Update: Campaign Statement – Obama Mis-speaks About Great Uncle’s WWII Service: Will MSM Care?
Terry Trippany on May 27 2008 at 7:00 pm | Filed under: Election 2008
UPDATE IV: I can’t in all fairness leave the original headline up when it appears that there is an actual mis-statement by Obama; this is plausible. I can’t imagine that the MSM would be so charitable to any given Republican but I really don’t want to follow their less than discerning lead. This does not appear to have been a lie. Lieish maybe.
I do however believe it was an intentional action. First it wasn’t his uncle, it was his great uncle. Second, if Obama said “my great uncle helped liberate Ohrdruf in WWII” this would not have been such a spectacular claim on a memorial day where his leading competition is the Navy Pilot, POW war hero who just happens to be the son of a famous admiral.
Unfortunately everyone has heard of Auschwitz while not so may have heard of Ohrdruf. I think the mis-speak was a very calculated act at the expense of the veterans and for the sake of self promotion. You will have to decide for yourself.
UPDATE III: Statement from Obama campaign:
According to the Chicago Tribune Barack Obama misspoke:
Obama’s mother was an only child, but, according to Obama’s memoirs, his mother’s parents played a major role in raising him. The campaign said Tuesday afternoon that the uncle he was referring to was his grandmother’s brother, Charlie Payne. According to Obama’s campaign, Payne served in the 89th Infantry Division that liberated Ohrdruf, a subcamp of Buchenwald, in April 1945.
I’m going to tread lightly here because I don’t want to impugn a WWII veteran for the sake of proving Barack Obama as a liar; it’s not worth it. Obama’s story may or may not be true.
Here is what we do know:
The 89th infantry division was famous for liberating Ohrdruf. Unfortunately much of the roster for the 89th was lost in a fire in the government offices that kept such records. We can however piece together rosters from various sources, which I will certainly try and do.
Until then I will note that Rolla Charles Payne was born in Born: Aug. 23, 1892 in Olathe, Kan. This would put Mr. Payne at 53 years of age in 1945. The average man who fought in World War II was 26 years of age. Charles Keller was the oldest man to serve in WWII, he retired at the age of 75 in 1943 so 53 isn’t out of the question by any stretch of the imagination.
Mr. Payne held an occupation as bookkeeper for and oil well supply company in Tulsa, Okla., in 1917; bookkeeper for an oil company in Augusta City, Kan., in 1930 and died in October 1968. (src. Chicago Sun Times genealogy tree of Barack Obama, confirmed at About.com).
I am not sure what to think. I don’t trust Barack Obama because of his lack of judgment, his many gaffes and his attempts to create patriotism and the favoritism of the Jewish vote by associations that have little to do with Barack Obama’s character today.
How convenient it would be for him to mis-speak in such a manner if the story turns out to be so innocent.
Update and bump: The lie is much better appreciated when you see it on video. (video h/t: Noel Sheppard at Newsbusters)
Original Story Below:
Purple Avenger writing at ACE picked up on this one. (h/t Michelle Malkin)
…Obama also spoke about his uncle, who was part of the American brigade that helped to liberate Auschwitz…Auschwitz of course is in Poland. It was liberated by the Red Army on Jan 27 1945. Poland, on most maps is usually placed to the east of Germany, although we may need to investigate the geography textbooks the Messiah used as a child…
The Allies were wrapping up the battle of the bulge in late January of 1945 — the Rhine crossings were still well into the future when Auschwitz was liberated. The first, the Remagen railway bridge which was discovered intact, was crossed on March 7 1945.
Of course it goes without saying that the media has thus far failed to call the Messiah on this apparently obviously outrageous lie. Unless Obama’s “uncle” was serving in the Red Army, its a pretty safe bet he was many hundreds of miles from Auschwitz on its day of liberation.
I’m not sure which is more egregious, that Barack Obama continues to lie and deceive the American public day in and day out or that the media is facilitating his lies as willing accomplices.
I’ll say what everyone else is afraid to say. This is another in a long list of alarming things the media is willing to turn a blind eye to all in the name of electing a socialist, pro-weakening of America, terrorist friendly, black man to office. It is not racist to point out the obvious; it is all about identity politics. This would not be happening if not for the left’s need to satisfy their inbred guilt for all things American, reparations for America’s past (as if Obama, the millionaire suffered directly from slavery), apologizing for our military and economic successes, and a good deal of Bush Derangement Syndrome.
The media is at fault here. Barack Obama is just taking advantage of the fact that the media is wholeheartedly on board with him man to the point that they will lie by omission. What an insult to all who have died in the service to the country that made both Obama and the sycophant media possible.
Update: As noted above I believe the media is at fault here. This statement would lead every headline and every news teaser until it was either verified or discredited if McCain had said it (imagine the outcry if President Bush or Dick Cheney made such a claim even if it was an innocent mistake).
Politicians are prone to stretch the truth to make themselves appear something that they are not. Barack Obama needs to distance himself from terrorist acquaintances such as William Ayers so it is not surprising that he would be out talking about his grandfather and uncle since he can’t claim the military credentials himself. This is especially important considering that the Jewish vote is going to be pretty hard to come by since Obama had to dismiss one of his Middle East advisers for holding secret meetings with Jew hating Hamas terrorists.
The question remains, which uncle and what camp? It is not good enough to simply tell or repeat family legend; especially when Obama took a pass on this particular legend in a 2001 anti-war speech that touted his grandfather’s WWII service (h/t Hot Air). A Presidential candidate should be speaking of verifiable stories when making such claims. Otherwise it is simply self serving propaganda and potentially not true. This is where the press should be picking up the slack.
Correction: The Auschwitz statement that Obama made was about his uncle and not his grandfather. The headline has been updated to reflect this fact.
See also:
- Michelle Malkin » The Obama gaffe machine rolls on
- Sister Toldjah
- A “Duh-bama” or a Family Secret Unwittingly Dragged into the Light? | The Sundries Shack
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » Obama: My grandfather liberated … Auschwitz?
- Political Party Poop
- Ed Driscoll.com
- ‘Okie’ on the Lam » Blog Archive » Obama’ Sixth Sense — “I See Dead People”
- PrestoPundit
- Jules Crittenden » Sixth Sense
- Flopping Aces » Blog Archive » The Messiah’s Gaffes & The MSM Who Ignores Them
- In Excess Of Demand » Blog Archive » Obama gets away with another whopper.
- Obama: Gaffing His Way to the White House « Axis of Right
- Obama’s uncle did what? « Thoughts Of A Conservative Christian
- The Obamessiah Gaff Machine Rolls Into Auschwitz | McCain Blogs
- This won’t get you any more Jewish votes Barack : Stop The ACLU
- Auschwitz Gate Begins | ImperfectUnion
- Rhymes With Right
- Cao’s Blog
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Tags: Barack Obama, Fallen Soldiers, Memorial Day, WWII
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Everything Obama says here is plausible. He does not actually imply that his great uncle liberated Auchwitz. He says that a. His uncle was one of the first AMERICAN troops in Auchwitz which does not necesarrily mean that he liberated it just that he went there. and b. His uncle helped liberate the concentration camps many of which were liberated by the American forces. You are missquoting his statement. Also, this same missquotation was on CNN last night so don’t say the media isn’t giving it any attention.
Plausible perhaps but the Obama campaign already backtracked on the statement. Any connection between his great uncle and Auschwitz appears to have been an exaggeration.
Maybe it was a mistake, perhaps not. In any case it was never Obama’s intent to imply that his great uncle simply showed up and looked around.
How could I mis-quote him when I include the video? I am not sure what you mean. I did change my headline to be as fair as possible and the media was slow to come around on this.
Yea, it looks like your right. What Obama said could easily have been translated as what I said above, but apparently it wasn’t.
When I said missquoted, I meant misinterpreted/misrepresented but apparently, I was wrong about that. It surprises me that the Obama campaign didn’t translate it the same way I did in their statement.
The one big problem that I still have with your article is your apparent paranoia about the media who reported on this story one day after you did. I disagree with the idea that Obama is getting off easy with them, especially after how much they covered and even interviewed Reverend Wright. The media covers what ever generates viewers/money. McCain is just sitting and lining up his shots at Obama right now so the media only covers him a little. Any time there is a controversy or very wrong statement with any candidate, for instance reverend Wright or this statement, it gets a lot of coverage regardless.
I do like Obama more than any other candidate right now but I’m probably not going to argue with any of the more general accusations in the rant portion of your post here.
Hi,
I appreciate your opinion and relish the civility of the comments. Most people that disagree with me and the other writers here usually dismiss us because of our conservative POV.
My focus on the media comes from the articles that I write over at Newsbusters.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us. – Trip