In a sign of just how desperate far-right conservatives have become — and just how odd their standards are — we saw one of the dumber outrages of the 2008 presidential campaign this week.
Speaking in New Mexico on Memorial Day, Obama said a great-uncle had helped to liberate the Auschwitz death camp at the end of World War II. “I had a uncle who was one of the, who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps,” Obama said (a YouTube clip of the remarks quickly went viral online).
He continued: “And the story in my family is that when he came home, he just went into the attic, and he didn’t leave the house for six months. All right? Now, obviously something had affected him deeply, but at the time, there just weren’t the kinds of facilities to help somebody work through that kind of pain.”
That may be a fact, the RNC noted gleefully — but only if Obama’s uncle had served in the Red Army of Joseph Stalin, which liberated Auschwitz on Jan. 27, 1945.
Obama’s campaign said yesterday that he had erred in naming the camp but not in describing the role of his great-uncle, who partook in the liberation of Buchenwald.
That’s it. That’s the whole story. Obama said his uncle had liberated one Nazi concentration camp, when in fact, his uncle had liberated a different Nazi concentration camp. Obama got the name of the camp wrong. There was no obvious intention to deceive anyone, a presidential candidate simply misidentified the specific camp his mother’s brother liberated. An innocent mistake, barely worth raising an eyebrow over.
And yet, Republicans instantly turned the Outrage Machine to 11, as if Obama had claimed to have liberated Buchenwald himself.
For the entire day yesterday, most of the far-right voices wanted to talk about nothing else but Obama’s shameful “lies.” The Republican National Committee issued a statement, arguing that Obama’s minor error “raise[d] questions about his judgment” and his “readiness to lead.” Unhinged conservative bloggers went completely around the bend — Red State said Obama’s remarks were “sickening” and “a bold faced lie.”
It’s as if Republicans woke up yesterday, ate a bowl of Crazy Flakes, and then went straight for their keyboards.
The service of Obama’s great uncle was actually pretty amazing. He served in the 89th Infantry Division that liberated Ohrdruf in April 1945, a Subcamp of Buchenwald, which was the first camp liberated by Americans. Obama misstated the name of the camp. What difference does it make? Has the political world become so consumed with bile, and so overwhelmed with trivia, that this harmless error is evidence of something important?
Or, as the LAT’s Stuart Silverstein put it, “What’s worse, Obama’s apparent gaffe or the RNC pouncing on a Holocaust-related historical mistake for political advantage?”
If Obama’s uncle hadn’t served in the military, or hadn’t even left the country during World War II, I could see this being more embarrassing and newsworthy. Ronald Reagan, for example, boasted that he’d served in an Army unit that filmed recently liberated death camps. In reality, Reagan never left the U.S. during the war.
That’s controversial. Obama’s inconsequential error was utterly meaningless. That this became a huge deal to the Republican Attack Machine highlights just how far off the edge these poor schmoes have fallen.
Filed Under: Barack Obama, Election 08, Republican Party, Right Wing Stupidity, Wingnuts
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And to think, this is just the start. We have months of this kind of nonsense ahead of us. No discussion or dissection of policy issues. None on any items of substance to our lives. Sound blips to be taken in whatever context the deliverer so chooses.
And then the ultimate attack will come about three days before the election when the wingers and compliant media release a “Obama killed and ate his dog” type of out there story (can you imagine if the whole Madrassa/Muslim story hit just prior to the election? Look at how many people still believe it!) and that will be that.
There is nothing these criminals won’t do to retain power. And since we are a population of the dumbest kind, it will work.
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i was amused when this non-headline was chased off the wires by the leaks from mcclellan’s book.
nobody really cares about this. but you’re right, the repubs keep trying to make a thing out of it, like they keep bringing up the 57 state thing. so what? it was obviously a slip of the tongue. maybe next time he’ll say something off hand about how it would be better in a dictatorship if he was the dictator, THEN i’ll consider it a scandal.
What’s with the “as if”?
They wake up every day and eat a bowl of Crazy Flakes. For lunch, they have Crazy Flakes sandwiches with a side of Crazy Flakes. For dinner it’s roast Crazy Flakes on simmered Crazy Flakes with a vintage glass of 1950 Crazy Flakes from Crazy Flakes region.
It’s because they have nothing, so therefore they are nothing. and McCain is old and doesnt represent change, only the past. McCain has such an ego and yet no one mentions how he comes across, at times, that he thinks he’s ‘entitled’ to the presidency. no, sir, youre not. the American people by voting determine if you’re ‘entitled’ to it. so get with it.
The entire campaign on both sides has been and will continue to be “molehill” BS.
Look…If any of them actually talked about issues, policy positions or legislative plans…people’s heads would explode.
Pop!
“Republicans instantly turned the Outrage Machine to 11…”
That’s fair…Bush lies us into a war for profit and they say he wasn’t lying he was a victom of the propaganda. But Obama tells the truth, except he got it geographically incorrect and he is a dirty liar.
That’s fair AND balanced!
There’s no contest. You cannot go against the godfather of gaffe, McWeTalktoIranAlltheTime
Move along. Nothing to see here, folks.
Looks like this one has the right-wingnuts all a-dither because it GOT NO TRACTION!
Probably for two reasons:
[1] Doesn’t hold a candle to McSame confusing Shia/Sunni on FIVE documented separate occasions.
[2] Scott McClellan has documented in his book “What Happened” what we’ve known for months: Dubya committed impeachable offenses
the wingnuts need to tread lightly when it comes to the holocaust…for it was their god reagan who placed a wreath at a cemetery where ss officers were interred
and their current prez grandpa traded with the bastards and helped hitler’s rise to power
so obama got confused about auschwitz and buchenwald…i am sure his unc didnt talk about it much
the other big thing they are railing on is that it was his great uncle…but no one calls their great uncle, great uncle
the point of the story was to inform those there that his family too had been touched by the disorder that the va doesnt even want to diagnose anymore….ptsd
his great uncle experience awful horrors in the war
that was it
but the repugs are grasping at straws
they are trying to paint obama as gore 2, or kerry 2, or carter 2…aint gonna happen
I can see it now, the rallying cry for the GOP in 2008:
Obama: Wrong on remembering which German death camp his great-uncle helped liberate in WWII. Wrong for America.
MsJoanne @ 1:
I hope the Rethuglican smears will dissuade Obama from appointing any of those sleeze balls to any post of significance in his coming administration.
And that includes Hillary as VP. He should get someone he can work WITH, as opposed to someone who would probably be constantly trying to undermine him for her own ambitions.
Norm over at One Good Move is using this mistake to make a rather petty point. Keep in mind that his fervent support for Clinton has caused quite an irrational fall from party loyalty — the only thing he hates more than Obama is Obama’s supporters. But still, his persistent and obstinate attacks on Obama are always entertaining.
It’s time to make a discourse tweak.
“Far-right conservatives” needs to now be termed “neofascist”.
Because I think its honestly crossed that threshold some time ago.
Howard Dean and John Kerry are doing a great job at making excuses for Obama’s lies. First we heard about the 1.6 million dollar home Obama couldn’t afford but teamed up with a criminal to by the house at the same time he became Senator. But Obama says it was a misstep aka lie. Obama turned on his Minister of twenty years on the advice of Kerry and Kennedy. Now Obama takes Memorial day to give his Uncle’s experience but messed up and I’m glad he didn’t add his Father’s experience in Kenya to the story. Again the choice word for Obama’s lies is misspoke. Obama misspoke, misstep or lied when he said his Father got his US Education Grant from John F. Kennedy, only problem was Kennedy never did do that but the Kennedy Family gave money long after Obama’s Father went home. But the story sound good at the time and people will believe anything because of course Obama is Jesus. Next Obama will say he wrote John Kennedy’s famous speech, people just might buy that lie too.
I didn’t even know his uncle was in a German death camp….maybe he spent some time in some Prescott’s nazi assets. Thanks RedState/HotAir/RightWingJerkOff.com for reminding everyone.
Obama misspeaks about the name and the Repugs react as if that was worse than the deliberate, bald faced lies of resident Bush and his punk bitch John McCain.
Somebody get in touch with Sinbad and see what he has to say about this.
uncle joe hussein mccarthy @ 11:
You are so right about the “great uncle thing”!!!! My niece’s children are still my nieces and nephews!! They never refer to me as ” Great Uncle ” !!! What the f–K?????
P. fuc- ing S. Many Repugs don’t have any war stories to tell/share!! Bush, Cheney, Russ, O’rilley, Rice, etc !!!!
PS 2 The PTSD is such a serious situation. While the P and VP hold their hand over ther heart as gesture of loyalty, it makes my blood boil. They didn’t fight in any war, actually they escaped it and I don’t want to even go there !! They are losers!!!! They caused the death of more than 4000 US men and Women all for the greed of oil money !!!!!
Charles T. Payne’s unit did not liberate Buchenwald. Ohrdruf was a work camp–not a pleasant place–but not a death camp.
“My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton’s army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil, and he did not fight in vain.”
His grandfather, Stanley A. Dunham, enlisted in the Army on June 18 1942, six months after Pearl Harbor.
These are just the latest 2 of around 50 lies and distortions he has been caught at while pandering to groups he was speaking to at the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys68HEA1DLA
Oh yeah, as Steve mentions, the people at redstate were all “outraged” about such an insignificant mistake, but none of them dare mention all the many times that their patron saint McCaint has confused Sunni with Shiite, etc.
This is the only thing they can come up with? For real?
You know how this went down don’t you? In the Obama family over the past 60 years this story has been told. 60 years. Over time in a family story some of the facts get blurred. Over 60 (sixty) years one concentration camp seems like every other concentration camp. Hell, after 5 years one concentration camp seems like all the other concentration camps (In fact I would like any one of the right wing nut jobs who have turned the Outrage Machine to 11 to name 5 different concentration camps… I’ll give them the name of 3 of them. lol). If it were my family, after a few years, Uncle Joe would have become “dad” and in the story dad would have liberated all the concentration camps on his own with a knife while fighting off nazi tanks while all his buddies were sleeping. At least Obama’s Uncle wasn’t out crashing million dollar jets over Viet Nam and burning up aircraft carriers.
Captain Bitter Elitist Husein Kangaroo @ 24:
Thank You for this !!!!!!
Jackie @ 17:
You are so full of shit. Learn the facts before spewing total bullshit. You want to pin Rezko on Obama, try to learn about it and not just read some right wing wishful thinking and regurgitate it as fact.
http://archpundit.com/blog/200.....er-update/
When did McCain burn up an aircraft carrier?
Well this lie is still being sorted out but…
Here’s what we know for sure:
1. No Charles W. Payne enlisted in or was drafted into the Army from Kansas according to extant Kansas records 1941-43.
2. Obama’s grandmother Payne family has not C.T. Payne. Her brother was Charles W. Payne.
3. The C.T. Payne in the 89th who is said by the Kitchell 89th website to have been at the liberation of Buchenwald is not listed joining Army from Kansas 1941-43.
4. Two C.W. Paynes are listed joining Navy in 1942 frm Kansas. Charles .W. Payne born Kansas City Jan 4 1924 and died 2000 is not Obama relative.
4. Charles W. Payne who joined Navy Reno County is the likely suspect.
So from what can be verified as truth seperated from the obvious lies from the Obama camp, it appears that yet again it is PURE BS! I will keep you updated as this blatant lie is fully investigated for the truth rather than the Kool Aid you are being fed by the Obamatons.
Jackie @ 17:
OK, Obama lied. Welcome to politics, an ethical profession it ain’t. And pretending that Captain Change will bring any more or any better change than Captain Crazy is foolish, but so is believing that Captain Hillary is better just because she’s female. Politicians are amoral, and this is the First World, not some Third World shithole where these questions would be settled with an exchange of bullets, though the way things seem to be getting here, someday that might not be as unlikely as I hope.
If you think whatever politician you’re for doesn’t lie, you’ve got another think coming, sweetcakes.
Geesh, for all the outrage you’d think he didn’t know the difference between a Shiite and a Sunni.
It’s not odd or unpredictable that the GOP would pounce on this gaffe. The GOP game plan is to paint Obama as inexperienced and naive, and Obama getting historical and geographical facts wrong is just the sort of thing that reinforces this meme.
Of course, the important counterpoint to keep in mind is that Obama knows the difference between the Sunni and Shiite tribes in Iraq. McCain requires minders present at his side to keep him from wandering off the farm when it comes to these little inconveniences–like remembering who the hell our allies and enemies are in Iraq.
Apart from right-wing blogs, this story didn’t play well. I think most fair minded American’s realize that the candidates have been running an intensive and prolonged electoral battle and are simply exhausted. People give Obama a pass when he talks about visiting 57 states, or his uncle liberating Auchwitz. They realize he knows the facts, but is simply misspeaking.
This trend gives me hope. Normally, we would be treated to elections where these sorts of ancillary issues take center stage. I think the American people want a substantive, meaningful debate on the future of our country. They simply don’t want to be distracted by faux controversies.
I really have to wonder why this is such a big deal and why some of you are making an issue of it. Are you guys and girls insane?
Politics, and the process, like the HAL 9000 computer on board the spaceship Discovery in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, is out of the control of its makers.
POdVet @ 28:
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
POdVet Says:
Charles T. Payne’s unit did not liberate Buchenwald. Ohrdruf was a work camp–not a pleasant place–but not a death camp.
POdVet’s an ass. Let’s see what a famous Soon to Be Republican President had to say about Ohrdruf:
Oh, and let’s see, not a death camp, eh? Hmmm….
And what do you think happened to them at Buchenwald? Breakfast burritos and caberet sauvignon for everyone?
Oh, and what about old Blood and Guts Patton? Let’s see what HE had to say about Ohrdruf:
[Deleted, abusive. Site Monitor]
And lost in all this discussion: the reality of PTSD.
My Great-uncle David Brent came back from the war with “shell-shock” as they used to call it, and was electrocuted during electroshock “therapy” by the local VA hospital. The fact that I can’t remember if it was the Korean War or WWII does not change what happened to my greatuncle.
I will cast a sincere vote for Senator Obama.
General_Rennenkampf @ 29:
So what you’re saying is. They’re basically the same. Right?
it wasn’t even his mother’s brother. “great uncle” indicates a generation removed, ie, it was his grandmother’s brother (or someone at that level of generations).
who could remember all the details from family folklore being passed down from generation to generation?
as to mccain burning up an aircraft carrier, look here.
POdVet @ 28: