Now, that's an achievement.
His latest? Well, Obama was talking about his family's military experience, and mentioned that his uncle was involved in the liberation of Auschwitz.
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.”
Interesting. Did Obama's uncle serve in the Soviet Red Army?
Because that's who liberated Auschwitz, not the Americans, who never entered Polish territory since they stopped at Berlin at the close of the war in the European theater. The Auschwitz death camps were liberated January 27, 1945. The Allies were still bogged down in the Ardennes Forest as a result of the Nazi's last ditch attempt to cut the Allied lines.
The US, UK, and other Western allies didn't cross into Germany until much later - in March 1945 when they managed to capture the bridge over the Rhine at Remagen.
The US did liberate quite a few concentration and death camps, but Auschwitz/Birkenau weren't one of them.
U.S. forces liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany, on April 11, 1945, a few days after the Nazis began evacuating the camp. On the day of liberation, an underground prisoner resistance organization seized control of Buchenwald to prevent atrocities by the retreating camp guards. American forces liberated more than 20,000 prisoners at Buchenwald. They also liberated Dora-Mittelbau, Flossenbürg, Dachau, and Mauthausen.Now, Obama could have been mistaken about which camp that his uncle helped liberate, but a factual error is still an error. We thank his uncle for his service, but Obama would be better served if he'd provide some facts to go along with all his gaffes.
It's also curious that CBS, which reported this incident, didn't notice the factual problem either. Are they also historically illiterate? Or, are they in the tank for Obama that they're willing to overlook all the unforced errors.
UPDATE:
Is this a bigger problem for the CBS reporter than for Obama? Did Obama even mention an anecdote regarding Auschwitz in his speech?
Here's his speech from yesterday:
No mention of Auschwitz. Obama didn't talk about his uncle at all. So where did the reporter come up with that entire passage?
UPDATE:
As for Obama's other recent gaffes, let it be known that he now has powers envisioned by the likes of M. Night Shymalan.
UPDATE:
Hot Air notes my comments, and forwards along that the WaPo also notes the Auschwitz comments.
"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."The speech posted above was only about 10 minutes long, and Obama spoke for about an hour according to WaPo. In other words, this gaffe is owned by Obama - hook, line, and sinker.
This is without a doubt, proof that Obama is historically illiterate, geographically challenged, and what's perhaps even more troubling - the media isn't noting the problems the way that they would if a Republican made such gaffes.
UPDATE:
Which uncle? Obama's mother is an only child, and his father was Kenyan, so it begs the question who exactly was doing what. And as history notes, the US military was still segregated during WWII, so the likelihood that a black unit would liberate the camps was quite remote.
UPDATE:
Jim at Gateway Pundit notes that this isn't the first time that Obama has claimed that US troops liberated Auschwitz and Treblinka. It is, however, the first time he's attributed a relative to said liberation. And it once again calls into question Obama's fact checkers for letting a gaffe like that stand on Obama's website, and the media's ongoing failure to report on these errors in judgment.
UPDATE:
Let's go to the videotape of Obama talking off the cuff after that earlier video. In it, he clearly states that his uncle was involved in going to Auschwitz - in its liberation.
No weasel words there. No qualifiers that he went at some later date as the first US troops. His uncle was a liberator of Auschwitz who then had a mental breakdown and spent time in his attic for six months.
UPDATE:
Ace's Purple Avenger:
WaPo claims quotes him as claiming his uncle was one of the first US troops to enter Auschwitz, with no claim of liberating itSomeone is covering up? Because that's not what Obama actually said."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."
UPDATE:
Well, we've finally gotten to the bottom of this mess, and Obama did indeed screw up. It wasn't his uncle, but rather his grand uncle (error 1). It wasn't Auschwitz, but rather one of the sub-camps of Buchenwald, Ohrdruf (error 2). And that Auschwitz wasn't even in an area where US troops operated since it was behind the Red Curtain in Soviet dominated Eastern Europe (error 3). Nice trifecta you got there for telling a family anecdote, which apparently goes back to 2002.
Will someone please run a fact checker on Obama's memoirs? How many other problems are there?
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