Michael Crowley:

I caught the second half of Obama’s speech in Berlin today. What I heard was unsurprising, but elegantly wrought and delivered, and the stagecraft was perfect. And whereas the weather conspired against John McCain this week, Obama was greeted with sunshine. (Three-pointers and blue skies–a metaphor for this trip so far.) One minor thing that I tripped over: There’s maybe something potentially hubristic-sounding about addressing your remarks to “people of the world.” Or maybe that just sounds to me like something from an alien-invasion movie…. Also, the crowd response was slightly less frenzied than I’d expected; on TV, at least, the cheering seemed hearty–but not full-out Beatlemania. (The applause was especially wan, for instance, when Obama cited the need to stop Iran from acquiring nukes.)