Obama then - and now

Do you remember, back in 2008 when Barack Obama was welcomed in Berlin and Europe almost like a new redeemer? His speech in Berlin mesmerized most commentators and politicians in Germany and all over Europe.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/obamaroadblog/gGxyd4

How different things look now. Simon Tisdall of the left leaning Guardian summarizes it all:

Rebuffed in Asia and repudiated at home, Barack Obama's bent and battered bandwagon heads for Europe this week, looking for a change of political fortune, or at least a welcoming smile. But sulky, insecure Eurocrats, awaiting his arrival in Lisbon for Saturday's one-day EU-US summit, have not forgotten last May's Madrid debacle, when he failed to show up at all. Obama's "snub", they say, reflects a bigger problem: the US president does not care about Europe.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/nov/17/barack-obama-tell-europe-special