Obama’s so-called gaffe
May 27th, 2008 at 09:31pm Pat Cunningham
Barack Obama said the other day that his great uncle was with the first group of U.S. troops to liberate a Nazi concentration camp toward the end of World War II.
That’s true, but Obama got the NAME OF THE CAMP wrong. It was Ohrdruf (pictured above), a subcamp of the more infamous Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany. Obama mistakenly said it was Auschwitz, which was in Poland.
The Obama campaign corrected the mistake the following day, but Republicans are trying to turn it into a big scandal. Some overwrought guy at NewsBusters.org has even accused Obama of “an insult to mankind,” simply because Ohrdruf was smaller than Auschwitz.
Insult to mankind!
Entry Filed under: Buchenwald, Auschwitz, Ohrdruf concentration camp, Barack Obama
12 Comments Add your own
1. Kaus | May 27th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
I think it is a wonderful thing when the press will flush out all lies, mistakes, gaffes, inconsistancies on both sides. Let the smart folk decide for themselves what is an insult to mankind. In this case, it wasn’t much of anything…just prison camps in completely different countries, never much mentioned in the Obama household until it is convienient for a political point. Still a gaffe Mr. Pat.
2. Pat Cunningham | May 27th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
All hail the great Kaus. He actually knows what is mentioned and what is not mentioned in the Obama household. Of course, he doesn’t know much about anything else, especially politics. So, Kaus, you figure this gaffe pretty well dooms Obama’s candidacy, right? I mean, McCain doesn’t know the difference between Shiites and Sunnis, but that’s nothing compared to this huge Obama scandal. And you’ve got the inside story on what Obama says at home. You’d better call McCain right away. And then call a shrink.
3. Kaus | May 28th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Pat, YOU are the one that called it a ’so-called gaffe’. The fact is that it is still a gaffe. Is it scandalous, of course not. Your headline is incorrect though.
Potato…Potatoe….Shiites…Sunnis…Iran…Iraq…I think it is great that the press can vet out all mistakes so that candidates will be a little more careful in stretching their stories.
If the Obama household thought it was a major deal in the family, you’d think he’d have his facts pretty straight in his head.
4. Mike Carroll | May 28th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Pat-in the interest of accuracy, he said his uncle not his great uncle as you state above. Not a mistake I would have made but that, and the misidentification of the liberated camp, are simple errors that can be made when you are constantly giving off the cuff speeches, answers to questions etc.My point is, if it isn’t a big deal for Obama why do you Obama backers feel it is such a big deal when it happens to McCain. There wouldn’t be a double standard or a not so subtle ageism issue at work perchance? I would be shocked, shocked to discover that to be so.
5. Pat Cunningham | May 28th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Mike: My great nieces and great nephews refer to me as “Uncle Pat.” I always referred to my late great uncle Harry Shelly as my uncle. And my family has been a little sloppy with some of the details about Harry Shelly’s heroism in World War I, which was such that he was personally decorated by King George V of England and General Phillipe Petain of France. So, I can relate to the Obama thing. I also note that Obama never publicly discussed his great uncle’s military service until he had cause to mention it in reply to a question about post-traumatic stress syndrome.
6. Mike Carroll | May 28th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Pat-if you Google Harry Shelly World War 1 a link gives you a picture of a Harry Shelley receiving the British Distinguished Service award from the king.
7. Pat Cunningham | May 28th, 2008 at 8:30 am
See, I wasn’t lying. There’s also this about Harry Shelly:
http://books.google.com/books?id=geALAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA318&lpg=PA318&dq=%22king+george%22+%22harry+shelly%22&source=web&ots=fdXopFpi55&sig=ZQA4cjuPJ2BZk1u2igzoRUACUTk&hl=en
8. Mike Carroll | May 28th, 2008 at 8:44 am
A wise man once said “Trust but Verify”. Good family history. The closest I come is a great uncle who was hung by the Texas Rangers as a horse thief.
9. Menlo Bob | May 28th, 2008 at 10:23 am
The same speech resulted in a second gaffe. Obama implied that Memorial Day honored injured veterans rather than dead ones when he acknowledged those being memorialized as being in the audience . The gravitas gap is growing.
10. Pat Cunningham | May 28th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Mike: I think you mean your great uncle was “hanged.” But then, maybe he was hung, too.
11. Kaus | May 28th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Pat, are you sure you aren’t making up your story? Petain spells his first name with one L….it is Philippe. And he was actually became Prime Minister of France. Your gaffe was quite embarrassing.
12. Mike Carroll | May 28th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Pat-yes I did and I haven’t a clue.
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