News Nuggets 114

UP-FRONT VIDEO NUGGET!

Obama's 'Town Hall' Meeting with Turkish Students from Hurriyet Daily News [of Turkey]

VERY INTERESTING OUTREACH on Obama's part.  The video and audio are a little squirrelly at times -- be patient.

""I am personally committed to a new chapter in American engagement," Obama told college students in Instanbul, last stop of his first overseas visit. "We can't afford to talk past one another and focus only on our differences, or to let the walls of mistrust go up around us."

Turkish Town Hall Has MTV Vibe from Politico

It was all a very familiar set piece — until one looked up at the series of Moorish arches and domes over Obama’s head in the Tophane-i-Amire, an ancient cannon foundry-turned-cultural center. 

Hail to the Chief (Joan Walsh) from Salon

"I found it incredibly moving to watch the first grainy video footage of President Obama being mobbed by delirious American soldiers during his surprise visit to Baghdad on Tuesday. They crowded him joyously, some of them jumping up and down, stereotypical gruff-looking gray-haired white guys just beaming at the president, women and men alike leaning in for hugs."

ALMOST UP-FRONT VIDEO NUGGET

US President Obama Addresses Troops from the BBC

Check out the reception Obama gets from the troops in Iraq.

The World From Berlin: 'Obama has Reduced America's Sense of Self-Importance'" from Der Spiegel [from Germany in English]

An INTERESTING roundup of German newspaper responses to Obama's European visit.

"With rousing speeches and a diplomatic manner, Barack Obama quelled fears that differences of opinion would end Europe's love affair with him. German commentators applaud how he handled himself during his European visit but worry that rougher times lie ahead."

Unequivocally, Obama has 'Conquered Europe'" from Le Journal du Dimanche au Quotidien [of France in English]

"In five days, more than just a new leader, it is the face of a new America that has been offered to Europe. Self-assured and charismatic but without a hint of arrogance, Barack Obama has achieved a perfect score in winning the confidence and respect of European leaders and public opinion. A real challenge, after eight years of Bush. … This is what history will record."

Barack Hussein Obama: A Good Start in Ankara from the Guardian [of London]

"President Barack Obama, visiting Turkey today, has some repair work to do. He handled it, in a speech to the parliament, rather well."

Obama in Turkey: Winning Hearts, Healing Rifts from Time Magazine

"On a two-day visit to Turkey, a mainly Muslim country deeply divided over the role of Islam in politics, expanding democratic rights and enacting European Union reforms, the President showed how it's done. From minority Christian leaders and Muslim mufti to Kurdish politicians and right-wing nationalists, Obama met with vastly disparate sections of Turkish society and managed to earn back at least some of the goodwill lost in recent years."

Obama Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq from the Independent [of London]

"Unlike Bush, blamed by many Iraqis for the tens of thousands who died after the invasion even as some acknowledge their gratitude for the fall of Saddam Hussein, Obama would be welcomed by Iraqis, analysts said.  "No flying shoes this time for sure," said political analyst Hazem al-Nuaimi, referring to an Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at Bush, forcing him to duck, during the then-US leader's final visit to Iraq in December."

Rising Above it All (Howard Kurtz) from the Washington Post

"If you read the press or watch talk TV, you've learned that Obama is trying to do too much, has ticked off his own party, mishandled AIG, thinks he can run GM, is pushing socialism, is taking over the whole economy, and by the way, Afghanistan is his Vietnam.  Well, much of the public doesn't seem to agree."

A Different Europe Greets Obama (Editorial) from the Boston Globe

"Obama is fighting to save capitalism, as Roosevelt did during the Great Depression, but in much of the world American-style capitalism is discredited, and many would rather see something else emerge. Continental Europeans, whom Americans once scorned for their nanny-state economies, now feel justified in resisting the American model."

Chairman Steele's Crazy Talk (Eugene Robinson) from the Washington Post

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but if the Republican Party wants to get back into the game, it should start by paying more attention to its new chairman, the all-too-quotable Michael Steele."