‘Ich bin ein Hypocriet’

COLOMBUS – While Obama shined in Berlin, his Republican rival John McCain sat with a bratwurst in a German restaurant in Columbus, a major city in the U.S. state of Ohio.

Of course, he was a little envious of Obama, he admitted to reporters–but not too much.

“I’d love to give a speech in Germany, a political speech or a speech that would be of interest to Germans. But I would much prefer to do it as president of the United States rather than as a candidate for president. I run a campaign in the heartland of America and address the problems here in America.”

The senator from Arizona underscored once more that when it comes to foreign affairs, he has a lot more weight than Obama. Angela Merkel, he has met more than once, and Sarkozy and Gordon Brown are no strangers to him. And, today he meets the Dalai Lama, whom he calls a “transcendent international role model.”

Senator John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate and Obama advisor, naturally reacted in a much less grumpy manner to the “maiden speech” of his fellow Party member. “It is incredibly exciting to see an American presidential candidate being received with such enthusiasm in Europe.“

And, what is the Republican Party’s response? “Ich bin ein hypocriet,” thus referring to John Kennedy’s famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” in 1961.

The following are the first two (of five) Dutch readers’ reactions to the article:

1. “A Republican who addresses the domestic problems of the U.S. hah hah…that would be another first. Who is the real hypocrite here?“

2. “Partly because our views, such as on human rights, are much less closer in line with the U.S. than they have been, do we hand ourselves “economically” over to Russia, which has already shown in the past that it can misuse its power by halting the deliveries of natural gas to the Ukraine, or do we choose a dynamic relationship with the U.S.? I choose the latter. But much rather with a U.S. under Obama.”