Please. When you peel away the ponies and the kids with candies, that's what Obama was saying. He may have meant it in the nicest possible not-at-all-evil way. But even so - that's what he said.
Therefore - not sold.
The reality was that Obama was a total dweeb today. He stood up in front of hundreds of thousands of Europeans and built a speech around something that happened sixty years ago to an audience whose parents weren't even born then.
WTF was he thinking? Does he not realise how much Europe has changed? Or how much has happened here? Or how this really isn't the Cold War any more, no matter how many times he says 'nuclear' and 'atom'?
When he wants to talk to a 21st century Europe, we'll listen. But this was just retread posturing for the sake of the crowds back home - good 'ole Imperial condescension towards a colony which is unruly, and could one day turn more rebellious than anyone is expecting.
He has spoken about nuclear disarmement, fine (I think he intents with that as well to address the middle east). But in a country which has no nuclear weapons, the reasonable thing would have been to announce one sided disarment to lets say the level of France or UK, so to be at least not the country with the most weapons of all. This would likely have triggered comments in the US, that he weakens US defence, while Russia or whoever remains nuclear overpowered.
He named climate change, but his plan foresees 80% reduction to 2050, while the German plan foresees as well 80% reduction compared to 1990. So apart from the changes in population size, in 2050 the US, as the country with the higher potential for renewable energies, would still emit nearly 2 times the amount of C02 per capita than the host country. But again in the US he would probably be called a destroyer of the US industry, if he would take tougher goals.
He said, 'we Americans are against torture'. There is a charge against some CIA agents, which have kidnapped Khalid Al Masri. Dependently on how narrow or wide you define the word torture, this man was tortured. He needs help from a psychotherapist. He could have annouced, that he will submit those people to the court or, if Americans prefer that, negotiating these charges on an American court. Ok, he couldn't because he is not yet president, but he could have let slip a sentence, that this being against torture may have retroactive consequences in some form. But then you can find already know find on youtube 'hardball' discussions, where his opponents accuse Obama more or less he would have insulted America by admitting it has been 'unperfect' and not always met expectations. So essentially a number of people in the US takes it as unpatriotic, if an American says, the US may (after all everybody sometimes falls short of expectations) not be the greatest country in the world.
Speaking about the cold war, he still could get cheers, without getting too bad press at home. Most people voting in this year, had already in 2004 the right to vote, and a majority decided for GWB. Is it reasonable to expect from that electorate to appreciate political views held by mainstream Europeans? Don't judge Obama by the standards you would apply to European leaders. Americans just come from another planet back to earth and have to get used to earth behaviour, which takes a time. Der Amerikaner ist die Orchidee unter den MenschenVolker Pispers
