The Outrage of the Day: Not Very Outrageous

I awoke this morning to see that the right-wing blogosphere was in a tizzy about the fact that the Obama campaign sent an email to its supporters touting his successful Berlin speech yesterday and concluding, as all such emails do, with a link to the donations page.  Apparently this makes Obama a HUGE hypocrite because he made a point of saying that the Berlin event was not a "campaign speech."   

Please.  If this email had gone out to the citizens of Germany, maybe the outrage brigade would have a point.  Or if Obama had sought donations from those in attendance in Berlin, obviously that would be another story.  But touting a successful trip abroad to your domestic supporters is not even close to the same thing.  John McCain always highlights his foreign travel in his communications with supporters.  He touts his military record as well.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  Mentioning those events in a fundraising context after-the-fact does not somehow retroactively render them improper or illicit.   Find something real to be outraged over.