Unfortunately, young people are not being taught the toll that was taken on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in Communist countries. Many young people, even those in Germany, do not even know about the fall of the Berlin Wall, much less why people worldwide celebrated and cried with joy on November 9, 1989.
Young people don't understand that the reason people in countries still controlled by communists didn't cry with joy was because their leaders did not let them hear about it. The few that did hear the news, cried in hope... the hope that one day they too might be free to tear down the symbols of their oppression.
It is a shame that our president has chosen not to give this anniversary the important recognition it deserves. Could it be as Michelle Malkin surmises that there is nothing in it for his Chicago cronies. Or perhaps it would make his Marxist buddies uneasy. Whatever the reason, our 'The World Loves Me' president is seems to be continuing his lovers spat with the world. But we will remember and honor the fall of the Wall and the domino affect it had on communism.
20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall
BERLIN HISTORY ONLINE
GREAT ESCAPES
AP: Thousands cheer 20 years since fall of Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall 20 Years Later
CLICK ON MORE THINGS FOR INTERESTING LINKS
World Leaders at Fest der Freiheit
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the representatives of the four powers that controlled Berlin after the end of World War II until Nov. 9, 1989: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Hillary Clinton will symbolically walk through the gate at the climax of the “Fest der Freiheit,” or Freedom Festival.
Dignitaries and Celebrities
David Hasselhoff: He 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.
Lech Walesa, leader of the Solidarity movement who went on to become Polish president, is due to topple the first domino, setting off a chain across the city.
On Oct. 31, former President George H.W. Bush joined his German counterpart from the time, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and Mikhail Gorbachev at a ceremony in central Berlin. Source: Bloomberg
ABC NEWS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy has posted on Facebook a photo of himself chipping away at the Berlin Wall with a pickaxe 20 years ago.
Sarkozy Berlin Wall claims raise questions
By ANGELA CHARLTON (AP)
PARIS — Where was Nicolas Sarkozy when the Berlin Wall fell? The French president suggests — in a casual post on his Facebook page — that he was at Checkpoint Charlie, chipping away at the Cold War with a pickax alonside throngs of Berliners on Nov. 9, 1989.French journalists aren't so sure.
Mirror.co.uk: Nicolas Sarkozy accused of faking Berlin Wall history
Nicolas Sarkozy was yesterday accused of “faking” photos of himself at the Berlin Wall on the day it came down 20 years ago.
AFP: Clinton uses Wall's fall as rallying cry against extremism
The New ForeignPolicy.com: Clinton calls fall of Berlin Wall a 'call to action'
Last night at a gala banquet in Berlin, Secretary Clinton received an Atlantic Council Freedom Award on behalf of the American people. Clinton said the festivities "should be a call to action, not just a commemoration of past actions. She went on to say, "We need to form an even stronger partnership to bring down the walls of the 21st century and to confront those who hide behind them: the suicide bombers, those who murder and maim girls whose only wish is to go to school, leaders who choose their own fortunes over the fortunes of their people."
Thomas Carothers, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, is skeptical that Europeans will buy into the Bush-era "trope" of linking the Cold War and extremism. He told Agence France-Presse via e-mail: Facing difficult pressures on Afghanistan, the Obama administration marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall by revving up a rhetorical trope that President Bush favored. … Europeans and others never found it very convincing under Bush. … I suspect they won't like it much better now."
US NEWS Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Bill Clinton on the Berlin Wall and Why We Owe George H.W. Bush Thanks
KBTX.COM: Bush Marks Fall of Berlin Wall in College Station
It cleared the way for the end of communism in Europe, and it happened on George Bush senior's watch. Monday, the former president celebrated the fall of the Berlin Wall in College Station.
Driving the Soviets up the wall: Soviet-East German relations, 1953-1961
By Hope Millard Harrison
The Berlin Wall: Barrier to Freedom
By Michael Burgan
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