President Me-Me-Me-Me-Me speaks again

The President of the United States has taken a little bit of heat over the past couple of weeks for his decision not to appear at the ceremonies celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. In a late surprise event, he adressed the crowd via video.

He'd have been better off staying away completely.

It would be overpraising the remarks to say that they were vapid, hackneyed, cliched, weak and watery and utterly unsuited to the occasion. The people invested in the myth of the magnificent oratory won't notice, of course, but this was embarrassing. Seriously. Neither the Dixie Chicks nor anyone else were ever more embarrassed by George W. Bush than I am by this President.

He spoke for 3:04, and in that time was not able to get in a single word from the following list:

Soviet Union
Communism
Pope John Paul II
Margaret Thatcher
Ronald Reagan

He was, however, able to get in his standard "hope and change" cliches, and praise himself for his office and his skin color.

Even in the face of tyranny, people insisted that the world could change.

...

In a Berlin under siege, President Kennedy said that "Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free." Few would have foreseen on that day that a united Germany would be led by a woman from Brandenburg or that their American ally would be led by a man of African descent. But human destiny is what human beings make of it.

I cannot think of anything more narcissistic or out of place than that comment about "America...[being]...led by a man of African descent." It's a political obscenity.

It boggles my mind that some people can still listen to this guy and hear a great speaker, or a natural leader, or a strong personality, or anything like that. He's an embarrassment.

Here's the video. I recommend - strongly recommend - avoiding it. I watched so you don't have to.