NBC News may actually be more pro-Obama than Barack Obama himself. Back in March, a celebratory NBC Nightly News story about Obama’s childhood in Indonesia described the future candidate as “mastering the Indonesian language.” But Obama — who this week has voiced displeasure that many Americans do not speak a foreign language — admitted on Friday: “I don’t speak a foreign language. It’s embarrassing!” he said.
On Tuesday, Obama voiced regret over Americans’ lack of language skills. He revisited the topic on Friday, this time admitting that he speaks no foreign languages himself. Via Jake Tapper’s “Political Radar” blog:
At a town hall in Dayton, Ohio the presumptive Democratic nominee attempted to explain his statements, blasting the interpretation of his original remarks....“I said something the other day down in Georgia, and the Republicans jumped on this. I said, you know, absolutely immigrants need to learn English, but we also need to learn foreign languages,” he said Friday....
While the Obama campaign says that Obama speaks a little bit of Indonesian, Obama himself admits that he isn’t bilingual.
“I know because I don’t speak a foreign language. It’s embarrassing!” he said.
The admission undercuts NBC’s claim that Obama “mastered” Indonesian as a young child. Back on March 14, correspondent Ian Williams offered a sappy report on all of Obama’s former friends and classmates from Jakarta, Indonesia, who were rooting for him in the presidential race:
He arrived in Jakarta in 1967, age 6 with his mother who'd married an Indonesian student. His stepfather, first in the army, later worked for an oil company. Young Barry's half sister Maya rounded out the family photo. Obama was the only foreigner at the upscale Menteng school, mastering the Indonesian language. He towered over classmates who remembered him as a happy-go-lucky child.
It’s possible that Obama was fluent in Indonesian as a child, but has lost those skills as an adult. Or perhaps NBC’s eagerness to tout the Senator’s amazing abilities has now bumped up against Obama’s own testimony of exactly which languages he can and cannot speak.
—Rich Noyes is Research Director at the Media Research Center.




















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Comments Policy
Paul McCartney?!?
July 11, 2008 - 17:49 ET by TexasOptimistWho is that in the middle of the picture? It looks like Paul McCartney in a wig?!?
I am a conservative who is willing to think for himself.
Actually that is a picture
July 11, 2008 - 19:03 ET by BlazerActually that is a picture of Barracks mother, a young Mother Teresa with his father Confucious in the far left of the photo, documented proof that Barrack is our saviour and Messiah. -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."
Come on, man
July 11, 2008 - 22:17 ET by ArcherBDude, that's Obama's mother. I don't care what you think of a man, you never, NEVER insult his mother. That's just wrong.
"To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary." Ernesto "Che" Guevara
Oh, you mean...
July 14, 2008 - 08:31 ET by ontheright...like the praise and accolades that have been so graciously attributed to the current president's wife and mother by the unbiased MSM? You mean those type of insults?
http://gatewaypundit...
http://newsbusters.o...
http://newsbusters.o...
Oh, you mean only a liberal Democrat's mother is "off-limits"...typical.
well, well, well....
July 11, 2008 - 17:55 ET by sentforth5Osam....Obama doesn't speak a foreign language...so here's this guy belittling Americans AGAIN and preaching what he does not practice.
Well, I say Osam...Obama DOES speak a foreign language...all his words are PUT in his mouth by someone; I dunno...Soros, maybe...but his words are foreign to him!
Without a teleprompter he can hardly speak at all.
BHO just might begin by
July 11, 2008 - 21:14 ET by Cape Conservativelearning to speak English! "We's..." I believe that was his introduction to the fact that we Americans can't speak other languages. "We's"~?!?!?!
Oh...and he could also do without the hundreds of "uhs" when off prompter ;-)
Well, he's just being
July 11, 2008 - 22:20 ET by motherbeltWell, he's just being humble, and including himself among all the failures that we are.
I wonder if his wife was including herself and her husband when she said "America is just downright mean!"
Shoot 'em all; let God sort 'em out! - Marge Simpson
Ok,,, Why???
July 11, 2008 - 17:57 ET by bigpapaDo I need to learn another language?????
I live in the United States of America.
You come here you learn to speak english,
if I go to your country,, then I'll learn another language.
What an elitist dipstick.
NOBAMA 08 !!!
German
July 12, 2008 - 10:48 ET by dmntd1Will the Obamessiah's speech in Germany be in German? Will he call himself a Jelly Doughnut?
Fascism is a religious conception in which man is seen in his imminent relationship with a superior law and with an objective will that transcends the particular individual - Mussolini
Obama is disingenuous
July 11, 2008 - 18:24 ET by garyganuWhy do liberals cheer whenever Obama says that the US is a mean, unfair or an embarrassment? Just like when he quoted the census bureau statistic that says women only earn 77 cents for ever dollar that men earn. He conveniently left out that women choose to work less hours. He also conveniently left out that the statistic doesn't compare equal jobs. He also conveniently didn't point out that many women choose to spend more time raising their children, rather than working full time. Read my blog on this topic for more detail. http://garyganu.blogspot.com/2008/07/women-in-workplace_10.html Let me know what you think.
Most of what Obama says is disingenuous and deceptive. I don't know if he believes it himself. What he does believe is that his rhetoric is what the people want to hear and it will make him more popular. I hope that he is underestimating the intelligence of the US public, but I am not that sure.
Tha is absolutely true.
July 11, 2008 - 18:41 ET by motherbeltTha is absolutely true. That "women get paid less for the same work" is a canard that they just won't let die.
Not one complainer has been able to produce a single woman, doing an equal job, for an equal number of hours as a man and getting paid less.
I would only add that women tend to choose jobs that they can opt out of and then back into, (childbearing and -rearing) such as teaching and nursing, which tradtionally pay less than the more demanding positions that men take.
From your blog:
Personally I believe that families would be better off, if women did
not work while there are young children in their homes. Families would
surly be better off if there was a full time mother and wife in the
home.
I agree with you, and you don't want to get me started on that! ;-)
In reality what women seem to want is to take the same job as a man, refuse to travel or work weekends (needs "quality time" with the kids) time off for school plays, projects and field trips, etc.
In short, the privilege of working 50% less than a man in the same position who does it all, and get paid the same.
I guess in Obama's America, that will be mandated.
Shoot 'em all; let God sort 'em out! - Marge Simpson
And this coming from a holier than...........
July 11, 2008 - 18:16 ET by BEGRUNTthou, elitist JERK, who says americans should feel bad when they cant speak the language in a foreign country. He cant even do it himself. What a sanctimonious, pompous ass. "Do as I say, not as I do", typical.
"If a man does his best, what else is there"?
General George S. Patton Jr.
NBC Special Report
July 11, 2008 - 18:18 ET by acumenAnd now this special report from Ian Williams; So Ian, can you tell us what life is like under the Obama bus?
O.K......so Obama
July 11, 2008 - 18:21 ET by BlazerO.K......so Obama criticsizes us Americans who do not speak a second language while admitting that he himself also does not speak another language and " its embarrassing".
Outside of the fact that this whole affair reeks with hypocrisy, I'll have to give Obama credit for throwing himself under his own bus. Although I'll bet he had to lather down with Crisco or K.Y. to squeeze in, because I'm sure space is at a premium under there.
We've had " Christine", "The Car" and "Duel" after the election, I hope Hollywood see's fit to give us " The Bus".
"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."
Hussein O's flip flop
July 11, 2008 - 18:23 ET by ScrapironU don't remember him saying we needed to learn a foreign language. I believe he had his head up a Mexican's butt and his mouth full of foreign objects and mumbled we should learn 'Spanish'.
Old, Retired and glad of it.
It seems...
July 14, 2008 - 08:42 ET by ontheright...B. Hussein O. can in fact speak something other than english and telepromter-ese...
Wonder how he continues to cover up this lie; nevermind, I know the answer - ONN - Obama News Networks.
http://obamasgaffes....
Gotta love that condescending look in the picture. Get ready folks - we're in for trouble when BHO-Marx takes over in January.
Nothing to worry about.
July 14, 2008 - 08:57 ET by NL207Nothing to worry about. On January 20, Obama, like the other 98 Senators, will be watching John McCain take the oath of office, that is if he hasn't been indicted in the Rezko scandal by then.
I was wondering when...
July 11, 2008 - 18:23 ET by HeavyChevyThis finally made it to NB. I saw this on Bill O`Reilly last night and nearly lost my mind when I saw and heard what Obama said.
This Dude is really pushing his luck with the American people.
"9 out of 10 doctors agree that flag burning is the number one killer of liberals."
Unfortunately, I don't agree with you
July 11, 2008 - 22:31 ET by DEVILDOCMOMHeavyChevy. I would love to agree with this statement "This Dude is really pushing his luck with the American people", but it seems most Americans do not really hear what he says, they are too busy being sheeple. They hear change and hope and nothing else.
They see the B. Hussein O. candidacy...
July 14, 2008 - 09:49 ET by ontheright...as reparation for all the percieved wrongs the whites have perputrated on these "less fortunate, under priveleged and unculpable contemporary black folks". Just ask Jeremiah Wright and/or Michelle Obama if you want to get a glimpse of the "perception on the ground". Enough said there...
http://www.rantnatio...
These are the same people who refused to leave a danger zone when they were warned hours in advance of a devestating hurricane. And, the Mayor of said "Chocolate city" had hundreds of buses that could have been used to evacuate these citizens had he executed the city's disaster plan timely - oh wait...they didn't have a disaster plan.
http://www.cnn.com/2...
http://archive.newsm...
These are the same people who after Katrina were "transplanted" in Texas and other states on the tax payer's dime (more like billions...) and the crime rate simultaneously and mysteriously spiked in those areas. Oh, and by the way - some (many) of these same Katrina victims, however many years later, are still sucking off the government teet. Translation - govt. sanctioned stealing from you and I.
http://www.usatoday....
http://www.msnbc.msn...
These are the same people who, when helped out of a no-win, life-long poverty stricken scenario (caused by their own making - not that ever elusive middled-aged-white-man-demographic as claimed by Jeremiah Wright, but I digress...), take the crime with them. They bring the cesspool to the "new" neighborhood and then complain when they see the "trash" now cluttering the suburbs and they complain that they are "no better off than before the bail-out".
http://newsgroups.de...
At some point in time "the sheople" will HAVE to be held accountable for their action and/or inaction. With a B. Hussein O. in office this will take many, many years - if it happens at all.
Wake up you snoring masses...
Suspect
July 11, 2008 - 18:29 ET by ScrapironYou don't suspect that Hussein O simply won't admit he speaks an Arab language? Can't use all of his Arab names either, so?
Old, Retired and glad of it.
Here ya go Obamessiah:
July 11, 2008 - 18:58 ET by RukusHere ya go Obamessiah: practice these...
"I don't speak this language. "
Spanish: No hablo este idioma
French: Je ne parle pas cette langue
German: Ich weiss nicht sprechen diese Sprache
Chech: Nemám mluvit tímto jazykem
Italian: Non parlo questa lingua
Norwegian: Jeg ikke snakker dette språket
Portuguese: Eu não falam esta língua
Just a few. You have tons of room in your emptiness to learn a few... LOL!
"Nuke 'em 'til they... oh hell, just shoot 'em!"
"Nuke 'em' hasta que ... oh infierno, sólo disparar 'em!"
PS. I realize I've screwed up the grammer but, hey, the message is the same! Hehe!
here's another rukus
July 11, 2008 - 20:43 ET by candanceIrish: Ni seo teanga agam.
(edited for grammatical precision)
Correct me if I'm wrong...
July 11, 2008 - 19:59 ET by Prester John...but even in these years of abysmally low standards don't most universities and colleges have some sort of foreign language requirement to graduate?
And in Obama's case the man received an undergraduate degree in International Relations from Columbia University and didn't have to study a foreign language or otherwise show proficiency in one???!!!
Sorry folks, this doesn't compute.
I know I did.............
July 11, 2008 - 20:13 ET by BEGRUNTBefore I graduated from college, I had to take two years of foriegn language......I chose spanish....surprise surprise, being from L.A. You do have a point......as one that was mentioned earlier.........Obama....arabic???? Just a thought.
"If a man does his best, what else is there"?
General George S. Patton Jr.
You Lying NB
July 11, 2008 - 20:40 ET by SemperrightYou Lying NB Scum,
How dare you criticize the honorable senator from Illinois.
Not only does he speak flawless English but he also is fluent in Dumbassican and excellent in Red Communese
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference.
The MARINES don't have that problem."
President Ronald Reagan - 1985
He is also fluent in the
July 12, 2008 - 11:28 ET by JerryHe is also fluent in the Forked tongue.
When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).
He can also speak out of
July 12, 2008 - 17:43 ET by Chris NormanHe can also speak out of both sides of his mouth.
McNotObama '08
100% off topic...
July 11, 2008 - 20:49 ET by Prester John...but everyone has to check out these new pictures from the Iranian war games (spew alert). Courtesy LGF.
"Attack of the Photoshopped Missiles"
http://blog.wired.co...
Also:
http://www.snappedsh...
I've been looking at the
July 11, 2008 - 21:01 ET by BlazerI've been looking at the Photoshops all day and all I can say is:
BWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!
.....oh and yea, I hope that poor Iranian General that shot those Black Cats off and the tool from their informatian ministry that put out the weak Photoshop got to see their 72 virgins.
Because I'm sure Mahmoud Cat Is Not Amused.
"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."
Oh.....that is hysterical!!!!
July 11, 2008 - 21:15 ET by BEGRUNTGreat pics.......ROTFLMAO!!!!
"If a man does his best, what else is there"?
General George S. Patton Jr.
I'm a thinkin'
July 11, 2008 - 20:51 ET by FastEdthat EVERYONE should learn how to use english first - try understanding five or six different people whose p-r-e-n-u-n-c-i-a-t-i-o-n is not what an old fart like me is used to - language skills, especially when ordering at a major retail outlet, should be important, especially if you want to get what you think you want. Me thinks its time that english become the OFFICIAL language - it is the language of capitalism, freedom and liberty - oh, wait, that ain't what Barry want's now, is it?
There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V
Might not "Speak" but I bet he reads
July 11, 2008 - 21:23 ET by han_soloHe might not be able to speak another language, but I bet he can READ Arabic JUST FINE.
Since he spent everyday of his childhood learning the koran.
Digging out my dusty Pratical Indonesian, I find this:
July 11, 2008 - 21:41 ET by upcountrywaterI need medicine for diarrhea..
Saya perlu obat untuk berak-berak..
barack-barack non stop forever running.
liberals62%
IranianUranium
fact is
July 11, 2008 - 21:41 ET by WesenSad to say, that man is not a Black man.
Wesen, Yea Halferican- American
July 11, 2008 - 23:43 ET by upcountrywaterh/t Rush
Liberals62%
IranianUranium
Another FLIP-FLOP!!!!!!
July 11, 2008 - 22:11 ET by LibraryLady“I know because I don’t speak a foreign language. It’s embarrassing!” he said
He forgot a lot in 28 months!!
Q What languages do you speak
By Betsy Rothstein
Posted: 03/22/06 12:00 AM
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.): “Indonesian and a little Spanish.”
http://thehill.com/q...
Thanks
July 11, 2008 - 23:07 ET by ScrapironThanks Libary Lady,
I couldn't get it out of my mind (and it's tiny) that he was lying through his teeth about not speaking a form of Arabic. Now we know why they scream the term 'black hole' is racist. Barack has his memory stored there.
Old, Retired and glad of it.
Scrapiron, Scientific walfare
July 11, 2008 - 23:57 ET by upcountrywaterBlack Holes SUCK all matter into themselfs.
White Holes SPEW all matter out of themselfs.
berak-berak sez U rich, give it up give it away now..
Liberals62%
IranianUranium
Buicks.Barack
July 11, 2008 - 22:58 ET by ScrapironBarack has corrected one thing for me. In my younger days I spent quite a bit of time on my knees in front of the comode. I thought all this time I was selling Buicks since that's what barfing sounds like. Now it's a fact, I was selling (barfing up) Barack's.
Old, Retired and glad of it.
“I don’t speak a foreign language. It’s embarrassing!”
July 12, 2008 - 03:00 ET by PShannonOf course he does -- he speaks Arabic.
On February 27th, 2007, Barack Hussein Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth."
In an interview with Nicholas Kristof, published in The New York Times, Obama recited the Muslim call to prayer, the Adhan, "with a first-class [Arabic] accent."
The opening lines of the Adhan (Azaan) is the Shahada:
"Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!
Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!
I witness that there is no god but Allah
I witness that there is no god but Allah
I witness that Muhammad is his prophet... "
According to Islamic scholars, reciting the Shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith, makes one a Muslim. This simple yet profound statement expresses a Muslim's complete acceptance of, and total commitment to, the message of Islam.
http://www.theobamafile.com/ObamaIslam.htm
PS;; thank u PS i guess. .I was wondering about that neckless
July 12, 2008 - 03:52 ET by upcountrywaterof his, that madallion thingie?
Liberals62%
IranianUranium
Obama's just a true Dim
July 12, 2008 - 06:56 ET by ThisnThatDims don't let the little things (like lies) worry them.
Obama: You need to learn another language (but I, the Messiah, don't).
Gore: You need to cut your carbon footprint -- you know, don't drive, don't work, don't use electricity, don't breath (and I will take private jets, live in a mansion that burns electricity, and buy carbon credits to sooth my concience)
Pelosi: We need to cut our dependence on oil, and don't need to drill in ANWR to increase supply (but, we need to increase our supply somehow, so I demand oil be released from the Strategic Reserve)
Murtha: We need to support our troops (except for the bastard Marines who are just a bunch of murdering thugs -- and don't tell me they were found not guilt, just the fact that they are capable, somehow, is good enough for me)
Reid: The war is lost (it was lost; it will be lost; it will be lost in the future; it should have been lost; the surge didn't happen; and everyone always believes me)
Democrats everywhere: Abortion doesn't kill -- there was no life there anyway (and no, it doesn't matter what the definition of abort is -- just trust us).
And the list goes on....
___________________________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber
Master of the Indonesian language
July 12, 2008 - 12:01 ET by cheefloI recall reading that Obama struggled with the Indonesian language as a child -- can't quite remember where I read that, but it was a background piece about his mother, grandparents, and his early life. I would imagine he had a reasonable working knowledge of it, but that he had difficulty socially and in school because of his lack of mastery of the language.
Chris Matthews Leg Tingle
July 13, 2008 - 17:56 ET by BarrackMaybe Chris Matthews was secretly hoping Barry could interpret the source of his "leg tingle" in Indonesian..
Surely, that would have got Chris' other leg tingling...
Balance
www.benbarrack.com