200,000 bei Obama

By Eric: Being in the Tiergarten with over 200,000 people - all ages, races, walks of life - I was struck by the great buzz of anticipation awaiting a speech from a U.S. Senator from Illinois. I asked a German friend could she imagine a crowd like this for any German politician or European politician and the answer was an emphatic - Nein, nie!

So it was with a sense of pride to see that America can still evoke a promise of such great hope in the world. I also felt the pride of living in a city where the summer's evening crowd, gathered en masse, imbued such excitement and a sense of a world community and did so in typical Berlin style - in an über relaxed and easy going way.

Kusi can attest to the fact that I have read and watched an awful lot about Obama. I mean a lot! So for me, I knew that the speech was not going to be a campaign style speech. Overall I thought the speech itself was good but with moments of greatness. It walked a thin line of outlining a new direction for America and its relationship with Europe while also being careful not to criticize Bush or American foreign policy as is the custom when travelling abroad. I thought a lot of the speech was for diplomat's and journalist's ears. Even so, as many times as I have watch videos of Barack speaking, their were still moments of the speech that gave me, an unabashed Obama fan, major chills and inspiration. I was reminded later that this was the largest crowd, three times over, than Obama had ever spoken in front of.

I feel fortunate and happy to have been there. Walking through the Brandenburg Gate, past the Reichstag, into the Tiergarten, past the Soviet War Memorial and watching Barack Obama stroll along the Victory Column - it felt like an historic evening. A moment in time where the chance for things in the world to get even a little bit better seemed somehow within reach. The most profound thing I can think to say is - How cool is that!!

(Soviet War Memorial)

Here are my favourite parts of the speech, the chills up the spine moments for me.

"That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another. The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.

"Will we acknowledge that there is no more powerful example than the one each of our nations projects to the world? Will we reject torture and stand for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands, and shun discrimination against those who don’t look like us or worship like we do, and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of our people?

"People of Berlin – people of the world – this is our moment. This is our time.

"We are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again."