20 Years Ago Today
Twenty years ago today, the Berlin Wall fell.
The fall of the Berlin Wall was one of those world-changing "I remember where I was" moments. My husband and I watched the news on our little TV in our apartment, almost unable to believe what we were seeing was happening.
Twenty years ago today the world, as I had known it since my earliest memories, ceased to exist.
Twenty years ago today the world I learned about in college, in political science course after course, vanished.
I remember crying with happiness as we watched the German people tearing down the Wall and celebrating, while East German soldiers simply stood there, watching citizens from East and West Germany joyously unite for the first time in decades.
Click the title of this post for video of the day the Wall fell, as well as video of President Reagan's 1987 speech, in which he challenged the Soviet Union to "Tear down this wall!"
It may be hard for younger people to comprehend just how radically the world shifted with the fall of the Wall, but our President is old enough to know.
If you had told me twenty years ago today that in 2009 an American President would refuse to visit the Wall to celebrate once more the triumph of liberty over Communism -- and our nation's role in that victory -- I'd never have believed it. That fact makes me tear up all over again.
There is so much I could write about our current President's narcissistic, anti-American choices and foreign policy, but I'll simply say I find the way he conducts himself both alarming and tragic.
And then I'll go watch the videos again and remind myself that, in the end, freedom and liberty triumph.
Tuesday Update: In remarks via video, President Obama once again demonstrated his narcissism, celebrating his election and omitting, among other things, any mention of President Reagan, Prime Minister Thatcher, or Pope John Paul II: "Obama neither decries the villains nor salutes the heroes of the story. Rather, Obama celebrates himself."
As Paul Rahe writes to PowerLine: "Obama proved unable to refrain from injecting his own autobiography into the event... Obama seems to think his presidency as important a milestone as the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the world of the narcissist, everything that happens is always about him."
The Campaign Spot examines Obama's schedule Monday, when he was "too busy" to travel to Berlin.
posted by Laura @ 10:10 AM
6 Comments:
"If you had told me twenty years ago today that in 2009 an American President would refuse to visit the Wall to celebrate once more the triumph of liberty over Communism -- and our nation's role in that victory -- I'd never have believed it. That fact makes me tear up all over again."
You are not alone, Laura.
I read that in a videotaped statement, President Obama turned the subject to himself by referencing that the U.S. has elected a man "of African descent" since the Wall fell...but never referenced President Reagan.
If true, that is really, really sad.
Thanks for your note, Cathy. Always nice to hear from you --
Best wishes,
Laura
I was in East Berlin in 1976, and it was a dreary depressing place. Of course that it was raining didn't help. I had a lot of memories of that place but what stuck most with me over the years, was when leaving to go back to West Berlin, and passing through Checkpoint Charlie, I turned and looked up at the apartments closest to the wall and I could see a person sitting in one of the windows, just looking west.
It hit me like a ton of bricks how awful it must be to only be able to *look* west and never be able to *be* in the west.
A fabulous movie that is a must-see about the struggle of one journalist trying bravely make a stand in the face of the Stasi, is "The Lives of Others". I highly recommend it.
Thanks for sharing your memories, Dana. That's a very interesting first-hand report.
I remember being very affected by a Disney movie, NIGHT CROSSING, about a couple of families who escaped in a hot air balloon.
My parents had penpals in East Germany for decades. After the Wall fell my mother was able to go meet them in person and tour both East and West Berlin with them. Pretty amazing for her to experience that after all the years of censorship when they were behind the Wall.
Best wishes,
Laura
East Germany *right after* the wall fell was still very dirty and dingy. It was also very polluted. Pro-socialist greenies don't like to mention how bad socialism is for the environment.
That's a very interesting insight, Barb. Thanks --
Best wishes,
Laura
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