27 May 08 RNC Thinks Obama Not Presidential Because Great-Uncle Liberated Buchenwald, Not Auschwitz
From the Los Angeles Times:
Barack Obama, at a Memorial Day event in Las Cruces, N.M., credited his great-uncle, Charlie Payne, as being among the U.S. troops who liberated the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz.
The trouble with that bit of history is — as the Republican National Committee pointed out today — is that the Soviet Red Army was the military force that liberated the World War II death camp.
The RNC seized the opportunity to fire off a news release, saying that “unless his uncle was serving in the Red Army, there’s no way Obama’s statement yesterday can be true. Obama’s frequent exaggerations and outright distortions raise questions about his judgment and his readiness to lead as commander in chief.”
The Obama campaign soon acknowledged that the Democratic candidate made a mistake. It explained that Obama’s great-uncle was in the 89th Infantry Division that helped liberate another notorious death camp, Buchenwald. Obama, the campaign said, “is proud of the service of his grandfather and uncles in World War II — especially the fact that his great-uncle was part of liberating of one of the concentration camps at Buchenwald.”
All of which raises the question: What’s worse, Obama’s apparent gaffe or the RNC pouncing on a Holocaust-related historical mistake for political advantage?
Kind of telling, isn’t it … when the worst the RNC can dredge up is that the candidate’s grandfather great-uncle [whoops – M.] helped liberate Buchenwald instead of Auschwitz? Oooooooh. That’s gotta make Obama unfit for the Presidency. *rolls eyes*
Obama should not have mentioned this kind of thing during this time.
The RNC is far worse. They expressed zero concern
for the concentration camp victims or the mental effect on the soldiers that saw the atrocities.
“Senator Obama’s family is proud of the service of his grandfather and uncles in World War II – especially the fact that his great uncle was a part of liberating one of the concentration camps at Buchenwald,†Mr. Burton said in a statement. “Yesterday he mistakenly referred to Auschwitz instead of Buchenwald in telling of his personal experience of a soldier in his family who served heroically.â€
The correct story is that Mr. Obama’s great uncle, Charlie Payne – his grandmother’s brother – actually helped liberate Ohrdruf, a sub-camp of Buchenwald. Mr. Payne was a member of the 89th Infantry Division.
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Take a look and you will understand why some
soldiers have to deal with PTSD
Buchenwald-Ohrdruf
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/photographs...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ohrdruf_for...
Special thanks to Charlie Payne and all those who helped end this.
Why not? It’s not any form of bragging. It’s honoring an ancestor who was a soldier. Honoring soldiers’ service is what Memorial Day’s about.
The bigger question is whether or not Obama is even now telling the truth. Since he pounced on Hillary for her exaggerations, he is fair game for the same behavior. It’s obviously easy to err, as you cleverly showed in your concluding statement referring to Obama’s grandfather rather than his great uncle :o) However, this is not the first dramatization of Obama’s, and makes one wonder if he really thinks we are all as naive as he treats us. His arrogance may be coming back to bite him.
You know, I just don’t know where to begin disagreeing with your post …