One-Time ‘Superstar’ Obama Returns To Berlin As A Mere President
” President Barack Obama may still have the kind of popularity ratings that any politician would envy, but some Germans say the president’s ‘superstar’ status has been slightly tarnished.
His arrival last night in Berlin on a 24-hour trip culminates in a speech at the city’s iconic Brandenburg Gate.
Last time he was in Berlin, in 2008 as a presidential candidate, expectations were high.
But Obama is now well into his second term and German critics claim he has failed to deliver.
Most recently, an issue to rile a country which holds individual privacy dear is the PRISM programme scandal which has revealed that Obama has expanded Bush-era surveillance of phone calls and emails. Chancellor Angela Merkel had promised to raise the subject when they meet for private talks.
At a news conference after the meeting Obama said he was confident that the US has struck an appropriate balance between intelligence gathering and civil liberties.
Obama’s escalation of drone warfare has also provoked protests in Berlin.”
Five years one and the bloom is finally off the rose … sort of .
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