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Miscellaneous thoughts and ramblings
Thursday, February 24, 2005
 
Bush in Germany: Could George W. Bush Be Right? - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE
Bush in Germany: Could George W. Bush Be Right? - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Nod to the Scot for emailing this to me. He notes that the Spiegel isn't exactly a Bush-friendly publication.

Excerpt:

"President Ronald Reagan's visit to Berlin in 1987 was, in many respects, very similar to President George W. Bush's visit to Mainz on Wednesday. Like Bush's visit, Reagan's trip was likewise accompanied by unprecedented security precautions. A handpicked crowd cheered Reagan in front of the Brandenburg Gate while large parts of the Berlin subway system were shut down. And the Germany Reagan was traveling in, much like today's Germany, was very skeptical of the American president and his foreign policy. When Reagan stood before the Brandenburg Gate -- and the Berlin Wall -- and demanded that Gorbachev "tear down this Wall," he was lampooned the next day on the editorial pages. He is a dreamer, wrote commentators. Realpolitik looks different.

But history has shown that it wasn't Reagan who was the dreamer as he voiced his demand. Rather, it was German politicians who were lacking in imagination -- a group who in 1987 couldn't imagine that there might be an alternative to a divided Germany. Those who spoke of reunification were labelled as nationalists and the entire German left was completely uninterested in a unified Germany."
- served up by Nomad @ 1:41 PM
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