Does Barry Hussein have a new problem to deal with?Follow

It seems Mr Obama is making up stories about his relatives to bolster his image among the military and those who support them. He has said his great uncle on his mother's side was there when the Americans freed Auschwitz, but the problem is no American was within 1,000 miles of the place when the Red Army came upon it. Granted, Auschwitz may have become the Coke of concentration camps, wherein anybody who refers to such a place Auschwitz is the defacto name, much like Southerners who ask for an "orange Coke" when offered a soft drink, yet the problem goes deeper.

Ooops. In a quick attempt at spin, the Obama campaign attempted to keep reporters from talking to the great uncle by saying he didn't want to be bothered by the press. However, things quickly went sour when his uncle's name was discovered. Apparently his great uncle, Charlie Payne, wasn't even in Patton's Army.

Ahhh, pandering politicians and their ingratiating manners. So much for winning over the military's hearts and minds.

Totem

Buchenwald, Auschwitz, it's not that different.

It's a factual mistake, admittedly, but the underlying story was right.

So was Buchenwald.



Make that two. Three sugars, no cream.

I like my sugar with a bit of coffee

Ah, you might be right. I didn't think there was much difference between a death camp and a concentration camp, but I'm feeling lazy too.

I'm still waiting for mine

You're right, they're slightly different.

But in the context of what he said, it doesn't really make any difference. I can't see how liberating a death camp is that much more glorifying than liberating a concentration camp. I guess someone in his team should check the facts before he says things like that, but I think it's a whole lot of nit-picking really.

Had the great uncle spent WWII on the beach in California, then I agree it would be well-dodgy. But this as it stands, this story is a mild wind in a tea cup.

Darn those industrious Germans.

Obama is an enemy of Freedom!

Clearly.

That's my take on it. It's the same reason why I gave HRC a pass on the "I was named after Sir Edmund Hillary" remark. She probably was told that and just never fact checked her mother.

It's when a candidate repeats and defends their remarks even after being told they're wrong, such as Clinton & Bosnian snipers or McCain asserting that Iran is training Al'Qaeda, that I take it as a mark against them.

Search of what? Search by you personally or someone else searching?

There is a major difference, particularly in who was sent there. Also, I think almost without exception, all the death camps were in Poland and was where the Jews and Roma were sent, especially after around 1942 or '43. Socialists and the political types got sent to concentration camps. I mean, they all sucked and were full of death but still, there was a difference. Concentration camps were about forced labor until they killed them but death camps were specifically built for killing as the only aim.

Or what Joph said. Damnit, I need to read a whole thread before responding. By the way, given that the areas that the US and UK liberated were from east to west as opposed to the Soviets, the Us and UK forces would have not liberated any death camps.

Edited, May 29th 2008 10:03am by Annabella

Yeah, sorry. WWII is a particular academic interest for me, even though I'm pretty rusty. Part of it is because I grew up hearing my Grandfather's WWII stories and his interest in it, so I will tend to engage in these types of discussions, even when I'm redundant. It's not really you, it's me.

I feel used.

Used and abused