I just watched Obama’s Berlin speech on youtube.com and I think we can expect more complaining from McCain’s followers about Obama’s empty rhetoric.
Unfortunately for McCain supporters the speech was, as we’ve come to expect, outstanding. In fact, the speech was so good, the only method they have for attacking it is to claim it is full of empty promises and unworkable solutions.
In just over twenty five minutes, Obama solidifies his position as a international political powerhouse with more than enough presence and prestige to shoulder the mantle of President of the United States. At the end, even if one disagrees with his views, there is no doubt that Obama can command respect on an international stage.
However, if republicans choose to decry Obama’s speech for its lack of prescriptive content, they won’t be wrong. The speech was not a “step-by-step” breakdown for international problem solving. However, what it did accomplish, in a very public way, was to extend a hand to Europe and to offer cooperation as a paradigm for the future.
It is this outlook that, interestingly, provides division between Americans. For many, Bush’s go-it-alone, “bring-it-on” style of diplomacy was, and still is, exceptionally appealing. It is the quintessential expression of American individualism, ruggedness, and patriotism all mixed together and poured for the media with a twist of Texan drawl. If it had worked, it would have made an entire nation feel drunkenly omnipotent.
However, it didn’t work and Obama, with some humility, spoke not just to Germans, but to the world, describing how today's problems are too great for any one country to confront.
I think he is correct. The increasing ease of transportation and the increasing ease of information flow means that all problems, including those previously considered local, such as the political deterioration of Zimbabwe, rioting monks in Myanmar, or the economic frailties of Latin America, are global ones.
We have moved into a new era, one where the world isn’t dominated by one or two super powers. Whoever is elected to lead the United States should, in turn, have America lead the world as a responsible global citizen.
-SWL
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