Media Cover Up Obama's Spelling Error in Letter to Fan

April 21st, 2009 3:16 PM

If former President George W. Bush made a spelling error in a written reply to a piece of fan mail, would press outlets have covered for him or pointed it out?

This question is raised by a letter published at the Chicago Sun-Times Tuesday in which President Barack Obama thanked a concerned citizen for giving him advice on stopping smoking.

The only problem is it appears Obama wrote "advise" not advice (images right and below courtesy Chicago Sun-Times, h/t NBer Pross):

Doesn't that look like an "s" in the word following "good" and not a "c"? Take a look at the word right below it -- "since" -- and you can get an idea of what Obama's "c's" look like. The "c's" in "Michael" and "much" also look nothing like what's in "advise/advice."

Now, the skeptic might say that his "s's" don't look like what's in "advise/advice" either. For instance, the "s" at the beginning of "since" is different, as is the "s" at the beginning of "so."

But, the "s's" in "Thanks" and "dad's" look like the letter in "advise/advice" suggesting that Obama uses a different "s" at the beginning of words than at the end.

Such seemed lost on the New York Times in its article on this subject Sunday:

About a month later, Mr. Powers received a reply. After thanking him for “the wonderful letter, and the good advice,” the president wrote, “I am returning the picture, since it must be important to you, but I will remember your dad’s memory.”

UPI even corrected it in its headline Tuesday: "Obama thanks man for advice on not smoking."

Somehow it seems Bush-hating media wouldn't have been so forgiving of the former president, or is that me being too cynical?