American Views Abroad

 
A Counter Inaugural was held in Berlin on Wednesday evening, a candle light vigil of about 50 people stood at the west side of the Brandenburg Gate which is also called the March 18th Place, commemorating the German Revolution of 1848. A joint statement released by the organizers, Democracts Abroad and American Voices Abroad, explains why:

'Traditionally, Inauguration Day is a day on which we Americans celebrate the vitality of our democratic system and values - whether or not 'our' candidate won. Today, however, many Americans fear that this very vitality is at risk, that George W. Bush's second term will put our time-honored system and values sorely to the test. It is not a question of partisan differences of opinion, it is a matter of principle. We, as critical Americans, wish to express our sorrow and anger at the prospect of four more years of Bush's catastrophic policies....

We feel we have no reason to celebrate Inauguration Day this year. We join with other Americans who throughout the week will be celebrating the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr, thus upholding the positive democratic traditions of our country. The lesson Dr. King taught us is that when a democracy betrays its own values, citizens must take action and defend these values through peaceful protest. We grieve to see the continuation of policies which place more priority on killing people and cutting back their rights than on helping them.'

In Florence, Italy, about 50 US Citizens Against the War and many representatives of Italian peace groups held a Counter Inaugural Vigil in front of the US Consulate. In addition to holding up a 'Not In Our Name' banner and peace flags, the group read Langston Hughes' poem 'Let America Be America Again.'

An interesting note is in Der Spiegel's summary of German newspapers' comments on Bush's inauguration. The center-right FAZ ran no editiorial on Bush's speech, but a reporter provided an interesting comment on how some here view the grand scale of that celebration. 'This event is actually a paradox in itself because normally the idol worship of a ruler is generally reserved for monarchies or dictatorships, in which the potentate has either gotten his or her legitimacy as a representative of God or by using violent, god-like hubris.' www.derspiegel.de (in the English site).

- posted by Gloria @ 6:47 PM