Holiday Road

A lot has been said in previous weeks about Senator Obama's serial gaffes. Many have started to wonder what has happened to change Obama from a bright and shining Democratic rock star to Spinal Tap - a shallow parody of reality. Rick Moran thinks he has the answer.

It’s not making news because after all, reporting on the messiah’s mixed race upbringing and sterling oratory makes for so much better copy.

But someone, someday in the major media is going to wake up and take a good long look at Barack Obama’s campaign and notice something very strange; it is staffed from top to bottom with Chicagoans who have mostly made their bones working for Mayor Richard Daley and the Chicago Machine.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Barack Obama’s campaign is being run out of Chicago. He recently moved most of the Democratic National Committee functions to the Windy City and his campaign headquarters is there as well.

The question the press might want to ask would be is there anything being “run” in Chicago that doesn’t have Mayor Daley’s fingerprints all over it?

Is Barack Obama Daley’s man?

As someone who grew up in Chicago, during the original Mayor Daley days, nurtured (politically) and immersed in Chicago politics, I am not as much surprised that someone came up with this thought as much as I was surprised that I didn't think of it first. I suspect that my time away from Chicago has dulled my political cynicism somewhat.

One of the things that has become most apparent is that Barack Obama will say and do ANYTHING to move up into higher office. I pointed out (in a previous post) how the Senator's career has been nothing more than a constant run for higher office. That can be the only reason that can explain gaffes like this.

After receiving a hailstorm of criticism for considering Brandenburg Gate for a public speech, as well as official German dissuasion, Barack Obama moved the venue to the Siegessäule monument. Obama will speak about “historic” US-German relations, but once again, Obama’s own grasp of history has been proven deficient. Not only does the site contain a monument to Prussian victories over other American allies in Europe, its placement was decided by Adolf Hitler — in order to impress crowds in his idealized version of Berlin called Germania:

Still, even as the issue of his speech’s location has now been settled, a number of politicians in Berlin are still dissatisfied with the site. The Siegessäule — or Victory Column — was erected in memory of Prussia’s victories over Denmark (1864), Austria (1866) and France (1870/71). The column originally stood in front of the Reichstag, Germany’s parliament building, but was moved by Adolf Hitler to its current location in 1939 to make way for his planned transformation of Berlin into the Nazi capital “Germania.”

“The Siegessäule in Berlin was moved to where it is now by Adolf Hitler. He saw it as a symbol of German superiority and of the victorious wars against Denmark, Austria and France,” the deputy leader of the Free Democrats, Rainer Brüderle, told Bild am Sonntag. He raised the question as to “whether Barack Obama was advised correctly in his choice of the Siegessäule as the site to hold a speech on his vision for a more cooperative world.”

Andreas Schockenhoff of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats said, “the Siegessäule in Berlin is dedicated to a victory over neighbors who are today our European friends and allies. It is a problematic symbol.”

The German people know their history - something that the Obama Camp doesn't. As Ed pointed out in his post...

Obama could be excused for his gaffe, except for two reasons. His team certainly understood the historical weight that the Brandenburg Gate would have lent his event, so why didn’t they bother to ask the Germans about the Siegessäule? Quite obviously, the Germans understand the meaning and subtext of the monument, and most of them wonder why Obama does not. Maybe this is a better example of clueless Americans traveling abroad than those who can only say Merci, beaucoup.

Oh snap - that stings! Ed brings out an even bigger question though...on that I think I have the answer for. Ed asks...

The more basic question is why Obama feels the need to conduct a campaign event among Germans. Meeting with foreign leaders makes sense for a man with no foreign policy experience whatsoever, but that doesn’t require massive rallies among people who aren’t voting in this election. In his rush to look impressive for no one’s purposes but his own, Obama has made himself look ignorant and arrogant all over again.

Why indeed does Sen. Obama feel the need to campaign in Germany. The answer, I believe has to do with the fact that the Senator knows that he will not get the 24/7 scrutiny that he has been getting here at home. There is a natural lag, thanks to time zones, that will keep the reporting of the Senators activities pigeon-holed into the morning and evening news time slots. Anything that happens outside of those times will get minimal coverage.

I think it also has to do with ego....Barack Obama needs to feel the adoration that was so prevalent during the early days of the campaign. Since he has started his much documented tack to the center, he has felt the loss of "love" from the press and the voters. This European "vacation" with the accompanying MSM puff pieces (see the video "Obama Nails A 3-Pointer) from Katie, Charlie and Brian, will no doubt be just the balm that the battered candidate's ego needs to help him get his campaign "mojo" back - just in time for his coronation in Denver next month.