The Young Gaffer
posted at 9:15 am on May 21, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Send to a Friend |
Share on Facebook | printer-friendly
Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings may recall Sam Gamgee’s father, the Old Gaffer, whose cliche wisdom Sam would often and annoyingly recall while on the road with Frodo. Michelle spots the Young Gaffer in Barack Obama, writing about an extensive list of mistakes Obama has made on the campaign trail:
All it takes is one gaffe to taint a Republican for life. The political establishment never let Dan Quayle live down his fateful misspelling of “potatoe.” The New York Times distorted and misreported the first President Bush’s questions about new scanner technology at a grocers’ convention to brand him permanently as out of touch.
But what about Barack Obama? The guy’s a perpetual gaffe machine. Let us count the ways, large and small, that his tongue has betrayed him throughout the campaign …
Some of the gaffes Michelle notes belong in the “potatoe” file, silly mistakes that could be attributed to exhaustion or misspeaking. Obama mixed up Sioux Falls and Sioux City last week, which I might do if I ever bothered to go to either city. His inability to count states also could fall into this category, although he’s now muffed this twice. Had Quayle done that, there may have been calls for his impeachment.
Most of the rest show more serious deficiencies in Obama as a candidate:
- The Selma March in 1965 did not contribute to his birth in 1961.
- Kansas tornadoes in May 2007 killed 12 people, not “ten thousand”.
- Afghans do not speak Arabic.
- Within 24 hours, Obama reversed his assertion that Iran did not pose a “serious threat” to the US to an assertion that the threat is “grave”.
In fact, these don’t really qualify as “gaffes” in the sense of momentary lapses in memory or factual recall, which all of us make. They represent deliberate positions intended to gin up support on the basis of obviously erroneous allegations. The Kansas tornadoes were used to criticize the emergency response record of the Bush administration, but instead recalled the worst of the hysterical assertions made during Hurricane Katrina. The Selma fib was designed to claim descent from civil-rights movement leadership as a means of ending a sense of alienation from black voters who discern between slavery descendants and more recent immigration from Africa. Obama’s assertion that the US had a shortage of Arabic translators in Afghanistan was part of an argument that blamed the stalling operations in Afghanistan on the Iraq War. And minimizing the Iranian threat in Oregon played into the minds of those who think that the Bush administration is the biggest threat to world peace.
None of these are in the same “potatoe” league as Quayle’s highly-publicized missteps. These are mistakes with a purpose. The Young Gaffer may or may not know any better, but he’s banking on the American voter not knowing any better this fall.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
JiangxiDad on May 21, 2008 at 9:17 AM
for the states, that has been seared, seared, into my memory since I’ve been 6.. to mess that up.. shows a type of ignorance beyond the pale..
DaveC on May 21, 2008 at 9:22 AM
You know it, Ed, and we know it. The people who need to know it…don’t.
Probably do not want to, either.
Bob's Kid on May 21, 2008 at 9:23 AM
The MSM pounced on Quayle endlessly, but he was not the Obamessiah.
The anointed shall not be sbuject to scorn and ridicule.
So sayeth the Lord.
drjohn on May 21, 2008 at 9:27 AM
Barry cannot pronounce Massachusetts.
He says MASSATOOSITS.
He did it during on of the debates with Hillary.
Is that the ebonic spelling?
benrand on May 21, 2008 at 9:27 AM
He’s an absolute and total fraud. He is a zero, a null set, a nothing, a vacuum, who will be absolutely dependent on advisors and enthralled by his wife’s venomous social agenda. Anyone who could say that Americans have to eat less to gain the approval of other countries is our enemy people, our enemy.
Akzed on May 21, 2008 at 9:28 AM
Cue the Notre Dame fight song. OK, Democrats, get out there and win one for the gaffer!
Kafir on May 21, 2008 at 9:30 AM
Yeah, but when you were six, you weren’t sitting in an Indonesian madrassa…
Kafir on May 21, 2008 at 9:31 AM
Gaffer? More like Tolkien’s Wormtongue.
BL@KBIRD on May 21, 2008 at 9:40 AM
And sadly far too many of them don’t. ;-(
highhopes on May 21, 2008 at 9:40 AM
Unless Obama botches one during the fall debates — where he’s live on the stage with McCain in front of 100 million people and the TV and print reporters have no choice but to cover it — don’t expect any of these mistakes or flat-out whoppers to gain any traction in the media.
jon1979 on May 21, 2008 at 9:44 AM
Just another Soros / Daly lap dog. He does have charisma, but so did a lot of leaders that were unfit to lead on this level and led their countries to the brink of hell. Lets turn over the stongest economy in the world and the national security of the strongest nation in the world to a first time senator from the Daly machine out of Chicago. Yeah, thats the ticket.
volsense on May 21, 2008 at 9:50 AM
Obama’s gaffe about wanting to meet Ahmadinejad “without pre-conditions” may have international consequences beyond giving McCain some good campaign fodder. According to this article in the New York Post by Amir Taheri
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05212008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/obama_to_ajad__atomic_assist_111819.htm?page=0
some of the “pre-conditions” currently imposed on Iran include stopping the enrichment of uranium, pre-conditions agreed upon not only by the Bush Administration, but by the United Nations IAEA, and our allies in Britain, France, and Germany. Obama’s offer to talk without pre-conditions would short-circuit and undermine everything Bush has been trying to do WITH OUR ALLIES (multi-lateral diplomacy that Democrats are always touting) over the past few years.
According to Taheri, there are also dissenters in the Iranian parliament criticizing Ahmadinejad for continuing uranium enrichment, thereby justifying American and European economic sanctions and hurting the Iranian economy.
Obama’s gaffe about “talking without pre-conditions” has convinced Ahmadinejad to stonewall the issue until the U.S. elections, in the “hope for change” (from A’jad’s point of view) that a President Obama will sweep aside all the sanctions from the UN and Europeans in order to “talk” to Ahmadinejad.
Obama’s website calls for “tough diplomacy”. The kind that undermines the United Nations and our European allies, and strengthens a hot-headed enemy against dissent in his own country? Just so Obama gets a chance to speechify with the Hitler of the 21st Century?
Obama is DANGEROUS! McCain needs to jump all over this excellent article by Taheri, and tell American voters that they can’t afford this blundering fool!
Steve Z on May 21, 2008 at 9:50 AM
Very serious mistake for us to refer to these as just “gaffes”.
More like “deceptive intentional lies”.
faraway on May 21, 2008 at 9:57 AM
The Messiah is without fault.
So let it be written, so let it be done.
.
.
.
.
“Hey, did you hear what senile McCain said?”
fogw on May 21, 2008 at 9:57 AM
“Most of the rest show more serious deficiencies in Obama as a candidate:”
* The US being comprised of 57, uhhh, 58 states.
Maybe Obambi needs to wear that flag pin as an audio-visual aid.
RickZ on May 21, 2008 at 10:00 AM
You mean you don’t remember these states?
East and West Dakota
Carolina
Old Hampshire
Minneconsin
The Louisiana Purchase
Kentucky II, Electric Boogaloo (This one’s closer to Arkansas)
(And then there’s Illinois II and Illinois III, because Florida and Michigan apparently don’t count.)
James on May 21, 2008 at 10:05 AM
Doah, I thot ther was 57 of dem dar stats in da US uf A. Doah, Ill chek that out after Im dun clingin two mi relijun and mi gunz.
Griz on May 21, 2008 at 10:06 AM
There are 7 states in the second America Edwards keeps yapping about.
Maybe these are the Black Liberation states.
faraway on May 21, 2008 at 10:07 AM
Look out Ed, the party of perpetual indignation is going to call you a racist for calling Obama the “Young Gaffer.”
See, it is close enough to a racist term to qualify as a racist term under the rules of the Democrat Party.
The actual meaning, your post above nor your intention have no bearing on their verdict.
Mark my words, this will happen and probably today.
EJDolbow on May 21, 2008 at 10:07 AM
As the story goes…..the power of the One Ring also took control of Frodo to a point when Frodo (with the help of the “slimy creature”) betrayed his only friend.
Wisdom comes from our forefathers who experienced the successes and failures while passing on both so we can make better choices. While the failures of Communism, Socialism, and Marxism still today continues to raise its ugly head in the guise of liberal diversity—-the nanny state mentality that its the governments responsibility to put the poor into SUV’s (at $2.00 a gallon gas), finance our children’s education under radical leftist doctrines, and create a health care system that will rival the social security debacle—-ALL FORMS OF GOVERNMENT DEPENDENCY.
Barak Obama would love to wield this “ring of power” while the wisdom of Sam’s father understands the ultimate corruption in the hands of an unlimited government that would enslave its people.
Rovin on May 21, 2008 at 10:08 AM
It’s an act. I saw a video clip on one of the news channels where he was interviewed while in college. No accent of any kind. If you closed your eyes and listened, you would never know he’s black. I can’t find the clip on the interwebs — anyone else have a link?
db on May 21, 2008 at 10:25 AM
No, he won’t be dependent on advisors. He will be their captive. The difference is that they will be the ones setting policy and making decisions. They will be the real power behind the throne.
The English understand this all too well. They’ve had a series of child-kings, each of whom had a regent to “advise” them. The reality was that the regents all became corrupt autocrats who plundered the country for their own benefit, and resisted any and all attempts to wrest their authority back to the king or to any other advisor or official. Without exception, these regents were ruinous.
An Obama presidency with a compliant Democratic Congress would open up the same possibilities of corruption and lack of accountability.
NeighborhoodCatLady on May 21, 2008 at 10:28 AM
I particularly like Barry’s fairy tale about how his parents’ “romance” and his birth in 1961 somehow came about as a result of civil rights demonstrations in Selma in 1965; or the version in which his father was able to come to America and meet Barry’s mother as a result of Kennedy family contributions to a program to bring students from Kenya to study in the U.S. (a program that the Kennedys did not become involved with until the year after Obama Sr. was already in the U.S). What a wonderful American story: two starry-eyed young lovers, inspired by the ’60’s dreams of a post-racial society, come together to make a family. How sweet.
The reality is that Obama’s mother was a naive, 17-year old, anti-American hippie when she met up with the 24-year old, married w/children, lying womanizer Obama Sr. in Hawaii. Obama Sr. had left his pregnant wife Kezia and their young child back in Kenya to attend school in Hawaii. Obama Sr. met the gullible teenager Ann Dunham, impregnated her, pretended to marry her, and then abandoned both her and their baby when Barry was all of 2 years old, to attend a program at Harvard. At Harvard, Obama Sr. met and became involved with yet another woman, who followed him back to Africa and had several children with him there as his “wife” — even though he was still married to his first wife Kezia. Obama Sr. had two more children with his wife Kezia after he returned to Kenya. The third “wife” — with whom Obama Sr. also had children — eventually divorced Obama Sr. because he brutally beat her. Obama Sr. was known as an abrasive drunk, and he lost his job as an economist in the Kenyan government. He had several serious drunk driving accidents before finally killing himself in one.
Quite an inspiring “American” story, isn’t it?
AZCoyote on May 21, 2008 at 10:32 AM
The Regency Of President Obamma.
Has a nice ring for posterity don’t you think?
Will Arch Bishop GodDamned Wright be a pillar in the palace?
BL@KBIRD on May 21, 2008 at 10:41 AM
A somewhat more conspicuous death than McCain’s father dying on a plane of a heart attack after serving his country for 30+ years.
Squid Shark on May 21, 2008 at 10:42 AM
Pft small potatoes, even Jesus made mistakes, like when he killed John the Baptist, gave monkeys control of earth, and created Olberdouche….well 1 outta 3 ain’t bad.
This all falls into the same pot as the misquoting fiasco. Obama and the media misquote the “100 year war” line everyday, but when Bush states what Obama said, multiple times, then thats misquoting.
Now Bad year to you all, I must go search out Bizarro Superman.
Rbastid on May 21, 2008 at 10:45 AM
I’m slow today. Could someone please link to both times that Obama miscounted the states? i missed one or the other.
Buford Gooch on May 21, 2008 at 10:46 AM
It is all huff and puff to win the election. Shuck and jive.
If he does, and his chances are good, he will quickly revert to a semi Bush position in foreign affairs. He will make all the right statements that certain conditions will have come to light (none will exist)that have called for said changes. He will stress once again that unlike Bush he was capable of change. The fact that his new positions are the same as Bush’s when he left office will go unnoticed by the faithful, not to mention the MSM which will tout this dynamic new president who is capable of CHANGE. Get it Change!!!!!! He’ll be Bill Clinton hoping that nothing ever happens on his watch so he can focus his attention on domestic issues.
However we are f’ked on the domestic side. Taxes are going to go up. Socialism (big intrusive government/activist judges) will once again be the promised land. Hello reparations. Trinity church in the Lincoln room. Black hate speech the new “rap” as whitey gets his. Thank you rev Wright.
Massive cuts in defense will be the fairy dust for new entitlements here and abroad. With this the budget will appear to be balanced akin to Clinton’s. We will have a shrinking military with hopes of duplicating the Euro model. The World Court and the UN will be constantly praised. If a repub ever gets elected again, the demographics make it exceedingly difficult, the new president will start off much like Reagan and Bush Jr.–in a massive military hole that will unbalance the budget in order to rebuild.
Welcome to the socialist death cycle.
“The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism, but under the name of liberalism they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day America will be a socialist nation without ever knowing how it happened” (Norman Thomas, 1936 presidential candidate on the Socialist ticket)
So tell me once again how there are no differences between Obama and McCain.
patrick neid on May 21, 2008 at 10:50 AM
Barack “What He Really Meant Was” Obama.
That’s the media’s M.O. (Modus Obamerandi).
They are in permanent Excuses For Barry mode.
Papering over every idiocy of BHO’s with the rapidity of the proles in “1984″ tearing down and plastering up new versions of history at a moment’s notice, even as the Party changes the story and enemy in mid-scream.
The Down-The-Memory-Hole Media feverishly covering up for this tyro schmuck with all their might and devotion.
It’s so transparent, they can’t even see it themselves.
“Obama Meant To Say” is the order of the day.
profitsbeard on May 21, 2008 at 10:52 AM
Yep, Oscar/Nobel material: “An Inconvenient Truth, Pt II.”
Let’s not forget that Barry was also abandoned by his second daddy, the one who took him to Indonesia where Barry learned his koranic prayers faithfully. That is why I’ve been saying for a while now that Barry has Daddy Abandonment issues, and should be seeking out a psychiatrist instead of seeking out the Presidency.
RickZ on May 21, 2008 at 11:08 AM
I watched some Soderberg bimbo on Hannity and Skeletor last night, they played a clip of Barry saying something nonsubstantive, then she came out and explained what Barry said, which was what he *didn’t* say.
It was unbelieveable.
benrand on May 21, 2008 at 11:10 AM
true, true..
DaveC on May 21, 2008 at 11:37 AM
Barry O. is Johnny Hooker, trying to take the whole country in a long con.
misterpeasea on May 21, 2008 at 12:17 PM
nice
wow…didn’t know he did it again. The dems have lost their minds….hopefully the US electorate isn’t going to follow them off this cliff.
funky chicken on May 21, 2008 at 12:23 PM
agreed
funky chicken on May 21, 2008 at 12:24 PM
great comment patrick neid
funky chicken on May 21, 2008 at 12:27 PM
Just thought I’d post a shoutout from Sioux Falls. I registered democrat just to vote for hillary in a few weeks!
Obama did get 7,000 people to see him at our arena, which is pretty impressive, so who knows what the turnout will be
disco on May 21, 2008 at 12:36 PM
I am reminded of a trip I took to Romania a few years back. Michael Jackson had put on a huge outdoor concert in their capitol. When he came on stage he declared “Hello Budapest!” Just about every Romanian I spoke to brought this up.
Babs on May 21, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Just writing to say I love Ed Morrissey’s mind. He is the reason I make Hot Air a daily read. He writes with such clarity, it’s a joy to read.
sheryl on May 21, 2008 at 12:55 PM
Ditto. That’s why many of us followed Ed over from his excellent solo blog, Captain’s Quarters.
MrLynn on May 21, 2008 at 1:25 PM
Which is pretty much a sure bet.
Darth Executor on May 21, 2008 at 2:43 PM
Obama miscounted the states twice? I only remember the time when he said he’d been to 57 states, one left to go and couldn’t go to Alaska and Hawaii. What was the other time?
OneGyT on May 21, 2008 at 7:03 PM