60 Years Ago?

It's funny how an article during an election year can turn anything into a political debate. Take, for instance, this one:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080622/ap_on_re_eu/berlin_airlift

When it comes to the Berlin Airlift, I would love to have seen an article about how much Berlin and Germany have changed. I would have loved to see an indepth discussion on the pros and cons of Allied and Soviet occupation and a comparison between them. I would also have loved to see what people who live there now remember, how they are taught about it, and what they think about it now. I wouldn't even mind seeing opinions of Americans who lived through it.

However, I really don't care to see a political discussion that focuses on current American politics. They pull it together by explaining that Germans think of Obama as another JFK-or a "mixture of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy." This thought is incredibly uncomfortable to me. Martin Luther King, for however great he was, I don't believe would have ever sought the presidency. That would have placed too many restrictions on him and too many people in direct opposition to him within his own circle. Think of how difficult it would have been for him to inspire the people he did had he become president while Strom Thurmond was in office.

Now for JFK. All you have to do is look at his record to know that he was not that great. He was more of an enigmatic and charsimatic person who lucked out in being surrounded by good and intelligent people. He may have been great had he lived, he was intelligent enough to learn from his mistakes, and the thought that he was working toward that greatness has perpetuated the myth of JFK and the Kennedys. So to say that Obama is another JFK is worrisome because there is no way that he could live up to the myth and it's setting a lot of people up for disappointment.

This article does delve a little bit into the history of the Berlin Airlift, but not enough for my tastes. There is no way that an article such as this could convey the emotion--the fear, the excitement, the nervousness, the gratitude, and the sense of obligation--that was felt during this time. Especially when America is the main focus, when it shouldn't be.