I Write to an Aussie Talk Show Host About Obama, He Gets “Inspired,” Writes a Column in “The Australian” (Mentioning Me), and Then…

…you may be as surprised as I was about what he said and how he said it…or maybe not!

Last week I wrote about an interview I heard on Radio Australia hosted by Phillip Adams.  His guest was Bruce Shapiro, a contributing editor for The Nation. I wrote about this interview in a post on August 1 and included a link to the audio.

During the conversation the talked turned to Obama both host and guest were awed by the turnout for Obama in Berlin.  Since I think Adams runs a great, informative show, I felt it my duty to inform him of the circumstances–that there were rock bands, brats and beer offered to anybody who showed up to see Obama.

Adams wrote back to me, asking if for some more information, and I provided a link to the Gateway Pundit’s post which included a link to a report in a German paper, the Berlin Morgenposten. He was curious about the “hijacked” crowd (his term, not mine):

G’day Gloria…haven’t heard about this…a rock concert? a hi-jacked crowd? .more info?

Then the “fun” began with this follow-up email (unedited for typos):

> Dear Gloria.I write a couple of weekly coumns for The Australian, our national
> newspaper.here’s one that will go in early next week – inspired by YOU!
Thought it might amuse..

(“The Australian” is a Murdoch paper and Australia’s only national newspaper.)

Adams had attached an advance copy of his article.  My full name was included and, at my request, he told the website editors to remove it prior to publication.  (They didn’t…the piece went up with my full name, misspelled, but there nonetheless. A couple of emails later, the correction had been made and only my first name appears toward the end of the piece.)

I wrote back to take issue with a couple of things in the piece, knowing full well that Adams was within his rights to say what he wanted.  I never “accused” Obama of anything, nor did I say the crowd was “left over” from a rock concert, as Adams wrote. (Unfortunately, I wrote to Adams the first time using the form on his page, so I don’t have a copy.  But the gist of it was simply that I was providing him with an “update” to the facts surrounding Obama’s speech, something that he might not have known about…which, he didn’t.)  But, I went on the record by replying:

Also, did I really “accuse” him if, indeed, he actually has used rock bands as
part of his events, not only in Berlin, but also in Oregon in May?…I just
wanted to apprise you of the staging in case you weren’t aware of it! (And the
food sure sounded good in Berlin, having almost overdosed on brats when I
visited there years ago!).  The question will always be, of course, whether the
crowds were there for Obama alone, the bands, alone, or a combination of both (and in what proportion if the latter!)

Thanks for revising my name if not the term “accuse.”   Because, if I’m ferreted out as being an Obama basher because of being labeled an “accuser” (I am a critic, but based on reasoning and observation, not obsession with any other politician), I really do have some fears the way things have been going here lately…I would like to refer visitors to my site to your piece but I’d be hesitant to do so with my full name “in lights”!

So, here is the tease for article as it appears in August 5 edition of The Australian:

In his advance copy to me, Adams called his piece “BARACK AND ROLL” but the print/web version has different title and there have been a few minor revisions.

Here are some key passages: