for teeth...

More dentures below the fold...

I'm a big history freak and I think it's time we had one of those "profiles in courage" moments where we take a look at various women leaders around the world and reflect on their accomplishments, shortcomings, as well as the challenges they faced. What have been the experiences of other women around the world who had the honor of holding the highest office in their lands? What legacies have they left behind and how can we learn from them?

On Wednesday, President Bush once again turned to AIDS for air cover in the battle for global opinion.  Facing the prospect of universal condemnation by the international community for a wildly unpopular American policy, President Bush tried to change the topic and buy some global goodwill by announcing massive new U.S. AIDS funding.  This time, Bush is trying to deflect criticism of American global warming policy in advance of next week's G8 summit.  In 2003, of course, his problem was the looming Iraq war.

Hello and Happy Pre-Memorial Day to all...especially those overseas!

I may have told you before that I have a little vlog I try and do from time to time called Ed-E-torial. It's not overtly political, but I try to be inherently political.

Check Out An Item:
(Frankfurt—Germany) The press secretary for German Chancellor Angela Merkel denied when asked why the Teutonic leader served pig at a barbecue for George Bush, Merkel said "...to honor our guest with traditional Texas cuisine and to keep out the Jews." The press secretary went on to say that Chancellor Merkel would have served the roast pork if it "kept Jews away or not."  

Ed-E-torial 14

Just in case you were not depressed yet, here's another bit of news:

Merkel plays down G8 climate deal hopes

German chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday played down expectations of a breakthrough on climate change at next month’s G8 summit of rich nations, admitting she "did not know" if a pact on greenhouse gas cuts would be reached.

Germany, host of the summit at the coastal resort of Heiligendamm, is locked in tough negotiations with the US, which is refusing to endorse Ms Merkel’s call for targets to reduce carbon emissions.

Sounds like a capitulation? Yep. And it is.