Of course, there are niggling complaints. Ed Morrissey writes that Obama’s choice of the Victory Column over the Brandenburg Gate as the location for his speech was apt to make many Germans uncomfortable because of its association with the Nazi regime. But he also makes the excellent larger point that:

The more basic question is why Obama feels the need to conduct a campaign event among Germans. Meeting with foreign leaders makes sense for a man with no foreign policy experience whatsoever, but that doesn’t require massive rallies among people who aren’t voting in this election. In his rush to look impressive for no one’s purposes but his own, Obama has made himself look ignorant and arrogant all over again.

That’s one way of looking at it. And I can’t deny that Morrissey has a point: Obama has some serious cajones to walk into a foreign city during campaign season and give a speech of such sweeping scope to an audience whose support or lack thereof matters little in terms of votes or even contributions. And if we were living in ordinary times, I’d say that Obama’s behavior in Berlin today was nothing short of inappropriate in the extreme.

But these are not ordinary times.

We’ve spent the past seven and a half years with a president who has arguably squandered more international goodwill than at any other point in our nation’s history. Obama’s candidacy is a near-direct result of George W. Bush’s bungling at a time when the world demanded an adroit diplomat.

This tour abroad is meant to assuage the legitimate concerns of many Americans that a man so young, without any foreign policy experience, can lead the United States and the world through the challenges we now face. McCain argues that his wartime experience and years in the Senate trump Obama’s pretty speechmaking when it comes to our security. This speech was meant to explode that claim.

Today, Obama gave us a taste of how he’d conduct foreign policy. He’d rebuild damaged partnerships and reach out to people all over the world and wage the war of ideas as only an articulate, visionary leader can.

And don’t underestimate the importance of the war of ideas. Because while the role of Commander in Chief of our military is no laughing matter, the United States has always done best in times of peace and in times of war when we’ve lead by holding up the ideals of liberty, democracy and equality for all the world to see.

So the prospect of being able to route myself directly to someone’s voicemail and leaving a message without having to actually talk to them sounded wonderful. Too bad that when I tested SlyDial by dialing my cell phone from my home phone, it not only rang my cell, but showed my number on the caller ID.

SUCH a tease!

We’ve moved a few things around to display the conversation happening among our wonderful commenters much more prominently. Lower down on the lefthand side, you’ll find a widget from lifestreaming site FriendFeed that aggregates my activities from a dozen different social tools, including Twitter and Google Reader.

Below that, you’ll find Andy’s very own Twitter. That’s right. Andy has a Twitter account, but he needs to step it up.

Feedback is always welcome below.

Join Ted Johnson, Maegan and I — along with guests Greg Mitchell and David Horsey — for a discussion on Obama’s trip to Afghanistan and the Middle East, McCain’s portrayal in the media and the judgement of the news media.

Andy’s been taking a little break from blogging to get his house in order. He moved last weekend and is also in his second week of a new job. As if that weren’t enough to juggle, he’s also been in a lot of physical pain from a combination of playing sports without stretching and using a less than ergonomic workstation during countless hours of programming at home.

That’s not to say he’s not in good spirits. I spoke to him last night and overall he sounds happier than I’ve seen him in a long time. But doing any more typing than strictly necessary is just not in the cards for him right now.

I’m sure, however, that he’d appreciate getting some love in the comments. So if you have some words of advice, support or just plain love for Mr. Sparrow…give it up!

Join us for a half-hour of conversation with Greg Mitchell, Editor in Chief of Editor & Publisher and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist David Horsey, plus the political chatter of the week.

Doesn’t it make you sick every time you pull the receipt out of the gas pump after filling up? Mile after mile you drive! To and from work, school, running errands, meeting with friends, how about everyday LIFE!!! Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a way of compensating YOURSELF for all that driving?

So begins the pitch to drivers for a new venture Gas for Free, which pays drivers up to $299 each month to place advertising on their cars.

I can’t decide what I think about this from a business perspective. It’s entirely possible — although I hope not — that Gas for Free’s founders have hit on the next big trend in advertising and are going to make a mint. It’s also possible that their target driver audience — people who are so attached to their cars that even $4.35/gallon gas won’t make them take the bus — will not be willing to deface their precious shiny automobiles with crass slogans.

From an environmental perspective, this makes me utterly sick. It’s bad enough that this venture aims to artificially support the completely unsustainable practice of driving fossil fuel-powered vehicles everywhere rather than taking public transit. (I love that they call themselves “eco-ethical.”) But on top of it, it further clutters the already overwhelming mental and emotional experience of driving. Billboards are bad enough. Now I have to stare at advertising on someone’s car as well?

This kind of reminds me of the GOP’s ham-handed attempts to reduce gas prices which includes:

1. A gas tax holiday.
2. Releasing oil from the strategic petroleum reserves.

and last but not least…

3. The supply-and-demand-defying Find More, Use Less campaign, which asserts that if we excavate for more fossil fuel resources at the same time that we all voluntarily work together to conserve them, we can keep the price of gas low.

All in all, it’s ludicrous. We’re all grasping at straws trying to fix a system whose time is beginning to pass. Let’s pull out our thinking caps and use some of that innovative brain power to actually solve our energy crisis, rather than putting yet another band-aid over a gaping wound.

[Via Mashable.]

For those of you who don’t know, I’ve worshipped at the altar of two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning Seattle PI editorial cartoonist David Horsey for some time.

Today, he brought us this particularly apropos cartoon given Barack Obama’s calls to draw down troops in Iraq and move them to Afghanistan:

Horsey will be our guest, along with Greg Mitchell, Editor in Chief of Editor & Publisher. Should be a really fantastic show. Be sure to join us.

But it looks like Obama’s getting an eyeful of acceptance for his troop withdrawal schedule from the Iraqi government.

I usually have something more insightful to say about stuff like this, but this time, the contradiction says it all: Bush and McCain support staying in Iraq for the sake of staying. Obama proposes leaving and the Iraqi people agree.

Looks like this time around — just like in the runup to the invasion of Iraq — McCain’s experience leaves him on the wrong side of history.

It’s time to give up the ghost, stop wasting time, money and blood in Iraq and bring our people home.