Change Germans Can’t Believe In

WITH gestures that ranged from a wink to a sneer, most anyone you met here this week volunteered the view that Barack Obama’s visit to Europe caused unprecedented frenzy. But it’s been hard for me to find a European, aside from two Harvard-educated friends in Paris, who confessed to excitement — not just about the visit, but the prospect of an Obama presidency.
It is true that Der Spiegel, the German newsweekly, featured Mr. Obama on its cover, topped by the words “Germany Meets the Superstar” — but the cover was satire, and nasty satire at that. The editors managed to find the ugliest photograph of Mr. Obama ever taken. It caught the senator at a moment that might be exhaustion but looks like conceited smirking. When Der Spiegel featured Mr. Obama on its cover in March, the cover line was “The Messiah Factor.” Must one add that this, too, was not meant to be taken at face value?
Europeans will be as relieved as 72 percent of Americans to see the end of the Bush administration, but their attitudes toward the Democratic candidate are far from being the same as the ones he arouses at home. Mr. Obama makes Europeans uncomfortable.
In Germany, politicians in front of large, shouting crowds evoke images that nobody wants to see repeated. But genuine worries about demagoguery are not all that’s at issue. The mocking undertone that accompanies most descriptions of Mr. Obama in the European news media signifies a trans-Atlantic divide. George W. Bush made matters far worse than they ever were, but the neoconservatives who advised him were right about one thing: Europe is gripped by a world-weariness that resists American dreams.
Not every European shows scorn for Mr. Obama. Karsten Voigt, the astute coordinator of the German Foreign Ministry’s America policies, thinks the United States is attempting a “complete renewal of its own political culture.”
But then, Mr. Voigt told me last week, he considers himself a Kantian. Very few Germans do. Robert Kagan, the conservative foreign-policy expert, once claimed that Americans are hard-headed Hobbesian realists, while Europeans are Kantian idealists, but he got it backwards. European institutions may be closer to those imagined by Enlightenment thinkers, but the Enlightenment’s spirit crossed the Atlantic long ago. The whole-hearted enthusiasm of audiences back home is an American thing. Europeans wouldn’t understand.
Berlin, in particular, is in the middle of a very post-heroic moment. Its former bravado about its history now approaches indifference. Take the awkward turquoise building where visitors from the West used to part from loved ones at the Friedrichstrasse border. Dubbed the “Palace of Tears” by East Berliners, it later symbolized the local talent for black humor and raw energy when it was turned into a disco after reunification. Surrounded by cranes at work on yet another office building, the Palace of Tears no longer has any function, nor anyone to complain about it.
So when Mr. Obama reminded Berliners of their greater moments — the airlift, the destruction of the wall — he risked more scoffing. There was plenty of speculation about which German sentence he would memorize to one-up John F. Kennedy’s famous speech.
In fact, what Mr. Obama did was far more interesting. He studied a speech given by Ernst Reuter, West Berlin’s beleaguered mayor during the 1948 airlift. When Reuter said, “People of the world, look at Berlin!” he was calling for help. When Mr. Obama echoed him, he was using the city as a model — for all the other possibilities that Berliners, and the rest of us, are slow to acknowledge.
This was no feel-good speech about working together. Mr. Obama’s riff on the Berlin airlift was a reminder that you need not drop a bomb to be a hero, and that American influence lasts when we don’t. Nor was he merely flattering his hosts about their achievements or calling to mind happier days of trans-Atlantic partnerships. He was using the past to remind us all that we need not resign ourselves to the way things are now. What better place to remember than in the heart of Berlin?
“No one could live long in Berlin without being completely disabused of illusions,” said Ronald Reagan in his speech calling on Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate. I remember that day in 1987: the eyeballs rolled upward amid jaded sighs.
Mr. Reagan’s hosts heard his remarks with not quite concealed contempt, for most saw his speech as a tiresome bit of American naïveté. They had made their peace with a structure they thought would last forever — like the barrier between rich and poor nations whose existence, Mr. Obama concluded Thursday, is the greatest challenge of this century.
In other speeches, Mr. Obama has emphasized “the extraordinary nature of America,” where loyalty is less about particular places or tribes than particular ideas: above all the idea that we are not constrained by accidents of birth. We can make of our lives what we will.
Nothing quite like this is open to Europeans. The German philosopher Jürgen Habermas proposed that Germans cultivate what he calls constitutional patriotism, but neither the estimable Mr. Habermas nor his countrymen have found the language to inspire it. Americans are lucky that our national thinkers could write words that continue to ring.
Mr. Obama’s speech gave Europeans a chance to hear the difference between optimism and idealism. Optimists refuse to acknowledge reality. Idealists remind us that it isn’t fixed.

About to rock: The Jonas Bros open up on love, life and their biggest year yet

The Jonas Brothers have lots of stories to tell. And it's no wonder, given their rise to fame.
"There have been many moments where we've had to just sit back and say, 'Wow,'" says Nick. "One of those moments was the Texas State Fair right before we went on tour with Miley [Ray Cyrus]--50,000 people showed up to see us play. And in our New Jersey hometown, we played a sold-out concert in the same arena where we always went to see our favorite bands. It was an incredible feeling."
In just one year, the trio rose from being a (mostly) overlooked opening act with a modest debut CD to chart-topping superstars.
And add to that their about-to-explode acting career that launches with this summer's most-anticipated TV movie (Disney Channel's Camp Rock, premiering June 20) and their TV series (J.O.N.A.S. alia "Junior Operatives Networking as Spies," starting production in September for a winter debut on the Disney Channel). Somehow during all that, they managed to write and record their third CD for release August 12. And did we mention their "Burning Up" summer tour?
"So far things have been lining up perfectly, and we never, ever want to take for granted all these great blessings that are happening," says Joe, who loved portraying an ungrateful band diva, Shane Gray, in Camp Rock. "My character is kind of a jerk who is sent back to summer camp to learn his lesson."
SUMMER OF LOVE
Chatting about Camp Rock gets the guys feeling nostalgic about their own camp memories, including a common highlight: summer crushes found among the sleeping bags and insect repellent.
"Summer romances are good," Joe smiles. "We all went to camp a lot, and one of the best things about it was that we would always meet girls there."
So when it comes to meeting girls, what makes their hearts skip a beat?
"For me, it's when a girl has confidence," Nick says immediately. "And it always touches me when a girl is encouraging--it really makes you feel she honestly cares about you."
Kevin likes "a girl who's laid-back and makes me laugh." And Joe? "I love a natural beauty with a cool sense of style who stands out a little because she's happy being who she is."
Not surprisingly, girls have done some pretty crazy things to try to get their attention.
"Once, a girl jumped in front of our car ... while we were driving it," Nick shakes his head.
"That was interesting," Joe deadpans, then reminds Nick and Kevin about the girl who gave them a dead shark. "No idea why." And then there was the gooey, dripping mail delivery. A super fan wanted to share her birthday with Joe, so she mailed him a slice of cake. Ice cream cake. "That was just too weird!"
So, then, how do girls really get their attention? "Hey," Nick quotes, imitating a super-quiet girl voice. "What's up?" He laughs then finds his real voice again. "Girls don't need to say much to get my full attention."
That's also true for oldest bro Kevin (who has crushes on both Hayden Panettiere and Brenda Song) and family-clown Joe (whose idea of the perfect girl is Natalie Portman).
"One time this girl said to me, 'I got my library card right here 'cause I'm checking you out!'" says Joe in his sassiest tone. "That was pretty good because I couldn't help but laugh, and it started a conversation."
And the Jonas Brothers can dish it out, too. "Nick had the best line that I can remember," says Joe.
"Oh, yeah," admits Nick. "On one date, the girl said to me, 'I don't kiss on the first date.' So I said, 'I don't follow the rules.'" The brothers high-five to that one. "Ooooh!" Nick celebrates. "It was so good!"
Don't get them wrong, though: The Jonas Brothers play the game of love as fairly as possible and have their own gentleman's rules of conduct. Commandment No. 1: Thou shalt not make moves on thy brother's squeeze.
Oops. Joe has already gotten in trouble for that one.
"When he flirts with a girl that one of his brothers is into, it's a problem," Nick points the finger.
***Continued from special section
Joe has a reputation for being the trio's biggest flirt, so is he guilty as charged? "Yes," he confesses. "And I've been pummeled for it. It happened once when I started flirting with a girl that Nick liked and I had no idea. He was like, 'Dude. Lay off.'"
LIFE ON THE ROAD
But relaxing by the pool and chatting up girls on the beach will be taking a backseat this summer. "No beach paradise for us," says Kevin. "We'll be on tour with Avril Lavigne all over Europe 'til June, then we'll be waking up :on a tour bus every day." The U.S. leg of their tour (running from early July to the end of August) sold out instantly.
So is life on the road tough? Says Nick, "It's not exactly summer vacation, but going on tour is really cool. All summer long we'll get to play cool venues. It's going to be incredible."