BERLIN -- On what used to be the East German side of the Brandenburg Gate, Linnea and Julia, two American college students, have been spending this sunny Wednesday afternoon handing out blue postcards advertising Barack Obama's appearance tomorrow at the Siegessaule, the Uberphallic Victory statue in the Tiergarten, less than a mile down the boulevard Unter den Linden on the other side of the Tor. Yesterday and today volunteers from Americans Abroad for Obama, as well as college students like Linnea and Julia, have been plying Berliners and tourists with these rather bizarre cards -- the artwork reminiscent of both German Expressionism and Soviet Constructivism in its depiction of a frowning Barack. Is the Obama brow wrinkled in thought? Is the Senator squinting at the future? Or is he hectoring an audience? Take your pick. Certainly, one customer, a Communist who used to live in East Berlin, likes the card. He asks for a stack to replace the usual Communist literature he puts in the mailboxes of his new neighbors in West Berlin. People are arriving from all over Europe to hear Obama speak. Earlier today, Linnea and Julia met a group of Americans, just flown in from Paris, who pulled their suitcases along behind them as they worked their Obama shift. Dirk Mirow, the organizer of the Obama event for Americans Abroad supporters, has received emails from young people coming in from Macedonia and Poland. One of the (many) complaints ...
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BERLIN -- On what used to be the East German side of the Brandenburg Gate, Linnea and Julia, two American college students, have been spending this sunny Wednesday afternoon handing out blue postcards advertising Barack Obama's appearance tomorrow at the Siegessaule, the Uberphallic Victory statue in the Tiergarten, less than a mile down the boulevard Unter den Linden on the other side of the Tor. Yesterday and today volunteers from Americans Abroad for Obama, as well as college students like Linnea and Julia, have been plying Berliners and tourists with these rather bizarre cards -- the artwork reminiscent of both German Expressionism and Soviet Constructivism in its depiction of a frowning Barack. Is the Obama brow wrinkled in thought? Is the Senator squinting at the future? Or is he hectoring an audience? Take your pick. Certainly, one customer, a Communist who used to live in East Berlin, likes the card. He asks for a stack to replace the usual Communist literature he puts in the mailboxes of his new neighbors in West Berlin. People are arriving from all over Europe to hear Obama speak. Earlier today, Linnea and Julia met a group of Americans, just flown in from Paris, who pulled their suitcases along behind them as they worked their Obama shift. Dirk Mirow, the organizer of the Obama event for Americans Abroad supporters, has received emails from young people coming in from Macedonia and Poland. One of the (many) complaints ...