Of Gaffes and Perspective

When Obama misspeaks it is a big deal.
When Hillary misspeaks it is because she is "tired".
When reading some of these comments I
realize why we are thought of as the
Ugly Americans.

A lot of commentators don't seem to be getting the point here.

Obama wasn't mentioning the event because he wants credit by association. If he was doing that, there have been no shortage of occasions when it might have seemed advantageous to do so before! He was mentioning it to show his family has experience of PTSD, which was the context in which he brought it up.

In that context, the details of the event such as the name of the concentration camp are largely irrelevant - they don't change the underlying story which is the relevant bit.

if i had an uncle who was a part of such an awesome heart wrenching act as helping liberate jews(prisoners) from any concentration camp, i would be proud and would share the event when ever i could to educate and remind people of a time and place we should never forget or repeat. obviously, the significance of that action was of no importance to bho or he would know the evnts, the camp, and all the details. it is a matter of pride in our country, its military, its place in the world, and how we have helped others. it is about the jews and their history. none of these issues seem to carry any weight for bho. he lacks pride in the country, and is insensitive to the plight of the jews.

I expect a whole lot more people are now aware of which camp was which, their locations, and who liberated each.

What did I remembered from junior high and high school history classes (awhile back)? I recognized the names of Auschwitz and Buchenwald of course, but didn't recall that Buchenwald was a work camp, not a death camp, or that it had two sub-camps. I had no recollection of who liberated which camps.

Back in the (Cold War) day, WWII history was mostly about what the U.S. did. So...I remember learning that U.S. soldiers liberated 'a' concentration camp, and therefore I assumed they liberated all of them. I honestly don't recall being taught what the Russian soldiers did in Europe.

SandyB: There's a bunch of them, huh? Evidently the right wing blog you pulled your slur from didn't do its research.

SandyB: You want to try to tell us what they speak in Afghanistan? You write as if it's one language - the Afghanis might be a little surprised at that. Want to take a crack at Pakistan? Iran? Want to tell us what language those countries write in?

maggie,
how do you know this?

Who cares? This is something so minor and insignificant that it doesn't matter. Was it a mistake, of course, but that's it. The media and people are making this out to be a much bigger deal than it really is just like they did with Hillary Clinton and her RFK statements. These candidates have been under the spotlight for more than a year and they're bound to slip up sometime, after all they're only human.
As for people claiming Obama has always and continues to get special treatment from the media. Are you out of your mind? Do you know how many times the Reverend Wright speech was played over and over and over again? And there was just as much media coverage on Reverend Wright's second tirade. And what about "Bittergate"? Those who support Hillary Clinton need to realize, that while the media has been harsh on Hillary it hasn't been easy on Obama either. The media has been easiest on John McCain. Republicans who disagree need to get their heads checked. Remember when Chris Matthews said the media is John McCain's base? The small mistakes Hillary and Obama have been covered by the media MUCH more than McCain's gaffes, lobbyist connections, and his abstaining from the GIA Bill.
As for pp, and "his plight of the Jews" comment, out of curiosity what the hell is the plight of the Jews? Are you talking about the Holocaust? No candidate has ever said the Holocaust is anything but a horrible tragedy. What else do they need to say? Are you talking about Israel and its place in the world? Hillary Clinton AND Barack Obama have announced their unwavering support for Israel. PP, you and Joe Lieberman keep on insulting Obama and anyone who wants make Israel SAFER by negotiating for peace in the Middle East. Do you want continuous fighting? Wouldn't a long term peace be in everyone's self interest? I don't know about you pp but I base my choices on more important things than what is best for Israel. I care about what is best for America.

Tony Rezko is now talking to his attorneys and other investigators and the Obama camp is getting nervous. Wonder why????

Senator Obama was using his great uncles story for political pandering. He is such a pathetic liar. He even saw "the fallen" in his audience during his Memorial Day speech. Then changed his words on his web site. He is not honest.

"In this instance, the forest is the deliberate extermination of 12 million people."

Jake, what are you talking about? The Nazis killed 6 million Jews, 4 million Poles, a million gypsies/gays/pacifists/Communists and 20 million Russians. Historical record puts the Nazi killing toll at 20-30 million civilians.

Why are you as historically inaccurate as Obama was?

Obama's carelessness with the facts of this story is troubling. If this family history had had meaning or significance to the people who heard it, repeated it and passed it on, they should have made sure that their information was accurate - that includes a candidate for President of the US.

Another way to look at this is - is this a family story that should have been revealed? Obama has a way of invading his relatives' privacy - first his grandmother - that typical white person and now his uncle who appears to have had an emotional breakdown.

Much ado about nothing. The fact is his great uncle as part of the US forces DID help liberate a Nazi concentration camp. He simply tripped up by stating the wrong location of the camp as he may have been told as a child that it was Auschwitz.I do not think there was any intention on Obama's part to deceive.

Posted by: Carl58 | May 28, 2008 2:22:52 AM
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While I agree that the fact that he served in WWII, and went to Europe was why the uncle was brought up, not because of a specific place, and while I think he did simply mix it up, most likely because of what he was told as a child...

this is inexperience shining though.

As a child, I can understand he believed this, but he should have learned at some point in his life that his uncle could not have been at Auschwitz. I don't think this should be simply overlooked as a mistake, though I agree there was no exagerating on his part. However, there are only 3 options for why he made this statement.

1) He heard it as a child and never learned enough to know Auschwitz was not liberated by Americans. In this case, he is not ready to be president.

2) He heard it as a child and found out it was impossible, but told Americans the story anyway, thinking we would not know better, either because we wouldn't know of any other death camps or because we wouldn't know some history/geography. In this case, he is elitist.

3) He knew it was wrong and said it to sound better. In this case...well, there's so much wrong with this case, let's not even think about it.

I believe its probably option #1, and if not, #2, and #3 is least likely, but in any case, this is still speaking volumes about him.

Looks like us poor uneducated people cling to knowledge, too, not just guns, religion, and hate.

Brian of the red states,

thanks for your comments.

and Welcome! glad you have joined us

yes david,

between mccain or obama the country will suffer.

well, maybe this is just cosmic karma,
the us was bound to lose its "superpower" status.
and now after geo. bush and then either one of there, maybe we are on the way to a world federation or something like that.
i just use it as a catchy name, but maybe we are all on the way to being
"world citizens"

And since when does Obama understand any of the differences between the Middle Eastern factions that all of you are criticizing Senator McCain for his seeming lack of awareness?

Remember, your sainted Obama is the one who believes they speak Arabic in Afghanistan.

Senator Obama is a "professional politician". Translation: He'll say or do anything to get elected! If he "mis-spoke" one of the campaign staff will come up with "what he meant to say was..."
Mr. and Mrs. Obama made $500k last year and "can't afford" piano lessons for their daughter. They can't even handle their own economy, so why would you put him in charge of the US economy?
Harvard grad doesn't know how many states are in the US?
The Republicans aren't any better either.
No matter who is elected, America suffers.

baracktiminus prime,

obama does not know anything abou the us public school system.

in other news today... Barack Obama blames holds a press conference to blame his great uncle, and collectively blames all white men of his generation, for perpetrating lies about his war stories. He also blames the public education system for not teaching enough about communist history.

beth,
i think he just does not KNOW the truth,
he is showing he is the best looking candidate money can buy,

and it maybe better for his handler that he be SEEN and not HEARD