Be Obama’s European Tour Guide Contest

Do we post our travel suggestions here?

I can’t wait to read the answers. When many Black people that I know travel, they go to places where people look like them…places with flavah.

One friend said “Why should I pay to go to Europe? I got that right here in the US.”

Who can afford to go to Europe anymore?
You get absolutely raped in the exchange rate.
i paid $22 for a lousy hamburger and if it wasn’t for having family who live there, The cost would have driven me bat shit.

But it would definitely be in the best interest of a presidential candidate to have traveled. we already had one who didn’t and look how well that turned out…

I’ve got a Coolidge/Dawes campaign button.

Can he wear that to Europe if he goes?

ok Larry,

So tell us how you REALLY feel about Obama’s qualifications to be POTUS.

Larry Johnson,
I hope you are having fun brown-nosing for Hillary? Not that I am surprised. It was always clear that the Bush years were a bizaree interregnum that made strange bed-fellows, where Wilkerson appeared on the Amy Goodman Show, Wilson /Plame were liberal martyrs and so on. Now we are all reverting back to type and disgusting national security types such as yourselves get to do what you have always done best: jockey for perks and muddy the waters for the public.

Hey, could we donate frequent flyer miles to Bush to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, before Bush probably leads us into another unnecessary war over non-existent WMD? Although, on second thought, he might get the wrong message.

London is a great place to start. The excellent British Museum still has the Lord Elgin Parthenon marbles, as well as other unbelievable keepsakes from the time of empire. A short tour should include where the senseless War of the Roses started.
Rome has the marvelous Forum and just up the street, the entirely different white marble monument Mussolini built. The Vatican is worth a look-see.
There are still concentration camps open to visitors and they can be quite memorable, especially the ‘ovens’.
Having a background in law, I’m sure Obama would get more out of The Hague than most tourists. Perhaps not as much as Cheney…
The Netherlands is a good example of public transportation that works. Fast and timely trains and buses that interconnect easily can seem like an alternate future for most Americans.
Lastly, a visit to an American military base and it’s environs could put a face on America’s empire.
These are my recommendations, but Obama should have a few professionals guiding him, not me!

I do applaud y’alls obvious passion. And Susan, thanks for “reasons” post. I don’t at all agree that Hillary is as wonderful as you all seem to think, nor do I think Obama is as bad.( And I respect the hell out of Clark and Wilson who are also supporters.) But neither are my first choice. I’m hoping Edwards will still be in it on Super Tuesday when I get to go to the polls. I usually vote in the Rep primary, trying to help the least worst of their candidates.(If you all think Senator Alexander is bad, you should have seen the other guys, LOL.) But in 2004 I voted Clark in the primary and this year will vote for Edwards. So, Larry, welcome to the “dark side”. LOL.

Sorry I read all of todays posts, just don’t have time to comment individually.(My 17 year old son has agreed to watch a movie on DVD with me, and he’s had a lousy day,we had a Memorial Mass for his grandfather(WWII,Korea and Vietnam vet.My ex-father-in-law, but a man I admired and respected.)….. So, from the “Who Obstructed Justice” thread, one of the commentors posted about the spy satelites. Let’s pick a day, advertise it amongst the blogosphere and set an appointed time and all walk outside and flip off the satelites. Wouldn’t do any good, but would make many of us feel better. And I’d giggle. It’s performance art, dammit! ( Hey Gang! Let’s put on a show!”

Am I really the one here that remembers Obama going to visit his paternal grandma in some little village in Africa? The people there were thrilled that one of their own was a US senator….remember? Infact Obama has talked alot about wanting to help Africa. POTUS has given billions to rid that continent of aids. My feeling on charity: it begins at home…

sorry, that was suppose to say, Am I the only one here who remembers. Maybe my comment is off topic since the topic is who has spent the most time bummin’ around Europe. Tony Blair probably gave GWB some good tips on how to have 22+ cameras aimed at everyone 24/7. I seem to recall we fought a war to gain some independence from those people, yeah but that was a long time ago…ole Ron Paul & his hang up with the Constitution is starting to look better all the time.

I’m hoping for Edwards. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not silly enough to believe anyone is without a certain level of corruption….but….I need to believe in this system, this process that we call a Constitutional Democracy. I need to understand and explain to my children why the richest nation in the world can’t seem to educate it’s children, nor provide universal healthcare, nor keep our highest elected officials from committing war crimes. Other countries do…why can’t we. This holiday, as always I will take my 16, 13, 12 year olds to help out at the local soup kitchen. They see normal people who just can’t make ends meet even though they have full time jobs. This year if Connecticut is an example, they will see twice as many. We need true change. I have nothing against Hillary but I don’t want to do the same old establishment. Obama is lacking qualifications at this time of grave, dire need. Edwards is saying what I need to hear for now.

I’d take him to the Holocaust Museum at Auschwitz to bring home to a US president what a policy of aggressive nationalism can lead to.

For most Europeans the invasion and occupation of Iraq was akin to the Nazi attack on Poland in 1939. An attack on Iran would for us, and probably the rest of the world, be like the attack on Russia in 1941. Bush’s fantasy of World War 3 would indeed come to pass because the rest of the world would have no choice but to fight back.

GRC, “..a visit to an American military base & its enviorns could put a face on America’s empire.” Empire?? We’ve been peeing billions protecting europe so they could spend their dollars on transportation, education, health care etc. Empire? Euro welfare is more like it. That’s another thing I like about Ron Paul, he wants to bring the troops home from Europe & Korea. Those people should defend themselves, then we can see what happens to all their amenities, when they start paying for their own defense.

Larry’s stated preference for Edwards aside, I think a European tour for a Presidential candidate is a fine idea, Senator Obama an excellent candidate, and this engaging and talkative Brit a reasonably ideal companion-guide.

No NATO or Brussels yet, because this would be a visit designed for engraving memory with depth of impression: hence ceremonious (royal, religious), touching on tragedy (the holocaust, the poor) and peaceable (including times for refreshment, recollection, inspiration)). Visits of state come later.

Europe is a moveable feast: our eventual target would be Istanbul, once Europe’s capital, magical in its own right, where the Big Question Mark is found. We’d go via Stonehenge, for ancient, Runnymede, for constitutional monarchy, Stratford, for swans and Shakespeare, the Paris bainlieu, for poverty, extinguished hope, and the gathering European presence of Islam, the Loire valley for a walk in dappled warmth, fine wine — one of the camps for brute eruptive reality — Zurich for shopping and sheer wealth, Venice, because it is lovely and sinking (I want to see it too), St Peter’s for pontifical High Mass, greatest of spectacles, most profound of rituals, and a cordial visit next day with Benedict XVI, thence onwards, to Istanbul Constantinople Byzantium.

My dream ticket: Gore-Edwards, but it ain’t gonna happen.

Edwards I think is my preference from the field of front runners too. But like Larry, I don’t think its realistic to predict he will be the nominee.

Actually, Edwards has the same problem Obama has: he hasn’t been around long enough to build a big solid political machine, and for voters to feel they know exactly what they are getting if they vote for him.

Obama knows how to campaign. He has risen relatively quickly from obscurity to household-word status. That’s a key political skill needed to get elected, and he has proven he has that skill. He can wow you, he can give a great speech, he can sell dreams, and that’s how politicians have always seduced the voters.

The problem is that everything else has taken a back seat to campaigning. Unfortunately, it’s not all his fault, because the system rewards the eternal campaign monster, and ignores people who get the job done without making a fanfare. “Fanfare” runs the show. In a sense, you can’t blame Obama for understanding that truth.

It’s about PR, it’s about looking good on talk-shows, it’s about fund-raising, it’s about telling voters what they want to hear, its about getting mega-star endorsements, and these things demand 24/7 campaigning. So that’s what he does, and it has been generating results for him.

Unfortunately, our political system has no rewards for elected officials who actually show up at their offices and get work done. And our system actually punishes politicians who want to be honest and do good works. If you are a politician, and you want to fade into obscurity and be forgotten, then show up and do a good job everyday, and that’s what you’ll get.

The system is completely loaded against doing the right things and has great rewards for doing the wrong things. The occupants of the current White House are my proof-of-concept here. Further evidence: Rudy and Huck.

Who is trying to do the right thing out there - those are the candidates that don’t stand a chance. That’s why we all like Edwards, but we know, he’s a good guy, soo…and Al Gore apparently concluded you can’t be a good guy and be President too, so he chose to opt out of the whole rotten-to-the-core system. Really, you can’t blame him.

That leaves the crooks as the front runners.

Choose your poison carefully: all types of pain are not equal.

I would like know what itinerary Tyler Drumheller would recommend.
There is a passage in his book when he was writing about standing outside of Langley on 9/11 wishing “they” had paid more attention to Europe.

i am a strong edwards supporter who has found myself defending hillary on various liberal sites. why? i cant speak for others but for me it started to happen when i felt the attacks on her went over the line. these attacks were based on her sex, her previous role as first lady and some were even echoing right wing talking points. the more i read these attacks the more it became readily evident they originated from obama supporters. when questioned about their attacks this group almost as a whole replied with ad hominum replies … i was even troll rated on a couple sites by these people … i guess questioning them was over the line.

you know i really disliked ronnie raygun but one of his favorite lines went something like this … dont speak evil of fellow republicans … i think us democrats might learn something from the ol gipper in this regard. i want a clean contest … no underhanded personal attacks. diasagree by all means but keep it professional … perhaps i’m asking too much … after all we are the disorganized and messy democrats.

peace to all during this holiday season … keep up the “good” fight for whomever you support. for me, it is quite simple … I like john!

Obama simply isn’t prepared, and I sort of have to wonder about his intellectual curiousity if he has yet to visit Europe. I don’t find him inspirational, as so many claim him to be. He’s a bit too professory for me, and if people thought Bill Clinton too often bashed the Left to score points with the Right, well I don’t see how they find solace in Obama. I say, send him back to the Senate. Let’s see him actually effect someone’s life other than his own. I disagree with Larry. I much prefer Hillary, thought Edwards would be my second choice.

Why I Should Be Obama’s Tour Guide (not an official submission)

Dear Sen. Obama,
Like you I am bi-racial, grew up on two languages, spent much of my childhood overseas and my parents practiced
two different regligions.
Also, like you, I have foreign policy experience. As a Little Leaguer, we played against
the Japanese All Stars. And I’ve also served as an unofficial tour guide on the continent for friends and colleagues.
(Since you’ve already been to Great Britain, we’ll go there along with Scandinavia,
the Baltic States, Germany and Eastern Europe the next time around.)

First stop, Amsterdam. Uh no,not for THAT or THAT, I was thinking the Rembrandt museum.
Next stop, Brittany. It’s charming, beautiful, the people are lovely and the food is superb.
Note; Please don’t refer to the English channel as the English channel. I think they call it Le Mer de la France or something like that.
They had this war with England that was called the Hundred Years War and some of ‘em aren’t over it. I understand completely. I feel the same way about the Anaheim Ducks who knocked the Red Wings out in the Stanley Cup playoffs last year. Also,skip any Lucky Pierre jokes - trust me they don’t fly.
Also on our itinerary: Alsace-Lorraine, Lugano, Barcelona, Geneva, Vienna, Palermo and Genk, Belgium.
Why Genk you ask? Great question. That way we can always say “We’ve been Genked!”
And now that it’s euros, you won’t have to worry about that “pretty money” with pictures of broads
and musicians on it. I was always suspicious of that kind of currency.
You will hear jokes about Belgians, I found it best to simply pretend not to understand

.
I will also share with you the European idea of Heaven and Hell.
Heaven
The Germans are the factory workers.
The French are the cooks.
The English are the police.
The Swiss are the bankers.
And the Italians are the lovers.
Hell
The French are the factory workers.
The English are the cooks.
The Italians are the bankers.
The Germans are the police.
And the Swiss are the lovers..
Respectfully,
Taters

Thanks, no I didn’t know that.
Once in Belgium, I commented to two guys (We were hangin’ out and having fun, (one was Dutch and the other French) that our Belgian host was a a nice guy, gracious and generous. They both looked at me somewhat surprised and said, he is supposed to.
I asked why.
They said that he must concede to me for I was the superior man, after all he was Belge. And that he’s probably grateful I didn’t take his wife.
I was somewhat taken aback and to this day I don’t know if they were serious or not.

China.
Europe’s relevance decreases daily. China however has a stranglehold on the American economic system.
And let us not forget that Calvin Coolidge was the third best president the USA ever had. Only William Henry Harrison and James A Garfield did more for freedom and liberty and caused fewer problems during their terms.

Thanks Larry.

Like Obama, I don’t have special knowledge of Europe outside of my public school education. However, they say the best way to learn something is to teach it to someone. So I could teach Obama and get learnin’ for both of us at the same time!

I know, far-fetched logic, but so is the logic of electing the inexperienced Obama as president.

I figure if I can Wow him with mis-direction, using stories about my family and ancestors, I’m in. You know, the way he’s Wow’d folks with a single speech at the ‘04 convention.

I’m related to some people like president Millard Fillmore and Major General Ed Landsdale, and Francis Scott Key was the family’s lawyer. None of this has anything to do with touring Europe, but that’s OK. If Obama’s campaign is any clue, it’s the Wow factor that counts.

Call me crazy, but after the Dodd, Biden, Kucinich, Gravel, and Richardson supporters re-allign with Obama on Caucus Night and everyone at Obama for America has to start working overtime, I have a feeling they’re not going to have time to even glance at your petty bullshit.

I can volunteer for the tour guide post if expenses are paid. I will take him to Spain and explain how the 20th century affected the world that was built around Spain and the preemptive fascist takeover.
We may be able to let him know about how the inquisition was popular there, how the arabic civilization brought their knowledge to Europe and brought us out of the dark ages.

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Well, does Obama get to go to Europe?

Travel to Zurich…

Hope you will write more information for us!. Who advice? Hello topic starter! Hi, very interesting.Hi there. What can I say, it’s…

Hey Travel to Zurich, what a lovely city! We stayed at the Seegarten, a wonderful hotel with all the amenities of home. Gracious hosts and a superb restaurant. I hope to return.

Guess what, Pres Bush never visited Europe prior to his first term in office. I guess you missed that Larry.

I would recommend that he visit Brussels, and, time permitting make a stop to acquaint himself with NATO headquarters there. I’m sure he could browse the archives of NATO’s participation in Afghanistan to confirm that, in fact, Arabic is no spoken there. While there, he could enjoy some Belgian waffles with a little sausage in peace.

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Or some Trappist beer and Belgian chocolate. Good post!