accelerated media

been working out this concept–this theme, called accelerated media. it used to be, at least in the case of politics, when one trailblazer went down, those standing in the rafters had about 2 - 4 years to take the experiences of the pioneer (both bad and good) and turn it to their own advantage.

now that sarah palin has been picked by john mccain to be the first female on a republican ticket, and quite possibly the first woman vice president of the united states, we see that the republican ticket and palin herself have the luxury of rolling through an endless sea of information on how a woman can or cannot win a national campaign because hillary has already conducted their market research. now they know, frumpy and scary does not work. but kazuo kawasaki designer glasses do. although frumpy does seem to work for angela merkel in germany. but what does this tell us about deutschland?

obama used as pawn in german election

seems like every german politician wants to get close to barack obama. from head of state, the well-respected yet dowdy angela merkel, to the dour yet popular frank-walter steinmeier, the present foreign minister, to the gay mayor of berlin, klaus wowereit.

barack obama, in his reported quest to speak at the brandenburg gate, where ronald reagan famously demanded, in an alzeheimer induced haze, that gorbi ‘tear down this wall,’ has sparked a diplomatic fight. the mayor of berlin is anxious to one day become the first homosexual chancellor of germany, although one might argue he would be the second, while angela merkel is anxious to win re-election and increase her party’s national standing.

in germany, it’s all about percentages. and right now, steinmeier and wowereit, members of the SPD (social democratic party), have watched their party’s percentage quickly erode over the past 3 years and increasingly so over the last 12 months. the present SPD candidate for president, gesine schwan is currently polling at 17%. a photo op with obama, who 72% of germans apparently like, would be a big boost to the local politicians.

it would make more sense for obama to touch down in london, ireland, and perhaps poland or denmark. all of which are countries involved in the iraq war.

obama seeks photo op with gay berlin mayor

is it that big of a deal? no, not really. but is this the headline barack obama wants to see in kansas city, kansas? or lincoln, nebraska? following the ill advised long-playing interview with his kids malia and sasha obama on access hollywood. well, that’s the headline he just might get, at least in the blogospher, after he touches down in berlin, germany. the mayor, klaus wowereit, who has also in the past extended an official welcome to a controversial international sex festival is anxious to roll out the red carpet for obama as well. perhaps he should speak with jesse jackson about that one. obama would most likely love to be seen with angela merkel, the present head-of-state of the european union’s largest member.

hillary clinton was politically minded enough to blow off the ex-german foreign minister, joschka fischer at a new yorker party last year, so she wouldn’t have to live down being photographed with the ultra-liberal, ex-street fighter who caused a lot of left-wing ruckus in germany in the 70s and 80s and whom some believe helped sew the seeds of anti-americanism in europe.

angela merkel power suit by day princess by night

angela merkel got caught on camera in oslo at the opera dressed more like a bavarian than the former frumpy minister she used to be when she clung to her straight out of east germany, pageboy haircut. but the real question is, why is this a story. is this just a downtime for german rags? isn’t there a war going on somewhere?