We took a trip to the Berlin Wall Memorial Site, Exhibition Center and the Chapel of Reconciliation on Bernauer Strasse to try to understand what impact, if any, this is having on the German public and electorate. The building is on what was the western side of the Wall. You could see the killing zone that existed between the West and the East. There were 136 people who died trying to get over the Wall and over 1,000 on other East German borders.

One of the problems is that many Germans, especially young East Germans, are unaware of the Wall and how divided their country was. Over 300,000 visitors come to the memorial site each year and half of them are young Germans. The Germans are very anxious to keep some of the Wall standing and the memory of the Wall alive. The Foundation believes that the fundamental values of freedom and democracy are still threatened today. As they say, “That is reason enough to keep the historical memory of the Berlin Wall alive.” The Germans are now marking places along what used to be the Wall with crosses in memory of the people killed in that particular location. There are also memorials in Berlin to the millions of Jews killed and also other groups of people who did not fit in with Hitler’s vision of the Third Reich.

We had a very spirited session regarding Guantanamo Bay and what should or shouldn’t happen. The feeling throughout Germany seems to be that Guantanamo Bay should be closed and the detainees should be quickly given fair trials. The United States has made inquiries if the Germans would be willing to take some of the detainees. The German position was that it will be considered if they were no threat, if the U.S. also would take a large number of detainees, and if the U.S. would get other countries to take detainees. In my opinion nothing will be done on this issue until after the German elections in September. There are 40 cases now being examined for release and the Germans are reviewing each of these cases slowly and carefully.

It was pointed out that 558 of the 800 detainees at Guantanamo were gone. The United States is operating under the executive order, issued by President Obama on January 22nd, to close Guantanamo. The U.S. delegation was split on this issue. Some felt that Guantanamo should be kept open and it was doing a good job. Others felt it should not be kept open and it had done a poor job, giving the U.S. a black eye around the world. Some on the U.S. side felt that the answer was to try the detainees in military tribunals and if convicted to lock them in high security prisons in the U.S. for as long as possible. Nearly all the delegates from the U.S. and some German delegates remembered the Willie Horton problem in the 1988 presidential campaign. Willie Horton was sent to prison for committing a violent act and was later released by then Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, the Democratic candidate for president. Unfortunately, Horton once again committed a despicable act. Many believe the campaign was over at that point.

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Lou Frey represented Central Florida in the U. S. Congress from 1969 to 1979. In his last election, he received nearly 80% of the vote. He was elected one of five Republican leaders in the House of Representatives during the 93rd and 94th Congress. He served on...