Number 41 through 50...

"Umm, guys? I'm sorry I caved on the debt ceiling negotiations, but can I come back in now? Harry? It's really hot out here..."

41.    “I’m here with the Girardo family here in St. Louis.” – speaking via satellite to the Democratic National Convention, while in Kansas City, Missouri, Aug. 25, 2008

42.    “The time has changed for come” – Obama in 2008, mangling something that even the most dim-witted among us would ignore on our Teleprompter.

43.    In a 2008 interview with MATT Lauer of the Today show, then-candidate Obama repeatedly refers to Lauer as “Tim.” Supposedly mistaking him for Tim Russert, but again, imagine if it were Bush, Palin, Bachmann…

44.    “Thank you, Sioux City!!” – Obama at a campaign stop in Sioux FALLS, South Dakota in 2008. Sioux City is in Iowa...

45.    On St. Patrick’s Day of 2009, Obama and Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen were both involved with a Teleprompter mix-up that had Cowen delivering the speech that Obama had just given, and when Obama began speaking again, he thanked HIMSELF for inviting everyone to the White House.

46.    "We find unity in our incredible diversity, drawing on the promise enshrined in our Constitution: the notion that we are all created equal…." – Obama in his State of the Union address in 2010. What’s wrong with this picture? Well, for starters, the Constitution doesn’t say ANYTHING about us all being created equal. That is part of the Declaration of Independence. Seriously, elementary school kids know this!!

47.    On a Thursday in early November 2009, Obama wanted to give a "shout-out" to "Dr. Joe Medicine Crow -- that Congressional Medal of Honor winner." For starters, the Dr. won the Congressional Medal of Freedom (which Obama presented to him). But more importantly, this light and airy tone in front of a Tribal Nations conference was taking place several hours after the Fort Hood shooting had taken place. Americans were glued to their TVs for hours, then the major networks cut to the President making light banter for a few minutes before finally talking about the tragedy.

48.    “You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer’s dime.” – Obama in 2009, talking about how Americans should spend their money (a familiar theme, no?). This went over REALLY well with Senate Majority leader (from Nevada of course) Harry Reid, as well as the governor of Nevada and the mayor of Vegas.

49.    “You see this every day in Washington. Every day! Folks calling each other names, making all sorts of accusations on television… Everybody’s always pointing the finger at somebody else.” – Obama in front of a graduating class of high school students in Kalamazoo, MI in 2010. Yes, that was OUR president, the one who has been blaming George Bush for everything that’s wrong with the country for years now, warning kids not to get caught up in that kind of stuff. Well, we know there was at least one kid who wasn’t listening.

50.     “I am not doing a press conference today” – Obama on May 17, 2010. This immediately after signing the “Freedom of Press Act”. Ummm, ok?

Well, that's it for our list folks. If there are any that I've missed, send a note or comment. Hope you all had fun, because I did!!

Number 31 through 40...

"Raining my sweet liberal justice down on your jheri-curled head in 3... 2... 1..."

31.   "Sen. Clinton, I think, is much better known, coming from a nearby state of Arkansas. So it's not surprising that she would have an advantage in some of those states in the middle." – Obama in May of 2008, talking about how Hillary Clinton had such a big lead over him in the state of Kentucky. And while it is true that Arkansas and Kentucky are nearby, Kentucky and Illinois SHARE A BORDER!!!

32.   “Iran, Cuba, Venezuela. These countries are tiny … They don’t pose a serious threat to us in the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us” – Obama talking about how countries like Iran are not a serious national security threat. Less than 24 hours later, Obama then said “I’ve made it clear for years that the threat from Iran is grave.” And ROMNEY is a flip-flopper?!?!?!

33.   “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.” – Obama at a campaign stop in Indiana in 2008. Umm, didn’t WE drop the bomb on Japan AFTER Pearl Harbor? You would think that someone from HAWAII would have a little better grasp of the history of Pearl Harbor!!

34.   "We only have a certain number of them and if they are all in Iraq, then it’s harder for us to use them in Afghanistan," – Obama in 2008 talking about the lack of translators making life difficult in the wars overseas. The big problem with this? A translator in Iraq needs to speak Arabic or Kurdish. But an Afghan translator will be conversant in one or more of 12 different languages (none of which are Arabic or Kurdish in case you were wondering). He then corrects himself, but in the very next sentence he steps in it again. Ahhh, politics!!

35.   “I had an uncle who was one of the, who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps, and the story in our family was is that when he came home, he just went up into the attic and he didn't leave the house for six months” – Obama in May of 2008. First of all, the US didn’t liberate Auschwitz. That was done by the Soviets. The US liberated Buchenwald, and it wasn’t Obama’s uncle, it was his GREAT-UNCLE that was involved. Details, details. Another two-fer, in case you were scoring at home…

36.   “Abraham Lincoln helped to build the Intercontinental railroad in the middle of the civil war” – Obama in February of 2011. By FAR my favorite one of all 50!! Where to begin with this one? First of all, I was always taught in school that it is called the TRANS-continental railroad, not INTER-continental railroad. If an INTERSTATE highway run through different states; I would imagine that an inter-continental railroad must run through different continents and yet… nevermind. This error is particularly troubling for a number of reasons. Number 1, I bet you never heard this one. Number two, you WOULD HAVE if Palin or Bachmann had said it, but number 3, it seems that he’s been referring to it as the INTER-continental railroad as far back as 2009!! And number 4, it seems that it’s not just Obama; David Axelrod and Chris Matthews both have now taken to referring to the railroad as INTER-continental. Are they doing it on purpose? You decide. So while you might think that this is a ticky-tack foul to call on the president, I’m thinking that this is a little more than that. They truly DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS CALLED!!! This becomes a two-fer, primarily because the railroad wasn't finished until 4 years AFTER Lincoln's death in 1865, so at best he gets an assist...

37.   On May 24, 2011, Obama signs the Buckingham palace guest book with the date “May 24^th, 2008”. Senior moment, perhaps? After all, he’s turning 50!!

38.   “We are resolved to halt the rise of privacy in that region” – Obama talking about the Maersk Alabama and Captain Phillips back in 2009. Ok, so he meant to say PIRACY. But the left would be turning cartwheels if Palin or Bachmann had said this, you betcha!!

39.   In what is likely his very first protocol breach as commander-in-chief, Obama stopped to shake the hand of a soldier as he boarded Marine One. It’s a nice gesture, but it was yet another sign that we are talking about a guy who has no idea what to do in certain situations. Sadly, those signs would continue to appear throughout the rest of his presidency to date.

40.   "Just words. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal -- just words. Just words. We have nothing to fear but fear itself.  Just words.  Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Just words. 'I have a dream' -- just words” – Obama in February of 2008. Or, more accurately, Deval Patrick in October of 2006!! Obama lifted this part of his speech WORD FOR WORD from Patrick’s. Deval Patrick would later say that he asked Obama to use the segment, but I suspect that this is more tomfoolery to make their guy look like less of a hack.

Alright, so this is easily my favorite list of entries. Not only am I pretty sure that you haven't heard of a lot of these, the fact that they are SO bad that they really can't be believed. So what is it about this guy that has the media all in a tizzy? Remember Dan Quayle spelling "potato" with an "e"? You want to talk about WEAK!! But that one act cemented his reputation as being an idiot, and rather unfairly at that!! Meanwhile, America's favorite history student makes gaffe after gaffe, ON CAMERA, and gets a pass. I just don't understand it. I really believe that it is the goal of the media to marginalize the Republican at all costs, while protecting the interest of the Democrat, also at all costs. Remember, Dan Rather tarnished his reputation as a newsman in his zeal to pin one on George W. Bush. He had before that always been considered a partisan hack and mouthpiece for the Democratic party, and now that's how he'll be remembered.

Sometimes it gets tiresome, beating the "media bias" drum all the time. But I really believe that if mainstream America was made aware of the nonsense that is out there, and the outright MANIPULATION that goes on, they would really be in for an education. Anyway, one day left in our whirlwind tour inside the gaffes of the leader of the free (for now) world...

Number 21 through 30...

Look, I could put in a caption for this, but anything that you come up with is probably funnier. Go for it!!

21.        “Welcome, uh, to Cinco de quatro…” – Obama welcoming everyone to “Five of Four”. For the confused, this was said on May 4^th.

22.        “I’m comin’, Weezy” – Obama trying to channel Fred Sanford in 2008, mixing him up with George Jefferson. You’d think this would damage his street cred. You’d be wrong.

23.        “There’s something about August going into September, where everyone in Washington gets all wee-wee’d up. I don't know what it is." – Yeah, neither do we!! Obama on August 20, 2009 trying to convey… I don’t know, something.

24.        “One such translator was an American of Haitian descent, representative of the extraordinary work that our men and women in uniform do all around the world: Navy Corpse-Man Christian Brossard.'' Obama in February 2010. You don’t pronounce the “ps” in Corpsman. It’s pronounced “core-man”. Ok, so this is funnier to hear than to read, but still…

25.        "The Cambridge police acted stupidly." – Obama commenting on a white police officer's arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home in Cambridge, Mass., at a news conference, July 22, 2009. This after admitting that he didn’t have all the facts in the case. As shown in the previous post, having no in-depth knowledge of a topic does not seem to stop the “O”.

26.        “First time I saw 10th Mountain Division, you guys were in southern Iraq. When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasn’t receiving it posthumously.” – June 2011. Unfortunately for Obama, Monti was killed in action in 2006 and DID receive the Medal of Honor posthumously. Obama gave a very emotional and seemingly heartfelt speech about Monti in 2009 when awarding him the medal. Amazing how he had no recollection just 2 short years later.

27.        In 2009, shortly after taking office, Obama was presented with a very thoughtful gift from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown; an elaborate pen carved from the HMS Gannett, among other items. The President gave the UK prime minister, the leader of the most important American ally for decades, 25 DVDs that do not even work in the UK because of formatting differences. Well thought out, smart people!!

28.        Shortly after his DVD fiasco, Obama visits Buckingham palace and presents the Queen with… an iPod. Loaded with show tunes and video of her 2007 visit to America. The Queen, of course, already owns an iPod.

29         On April 22^nd, 2009, Obama visited Iowa in an out-and-back journey to plant a tree and give a speech about a “new era of energy exploration in America” and to talk about global warming. This trip included two trips on Air Force one, and four on Marine One, consuming over 9,000 gallons of fuel in all. Why is this important? April 22 is EARTH DAY.

30.        “Well, look, Texas has always been a pretty Republican state, you know, for historic reasons” – Obama in an interview in April of 2011. Problem is, Obama has shown to be a rather poor student of history, or he would know that Texas had voted solidly Democratic until about 1980. He later compounded his ignorance by recalling that he had lost Texas “by a few percentage points” in 2008. Yeah, like ELEVEN!!

OK, just more of the same. Obama chooses talking points over FACTS. And who can blame the guy, really. Look at where some of these links come from. You don't see much news coverage for any of this, and if there weren't video evidence, you might be hard pressed to believe that what you are reading is actually true. The Texas one is a real bear. Not only is he wrong, but he's WAY wrong!! As recently as 1965, the Texas state House had 149 Democrats and 1 Republican. Now Obama would like us all to believe that the history of this country began the day he was elected, but I think reasonable people know better. And admit it, you only heard about half of these at BEST!! Two days left to go, and some of my favorite ones are still on the way. Talk to you tomorrow!!

Number 11 through 20...

"Chinese delegates trying to shake down Obama for the billions that they are owed. They later fired their translator."

11. "In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died -- an entire town destroyed." - Obama from 2007 on a Kansas tornado that killed 12 people.

12. “There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama, because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born.” - Obama from Selma, Alabama in 2007, implying that his parents united as a direct result of the civil rights movement. Obama was born in 1961, the Selma march took place in 1965.

13. The fact that we're here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. Leadership means 'The buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt limit. – Senator Obama in 2006, opposing the debt ceiling increase proposed by George W. Bush. Interestingly enough, Obama didn't bother voting two subsequent times the debt ceiling was raise under Bush (which itself is a disgrace). Only NOW does he realize that his vote in 2006 was a mistake. Well now, how CONVENIENT for you, Mr. President!!

14. "How's it going, Sunshine? (long pause while the crowd screams themself hoarse) Thank you. It's good to be in Sunshine." - Obama campaigning in SUNRISE, Florida in 2008.

15. “Now, what we're doing, I want to be clear, we're not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money.” - Obama speaking about Wall Street reform, Quincy, Ill., April 29, 2010.

16. "The notion that we would sustain that kind of effort and neglect not only making us more secure here at home, more competitive here at home, allow our economy to sink." - Obama at the Democratic debate at University of Texas in Austin on February 21, 2008, addressing McCain's willingness to stay in Iraq for 100 years. Does anyone know what the hell point he is trying to make here? Is this even English?

17. Everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma, they end up taking up a hospital bed, it costs, when, if you, they just gave, you gave them treatment early and they got some treatment, and a, a breathalyzer, or inhalator, not a breathalyzer. (crowd laughing) I haven't had much sleep in the last 48 hours. – Obama's Town Hall in Bristol, VA from 2008.

18. “And I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it.” - Obama addressing Congress in 2009. History was obviously not his major at Harvard or he’d have known that Karl Benz (a German) is credited with this achievement in the 1880’s. Maybe THIS is what Michele Obama meant by saying we need to "change our history".

19. “Penn State, right here. Nittaly Lions” – Obama campaigning in PA (obviously) in 2008.

20. “On the other hand, what you’re now seeing is profit and earning ratios are starting to get to the point where buying stocks is a potentially good deal if you’ve got a long-term perspective on it.” – Obama on March 3, 2009. It used to mean “price-to-earnings” ratio, but not anymore apparently...

      OK, so what are we learning? We are starting to see that Obama is beginning to show some ignorance of history. Don’t worry, there are plenty more examples of this. Additionally, his lack of expertise on a topic does not seem to prevent him from weighing in anyway. So were his incorrect comments about buying stocks supposed to instill CONFIDENCE in the Wall Street community? Also, we are seeing an interesting LACK of call-outs from the media from all of his mistakes. Doing a simple internet search for these boo-boos turns up very few true mainstream news outlets. Lots of blogs and right-leaning sites, but general news coverage is scant. Now, to entertain yourself, just do a search on Sarah Palin and Paul Revere, and Michelle Bachmann and John Wayne, and you will see the usual suspects: CBS News, ABC News, LA Times, Washington Post, and others. These do not readily report on Obama’s frequent missteps, but then we knew that already didn't we? If you're following along at home you are also probably beginning to realize that the whole point of this blog is that it's not really about Obama. So we’re through 20 so far, and we really haven’t touched any of the fun ones yet. More tomorrow!!

Number 1 through 10...

  

"Watch me pull a rabbit out of my... oh, hello America!!"

1. "The Middle East is obviously an issue that has plagued the region for centuries." - Tampa, Fla., Jan. 28, 2010 You can say that again!!
2. "UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right? It's the Post Office that's always having problems." –Attempting to make the case for government-run healthcare. And failing. Portsmouth, N.H., Aug. 11, 2009
3. "The reforms we seek would bring greater competition, choice, savings and inefficiencies to our health care system." - Obama after a health care roundtable with physicians, nurses and health care providers. Washington, D.C., July 20, 2009
4. "It was also interesting to see that political interaction in Europe is not that different from the United States Senate. There's a lot of - I don't know what the term is in Austrian, wheeling and dealing." - Obama searching for a word in a language that does not exist. Strasbourg, France, April 6, 2009
5. "No, no. I have been practicing... I bowled a 129. It's like - it was like Special Olympics, or something." - Obama being a tad insensitive during an appearance on the Tonight Show. March 19, 2009. Yes, the laughter dies down almost immediately.
6. "What I was suggesting - you're absolutely right that John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith..." - in an interview with George Stephanopoulos, who jumped in to correct Obama. You know, you have to save the guy a LITTLE embarrassment, right?
7. "Let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel's. It will be a strong friend of Israel's under a McCain... administration. It will be a strong friend of Israel's under an Obama administration. So that policy is not going to change." - Obama in Amman, Jordan, July 22, 2008. No doubt making them all VERRRY nervous. This is our first two-fer, but not our last...
8. "Just this past week, we passed out of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee - which is my committee - a bill to call for divestment from Iran as way of ratcheting up the pressure to ensure that they don't obtain a nuclear weapon." - Obama referring to a committee that HE WAS NEVER ON!! Sderot, Israel, July 23, 2008
9. "On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes - and I see many of them in the audience here today - our sense of patriotism is particularly strong." - Obama campaigning in Las Cruces, NM May 26, 2008. Maybe he was just trying to channel this kid...
10. "I've now been in 57 states - I think one left to go." - at a campaign stop in Beaverton, Oregon in 2008. Ok, so he meant to say "stops" maybe, but still. If Palin or Bachmann had said this, their careers would be over!!

That's all for today. What does this list tell us? Not much. These ones were pretty well known. But if anything, this list shows us a leader who is not as versed in public speaking as people like to say he is. What you notice from the videos is how unaware he is that he's even made a mistake. More tomorrow!!

WELCOME!!!

"Maybe if I lift it... no, wait. Where's Nancy Pelosi?"

In honor of President Obama’s 50^th birthday, I thought it would be fun to compile a list of 50 of his most infamous gaffes. Now, most people would think that 50 is an impossibly high number for someone so educated and smooth, but make no mistake that there are in fact many more than 50. Some of the items on the following list are in fact “two-fers”, which is to say that he’s fouling up more than one thing at a time. There were some decisions to be made, also, as I ended up with more than 60 items. So not making the list is Obama referring to his daughter Malia as 13 when she was still only 12. Most people will do that from time to time, so that doesn’t make the cut. There are some others missing that you may be expecting to see (FBI's first 100 days, for example), but we still have a nice, tidy 50-entry long list that will make you laugh or cry (depending on your party affiliation), or both, if you’re like most Americans and just want to have a strong leader.

In perusing this list, keep in mind that Obama has only been on the national scene since 2006. Think about George W. Bush, and the fact that we more or less have 9 years of history to draw from, between running for president in 2000 and leaving office to crawl into a cave in 2009. We have spent much less time with Obama. Yet in that time he has compiled a list that is every bit as ridiculous as Bush's. Obama's mistakes are at some times silly and at other times maddeningly ignorant of the history of this country and, in one example, his own home state. So why are his gaffes mostly papered over while the missteps of others are run up a flagpole for all to see? For the same reason that there is a frenzy over Sarah Palin’s e-mails from her time as governor of Alaska. Oh, if only the Democrats were subjected to such scrutiny, our military might be saluting President Hillary Clinton right now.

But what makes Obama’s gaffes particularly troublesome is the fact that he has swarms of aides, assistants, interns, and other flunkies that could be doing a little fact checking instead of… whatever it is that they do. Indeed, Obama employs over 450 staffers, and those are just the ones on the payroll!! Rather, their boss goes on camera or in front of a microphone and sounds silly time after time. There are some instances where you wonder if the first time Obama sees a speech is when it’s projected in front of him while delivering it. The fact that he surrounds himself with such a cast of incompetents makes me nervous for a re-election in 2012. This bunch is either very clueless, or else is more interested in talking points and less in facts and history. At any rate, we are stuck with him for at least another 18 months. Just think, a large percentage of these entries come from his campaign in 2008, so I have to believe that next year there will be a bumper crop of more gaffes, embarrassing missteps, or other faux pas that will be swept under the rug by the major media.

RULES:

All of these events are 100% fact. Where possible, there will be a link to a news or video clip supporting the truthiness of the entry. Facts are facts people, and the fact that you are just now learning about many of these gaffes yet you know exactly what Michele Bachmann had for breakfast this morning points to the true problem in this country. Like everything else in life, trust no one and do your own homework!!