And Representing the United States…
November 9, 2009
Our President of course, will not be joining the heads of state and celebrity freedom-fighters at the Brandenburg Gate. He’s like, busy or something.
Instead, when it comes to celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the triumph of freedom and western civilization over the backwards, oppressive Communist regime, the nation that serves as a beacon of freedom to the world and the inspiration for the people challenging the USSR will be represented by David Hasselhoff.
David Hasselhoff may seem at first an unusual person to be commenting on the fall of the Berlin Wall.
But the American actor and singer has a long association with the wall and the German public. In the summer before the wall fell, Hasselhoff’s hit song Looking for Freedom was racing up the charts in West Germany.
‘I have about 100 pieces of the wall and I also have one that’s really special because it’s got all the colours of the German flag, that I just chopped out look at this piece,’ he told Reuters.
Hasselhoff was even part of a concert on New Year’s Eve 1989 where he sang on top of the partly demolished wall at the Brandenburg Gate.
Okay, so Hillary Clinton will be there, too, and if her record is any indication, she’ll give a damned good speech, but seriously. Heads of state from Germany, Russia, and the UK will all be in attendance along with Kofi Annan, Mikhail Gorbachev and, the man himself, Lech Walesa. Our head of state, of course, will not be in attendance, presumably because he’s trying to mend fences with Russia, or because he’s got domestic things to take care of, or because, if he sends a video of himself giving one of his nonsense speeches to distract from the people who should be celebrating and the monumental achievement at hand. Or maybe because when he found out that the German people were grateful for the advent of democracy and liberty, he was like, “well, f**k it. If I can’t apologize for something, I may as well stay home and play golf with Harry Reid.” Right now, he’s probably trying to find some superficial conflict to resolve in a meaningless yet public fashion so as to make himself seem and feel accomplished.
To be truly honest, I don’t remember much about the fall of the Berlin Wall. I was 7 at the time, and vaguely recall watching the news at night, seeing the following footage of people quite literally tearing down the wall.
I remember, that Christmas, seeing pieces of the Berlin Wall for sale at Service Merchandise. I kind of wanted one. I didn’t know why, but I knew that it was significant. I’m not angry that I don’t remember; its a reality of my age and my experience and what I valued (My Little Ponies) at the time. Its actually something of a blessing that my recollection of a world with an ominous superpower that oppressed the people it didn’t murder. I, and my fellow Millennials, can almost say that we have never lived in a world where we’ve felt threatened, that our very way of life was not recognized as a desirable if not as a superior one. Until September 11, 2001, we lived in a world that was, essentially, free of the fear that a shrouded and secretive enemy holds for us.
We take freedom for granted because we’ve never known anything other than freedom. So many of my friends, especially those younger than me, born after Ronald Reagan and Communism and West Germany, don’t have any memories of it at all. We don’t know what it means not to be free. Its a curse as well as a blessing; for us, history may be doomed to repeat as we slowly discover what it means to cede control of your life to a strong, paternal, cold and uncaring government. I hope that the events today remind people to fight for freedom, to value their way of life and to embrace liberty and democracy. Because the alternative is terrifying.
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November 9th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Well said. I was 8 at the time and knew that it was important but didn’t understand why. I remember seeing pieces of the Wall for sale and thinking, “why would anyone want to buy pieces of concrete?”
I do think that older Millenials like us are lucky. Those of us born in the late 70s/early 80s grew up in a strange, transitional time. We have some concept of what it was like to live under the shadow of communism. We also remember when the world viewed America’s superpower as a good thing. As college students on September 11, I think we were blessed with more maturity and understanding that we lived in a complex world than the younger members of our generation. We were able to critically look at the Bush years rather than believe everything that the media said.
November 9th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
As one who was a bit older when it came down, let me weigh in with a couple of things. When the wall came down, we American conservatives were vindicated. Jimmy Carter ran this nation into the ground for four years, and the “intelligentsia” of the times told us near continuously that communism was inevitable, that America would have to adapt to the world. Instead, Ronald Reagan was elected and rejected all that nonsense with a clear eye and muscular foreign policy. The USSR crumbled into the ash heap of history and freedom broke out.
Today it’s hard to believe that we have a fool in the white house, one so foolish that he thinks socialism is a good idea. For what is spreading the wealth around (his own words), if not socialism? All that time, effort, and money spent to win the cold war is now being pissed away in favor of socialism/fascism at home. It’s no wonder the Obama-fool can’t be bothered to show up for the celebration: he doesn’t believe in freedom.
November 9th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
I was stationed in Germany when the wall came down. It was something. For two years, we had monthly drills practicing our response if Ivan ever got frisky and decided to come over the wall. Smell’em cards–(SMLM–Soviet Military Liason Mission vehicle) were part of the standard issue. And now it’s gone…but of course, we have a new threat now, in the Middle East. To me, it’s a scarier threat–I’d much rather face an enemy whose official theological stance was that there was no God, rather than face one convinced that God was on their side.
You can thank John Paul II for the collapse of the Eastern bloc. He wasn’t the only player, but without him, it would have taken a lot longer.
November 9th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Imagine Obama, the exact opposite of Reagan, celebrating freedom, while pulling out all the stops to take it away here at home. Definitely an unworkable scenario. Best to pretend it never happened, but thank God it did.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:05 am
Obama was there, in video form. He forgot to mention Truman, Stalin, Khruschev, et al, but hey, walls came down and we voted in a president who hadn’t run so much as a popcicle stand, and it shows, but he is SO smart!
November 10th, 2009 at 11:20 am
It is good to see that our current administration wants to create a giant government similar to the Soviet Union. Thanks for the wall falling reminder of how well Soviet and East German governments panned out.
November 10th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
I was thirty five at the time. When I was in high school men first landed on the moon. The peaceful dismantling of the wall without violent struggle, even nuclear war, amazed me more than when I stood outside looking up at the moon the night after Neil Armstrong first set foot on it. The very idea that the Soviet Union would peacefully allow the Iron Curtain to fall was breathtaking. The first steps on the moon were a once in humanity’s life event, so it is also with the fall of the Berlin wall.