Seeing dead people in the audience wasn't Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama's only gaffe on Monday, for it has now been revealed that he also spoke about an uncle "who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps."
American troops didn't liberate Auschwitz; Soviet troops did.
According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (emphasis added, video of Obama's statement embedded right):
In mid-January 1945, as Soviet forces approached the Auschwitz camp complex, the SS began evacuating Auschwitz and its satellite camps. Nearly 60,000 prisoners were forced to march west from the Auschwitz camp system. Thousands had been killed in the camps in the days before these death marches began. Tens of thousands of prisoners, mostly Jews, were forced to march to the city of Wodzislaw in the western part of Upper Silesia. SS guards shot anyone who fell behind or could not continue. Prisoners also suffered from the cold weather, starvation, and exposure on these marches. More than 15,000 died during the death marches from Auschwitz. On January 27, 1945, the Soviet army entered Auschwitz and liberated more than 7,000 remaining prisoners, who were mostly ill and dying.
Interestingly, it appears the first to report his statement was Maria Gavrilovic at CBS News's "From the Road" blog. Sadly, she didn't notice how historically challenged it was:
Obama also spoke about his uncle, who was part of the American brigade that helped to liberate Auschwitz. He said the family legend is that, upon returning from war, his uncle spent six months in an attic. “Now obviously, something had really affected him deeply, but at that time there just weren’t the kinds of facilities to help somebody work through that kind of pain,” Obama said. “That’s why this idea of making sure that every single veteran, when they are discharged, are screened for post-traumatic stress disorder and given the mental health services that they need – that’s why it’s so important.”
Given the number of gaffes by Obama lately, will any ever get reported by the mainstream media? Or is he really allowed to say absolutely anything he wants without any press scrutiny?
Update: Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, LGF, NRO, Ace, and Gateway Pundit are all over this.
Update II: WaPo's Karl Vick also reported Obama's statement without recognizing its historical impossibility:
"In World War Two we didn't have the concept of post traumatic stress syndrome. People had to basically handle it on their own," he said. Referring to an uncle who had been one of the first U.S. troops into Auschwitz, the concentration camp, Obama said: "The story in the family is he came home and just went up in the attic."
Now THAT'S solid journalism.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.
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And Barrackettes red flare, the bums full of hot air ...
May 27, 2008 - 13:32 ET by Crash...Star Spangled Socialist.
He also went on to say that he was named after the USS Alabama, only they shortened it to O-bama.
Hey Obama why don't you take your pandering ass back to ethics class. You are not fit to be Commander in Chief you fake.
Hussein O. is a empty suit and lies a lot
May 27, 2008 - 14:11 ET by ChiefE9I can't believe the MSM is letting him get away with these gaffes.
Many say he is a black Jimmy Carter but at least Carter was a Nuclear sub officer and Governor.
Carter Was Also...
May 27, 2008 - 18:42 ET by geoff.gale...a damn fine peanut farmer!
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
- Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)
www.conservativeboot...
OK, are we ready for another one?
May 27, 2008 - 15:51 ET by DEVILDOCMOMHere is another ancestor who served:
Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let’s face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely. My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya. He grew up herding goats, went to school in a tin-roof shack. His father -- my grandfather -- was a cook, a domestic servant to the British.
But my grandfather had larger dreams for his son. Through hard work and perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place, America, that shone as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come before.
While studying here, my father met my mother. She was born in a town on the other side of the world, in Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs and farms through most of the Depression. The day after Pearl Harbor my grandfather signed up for duty; joined Patton’s army, marched across Europe. Back home, my grandmother raised a baby and went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the G.I. Bill, bought a house through F.H.A., and later moved west all the way to Hawaii in search of opportunity.
This is from http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/convention2004/barackobama2004dnc.htm
Obama lies...
May 27, 2008 - 17:49 ET by ontheright...and Democracy dies.
Odumbo is an idiot.
May 27, 2008 - 13:33 ET by mattmOdumbo is an idiot.
LOL
May 27, 2008 - 15:40 ET by mjgThat he is. I thought he didn't want anything to do with his mother's "white" family. I don't think said uncle, was from his fathers side, since his father was Kenyan. It truly is amazing that he uses them for building himself up with the vets.
Could'a been
May 27, 2008 - 17:01 ET by BodiniCould'a been his Uncle Tom!
"em>Soviet troops
May 27, 2008 - 13:35 ET by Chris Norman"Soviet troops did."
Hey, perhaps Obama's uncle was in the Soviet army and this would go far in explaining the background of Obama's political philosophy and questionable political relationships.
Good point Chris!
May 27, 2008 - 13:38 ET by Dee BunkEither that or he was sleeping through the family story when ever it was told to him just like he sleeps through church.
Wonderful Chris
May 27, 2008 - 13:41 ET by DEVILDOCMOMWhat a thought and sure would explain things, wouldn't it? Perhaps his name was Putin? Khrushchev? Or maybe some war hero of the USSR?
Campaign Slogan:Obama? Da!
May 27, 2008 - 14:12 ET by Chris NormanCampaign Slogans:
McCain? Nyet!
Obama? Da!
Bury Capitalism with Obama!
His uncle probably got a
May 27, 2008 - 14:02 ET by taterHis uncle probably got a few good Marx for that bit of heroism.
"They need to have a course in college called common sense and everyone should take it. Problem is there isn't too many people that could pass or teach it." -my grandfather
Putin/Patton
May 27, 2008 - 14:02 ET by BuffNBonePutin/Patton
They sound alike, what's a few different vowels among friends?
"Fighters are fun but bombers make policy"
I bet we hear crickets :-)
May 27, 2008 - 13:44 ET by TheTruthImagine if McCain were making these gaffes; it would be opening news on all three networks – I bet we hear crickets :-)
Obama history
May 27, 2008 - 14:49 ET by KC MulvilleBLUTO: Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell, no!
OTTER: Germans?
BOON: Forget it, he's rolling.
Don't degrade a good movie
May 27, 2008 - 15:38 ET by Lord ElicaniDon't degrade a good movie with that connection...
Murrow turning over in his grave
Murrow turning over in his grave
Ed Murrow had a child and the damn thing went wild
- Lindsey Buckingham
Otter logic
May 27, 2008 - 18:29 ET by KC MulvilleI know, I almost hate to drag that classic down to mundane politics. But it's just so useful.
Another useful scene is where Otter rises for a point of order. Within a matter of a couple minutes, he manages to defend his house's behavior by refusing to stand still while they ... badmouth the United States of America! Gentlemen! For me, when Democrats try to spin everything into an association with George Bush, or when they savage each other with the excuse that this is what the GOP will do, I can't help but think of Otter.
Do we really have to keep listening to this idiot?
May 27, 2008 - 13:44 ET by ThatDudeSeriously, Obama does nothing but play on people's emotions and spout the excrement of bovines. Whether true or not, this seems to be another case where the man is trying to play six degrees of separation in order to claim he can relate to every man, woman, or child. I'm so tired of hearing what he has to say, and am dumbfounded that not enough people can understand that he's without substance. I fear Obama being voted into office.
On a side note, did you all catch his underhanded jab at McCain? The comment seemed to come out of nowhere and in my opinion was used to question McCain's sanity.
Only the left can rewrite history, because there is no voice loud enough to call foul play.
his uncle spent six months in an attic.
May 27, 2008 - 13:48 ET by upcountrywaterPotatoe, off a cue card, still in the news! June 15, 1992!!!!!!
change is comming, Living in an attic will be, great compared to obumba as CIC
Liberals62%
IranianUranium
Six Months in the Attic
May 27, 2008 - 14:29 ET by GothampcHis uncle spent six months in an attic helping Anne Frank write her diary.
Hey if Al Gore can invent
May 27, 2008 - 13:54 ET by taterHey if Al Gore can invent the internet and global warming...Obama can invent an alternate reality to history and seven extra states.
"They need to have a course in college called common sense and everyone should take it. Problem is there isn't too many people that could pass or teach it." -my grandfather
Come on!! Obama just
May 27, 2008 - 14:04 ET by charlietexasCome on!! Obama just mis-spoke again.....Im sure he ment to say that his uncle was in the Soviet Army. Or he was just tired, whatever. Maybe it was Dick Chaney's side of the family, you know.......Obamas cousin. Boy, Obamas family really gets around.
What gaffes? These are
May 27, 2008 - 14:05 ET by AntiMediaWhat gaffes? These are lies.
This the Democrats' way of
May 27, 2008 - 14:26 ET by kgThis the Democrats' way of getting elected. "I threw my medals over the fence at the White House" "I invented the internet" "I remember landing under sniper fire" "I remember churches burning as a child in Hope, AR"
"Forget change, I want improvement!"
So what?
May 27, 2008 - 14:06 ET by jefflebowskiSo what, my uncle was the first to walk on the moon! Neil Lebowski Armstrong! Yeah, that's the ticket!
The MSM is going to give this guy a pass on anything he does or says. If they are willing to throw BJ and Hitlery under the bus for Osama, they are not about to expose any of his peccadilloes (does that have an "e" or not?).
Yeah, Jeff, in the plural
May 27, 2008 - 16:30 ET by Indiana JoeYeah, Jeff, in the plural form it does have an "e."
Just like "potatoes."
;^D
Ah I had ah uncle that ah
May 27, 2008 - 14:14 ET by Big WallyPerfect on the fly story made up on the spot!
(Folks we are in trouble, "Mark Levin" 03/26/08)
He has spoken - it is so!
May 27, 2008 - 14:16 ET by ChasvsThe lord our father obama has spoken.
Let it be so that his uncle liberated Auschwitz.
Start re-writing the history books! History must be changed to comply with the statements of the great obama!
What's the problem with a little bit of lying if the message you are selling is one of hope and change?
You want change? Go to China or Russia and live under a dictatorship!
We are So Screwed!
.......Sometimes Im going to
May 27, 2008 - 14:20 ET by Snappy.......Sometimes Im going to get tired, sometimes Im going to get weary, sometimes Im just going to have to flat out lie and make some of this stuff up (history) as I go along to get my point across.........
Noel, with all due respect,
May 27, 2008 - 14:24 ET by bassndudeNoel, with all due respect, are we sure that Obama's uncle was not a member of the Soviet Army? Did the Soviets have an American brigade? :-)
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
Obama: I was speaking of Uncle Sam
May 27, 2008 - 14:34 ET by GothampcHow much you want to bet that Obama's team will spin this that he was speaking metaphorically?
"I was speaking of Uncle Sam, the figurative American uncle of us all".
ok we heard it here
May 27, 2008 - 16:03 ET by red_dragon311ok we heard it here first.....it would not suprise me in the least
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
-Gerald Ford
Tonights talking heads shows
May 27, 2008 - 14:36 ET by Dan The Man 2Tonights talking heads shows will be fun, Im waiting breathlessly to see what the spin is. Moreover I want to know if an uncle of his was anywhere near Germany in WWI (intentional).
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
Evidently the spin
May 27, 2008 - 19:07 ET by BigSky1970Evidently the spin seems to be the usual spin, "McCain is too old to be President" and "Hillary is fracturing the party". They're too wrapped up in their starry-eyed political neophyte, who jumped into the POTUS race even before his Senate seat became warm.
Maybe Obama was referring
May 27, 2008 - 14:39 ET by stratmanMaybe Obama was referring to his Uncle Joe.... Stalin.
When people make things up while speaking, there are pauses, hesitations and stuttering that occur. Obama exhibited all of these feature.
The man lies and/or couches things so general that nearly any meaning can be derived. Obama takes Clintoon's "whatever is is" to new lows.
RRAM Tough!
With the "history" of the
May 27, 2008 - 14:39 ET by bassndudeWith the "history" of the press, and their less than shinning knowledge of the history of this country, much less, military history, why is this surprising?
The reporters out there are all agape over BO's bulls.... er...brilliance. And they all so ignorant they belive anything he sayes. Bodes well for them all. They broadcast their ignorance and stupidity for all to see.
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
Soo just maybe Obumbler was thinking fondly of this "unicle"
May 27, 2008 - 15:05 ET by upcountrywaterLike an uncle
ok this uncle?
Liberals62%
IranianUranium
Can Obama be Swift-Boated?
May 27, 2008 - 15:55 ET by GalvanicThis would be worth a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request on his uncle's military record. Even-money says his uncle never served near the front lines, and the attic story was made-up to explain his eccentricities.
Maybe it was the crazy old
May 27, 2008 - 16:34 ET by Indiana JoeMaybe it was the crazy old uncle from the Rev. Wright story.
They probably kept him in the attic to avoid embarrassment.
Wright? I some how find it
May 27, 2008 - 16:42 ET by bassndudeWright? I some how find it crediable that Wright was a member of the Soviet army. I am still wondering why the Soviets had an American brigade. Perhaps they were to all be deported to America after the war and thats where Wright came from. The wandering uncle Wright.
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
»→ Obama Gump
May 27, 2008 - 16:06 ET by Cool ArrowThe story fits.
A single mother raising a child with special needs, President Kennedy smuggled his (soon to be) deadbeat dad into the States.
His uncle is a hero to Jews everywhere (just in time to get their votes)
LYDSEXICS UNTIE!
»→ Obama Gump on FOX
May 27, 2008 - 16:09 ET by Cool ArrowFOX (Hemmer & Kelly) just teased this story for the next segment.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE!
They just reported on it --
May 27, 2008 - 18:23 ET by lotrThey just reported on it -- apparently it was his great-uncle.
I hear he's also related to
May 27, 2008 - 18:30 ET by Clear thinkerI hear he's also related to Mother Theresa, Goerge Washington, Albert Einstein, and Michael Jordan!
"Abstain from McCain"
he may not have even had an uncle in WWII
May 27, 2008 - 16:53 ET by Insane ChipmunkThis blog (http://www.johnsebbe...) did some ancestry.com type research to find out that Senator Obama didn't even have an uncle in World War II - and his maternal great uncles either weren't in the war, or weren't in Europe.
His grandfather had one brother - in Panama during the war; and his grandmother had one brother but it looks like he wasn't in the war.
http://www.johnsebbe...
Ohbumbler, White grandmothers' brother
May 27, 2008 - 17:38 ET by upcountrywaterGreat uncle Charlie Payne, Went into the attic after his grand daughter, moved to Hawaii with ah moslem African. An avid sperm donor, he dumped her soon after.
Liberals62%
IranianUranium
A little known fact is that
May 27, 2008 - 16:53 ET by BlazerA little known fact is that Stalin actually had a division of Nigerian Luo tribesman in the Red Army, so maybe it was his fathers brother. I heard they really distinguished themselves during the battle of Stalingrad, of course during the winter of 43' it must of been a real mother with those grass skirts on. -sarc
"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. "
- Ben Kenobi on Liberals, and the MSM.
" The Cake is a lie."
Auschwitz
May 27, 2008 - 17:12 ET by Jerry Mack90% of Barry supporters have never heard of Auschwitz. Obviously Barry does not know much about it either.
A good poll question in reference to his remark: Who is the dumbest?
BHO, the reporters or his supporters?
Well, it is key to remember
May 27, 2008 - 17:43 ET by BDWell, it is key to remember that nearly ALL liberals are incompetant when the subject turns to Military History. So perhaps Obama did not know which unit his great uncle was assigned to, nor whcih camp he actually liberated.
And being that he was a liberal, asking someone about their military history or lack thereof is strictly verboten.
Well, it is key to remember
May 27, 2008 - 17:44 ET by BD.
It was Buchenwald
May 27, 2008 - 18:41 ET by goldwaterfanIt's been all over the media. His uncle helped liberate Buchenwald, another concentration camp. This is not a big gaffe.
Hang on a second. If my
May 27, 2008 - 19:13 ET by Jack BauerHang on a second. If my uncle was there when a concentration camp was liberated, it would be a family legend.
Every nuance of the story would be imprinted onto my brain. In particular -- the bleepin' location. I thought liberals were supposed to be so nuanced. And he can't even remember the camp?
This sounds like someone told him yesterday. A pretty sorry state of affairs.
Or maybe it's premature senility? The first sign is memory lapses.
My mother was a girl of 13
May 28, 2008 - 14:43 ET by mjgMy mother was a girl of 13 when she saw the Bataan death march. She well remembers everything about what happened. So I agree with you, when she tells the story it is a family legend.
My grandfather was part of
May 28, 2008 - 14:54 ET by red_dragon311My grandfather was part of the group that liberated Dachow.
I never knew him, ( he died when my mom was 15) but his metals and his rifle still hang on my grandma's wall.
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
-Gerald Ford
Then maybe he should say his
May 27, 2008 - 19:49 ET by NL207Then maybe he should say his uncle participated in the liberation of Buchenwald and cut the Auschwitz crap?
When Obama utters seven words
May 27, 2008 - 18:51 ET by BigSky1970When Obama utters seven words and three of them are "uh", stand by for a
trail of whoppers and fairy tales of family exploits that make George
Washington seem like a slacker and Superman seem like a fairy.
That Barack Obama is such a
May 27, 2008 - 19:06 ET by Jack BauerThat Barack Obama is such a genius. Clearly a man of towering intellect.
But back on Planet Reality: here's some scary Obama worship from a man who, scarily, used to give orders to U.S. troops. Seriously. This man gave orders.
Take a chill-pill General and stop taking the happy pills. Once again I return to a theme: and Democrats think Bush is dumb???
Talk about being easily impressed by absolutely nothing, say it again.
Retired Gen. Merrill McPeak, a former Air Force chief of staff and an Obama campaign co-chairman, told The Washington Times that Mr. Obama's rivals are underestimating his ability to meet a challenge. Gen. McPeak likened him to Abraham Lincoln.
Just a comment. Wasn't Kennedy tested and found wanting at the Bay of Pigs?
I'm sure Obama knows that,
May 27, 2008 - 19:14 ET by balboaI'm sure Obama knows that, and realizes that if elected, he'll want to make a better "showing."
Really? And just how will he
May 27, 2008 - 19:25 ET by Chris NormanReally? And just how will he do that? I mean, will he order success?
I have no way of knowing how
May 27, 2008 - 19:33 ET by balboaI have no way of knowing how he'll do that because I don't know how he'd be challenged if and when he's elected. But he knows that, as the new president, it would be crucial to his presidency to handle it well.
"...it would be crucial to
May 27, 2008 - 19:36 ET by Chris Norman"...it would be crucial to his presidency to handle it well."
As opposed to other presidents, who wanted to handle things poorly?
Yes. Exactly. You are ON
May 27, 2008 - 19:39 ET by balboaYes. Exactly. You are ON FIRE tonight.
As opposed to you, who seems
May 27, 2008 - 19:41 ET by Chris NormanAs opposed to you, who seems to be 80% contained.
And again! The hits keep
May 27, 2008 - 19:43 ET by balboaAnd again! The hits keep coming!
Well, he's had months and
May 28, 2008 - 06:20 ET by Roger the ShrubberWell, he's had months and months and months to "make a better showing", yet he still makes stupid mistakes. I have been calling Obama the "Not Ready for Prime-Time Player" for months, and this is a good example why.
I think you need to offer some evidence that Obama is smart enough and capable of not talking like a Clinton, er, I mean, a lying idiot. Is there some magical switch that will get turned on once Obama sits behind that desk in the Oval Office?
Obama has already told us
May 28, 2008 - 14:54 ET by bassndudeObama has already told us what he is going to do. He will talk to Iran and invade Pakistan. Yep! The guy is scary smart, alright.
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!