Ich bin ein Photo Op

by Mark Rhoads

Let's be candid. Sen. Barack Obama did not go to Afghanistan and Iraq to confer with ordinary soldiers or generals on their views, he went to be photographed appearing to confer with them. He did not go to the Western Wall in Jerusalem to pray. He went to be photographed appearing to pray. He did not go to Berlin to share some unique vision about a new world order, he went to be photographed appearing to share a vision before a sea of adoring fans who themselves have little experience with any free political tradition not tainted by socialism. Before I am accused of unfairly picking on Obama because of his soaring but often anti-substantive rhetoric, let me cite just a few examples from the Berlin speech on July 24.

"I speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen - a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world."  Part one of that sentence is just not true, of course he was speaking as a candidate.  Part two about being proud of the US is constructive.  Part three about being a "citizen of the world" is full of confused mischief and may come back to haunt him here.

The Merriam-Webster definition of citizen.1: an inhabitant of a city or town; especially : one entitled to the rights and privileges of a freeman 2 a: a member of a state b: a native or naturalized person who owes allegiance to a government and is entitled to protection from it 3: a civilian as distinguished from a specialized servant of the state

Up until now, the term "citizen of the world" has most often been used as an honorific title of esteem reserved for those rare individuals whose past accomplishments as humanitarians on the global scene have won them the respect and admiration of many nations.  Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt was often called a citizen of the world in her years as a widow after the birth of the United Nations organization that she labored for.

I hope I am wrong, but I have the impression that Sen. Obama has called himself a "citizen of the world" to imply to others that he will not be just an American leader, but a leader who owes his allegiance to a global constituency rather than only  or primarily to the voters of America.  If true, that definition of "citizen of the world" could not be compatible with the presidential oath of office.

The gist of Sen. Obama's Berlin speech was about how marvelous the biography of Barack Obama is, how marvelous it was that Berlin survived the blockade of 1948 and the Berlin Wall, and that Barack Obama favors cooperation among nations whereas by Implication President Bush, Sen. McCain and those unfeeling Republicans are against cooperation and want America to go it alone.  This narrative is getting tiresome but it is one that many Left Wing Democrats apparently believe for in their calculations of world security, something called "cooperation" for the greater good is the solution to everything and trumps individual liberty and the rule of law.

In Berlin we hear the ever-present Obama the Messiah line in an international variation:

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

Not since FDR has there been a public speaker so highly skilled at the art of meaningless rhetoric.  To this day, liberal journalists and historians still swoon when they hear a 1936 recording of Roosevelt say, "To some generations, much is given, of other generations, much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny."  A declaration such as that sounds wonderful to the ear but it means absolutely nothing and that is central characteristic of much Obama rhetoric as well.  It is well written and well delivered but upon later reading it offers us only bland generalities.

If you ask people what did President George W. Bush or President Ronald Reagan enjoy talking about most, it would most often be the miracles worked by the actions of freedom in human affairs.  President Bush has said several times, "Freedom is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to all mankind."  That is soaring rhetoric that really means something.  And because it does mean something that is why the planned visit of Bush to China for the Olympics even as China cracks down harder on freedom is all the more disgraceful.

But if you ask people now what is the central idea of Barack Obama is might be summarized as "Isn't my campaign a wonderful thing and if we all cooperate for change we can all be wonderful together."  If readers think I am being unfair to Sen. Obama then maybe someone can articulate the central idea that Obama is selling because I cannot find it in his speeches and I have looked.