Monday, November 9, 2009

20 Years Ago: Die Mauer Ist Gefallen!

MC realizes that the photo above is from when the Berlin Wall wasn't really a proper wall. And certainly there are hundreds of images to choose from this day twenty years ago when the DDR mistakenly opened its borders. We like this photo best, however, because it is iconic. MC likes icons.

We are disappointed, though, that President Obama refused to join other leaders (hmm, maybe there's part of the answer?) in Berlin to celebrate the fall of this hideous wall. Why is he so slow to celebrate freedom over tyranny? His silence about the Iranians being slaughtered, his disgraceful refusal to meet with the Dalai Lama in order to appease the Chicoms, his pulling the plug on missile defense in Poland and the Czech Republic, his comments that he doesn't want to "win" in Afghanistan and his shameful bowing to the grotesque "king" of Saudi Arabia surely set some sort of pattern that MC really doesn't wish to see in any American president.

Unfortunately, they are all of a piece. And freedom loving people around the world are worse for it. Still, MC takes comfort that when it was needed, the world had genuine leaders. We know who they were. Happy Anniversary!

Click on the title of this post to read The Independent's coverage of events two decades ago; events that astonished the world. MC remembers where it was when we heard the news; do you?