Gaffemaster Alert: The Pearl Harbor Bomb; Update: Video added
posted at 10:10 am on July 18, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Barack Obama must have gone off script again in West Lafayette, Indiana on Wednesday. When addressing the crowd on national security, Obama mangled the attack on Pearl Harbor. For a Hawaii native, this tops the Young Gaffer list of historical fumbles (via Dean Barnett):
But it is wonderful to be back in Indiana. In a few moments, we’ll open up the discussion. But I want to offer a few comments about some of the emerging threats that we face in the 21st century and offer some ideas about how we can face those threats.
Throughout our history, America’s confronted constantly evolving danger, from the oppression of an empire, to the lawlessness of the frontier, from the bomb that fell on Pearl Harbor, to the threat of nuclear annihilation. Americans have adapted to the threats posed by an ever-changing world.
Just to clarify: a whole lot of bombs fell on Pearl Harbor. And the threat wasn’t the bomb, it was the empire that sent massive waves of planes to drop them on our Pacific Fleet. Those bombs fell because we didn’t adapt to the threat, and in fact we kept telling ourselves that we could talk the Japanese out of their policy of aggression and empire. We came within a few aircraft carriers of losing the Pacific out of our willful blindness to the nature of the Japanese.
The same can be said for the “nuclear annihilation” Obama also mentions. The threat wasn’t nuclear annihilation as such; that was part of the threat, not the entire threat itself. The real threat came from another kind of empire, one that wanted to conquer from within as well as without — and the American Left after 1969 spent most of its time arguing that the threat didn’t really exist, that Soviet Communism wanted peaceful coexistence, and that socialism and Communism were the achievement of Utopia. After Jimmy Carter’s disastrous cheek-kissing with Leonid Brezhnev and the invasion of Afghanistan that followed, America woke up and put adults in charge - and within a decade, the Soviet Union collapsed of its own contradictions and rot.
This gaffe goes beyond placing Auschwitz and Treblinka in western Germany or putting American troops in Poland during World War II. It speaks to a fundamental superficiality of Obama, a man who seizes tropes and themes with little understanding of their significance or their details. Obama reveals himself as a man who doesn’t understand threats at all, and whose instinctive responses would make them far worse.
Update: Here’s the video; the stumble comes in the first moments. Note the long pause as Obama talks about the bomb at Pearl Harbor. It looks like he went off script:
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If he forgot the S, it’_ no biggie, but if he’_ confu_ing Pearl Harbor with Hiro_hima, than that i_ a huge mi_take and it prove_ that he’_ a _illy _chmuck, he’_ an empty _uit and he _ucks at _peaking and giving _peeche_.
Tony737 on July 18, 2008 at 11:47 AM
We did not face nuclear annihilation in the cold war.
It is utterly amazing how people will rewrite history just so they can try and make a present-day political point.
Tom_Shipley on July 18, 2008 at 11:48 AM
Just stop it with these distractions, Ed.
That isn’t the Pearl Harbor I knew.
BacaDog on July 18, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Details, details. Always with the details. :)
OldEnglish on July 18, 2008 at 11:51 AM
I’m not so sure that was a gaffe by going off script. Does Obama have speech writers? Who wrote this speech? What’s interesting to me is that if someone wrote this speech for Obama to deliver, he delivered it as written without skipping a beat. It’s like an empty suit spouting just words.
I agree about the 57 states thing though. That is not a gaffe that anyone would make out of being tried or over wrought. I can’t honestly find any excuse for it other than Obama just really doesn’t know the simplest things about America. How can he grow up in Hawaii and not know that Hawaii was the 50th and last State admitted?
Texas Gal on July 18, 2008 at 11:53 AM
Obama was speaking rhetorically, not literally. You (all) are so fixated on finding something to criticize that you hyperventilate over a nit and ignore the serious criticism much like a parent who grounds the kid for bringing the family sedan home with an empty gas tank while ignoring the drug paraphernalia, used condoms, and empty liquor bottles.
Yes, the left does it to Bush. You are so desperate to discredit the guy, that you can’t let anything go. Yet you will never be able to persuade the loyalist because your position is so weak you dare not concede any point no matter how minor. The result is you appear as a fanatic. You lose.
Keep it simple. Low taxes brings prosperity, enforcing reasonable laws means a peaceful, stable society, honest governance means better government. Obama is none of that.
Make you case on something that matters, not about the style of someones public appearances.
rockhauler on July 18, 2008 at 11:59 AM
Y’mean like Pelosi blaming Bush for high gas prices?
a capella on July 18, 2008 at 11:59 AM
If the Messiah makes this kind of language mistake with a foreign dignitary, the consequences could be much more than insisting the guy get some rest.
We need a clear minded individual running this country. Not a leftest buffoon who doesn’t care enough about communication to get it right the first time.
csdeven on July 18, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Dad?
LimeyGeek on July 18, 2008 at 12:00 PM
All this childish quibbling tit-for-tat nonsense accomplishes nothing either.
LimeyGeek on July 18, 2008 at 12:02 PM
Really? What kind of scenario do you have in mind?
Let’s see…..President Obama talking to China’s leader
“Thank you, sir, for welcoming me to beautiful China. I have not seen such wonders in any of the American 57 states”
“57 STATES?! I THOUGHT THERE WERE ONLY 50! YOU IMPERIALISTIC BASTARDS! LAUNCHING THE FUCKING MISSILES NOW!!!”
LimeyGeek on July 18, 2008 at 12:06 PM
…after being damaged in the Battle of the Coral Sea.
Akzed on July 18, 2008 at 12:08 PM
Question: Can Obama think and give a speech at the same time?
GT on July 18, 2008 at 12:09 PM
LimeyGeek on July 18, 2008 at 11:46 AM
I focused on one gaffe, not on “gaffes”, as you said. However, if it makes you feel better, I’ll be a “twat”, gladly, on this one, because it is so telling about him, and what he isn’t.
Entelechy on July 18, 2008 at 12:14 PM
You will be shocked when Obama refuses to debate McCain further, in any setting, especially one with an open forum.
Entelechy on July 18, 2008 at 12:15 PM
I have a problem with the “lawlessness of the frontier.” The frontier wasn’t lawless anymore than Plymouth Rock was lawless. It was unsettled, and we settled it. Where was the lawlessness? What’s his problem with the West?
I mean this seriously. The people who settled the West, from Texas to Montana to Washington State, sacrificed a great deal with an overwhelming amount of optimism and drive that they could build something good. That’s not lawlessness. That’s freedom.
Punk.
elladeon on July 18, 2008 at 12:17 PM
Sorry. I’ll try to keep it more adult.
a capella on July 18, 2008 at 12:21 PM
What do you expect from this moron..
Viper1 on July 18, 2008 at 12:23 PM
‘Natural Law’ always exists I suppose. What he laments is the absence of ‘gubmint law’, for there can be no order without bureaucrats.
LimeyGeek on July 18, 2008 at 12:23 PM
*shakes head*
LimeyGeek on July 18, 2008 at 12:24 PM
The problem for me is that it wasn’t just bombs that fell on PH. The Japanese dropped torpedoes from the planes and strafed people and equipment on the ground. When they were out of ordnance, they flew their airplanes into the ships. That’s why it’s called the attack on Pearl Harbor, not the bomb(s) that fell on it.
However, gaffes with Obama are like eating French fries. Sometimes, you come upon one that is overcooked or has spots on it. Rather than return it, you throw it away because there are so many other good fries in the box, it’s not worth making a fuss over the one bad one.
Kafir on July 18, 2008 at 12:27 PM
Does ‘healing our souls’ qualify? He dunt even have to speak.
Sir Napsalot on July 18, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Tony737 on July 18, 2008 at 11:47 AM-kudos on the clever.
Some of the rest of you…language, please!
Doug on July 18, 2008 at 12:36 PM
There is so much to debate when eviscerating Obama that this hyperventilation acts to diminish.
Cheap speculation over how much American history he knows, casting aspersions on his intelligence for not knowing how many states there are etc….it’s just pathetic, yet the participants are adamant that their criticism is virtuous. Similar taunts from ‘the opposition’ have been, and would be, derided as immature.
They are all nothing but lazy cheap shots, that diminish credibility in the eyes of the general public.
LimeyGeek on July 18, 2008 at 12:36 PM
rockhauler on July 18, 2008 at 11:59 AM
I would agree with you rockhauler.
America’s confronted constantly evolving danger, from the oppression of an empire, to the lawlessness of the frontier, from the bomb that fell on Pearl Harbor, to the threat of nuclear annihilation.
What I find both interesting and telling is the choice of words and the selection of events. They reveal a cursory understanding of American history. An America that is read about but not internalized.
Personally, that’s not okay with me for someone who wants to be the President of the United States, Commander in Chief of our armed forces, and Leader of the Free World representing the only remaining super power in the world.
As has been pointed out it should be oppression BY an empire. As far as lawlessness of the frontier, to me that doesn’t even fit his scenario. The threat was more from savages; Jesse James and Billy the Kid were dwarfed by Indians on the warpath, taking scalps and burning livestock alive. But that would be a dangerous area for Obama to get into. So why is that in there? Seems to be reminiscent of the need for a ‘civilian national security force’. The nitpick of bomb or bombs on Pearl Harbor is insignificant but I would think that for accuracy and coming from someone who was raised in Hawaii, it would be the attack on Pearl Harbor, bombing seems to be a downgrade of the event to me. And we did not face nuclear annihilation, we faced a nuclear threat of attack. The choice of that word indicates to me that Obama or whoever wrote this speech doesn’t understand the on ready status we had at that time. The Soviets might have succeeded in a first strike but it would not have been our annihilation that followed, it would have been the Soviets annihilation and that’s what ultimately deterred them.
Texas Gal on July 18, 2008 at 12:36 PM
Opps that should have been in quotes.
Texas Gal on July 18, 2008 at 12:37 PM
Obomba
drjohn on July 18, 2008 at 12:39 PM
Forget the gaffes, and read this (tip by HA’s Glynn).
Empty, is just that, empty.
Entelechy on July 18, 2008 at 12:44 PM
I would just point out LimeyGeek that when you watch that clip of Obama you can tell he’s trying to do the math on how many states he hasn’t been to and subtract that from the total states to determine the number he has visited .. so it was 3 from 60 equals 57. That means he was using 60 instead of 50 as the number of States. I have no idea how ANYONE could make such a mistake unless they just really never gave it much thought.
Texas Gal on July 18, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Gaffe…one too many commas…I can’t believe this thread has so many entries…must be a slow Friday.
Can’t wait until the Messiah’s trip commences.
Entelechy on July 18, 2008 at 12:46 PM
None of us have any idea what was going through his head.
LimeyGeek on July 18, 2008 at 12:46 PM
OK I love laughing at this pompous ass as much as anyone, but come on. If he said ‘nuke’ you’d have a point.
He dropped one letter during one of 1000s of speeches.
Chuck Schick on July 18, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Doesn’t Obumbles mean the pearls that fell on Bomb Harbor?
And is he advocating profiling?
And uninspiring dullard, essentially.
profitsbeard on July 18, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Then you should watch that clip. It is very evident he was doing the math in his head. He was actually to the point of writing it out in the air with his finger. And one would think that when he came to a conclusion of 57 that he would realize that couldn’t be right.
What is very interesting to me about that is that I think a lot of American related that there are 50 States because there are 50 stars on the American flag.. the same flag that Obama refused to wear because it represented some false sense of patriotism.
Texas Gal on July 18, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Talk among yourselves, I’m through with this nonsense.
LimeyGeek on July 18, 2008 at 12:59 PM
I believe the ‘57 state’ thing is easy to explain, but no less damning. I believe there were 57 election contests he had to deal with, including territorial contests an the states that had both primary and causcuses.
So, to Barack, it wasn’t a state, it was an election contest. And those election contests were all about him.
Just the fact he would say the singular bomb without understanding the historical significance of the singular (as in ‘the Hiroshima bomb’) and think a speech at the Brandenburg Gate would be nice shows he- like too many others in his age group- has zero grasp of historical significance prior to Vietnam. Which means he has no grasp of what made America great in the first place.
michaelo on July 18, 2008 at 1:08 PM
He might have confused the number of contest with the number of states, but that would mean the number of contest total he was using as the base of his calculations was 60 because he was deducting 3 States from the total .. and in that instance he was saying the one he was in was number 57 because he would not be going to the remaining 2. So he was using 60 as his basis to get 57. As in I’ve been to 57 States. I watched that speech and was stunned when he said 57 because I was following his train of thought.
Seriously, I have no problem with overlooking little gaffes and things like bomb vs bombs .. what’s more important than the words is the idea and understanding that the words come from.
Texas Gal on July 18, 2008 at 1:28 PM
Leave him alone. He marched for Hawaiian GI’s rights in 1941!!!
marklmail on July 18, 2008 at 1:29 PM
We came within a few aircraft carriers of losing the Pacific out of our willful blindness to the nature of the Japanese.
The MSM did not give Dan Quayle, Ronald Reagan nor George H. W. Bush any breaks and they have gone out of their way to pound George W. Bush into the ground for any mistakes he utters; even how he utters them. What is good for the goose is good for the Obamamessiah! Sorry Barry, but one of the downsides to thinking that you are perfect is that you actually have to act perfect.
Now to the above quote. Two waves of aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor. A third wave was planned but called off. This wave was to hit the oil storage and repair facilities and would have been delayed in launching by several hours due to rearming and refueling. The Japanese lost 29 aircraft at Pearl Harbor, most during the second wave. A third wave would have met a fully alerted base with many, many more aircraft up in the air and the distinct possibility that the Japanese carriers would be found by the American carriers which were not at Pearl. Japanese losses would have been much higher, and while they probably would have wrecked the fuel and repair sites, the perceived losses could not, in Nagumo’s eyes, justify launching it. It is interesting to note that while these losses seem small and Japan had at the time some of, if not the, best carrier aviators in the world, they had very few replacements as the qualifications were so stringent. This was what did them in at Midway, the loss of the pilots much more so than the carriers.
Bubba Redneck on July 18, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Pass the Favor-Aid (a more historically accurate reference to Jamestown, kids)!
Ocarter mentioned three other “states” he did not visit, bringing the number of “states” (you say “contests”) to 60, not 57.
Nice parrot impression, but you lose.
ynot4tony2 on July 18, 2008 at 1:44 PM
So, when B. O. eats; is it called, “Gaffer-chow?”
Branch Rickey on July 18, 2008 at 1:44 PM
Bubba,
“This was what did them in at Midway, the loss of the pilots much more so than the carriers.”
I assume you mean “what did them in after Midway”. They had plenty of pilots at Midway.
You are not giving enough weight to the loss of the carriers - the Japanese could not replace the carriers, either.
exhelodrvr on July 18, 2008 at 1:49 PM
Yeah but had Roosevelt not covered up the intelligence the first wave could have faced that! ;-0
highhopes on July 18, 2008 at 2:00 PM
So when did John “Bluto” Blutarsky become one of Obama’s handlers…er…advisors?
“Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!”
“Germans?”
“Forget it, he’s rolling.”
Carl on July 18, 2008 at 2:01 PM
The early colonists of Virginia had flavored drink mix? Or did you mean Jonestown?
highhopes on July 18, 2008 at 2:01 PM
Was that before or after the march in Selma?
Nichevo on July 18, 2008 at 2:06 PM
It was certainly after he forged man in his own image.
LimeyGeek on July 18, 2008 at 2:14 PM
“Judgment to Lead”
Lead whom?!?
Daily Show time!!!!!!!!
(One can only hope…)
HotAirJosef on July 18, 2008 at 2:20 PM
Barry Obama: The First Affirmative Action Candidate.
We call him Mr. Gentleman’s C.
benrand on July 18, 2008 at 2:25 PM
A Patriot is someone who loves his country and is willing to defend it at all costs. Can we question their Patriotism now?
If we go off track in our Federal Government much further…to the left…then it’s going to be very hard for the Original Patriots (those that actually follow the constitution) to remain patriotic.
kirkill on July 18, 2008 at 2:30 PM
It sounds good, but no.
The Japanese never had a chance. Losing all of the Pacific carriers would have delayed things but not changed the outcome.
If the US had been a little more cowboy, instead of coddling, the Japanese would have never attacked.
When Yamamoto made prophetic after the battle, he wasn’t just lamenting not getting the carriers.
cozmo on July 18, 2008 at 2:32 PM
Meh… this isn’t something to focus on. Nobody is going to believe that Obama thinks a single bomb fell on Pearl Harbor. This sort of gotcha-you-said-something-wrong-while-thinking-about-something-you-are-going-to-say-next thing annoys the living crap out me when we do it as much as it does when the other side does… his polcies are fair game, but come on…
DaveS on July 18, 2008 at 2:33 PM
prophetic statement
dangit
cozmo on July 18, 2008 at 2:34 PM
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor!?!
Y’know, Bluto ended up a Senator too, according to the closing credits.
Fits right in with the matching “Nothing’s over until we say it is!” mindset of the American left vis-a-vis electoral defeat these days…
SuperCool on July 18, 2008 at 2:39 PM
I’m not going to put up with this right-wing propaganda anymore. Only ONE bomb fell on Pearl Harbor. The cover up into this has finally been blown. It was only one bomb, and the whole thing was blown out of proportion by President Roosevelt to lie us into a war. Obama is showing great courage to finally speak the truth on this issue. As I write this, I’m crying because the truth has come out. Oh no, I spilled my meds. I take them because the doctor (who is part of the plot to keep THE BOMB quiet) has said I’m delusional. Just because I walk around, picking my nose, wearing a tin foil hat doesn’t mean I’m delusional.
RWLA on July 18, 2008 at 2:42 PM
Granted, he states his policy in the 13+ minutes after the gaffe. It jumps between Chamberlain and a mean Bush/Cheney. Placate Iran, invade Pakistan. He talks about even more sanctions against Iran if they don’t behave. The US, and Europe want that already. Is Obama going to force China and Russia to stop supporting Iran.
He talks about direct one-on-one talks with North Korea, just like the one’s that didn’t work. He is doing the same thing he attacks Bush for, just with different countries
If he thinks so little about the attack on Pearl Harbor (having done some growing up there) that he doesn’t instantly see the gaffe and fixes it, what does he know about all the other policies throughout history that didn’t work?
“Remember Pearl harbor” wasn’t just a catch phrase for the time.
cozmo on July 18, 2008 at 2:51 PM
Geez. What an empty suit. He had me fooled for a while - I thought he was an honest man, and was looking forward to a clean campaign. Now, I just don’t know.
All this guy has ever done is work on promotions. Zero accomplishments. And no one has figured it out yet. Damien-freakin-Thorn.
connertown on July 18, 2008 at 2:52 PM
He may have been born here, but he’s no kama’aina.
He has no grasp of history, and history is a good indicator as to what your future will be if history is not learned.
Kini on July 18, 2008 at 3:11 PM
Organized Kamikaze tactics didn’t emerge until much later in the war. The closest one can find with regards to Pearl Harbor was an apparent deliberate crash of an already-badly damaged plane at Kaneohe. Its pilot had allegedly professed that if he ever found himself in a situation where he believed he was going to die, he would attempt to crash his plane into something valuable. While sentiments like that no doubt inspired future Kamikazes, this was still an isolated incident (as would remain most such collisions until 1944).
The vast majority of the Oahu raiders returned to their carriers, save for the few shot down by AAA. As most of them were already veterans of other IJN carrier operations in the western Pacific, their skill was far more valuable to the Japanese than any damage they might have inflicted via sacrificing themselves (indeed, it was the loss of these veterans at the battles of Coral Sea and Midway, arguably moreso than the loss of the carriers themselves, that truly obliterated any Japanese hope for victory).
Blacklake on July 18, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Obama nukes Hawaii!
Chakra Hammer on July 18, 2008 at 3:17 PM
Sick munts ugo i cudent spell canodate now i are one. Only in America .(God Help us all)!!
thmcbb on July 18, 2008 at 3:21 PM
Actually, in a way it did do them in at Midway. Zuikaku, the fifth serviceable IJN carrier at the time, had made it through Coral Sea unscathed, but had lost so many of its pilots in the process that it nevertheless had to return to Japan, where it was working up airwing replacements when Midway took place (its sister ship, Shokaku, also had to return to port as it had received bomb damage).
Had a fifth carrier been present at Midway, particularly Zuikaku (a purpose-built carrier actually designed to take damage and survive, quite unlike Kaga, Akagi, Hiryu and Soryu), the outcome at Midway would almost certainly have been quite different. Had US forces still found the Japanese first, they still might have prevailed, albeit at almost certainly a much higher cost. But even with surprise on the USN’s side success would have been far less likely, and with Zuikaku’s planes added to scouting duties, odds would have been greatly improved that the Japanese would not have been taken by surprise in the first place–the result of which would have been, most likely, three American carriers on the bottom of the Pacific.
Blacklake on July 18, 2008 at 3:28 PM
Ford lost the presidency over one misspeak. Obama has made multiple and much worse and he gets a pass. A person with this poor command of basic facts and recent history should not even be considered for president.
duff65 on July 18, 2008 at 3:31 PM
Another note on this–you might recall that, by the time of Leyte Gulf, the IJN’s issue was clearly not a lack of carriers (which were certainly present), but of competent pilots and planes with which to fill their decks. Without aviators to make use of them, the Japanese flat-tops were relegated to duty as decoys. In the event they were largely effective in that role, but that certainly is not how they would have been employed several years earlier.
Blacklake on July 18, 2008 at 3:36 PM
Wow! Awesome comments, thank you.
saus on July 18, 2008 at 3:39 PM
This post is a huge over reaction to a missing “s”.
Let’s not become them.
Wise Golden on July 18, 2008 at 3:54 PM
You might be right, but I don’t think so. I don’t recall anyone (who knows anything about Pearl Harbor) ever referring to the attack as a “bombing”. So, what then might Obambi the nitwit being referring to?
Easy: Pearl Harbor>Japanese>Japan>Hiroshima>TheBomb = “the bomb that fell on Pearl Harbor”
Stretch? Sure. The liberal mind? Perfectly plausible. Obama is not only stupid and uninformed, but a flaming leftist. He is the one he has been waiting for.
Jaibones on July 18, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Interesting Ed. Based on watching his stumble on the word bomb, I think he realized at that moment that the word bomb was not accurate and at that point he couldn’t find the right word to correct it. Because he could have gone off message and followed with “in an attack”.
I lean even more now to my suspicion that Obama was reading from a speech that someone else wrote based on their knowledge of history. If I was writing this speech I would have written “from the bombing of Pearl Harbor” for more than one bomb. But it didn’t say that so evidently whoever wrote that speech must believe what happened at Pearl Harbor was a bomb.
But still the statement of the lawlessness of the frontier doesn’t fit.
Texas Gal on July 18, 2008 at 4:41 PM
A legend in his own mind….. God help us all.
ultracon on July 18, 2008 at 4:41 PM
Blacklake,
By the time of Leyte Gulf, yes. The shortage of pilots had overtaken the relative shortage of carriers. By the Battle of Midway, no, that was not a huge factor yet.
exhelodrvr on July 18, 2008 at 4:43 PM
Were this an isolated incident, this would be an overreaction. It is not an isolated incident.
baldilocks on July 18, 2008 at 5:05 PM
If he forget the s..
Tony737 on July 18,2008 at 11:47AM.
Tony737:(Tony my twin),I do love your verbal painting
of the (”S’s”),magnifico!haha.———–:)
canopfor on July 18, 2008 at 5:25 PM
Wake up and get past your two dimensional concept of the art of language. Words mean things…….the point is that he doesn’t care enough about communicating to get it right initially. He is more concerned with promoting his leftist agenda than he is with accuracy in conversation.
A foreign policy blunder just waiting to happen when he insults the Shiite by mistaken them for Sunnis or some other display of ignorance.
csdeven on July 18, 2008 at 5:30 PM
gaffe a day the Obama way.
Chakra Hammer on July 18, 2008 at 5:32 PM
A foreign policy blunder just waiting to happen when he insults the Shiite by mistaken them for Sunnis or some other display of ignorance.
I trust you’re trying to be ironic here…
Tom_Shipley on July 18, 2008 at 5:44 PM
Easy: Pearl Harbor>Japanese>Japan>Hiroshima>TheBomb = “the bomb that fell on Pearl Harbor”
Yeah, you’re right Jaibones. Obama thinks Japan dropped an atomic bomb on Pearl Harbor.
You have a truly dizzying intellect.
Tom_Shipley on July 18, 2008 at 5:47 PM
People can say he just left one letter off and made it bomb instead of bombs, but when Bush said internets instead of internet the left brayed like donkeys.
Terrye on July 18, 2008 at 6:01 PM
Tom:
So why didn’t he just say when the Japanese attacked or bombed Pearl Harbor. That is how it is usually said, that is how people have been saying it for more than 60 years. Only Obama seems to have a problem with the concept.
Terrye on July 18, 2008 at 6:03 PM
Fleet-wide, no. And many of the pilots of the four IJN carrier present at Midway certainly were grizzled veterans. But it is interesting that the attrition problem that would eventually cripple the entire fleet had already crippled Zuikaku (if temporarily). If the fate of her air wing wasn’t the beginning of the trend, it was certainly an ominous foreshadowing of what was to come.
Blacklake on July 18, 2008 at 6:16 PM
As long as he doesn’t leave an “i” and “e” out when addressing the Shiites….
cs89 on July 18, 2008 at 6:18 PM
Blacklake,
“If the fate of her air wing wasn’t the beginning of the trend, it was certainly an ominous foreshadowing of what was to come”
Yes - the practice of keeping all the best out on the carriers, instead of bringing a good portion of them back to train new pilots, proved to be deadly.
exhelodrvr on July 18, 2008 at 6:35 PM
Amazing how this tiny difference had such a large impact.
misterpeasea on July 18, 2008 at 10:46 PM
This is nonsense on stilts. Notice that neither a person or people, nor any idea or philosophy was responsible for any of these dangers. The bomb (sic) wasn’t dropped on Pearl Harbor by anyone. It just fell! No one actually threatened us with annihilation. It just happened! It was some sort of force majeure and no one was responsible. It wasn’t fascism, or Imperial Japan or communism. There were no good guys and no bad guys. Just an “ever-changing world”!
This reads like the juvenilia of some precocious nine year-old twit.
Complete crap and an insult to my intelligence.
jl on July 18, 2008 at 11:10 PM
Barack, clean up Chicago, then get back to me. ‘kay?
bloggless on July 18, 2008 at 11:56 PM
Cozmo,
There is a slight error here, which I think may be my fault. The first sentence above is not from me but from I R A Darth Aggie on July 18, 2008 at 10:24 AM. It is part of his comment which I cut and pasted so I could put into quotes so I could respond to it and I must of not put the quotes around that part.
I think FDR’s policy of cutting off oil to the Japanese was the final straw that lead them, that is Hirohito, to approve the attack. Tensions between us and the Japanese had been high for a decade, ever since the Japanese invaded China. There mistake was in underestimating our response.
Bubba Redneck on July 19, 2008 at 12:32 AM
Was that Obama who did that?
hahaha……
csdeven on July 19, 2008 at 12:35 AM
Blacklake:
I agree that a fifth carrier at Midway would have greatly helped the Japanese but I think that in the end there would have been five Japanese carriers at the bottom of the ocean and not four. Hiryu survived the first wave and struck back hitting Yorktown but she went down soon afterward. The fifth would gone down with Hiryu or with the three earlier had her planes not found our carriers first.
Bubba Redneck on July 19, 2008 at 12:45 AM
Maybe that is what Obama was taught in school overseas. In some nations, a bomb is typically worn under the jacket with a pull cord attached. It is usually a one-man operation.
The cheap shooters got the number of states correct. That makes them sharp shooters
entagor on July 19, 2008 at 2:17 AM
Yeah, the 2,137th gaffe is just another isolated incident.
Obama makes GWB look like Bill Buckley.
Merovign on July 19, 2008 at 3:14 AM
1) Obama is revealing that he is a very bad actor.
2) Obama is hammering nails into the coffin of his supposed high intelligence and excellent education.
I still think if the Republicans cannot get their acts together Obama will be elected and within three years the US will face some level of a nuclear based terrorist attack within its borders.
Please guys, shape up and demonstrate a need and will to win.
{o.o}
herself on July 19, 2008 at 4:09 AM
I guess we’ll be eating waffles for Thanksgiving after he revises the Pilgrim story. At least PETA will claim victory on an important point.
Annar on July 19, 2008 at 7:05 AM
I was waiting for someone to mention that… I no longer flat-out believe Snopes.com. Snopes ruled that Obama did NOT say “57 states.” Yeah, right. Snopes in the tank for BHO.
MsUnderestimated on July 19, 2008 at 8:00 AM
Change he can hope for: changing history.
“We” are the One we’ve been waiting for.
What does history say happens when megalomania meets power?
shaken on July 19, 2008 at 8:37 AM
ED:::::::
He also says that “in the closing decades of the 20th century we tragically lost American lives on our soil and abroad…”
THIS IS ALSO WRONG ON THE FACTS.
reliapundit on July 19, 2008 at 8:39 AM
I’d just like to ask Obama, “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?”
Rip Ford on July 19, 2008 at 10:54 AM
Thanks for posting that with the video clip, you can tell he’s doing the math in his head to come up with 57 states .. not campaign stops which surely is more than 60. He started with 60 and deducted 3, one to go and 2 not going to visit = 57.
How any American could start with 60 states no matter how tired they are, is unbelievable!
Texas Gal on July 19, 2008 at 1:50 PM
Gaffes? Try complete idiot. Remember the surge won’t work? Well, try this one on for size:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=65b_1216315012
This is seven months old. In Fallujah. Iraq - the land where the surge failed and the war was lost and where our soldiers are stuck. This guy is an utter moron racist. Period.
platypus on July 19, 2008 at 10:43 PM
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