A Tempest in Obama's Teapot

Talk about causing an international contretemps, irritating a political debate in the oyster shell of a foreign government to produce a pearl of contention.

As that old sage said, any publicity is good, as long as they spell my name right. Or something to that effect. Well, they spelled his name right. Little wonder, he's all the rage abroad, is Barack Obama. There's an international fascination with this charismatic figure of colour who strides the stage of opportunity in America.

And either he or his handlers, or both, obviously thought it might be a really neat idea for him to travel abroad and pontificate his intentions as the next potential brain in the Oval Office. He's made plentiful promises - even if there are those who complain they're obtuse and ephemeral - at home, where his elevated speaking style and patrician composure have enraptured that segment of the population for whom there can be no other candidate for president.

Stand before the peace-symbolic Brandenburg Gate of a once-polarized and severely politically divided city, produce a riveting speech reminiscent of that of former President John Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King, speaking of peace and accommodation and brotherhood, and the historically divided solitudes of America will find the resonance there that will compel them to cling to this latter-day saviour.

Oops, says Angela Merkel, it's not a given, and it's not truly appropriate. She should know, the German Chanceller is also a mediator, a skilled negotiator, a world-class politician - and a conservative. She begs to differ. It would not be a good idea for Senator Obama to hold a "campaign rally" at the historical Brandenburg Gate. It could be construed, actually, as an insult to the host country.

"It is unusual to do electioneering abroad" she sniffed. "It is unusual to hold election rallies abroad. No German candidate for high office would even think of using the National Mall [in Washington] or Red Square in Moscow for a rally because it would not be seen as appropriate." Extraterritorial co-opting. And isn't that truly so? A brilliant rebuff - respectfully speaking.

Oops - not so! according to her foreign minister who took pains to publicly contradict his leader's interpretation of the proposed event. They would, indeed, in deference to their American friends, extend a similar invitation to Senator Obama's Republican opponent. It is a courtesy that Germany would extend to America, "an expression of the vital German-American friendship".

And not entirely surprisingly, politics being what it is, the leftist Berlin municipal government in whose hands permission lies, chided Chancellor Merkel as having a "limited understanding" of the request, and that it was up to Senator Obama to determine whether such an event constituted "good taste".

Imagine, nothing better to do than upset the German apple-cart of political interrelationships. Shame, Senator Obama.