Special Report
Twenty Years Ago, America Stood for Freedom
But that’s of no interest to President Obama.
Among the many thousands who attempted to escape the prison known as East Berlin was a man named Wolfgang Engels, who in 1963 stole a tank and drove it into the wall. Engels’ assault on the imposing barrier splitting his city came just two years after the Soviets and their East German allies built it. Among the soldiers who erected the barbed wire fencing was Wolfgang Engels.
It didn’t take long for East Germans to become disillusioned with the Communist utopia imposed upon them. The Soviets knew that would happen, thus the wall.
The wall was intended to imprison minds as well as bodies, and it achieved both purposes. The shadow of ignorance the wall cast eastward lingers two decades after its fall. Last week, an opinion poll found that 58 percent of Russians said they didn’t know who built the wall. Some thought the people of Berlin built it themselves.
Catherine Hickley, a writer for Bloomberg News, was an English teacher in East Germany in 1989. The English textbook she taught from depicted Britain as a 19th century coal-mining backwater and referenced the United States only in relation to the slave trade, she wrote last week.
For nearly three decades, an entire society was kept trapped in child-like dependence by 103 miles of concrete and barbed wire and the knowledge that any failed escape attempt would earn one a bullet in the back or head.
Two bullets were fired at Engels when he scaled the wall after piercing it with the tank. He was hit once. West Berliners detangled him from the barbed wire, pulled him down, and rushed him to a pub. He said he knew he’d made it to the West when he saw the many brands of schnapps behind the bar.
Twenty years ago today, the wall was brought down by young people in denim jackets, swinging sledgehammers, and with it fell an empire. It was the most momentous political event since the end of World War II, and even the President of the United States sat watching it on television, learning of it at the same time the rest of the world did.
Secretary of State James Baker was lunching with Corazon Aquino when he was told the news. Though he was dining with a head of state, he got up and rushed back to watch the news with President Bush, according to the BBC. Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Berlin in place of President Barack Obama, who has said he simply doesn’t have time to go. He must prepare for his trip to Asia later this week, the White House says.
What must the East Germans who risked their lives to protest their murderous Soviet puppet state think of this snub from the leader of the free world, the world they faced down machine-gun towers in hope of entering?
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was raised in East Germany. Helping her country celebrate its reunification, and with it the bloodless revolution that ended the second-most oppressive, murderous regime in the history of the world, will be British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and Lech Walesa. But no Barack Obama. Maybe he’s ashamed to share the stage with a Nobel Peace Prize winner who earned it.
Never mind history. There’s change to be made now. Such as passing a law criminalizing the choice to care for one’s own health without joining an insurance collective.
As the leaders of France, Britain and Germany commemorate the end of the Cold War and the rebirth of freedom throughout the Eastern Bloc, President Obama will be too busy chipping away the freedoms his own people enjoy to attend.
For the rest of America, the anniversary will mean something. It will be a reminder of the evils that spread under the socialist banner, and that this once was a nation whose leaders believed so strongly in freedom and liberty that they determined to, and then did, save the West from socialist domination. At least temporarily.
About the Author
Andrew Cline is editorial page editor of the New Hampshire Union Leader. His Twitter ID is @Drewhampshire.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (58) | Leave a comment
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brandonwinkle | 11.9.09 @ 6:20AM
You can get instant medical insurance at the lowest price from http://bit.ly/39pFJx
Alan Brooks| 11.9.09 @ 8:24PM
But what does the Bush dynasty have anything more to do with freedom than the thankfully ending Kennedy dynasty?
What does the Prescription Drug Act of 2005, or Bush 41's Disabilities Act of 1990 have to do with economic freedom?
Ron| 11.11.09 @ 12:47PM
Ah, you must be an Obama supporter, who feels he this illegal president can do no wrong. Just wait until April 15th, and all your cares will suddenly be whisked away in his never-never land of ongoing lies and deceit. And that's just for starters.
Ron| 11.11.09 @ 12:51PM
Oh, yes...and what about Cash For Clunkers, costing tax payers more money, AND the majority of vehicles purchased were foreign made! Nice boost for OUR economy wasn't it? To the tune of about $2500.00 paid per vehicle for in additional taxes by every legal citizen in the United States. Hmmmm...and the illegals...well,,,
drudge ette obama| 11.9.09 @ 6:50AM
Perhaps Obama was getting high on drugs when the wall went down, so he missed that point in history.
It was a different time. Anyone under 45 will think it silly to criticize Obama for not going.
Me? I am going to fish out the piece of the Berlin Wall that my nephew sent me in a post card when he was there in 1989. I think I will show it to some people. Maybe Obama would like to hold it. Nahhh. He mourns any socialist failure.
Appleby| 11.9.09 @ 9:09AM
King Zero is terrified of standing where Ronald Reagan stood and being diminished to the size of a ninepin thereby.
If you have the time, head over to Opinion Journal (you can google it) and read the essay by Reagan's speechwriter about how the Democrats begged him -- up until the moment he began to speak in Berlin -- not to say the deathless words TEAR DOWN THIS WALL.
I am amazed that not only did I see the wall go up (and had the privilege of a self-educated Daddy who explained exactly what the significance was, along with retelling us about the Berlin Airlift) but I lived long enough to see it come down.
I hope I don't live long enough to see the walls of internment camps go up in the USA...but if they do, I hope I live long enough to help tear those walls down too.
Lost| 11.10.09 @ 3:38PM
I am under 45 and I do not think it is silly to criticize Obama for not going, just the opposite.
Hardius| 11.9.09 @ 7:12AM
The collapse of the Berlin Wall was not the end of socialism, it is alive and growing, it is now the United States which lavishly bears their banner. Our corrupt Government can no longer even say the word Constitution, let alone defend it. The extreme minority of Americans who still follow the flame of freedom are going to be tested as never before because the truth is deeply buried and only the few seek it. Our education system (indoctrination centers) has created a generation of ignorant followers who have no idea of how the Constitutional Republic bequeathed to us by our Founding Fathers is supposed to function. President Obama can no more stand-up for freedom then he can stand-up for honesty.
Darin| 11.9.09 @ 7:26AM
I've talked to friends who were in Berlin when the wall fell. The magnitude of this event is enormous. The fact is the current US President is giving the finger to those who suffered under Communist oppression. In essence, Obama is saying he wishes the wall were still in place. Kind of like he treated WWII vets at Normandy. Or like he used the death of a soldier as a photo op in Dover. Pathetic.
martin j smith| 11.9.09 @ 7:34AM
Obama is so foreign to my beliefs that I say of him: " He is the President of the United states" for mental health purposes only. His obvious love of Dictatorships tells me yet again why I did not vote for him. He wants to be like them --I knew before the election and it is even more so now. No he is not my president in moral terms at all.
Melvin| 11.9.09 @ 7:46AM
People, get a grip will you? Do you actually expect a President of the United States who idolizes Communism and members of his administration who glorify Chairman Mao to actually show the smallest admiration of the world defeating a totalitarian regime? If anything the Obama administration are in a state of mourning.
I'm further not surprised that the administrators of the Empire State Building didn't run up the former Communist flag of the Soviet Union in celebration as they did for China celebrating 60 years since the Communist revolution by lighting the top of the building in red lights.
Communism is chic now people. It's the in thing. No self respecting liberal would allow their toddler outside without his or her Che Guevara shirt and black beret.
Besides Barrack Obama had it much rougher than the average East German.
Deborah D | 11.9.09 @ 8:09AM
Melvin -- You are so right in this post. All one has to do is look around at what Obama has done regarding Honduras, Poland, Venezuela, Columbia, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and now Germany to see how he really feels about freedom and communism. He's been on the wrong side of just about everything since he was elected. He hates freedom and the United States and any other freedom-loving society as any true Marxist does..
martin j smith| 11.9.09 @ 8:21AM
Oh I have a grip alright. Its the urgent desire to un-elect Obama and the Democratic Thug crowd who appease and support dictatorships world wide.
What do I expect of them ? The usual. That is the point. Un-elect them.
Pingback| 11.9.09 @ 7:46AM
Twitter Trackbacks for The American Spectator : Twenty Years Ago, America Stood for links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Lazy Jack | 11.9.09 @ 8:22AM
In the modern world a candidate can use the Brandenburg Gate as a campaign prop.
The history associated with the wall is bit fuzzy to the Oval Office these days. Its occupant apparently studied little of it other than his own.
Do we so easily forget the dead and disappeared from a mere quarter century ago? Is this why it is so easy for us to abandon our allies? What kind of a beacon of freedom will we be at the end of 2012? Our veterans, who stood watch over the wall from 1945 until 1989 - and who we remember this very week here at home - would likely say the answers coming out of Washington today are not good enough.
Jim Hlavac| 11.9.09 @ 9:14AM
Freedom seems to be above Obama's pay grade.
Ken (Old Texican| 11.9.09 @ 10:36AM
Mr. Cline
Nice little trip down memory lane.
Guess what? Those of us who matter STILL believe in freedom.
Yeah Yeah Yeah, I'm a "Texan". But, evidently our brother and sister "Texans" in New Jersey and Virginia stepped up to the booth and put their foot down.
I don't know where you grew up...or live...but I can tell you that 44 "fly-over States" still send Senators to Washington. By "regionalizing" our electoral efforts we can send a whole passel of House Reps. to Washington as well. Let the hopeless districts go to the...lunatic poverts.
Big J| 11.9.09 @ 11:01AM
In light of the significance of today's anniversary, may I recommend the following article and accompanying videos:
http://michellemalkin.com/2009.....rlin-wall/
Both videos brought tears to my eyes.
Watching Ronald Reagan always does that to me. The man knew how to articulate the benefits of freedom and self reliance. I miss that in our leadership more than I can say.
The second video and accompanying statistics shows just how evil tyranny is, and what people are willing to do to escape it. Our Berlin wall(s) are the main stream media - basically holding us hostage: the liberal (radical) wizards of smart in Washington D.C. that somehow know what's in our best interest over that which we know is best for us: our education system - simply a propaganda tool for the liberal establishment: and finally, a Hollywood culture that legitimizes that which should be abhorrent.
Now more than ever, we need Ronald Reagan. Actually, we need about 536 little Ronaldous Maximus types to drain the swamp that has become our nation's capital.
Mike M| 11.9.09 @ 11:13AM
Hey, Obama didn't watch that day because those thugs swinging sledgehammers weren't in "da union."
Pingback| 11.9.09 @ 12:15PM
Berlin Wall fell 20 years ago. links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Everly Waverly| 11.9.09 @ 2:00PM
Just a thought--
Maybe with all the death threats, it was recommended Obama avoid the ceremonies...Again, maybe he should go...
Al Adab| 11.9.09 @ 2:50PM
Shameful!
That the American president is absent from Berlin today should embarras us all. How can the American people apologize to freedom loving people around the world? Those who understand the cost of Liberty are there today. Where is our President? Lobbying for actions which turn American citizens into serfs.
When his predecessors brought down the wall (as one of about five key players-thank you Mrs. Thatcher and Pope John Paul II) Where was he? Can he not honor their memory? Does he not remember the generation long sacrifices of the American people so that Eastern Europe could again be free?
Shameful!
old white guy| 11.9.09 @ 3:13PM
freedom is not free. the price is blood. yours and those who think you have to follow their dictates. jefferson said it best. read what he said. if you can't read or won't read you are screwed.
Louis Jenkins| 11.9.09 @ 5:24PM
The walls of ignorance still stand strong and tall. They're not made of mineral, but of plain flesh and will prove to be more enduring. Those walls are built by the hands of 'don't care 'bout the past' leaders. They hate the legacy of freedom that has been left to us by our forefathers. Our educators ignore what the Berlin Wall stood for. Our politicans despise any effort to abate restrictions and cling to despots as examplary rulers. People who post here do care about the past, and hate ignornance, but those who are in control at the present time want to discount the past accomplishments of a free world, make freedom a petty word, and seek a return of those dark times. A physical barrier is easy to destroy, but willful ignorance will stand the test of time. Freedom is precious, all the more so because the despot loving weavers of deceit are with us always.
Ken (Old Texican)| 11.9.09 @ 7:31PM
Louis
Thank you for that. Check out the kiddo on the
"Walls will fall" article.
Thank goodness I had a great bunch of history teachers.
PS: check out Kyle Anne Shivers blog over at american thinker this afternoon...wow!
Pingback| 11.9.09 @ 3:27PM
Enemies of the People: My Family’s Journey to America | eCheapPrice.com links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Prester John| 11.9.09 @ 4:00PM
You would think that George H.W. Bush would've been invited to attend by the Germans or asked to represent the U.S. by BHO.
He walked quite a tight rope with regards to German reunification did a masterful job doing it.
Al Adab| 11.9.09 @ 4:46PM
True indeed. GHW managed both the USSR coup and reunification as you say, "masterfully". The free world owes him recognition for that.
Missy H.| 11.9.09 @ 5:11PM
Maybe it's just as well BHO didn't attend today's wonderful celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall destruction... he'd probably just have picked up a trowel and looked for bricks - that "rebuilding" thing, you know.
Richard Baker| 11.9.09 @ 5:13PM
The Kenyan doesn't go to Berlin because he supports the folks who built it. Sic Semper Tyrannis.
Pingback| 11.9.09 @ 7:17PM
America stood for freedom… « Time for Thorns links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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Coca-Cola's Berlin Wall blitz: Lessons in leadership 20 years … | Management Business links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Timothy L. Pennell| 11.10.09 @ 8:52AM
Ever hear of Accums' Razor? It's a theory, of sorts, that says: 'When confronting a problem where you can't decide on the proper way to deal with it, because of all the different variables that are involved, usually the SIMPLEST answer is the Correct one'.
Why so many CZARS? Czars are RUSSIAN. RUSSIA was COMMUNIST. RUSSIA became the SOVIET UNION. The STATE became GOD. The people lived, to PROVIDE FOR THE STATE. The STATE was SUPREME.
Is anyone else NOT SURPRISED by the fact that this 'THING', in the White House' ISN'T going to Germany for the celebration of the BERLIN WALLS' destruction? He "doesn't have time", he says. He HAD time, to fly to Copenhagen, for the Olympics vote. But not for a celebration of FREEDOM. That's because, to him, the fall of the Berlin Wall meant that the 'GOOD GUYS' lost. It was the WEST that was CORRUPT. It was the WEST that was the PROBLEM. The SOVIETS were the SOLUTION. The PEOPLE are STUPID and in need of CONTROL. 'TO EACH, according to their needs. FROM EACH, according to his ability'. That is what Obama believes, That is what he's trying to achieve, HERE. So why would he go to a PARTY that's celebrating the destruction of his lifes' desire?
This isn't rocket science, people. This guy is an OPEN BOOK.
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bullwhacker| 11.10.09 @ 11:21PM
How's that hopey changy gonna fix the damage Bush did with our allies thingy coming? Dont think for a moment our allies are not aware that Bush was the adult in the foreign policy room.
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