Here is Rich Lowry’s NRO piece on Obama’s decision to take a pass on going to Berlin for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall. Lowry right observes that Obama’s blathery statement completely misses the point about the valiant struggle of people in eastern Europe to escape from communist rule.

You have to wonder: does Obama really see what was so bad about the communist regimes? After all, the people had access to universal government health care, there weren’t any greedy capitalists taking too much of the national wealth, and scores of bureaucrats with authority just like his “czars” directed economic activity for the common good. If Obama had magically been put in place to run East Germany instead of Erich Honecker, would he have done anything different?