The Obama speech issue got more interesting for me when it turned from foreign policy into a German domestic politics issue (well, kinda').

One thing I love about German politics is its entertainment value; fuelled mainly by politicians' predilection for rhetorical hyperbole and use of rare edgy words (you may have noticed in my diaries). A more severe case of this is when politicians try to fill the summer news drought - AFAIK English has the word "silly season" for this, but the German equivalent Sommertheater ( = summer theatre) seems stronger and much more in use.

I wanted to write a diary with this title (had no time); but in the meantime, CSU foreign policy specialist Karl-Theodor Freiherr beat me to it to describe the fight over the Obama speech.

This seems much ado about nothing. Then again, it is also about campaigning - campaigning for elections in Germany. Merkel inadvertedly gave the SPD an opportunity to catch the Union flat-footed, and hunt for voters as The Pro-Obama Party when everyone is crazy about Obama. Now, the next elections in Germany are the regional elections in Bavaria (28 September), where CSU looks to have its supermajority reduced - which explains why it was Huber who reacted most strongly (see my reply to Martin upthread).

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}