In 1963 JF Kennedy gave one of his finest speeches, Ich bin ein Berliner (You can watch it on YouTube here). He stood in front of 400,000+ West Berliners and the world as both a president of the US and a citizen of the free world. By declaring he was a Berliner, he showed that he was the same and that together they were all united by a common belief in freedom.
In 2017 freedom remains, but I guess it comes with an asterisk and fine print listing exclusions to the rule.
These are concerning times for sure. I wake up every morning shaking my head and wondering how it can be that he’s in office.
Hi Carrie, good to hear from you again. Hope your writing endeavours are still on the go now that you’ve taken a brief moment to come out of hiding 🙂
I must admit, I’m not one for political statements, but I feel compelled to open my mouth…well, sharpen the pencil that is.
It seems like I’m hiding, and yet I’m on Twitter and Facebook far too much! But I like to stop by in blog land when I can. 🙂
Well, we all need a bit of escape time 🙂
I’m not either, Marti. Good one. What is your view when the Berlin wall collapsed?
Hi Seeker, Personally I was overjoyed when the Berlin wall collapsed. Many of my aunts, uncles and cousins lived there. It split my mother’s side of the family in two at the time, with her and a few others defecting to the west before the wall was constructed. As a child I never really understood why there was a wall. All I remember was that my mother would send a Christmas parcel of ‘treats’ every year to her aunt. It contained everyday items that we would take for granted back here in Australia. I recall our aunt writing back thanking her for the gift and said they were going to celebrate new year’s eve with two of the very special gifts – tinned frankfurts and tinned pineapple. Even was a child this broke my heart.
Thank you, Marti. I must say, I was overjoyed when I watched it on TV.
May I share your story in my blog and your wall credit to you?
My favourite famous speech is: We shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender… Winston Churchill.
Winston had many wonderful speeches. Well chosen and inspiring.
PS. Good to hear from you again Shirley. Hope the NZ weather has been better than our Australian summer – price one pays for choosing to live in Melbourne I guess.