Stage Set for Barack Obama to Take Germany by Storm

[The Ghost of Common Sense]

Originally Posted by RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

Although it appears most of Berlin is heading to Obama's speech today, US Foreign Service personnel will be banned from the event. And they are not happy. The American Foreign Service Association, a union of Foreign Service workers are opposing the rule. Read more from The Washington Post. And watch the speech live here.

While I put as much stock in the huff and puff blog as I do into anything that Limbaugh has to say, this is pretty messed up. I hope there is an investigation into this, and that the responsible parties are held accountable.

[RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Originally Posted by escrowe

How many electors does Germany have in the US Electoral College?

i don't know how many does the banana republic of so Florida have

[escrowe]

Originally Posted by RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

i don't know how many does the banana republic of so Florida have

How much have you got?

[RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Originally Posted by The Ghost of Common Sense

While I put as much stock in the huff and puff blog as I do into anything that Limbaugh has to say, this is pretty messed up. I hope there is an investigation into this, and that the responsible parties are held accountable.

exactly when do you give up your rights as a government worker especially in the the foreign service.

[shelley_utahjazzfan]

A free concert and hecklers set the stage for Obama to Take Germany by Storm.

[sunriseman]

Originally Posted by shelley_utahjazzfan

A free concert and hecklers set the stage for Obama to Take Germany by Storm.

Maybe McCain can learn how to have a party. He might want to start giving Bud Lite to anybody showing up and free ear plugs would help as well, cuts way down on the belly laughs when Johnnie tells his kind of jokes. Tricky Dick know how to grease the press. Take a memo Johnnie, more grease, bigger crowds.

[nowar]

Originally Posted by escrowe

How many electors does Germany have in the US Electoral College?

Sour grapes is what you folks are going to be munching on for quite some time. I wonder if it makes good whine.... (PUN INTENDED)
Don't worry the republican smear machine is working overtime to produce something you can all sink your teeth into (thats not REALLY what your supposed to do, K?).

[escrowe]

Originally Posted by nowar

Sour grapes is what you folks are going to be munching on for quite some time. I wonder if it makes good whine.... (PUN INTENDED)
Don't worry the republican smear machine is working overtime to produce something you can all sink your teeth into (thats not REALLY what your supposed to do, K?).

When you wish upon a star...

I'll just sit back and watch with amazement, thanks.

[shelley_utahjazzfan]

Originally Posted by sunriseman

Maybe McCain can learn how to have a party. He might want to start giving Bud Lite to anybody showing up and free ear plugs would help as well, cuts way down on the belly laughs when Johnnie tells his kind of jokes. Tricky Dick know how to grease the press. Take a memo Johnnie, more grease, bigger crowds.

McCain is not a rockstar, like Obama.

[RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Originally Posted by RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

US BARS FOREIGN SERVICE WORKERS FROM OBAMA SPEECH



Although it appears most of Berlin is heading to Obama's speech today, US Foreign Service personnel will be banned from the event. And they are not happy. The American Foreign Service Association, a union of Foreign Service workers are opposing the rule. Read more from The Washington Post. And watch the speech live here.

The U.S. Embassy in Berlin has instructed Foreign Service personnel stationed there not to attend Sen. Barack Obama's public rally today, which the State Department this week labeled a "partisan political activity" prohibited under its regulations for those serving overseas.

Government employees serving in the United States are permitted to attend such events under the Hatch Act, which bars other partisan activity, such as contributing money or working in behalf of a candidate...

...The American Foreign Service Association, the union of the diplomatic corps, objected to the ruling, calling it an "unnecessarily narrow interpretation" of the Foreign Affairs Manual. "The fact that you are working for the U.S. government overseas should not preclude political activity that you could engage in in the United States," one retired senior Foreign Service officer said.

HuffPost blogger Jacob Heilbrunn looks into the political connections around the rule:

Indeed, the administration has a long and tawdry record of trying to browbeat government agencies into submission, whether it's the CIA or the Centers for Disease Control. The State Department is perhaps highest on the list of conservatives and neocons who see it as the center of disloyalty and treachery. But this latest action represents a new low. If it's going to these lengths, the Bush administration must be really worried about Sen. John McCain's prospects.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/0..._n_114752.html

Bush administration. Double Standard: Diplomats Barred From Obama?s Berlin Speech, But Not McCain?s In Ottawa

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that the U.S. Embassy in Berlin ?instructed Foreign Service personnel stationed there not to attend Sen. Barack Obama?s [D-IL] public rally? in Tiergarten Park because the event is ??partisan political activity? prohibited under its regulations for those serving overseas.?

The diplomats? union objected to the ruling, calling it an ?unnecessarily narrow interpretation? of the Foreign Affairs Manual. ?The fact that you are working for the U.S. government overseas should not preclude political activity that you could engage in in the United States,? one retired senior Foreign Service officer said. But a State official explained the ruling:

But ?we always maintain that no U.S. government Foreign Service person overseas should be seen to be advocating one side or the other,? State Department Undersecretary for Management Patrick Kennedy said, adding that ?it has nothing to do with who? the candidate is.

?When a German sees you there, they?re not going to think, ?Oh, he or she is on their off time.? It?s ?Oh, they are a Democrat, a Republican, an independent,? God knows what,? Kennedy said in an interview.

But the ruling ? which Kennedy admitted is unprecedented ? appears to indicate a double standard from the State Department. Last June, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) delivered a speech to the Economic Club of Canada in Ottawa. The event was reportedly organized in part by U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins, whom President Bush appointed in 2005. But more than that, the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa confirmed to ThinkProgress that Wilkins also attended the event.

Not only did McCain make clear references to and critiques of Obama?s policy positions in the speech, but he also referred to his own presidential campaign six times.

Although both the McCain and Obama campaigns denied their respective speeches in Ottawa and Berlin were political, the State Department only prohibited diplomats from attending Obama?s event. The fact that Wilkins attended McCain?s speech without worries that he would ?be seen to be advocating one side or the other,? undermines Kennedy?s justification for barring Foreign Service personnel from attending Obama?s speech.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/25/state-obama-speech/