Thursday, July 24, 2008

Obama's Speech in Berlin

Update: Video below

Hordes of people were there. I paraphrased and quoted some of what he said. I'll post the video when it's out.
The overarching message was that the world's nations need to come together to stop terrorism, nuclear weapon proliferation, global warming. (speech transcript).
Obama said today he didn't come as a presidential candidate. "I come to you as a citizen."
He told of his family's history.
"This city of all cities knows the dream of freedom."
Obama then talked about Berlin's and Germany's history.
Obama said the walls that stand between the nation's Christians, Jews and Muslims are the walls that need to be torn down. "America has no better partner than Europe." He said now is the time to join together and build bridges to meet the challenges of the 21st century. "This is the moment when we must defeat terror," he said. No one welcomes war, he said. The Afghan people need your support (Germans are reluctant be involved in U.S.'s wars and opposed our invasion of Iraq). Obama talked about the need to seek a world without nuclear weapons. He said Europe must come together to pressure Iran to give up nuclear weapons building. This is the moment we must come together to save the planet. We must help the other nations in poverty, he said. Obama spoke of equality and fairness and our countries shared experiences.
He said America is imperfect but that for more than two centuries we have strived to form a more perfect union. He talked about Americans ideals and aspirations that are bigger than anything that drives us apart. "We are a people of improbable hope."

CNN's take

MSNBC
CBS
NYT