Obamateurism of the Day
posted at 8:05 am on April 21, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
This one got caught by Fox News on the day Barack Obama committed this Obamateurism, but I don’t recall any other news agency picking up on the fact that either the President didn’t bother to find out when the botched Bay of Pigs invasion occurred — or forgot his own birthday. Neither made Obama look like a genius:
Ortega denounced the U.S.-backed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro’s new Communist government in Cuba in 1961, a history of US racism and what he called suffocating U.S. economic policies in the region.
In his 17-minute address to the summit, Obama departed from his prepared remarks to mildly rebuke Ortega.
“To move forward, we cannot let ourselves be prisoners of past disagreements. I’m grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old. Too often, an opportunity to build a fresh partnership of the Americas has been undermined by stale debates. We’ve all heard these arguments before.”
Actually, the president misspoke on the sequence of events in Cuba. The invasion of CIA-trained rebels at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba occurred in April 1961. Obama was born August 4, 1961.
Even forgiving the stupid (and easily checkable) mistake on the dates, Obama’s insistence on personalizing the criticism seems very strange. He went to the Summit of the Americas to represent the United States of America, not Barack Obama. Who cares when Obama was born? What does that have to do with the price of sugar in the Western Hemisphere, anyway? And why was the only significant rebuttal to Daniel Ortega’s anti-US diatribe from Obama focused on himself personally, and not defending the United States?
And honestly, how hard is it to study a little on the bigger events in Latin American history and get the dates right before opening his mouth and proving himself embarrassingly ignorant?
Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at obamaisms@edmorrissey.com with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.
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Now, now. Settle down. Didn’t Dear Leader tell one snarky reporter (and all of us) at a press conference that he needed two days to get his facts straight before he made a response? So, how can we expect Dear Leader to make fact-filled retorts when he has to do it in the moment? Plus, it’s more important that everyone knows he’s not responsible … for anything. And now for something completely different, I feel sorry for their dog that they monogrammed him (B.O.) instead of giving him a name. I guess that’s what happens when some people who have grown up pet-less confront (then ignore) the fact that the world really doesn’t revolve around them. Wonder what the girls wanted to name him?
Monkeybrains220 on April 21, 2009 at 12:27 PM
If you want to link a Google search as evidence to support your point, you might want to actually read some of the articles it turns up. What I found at your link were mostly articles about how Europeans love Barack Obama but would never vote for him, or they love him but he’s turning out to not be who they thought he was. That, and writings of right-wingers such as Neal Bortz and Laura Ingraham.
You’re gonna have to do better than that.
Dee2008 on April 21, 2009 at 12:34 PM
Who is embarrassed by Obama’s ignorance? Certainly not him. You must have a functioning sense of shame to feel embarrassment. The shame gene is missing in that assclown.
SKYFOX on April 21, 2009 at 12:50 PM
if you divorce the facts from the unhinged right-wing commentary of ingraham et. al., the articles clearly attest to the fact that obama is popular in europe. and that was your question.
sesquipedalian on April 21, 2009 at 12:51 PM
Actually, I fully expect BO to begin speaking in the manner monarchs such as Queen Victoria used to, you know the “We are not amused.”
Or has he done this already? I can see it now: “We are sorry for the arrogance of the United States’ past leaders and believe we are the way forward for the world.”
I love how he’s been out apologizing for the arrogance of America past when, if you really look at the situation, BO is probably the single most arrogant, self absorbed leader in the history of this country. I bet he looks at himself in the mirror every night just to admire his own physique and specialness.
He’s so busy being proud of himself and his “accomplishments” he doesn’t pay attention to even the most overt insults thrown his way. I’m shocked he even bothered to look at the book Chavez gave him. I bet he thought it was another priceless gift laid at the altar of The One. I wonder what they gave Chavez in return … probably shares in a company fixin’ to be showered with bailout/stimulus funds. I guarantee it wasn’t a value pack of crappy movies.
Mad Mad Monica on April 21, 2009 at 12:52 PM
What America? This is Obamaland. The ego of that man is astounding.
Stickeehands on April 21, 2009 at 12:58 PM
What America? This is Obamaland. The ego of that man is astounding.
Stickeehands on April 21, 2009 at 12:58 PM
Yeah, that’s the weird part. Being slightly off on the dates doesn’t seem like such a big thing to me.
Y-not on April 21, 2009 at 12:58 PM
He was five months old in Stanley Ann Dunham’s womb, but since (by his own standards) he wasn’t a person yet, he is blameless.
But The Great O doesn’t have to know history, he IS history! He was conceived by his parents in Selma (when he was four years old), and JFK brought his dreamy father to America so The Great O could be conceived, while Ike was still President.
But don’t confuse O-gasmic O-fans with the facts. The sheeple are too young to remember, and never studied history in hi-skool, and us old f@rts who disagree must be confused with Alzheimer’s disease.
Steve Z on April 21, 2009 at 1:02 PM
Carly Simon described him before she knew him: “You’re So Vain!”
Steve Z on April 21, 2009 at 1:07 PM
There are lots of other prisoners of past disagreements with Fidel Castro. Who will set THEM free?
Steve Z on April 21, 2009 at 1:11 PM
The creepiest part about Obama’s clueless “diplomacy” is the fact that he thinks it’s personal. He really does think that foreign nations will redirect their behavior and national objectives based upon how they feel about Obama.
The astonishing degree of his self-absorption would be an amusing marvel if it weren’t so harmful to the best interests of America.
cruadin on April 21, 2009 at 2:24 PM
It all comes back to Obama’s narcissism. Over and over again, he has shown here in our Country in domestic policy, and now on foreign soil, that he does not give a darn about the United States of America. His whole campaign and now presidency is about him, his ego, and his need to be loved and adored, not only by the citizens whom he is supposed to serve, but by everyone, including the communists, and dictators of the world.
For crying out loud man, who the heck cares? You are the President of the United States of America, and you are acting like a teenager worried about getting blamed for something your little sister did!! This is about your Country, not you, get over it, grow up! May God help us all.
Susanboo on April 21, 2009 at 2:26 PM
Because Obama thinks the US is guilty/responsible? Just not himself, personally.
taznar on April 21, 2009 at 3:54 PM
Actually, someone should ask Zero if declaring himself as having been only three months old, while he was in-utero, is consistent with declaring that all other fetuses’ person-hood status is above his pay-grade.
Maquis on April 21, 2009 at 4:38 PM
Ed, you’re going to hate this but Obama was talking about his other birth date, January 1961 in Africa, not the one six monthe later in Hawaii.
Old Country Boy on April 21, 2009 at 5:40 PM
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