From Michelle Malkin

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Barack Obama: Gaffe machine

By Michelle Malkin • May 21, 2008 07:43 AM

Here’s my syndicated column this week. Hardly a comprehensive list–and sure to grow.

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Barack Obama: Gaffe machine
Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2008

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:

* Last May, he claimed that Kansas tornadoes killed a whopping 10,000 people: “In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died — an entire town destroyed.” The actual death toll: 12.

*Earlier this month in Oregon, he redrew the map of the United States: “Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go.”

*Last week, in front of a roaring Sioux Falls, South Dakota audience, Obama exulted: “Thank you Sioux City…I said it wrong. I’ve been in Iowa for too long. I’m sorry.”

*Explaining last week why he was trailing Hillary Clinton in Kentucky, Obama again botched basic geography: “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.” On what map is Arkansas closer to Kentucky than Illinois?

*Obama has as much trouble with numbers as he has with maps. Last March, on the anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Alabama, he claimed his parents united as a direct result of the civil rights movement:

“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 was born in 1961. The Selma march took place in 1965. His spokesman, Bill Burton, later explained that Obama was “speaking metaphorically about the civil rights movement as a whole.”

*Earlier this month in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Obama showed off his knowledge of the war in Afghanistan by honing in on a lack of translators: “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.” The real reason it’s “harder for us to use them” in Afghanistan: Iraqis speak Arabic or Kurdish. The Afghanis speak Pashto, Farsi, or other non-Arabic languages.

*Over the weekend in Oregon, Obama pleaded ignorance of the decades-old, multi-billion-dollar massive Hanford nuclear waste clean-up:

“Here’s something that you will rarely hear from a politician, and that is that I’m not familiar with the Hanford, uuuuhh, site, so I don’t know exactly what’s going on there. (Applause.) Now, having said that, I promise you I’ll learn about it by the time I leave here on the ride back to the airport.”

I assume on that ride, a staffer reminded him that he’s voted on at least one defense authorization bill that addressed the “costs, schedules, and technical issues” dealing with the nation’s most contaminated nuclear waste site.

*Last March, the Chicago Tribune reported this little-noticed nugget about a fake autobiographical detail in Obama’s “Dreams from My Father:”

“Then, there’s the copy of Life magazine that Obama presents as his racial awakening at age 9. In it, he wrote, was an article and two accompanying photographs of an African-American man physically and mentally scarred by his efforts to lighten his skin. In fact, the Life article and the photographs don’t exist, say the magazine’s own historians.”

* And in perhaps the most seriously troubling set of gaffes of them all, Obama told a Portland crowd over the weekend that Iran doesn’t “pose a serious threat to us”–cluelessly arguing that “tiny countries” with small defense budgets can’t do us harm– and then promptly flip-flopped the next day, claiming, “I’ve made it clear for years that the threat from Iran is grave.”

Barack Obama–promoted by the Left and the media as an all-knowing, articulate, transcendent Messiah–is a walking, talking gaffe machine. How many more passes does he get? How many more can we afford

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I see they've taught you how to fetch.

more thought provoking as you try so hard to divert attention away from anything to do with today's Democrats now that they have managed to damn near destroy this nation in the last 12 months

For example, your good doggie response makes me wonder if you are feeding you family cat and dog food now that Democrats have priced corn off the market ....

Well, elders were buying cat and dog food during the Carter Days even though they owned no animals. What was the Dem Carter inlfation rate? Over 13%? And the gas lines how many miles long.

Geeze, ducadmo see how thought provoking you are?

Was thirty years ago, Skeppy and it happened because we just couldn't imagine why them Iranian people didn't like the shah we picked out for them. To this very day they still seem just a tad ungrateful.

Yeah, food prices seem a little whacked all around the world now. That is a big cause for concern, but I don't really see how you're going pin that tale on the donkey, bud. You go ahead and give that a try if you want. Knock yourself out. I'll give you a hand - this whole ethanol thing doesn't help. But that's not the real problem.

About as current as comparing 2008 Iran to 1938 Germany.

problem is that the DNC and the Democrat Congress is controlled by the radical left and staffed with winners like 90 year old Dem Senator Byrid, the Dem selection for third in line to succeed our current president in the event of a national disaster. Staffed with winners like Nancy Pelos with her San Fran values, That is what you have given us now.

But, dear ducadmo, YOU never tell us just what you think the real problem is and JUST WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT.

Eh

All Hitler had was his Panzer Divisions, his Luftwaffe, his endless divisions that once launched brought about the deaths of over 20 million souls during WWII .

Iran's mad mullahs and hate filled imans can, in less that 24 hours, push Israel into launcing a nuclear attack on downtown Teheran.

Mushroom clouds over Mecca and 2 billion Muslims start more world wide slaughter.

Mali Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

Mali, officially the Republic of Mali (French: République du Mali), is a landlocked nation in Western Africa. It is the seventh largest country in Africa. It borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its straight borders on the north stretch into the centre of the Sahara, while the country's south, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the Niger and Senegal rivers. Formerly French Sudan, the country is named after the Mali Empire. The name of the country comes from the Bambara word for hippopotamus (with the animal appearing on the 5 franc coin), the name of its capital city, Bamako comes from the Bambara word meaning "crocodile's back".

History

The Mandé peoples settled the Sahel (including present-day Mali), and formed a succession of Sahelian kingdoms, including the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire. Timbuktu was a key city in these empires as an outpost for trans-Saharan trade and a center for scholarship. The Songhai Empire declined under a Moroccan invasion in 1591.

Mali was invaded by France starting in 1880, which organized it as an overseas territory. The colony, which at times also included neighbouring countries, was known as French Sudan or the Sudanese Republic. In early 1959, the union of Mali and Senegal became the Mali Federation, which gained independence from France on June 20, 1960. Senegal withdrew from the Mali Federation after a few months. The Republic of Mali, under Modibo Keïta, withdrew from the French Community on September 22, 1960.

Modibo Keita was deposed and imprisoned in a coup in 1968. Mali was then ruled by Moussa Traoré until 1991. Anti-government protests in 1991 led to a coup, a transitional government, and a new constitution. In 1992, Alpha Oumar Konaré won Mali's first democratic, multi-party presidential election. Upon his reelection in 1997, President Konaré pushed through political and economic reforms and fought corruption. In 2002 he was succeeded in democratic elections by Amadou Toumani Touré, a retired General, who had been the leader of the military aspect of 1991 democratic uprising. Today, Mali is one of the most politically and socially stable countries in Africa.

Politics and government Mali is a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Mali is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly of Mali. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislatures.

The current government operates under the 1992 Constitution of Mali, approved by a referendum on 12 January 1992 after being drawn up by a national conference in August 1991. The constitution provides for multi party democracy within a semi-presidential system.

hmmmm

The Kingdom of Mali

The Mali Empire was the 2nd largest empire in Africa at 1.1 million KM, 2nd to Songhay. Take another look at the map above showing Africa's kingdoms and empires. Notice the relationship between Ghana and Mali. What do you see? The Kingdom of Mali includes all of Ghana plus a lot more territory! During its time, Mali was the second largest empire in the world only after the Mongolian empire in Asia. The dates that historians have designated for the Kingdom of Mali are from the 13th to 15th centuries CE.
The Kingdom of Mali came to control the gold trade that the Kingdom of Ghana had controlled before it, but it also expanded its trading in many ways. The Kingdom of Mali controlled the salt trade in the north and many caravan trade routes. Additionally, it traded extensively with Egypt and the copper mine areas to the east.

The founder and first ruler of the Kingdom of Mali was Sundiata Keita. We know about him through the writings of a 14th century North African historian named Ibn Khaldun. Sundiata expanded the kingdom to include the Kingdom of Ghana and West African gold fields.

The most celebrated king of Mali was Mansa Musa. He greatly extended Mali's territory and power during his reign. He made a name for himself in distant regions throughout the Muslim world through his pilgrimage to Mecca, which is in present-day Saudi Arabia. Sixty thousand people and eighty camels carrying 300 lbs. of gold each accompanied him to Mecca.
Several great centers of Islamic learning were also established during the Kingdom of Mali. Among them were the legendary Timbuktu, Djenne, and Gao. Scholars came from all over the Muslim world to study at these places, which have a long and rich history of learning in religion, mathematics, music, law, and literature. Although many people in Mali maintained their indigenous religions during this time, Islam was becoming well established throughout the kingdom.

The fourteenth-century traveler Ibn Battuta visited ancient Mali a few decades after Musa's death and was much impressed by the peace and lawfulness he found strictly enforced there. The Mali empire extended over an area larger than western Europe and consisted of numerous vassal kingdoms and provinces. Following Mansa Musa's death, Mali went into a long decline, shrinking to the size of its original territory by 1645.

The Kingdom of Songhay

The Songhay empire was the largest empire in Africa at a peak of 1.4 million km. Now take a look back again at the map of Africa's empires and kingdoms. Click here to return to the map again. You will see that the Kingdom of Songhay encompassed part of the Kingdom of Mali, as well as land beyond to the east and north. The dates for the Kingdom of Songhay partly overlap those of Mali, although the information that follows will reveal at what point Songhay gained control over certain portions of the old Kingdom of Mali. The dates for the Kingdom of Songhay are between 1350 and 1600 CE.

Who are the Bamana?

The Bamana (the majority of the Bambara are Bamana) are characteristically tall and slim with fine features and a lighter skin than many of the surrounding tribes (Wassing 1968, p. 16) . They are a patrilineal society -- as are the Dogon, Fulani and other Mandingo groups of the region-- in which the bond with father and brothers determines the clan name given to the child, his education, heritage and succession (Wassing p. 59)

am doing my part. The Bank of ductopia has already loaned out about 15K to keep friends and family in their homes. We've even lent out furniture. I hear ya, pal. So I'm doing my part, you know, to keep this country afloat until we get someone in the executive office who has a clue.

The gas thing doesn't bother me because my hybrid has already paid for itself. If you ever got off the continent, you'd realize that everyone else has been paying these kind of prices for a long time now. They got used to it. I'm not saying we should, but I am saying that the price of gas isn't going to come down much. Ever.

To tell you the truth, I haven't really noticed a big increase in food - and I do most of the shopping. I'm a very frugal shopper, Skep.

So you're not going to like my answer, which is that we're going to have to bite the bullet for a while because there are no short term solutions and we should have started on the long term solutions before there was this big of a problem. That's how I do things. I like long term solutions. Drives my boss nuts, but he's taken the risk and he's seeing the dividends.

It's hard to do that in politics, make commitments beyond the scope of your tenure. Well, except for this war thing. Did I mention the war? That is a big sucking money pit. Do you still think it's worth it? A fucking trillion dollars, Skep. Do you know what we could have done with a trillion dollars?

The long term solution is simply this - alternative energy. We're going to start the green revolution with or without you. I know it's going to happen. Sooner would be better than later. Lots of jobs retooling an infrastructure. It will be bigger than the internet and more meaningful, too. Anything to avoid it is procrastination. So buckle up, Bucko. It's going to be a long bumpy ride.

Bush, Cheney, Rummy et. al. are more covered with excretion than Barack Hussein Obama could acquire in many lifetimes, and your references to his name as some kind of Shibboleth are draining of your credibility and my respect.

Otherwise, nice post.

Can't....Obama is more than just a joke, he is dangerous. I believe he is a terrorist mole who will purposely weaken the country for the benefit of our enemies.

We cannot allow him to be president, it will be the worst thing that has ever happened to this country. He must be swiftboated and destroyed, politically.

Jack

ducadmo wrote the following post at 05/22/2008 11:41 PM: Did I mention the war? That is a big sucking money pit. Do you still think it's worth it? A fucking trillion dollars, Skep. Do you know what we could have done with a trillion dollars?

Used it to buy elections? Pay for free medical care, education and welfare for illegals? Sponsored unnecessary boondoggles in order to buy favor with voters so incumbents can stay in office?

Oh, I'm sure the Democrats would figure out something to do with the money. You can bet your ass they wouldn't give it back to the rightful owners.

Jack