12 replies to this topic

[Captain Jack]

Quote

Obama overstates Kansas tornado deaths By BOB LEWIS, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 8, 11:33 PM ET

RICHMOND, Va. - Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record), caught up in the fervor of a campaign speech Tuesday, drastically overstated the Kansas tornadoes death toll, saying 10,000 had died. The death toll was 12.

"In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died — an entire town destroyed," the Democratic presidential candidate said in a speech to 500 people packed into a sweltering Richmond art studio for a fundraiser.

Obama mentioned the disaster in Greensburg, Kan., in saying he had been told by the office of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius that the state's National Guard had been depleted by its commitment to the        Iraq War.

Der, where on earth did he manage to get that number???   Is he trying to make things sound more dramatic, or is he just really bad at getting his facts straight?  It's kind of odd to see this go unnoticed by so many lefties.  If Bush said that, he would be severely criticized for it by many without a doubt, or hesitation.  I know I wouldn't hesitate.

Let the defending of Obama begin!

*sits back*

Full article:

http://news.yahoo.co...9uUJDNow4Zp24cA

[Rov Judicata]

16 is the *official* number. I heard the DoD is undercounting it.

[Hambil]

Spidey, on May 9 2007, 07:16 PM, said:

Quote

Obama overstates Kansas tornado deaths By BOB LEWIS, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 8, 11:33 PM ET

RICHMOND, Va. - Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record), caught up in the fervor of a campaign speech Tuesday, drastically overstated the Kansas tornadoes death toll, saying 10,000 had died. The death toll was 12.

"In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died — an entire town destroyed," the Democratic presidential candidate said in a speech to 500 people packed into a sweltering Richmond art studio for a fundraiser.

Obama mentioned the disaster in Greensburg, Kan., in saying he had been told by the office of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius that the state's National Guard had been depleted by its commitment to the        Iraq War.

Der, where on earth did he manage to get that number???   Is he trying to make things sound more dramatic, or is he just really bad at getting his facts straight?  It's kind of odd to see this go unnoticed by so many lefties.  If Bush said that, he would be severely criticized for it by many without a doubt, or hesitation.  I know I wouldn't hesitate.

Let the defending of Obama begin!

*sits back*

Full article:

http://news.yahoo.co...9uUJDNow4Zp24cA

It's a screw up, and makes him look bad. A few hundred more of those and a website or two called Obamaisms, and you've got a case.

[offworlder]

yeah I heard this on Rush's radio this morning ~
he didn't get that number, he was jus speakin fas is all
Obama impresses me as the kinda guy who speaks more than reading prepared speaches, except at some convention where there are teleprompters and everyone has a prepared text speach --
but he speaks, he chats, he goes like extemporaneous-plus, with phrases and headline titles but then gets to talkin ; so it's easy when gettin really crankin and the passion and the adrenalin and the symbiosis with the audience -- and misspeak a line ; bah, I don't expect any righties really think he researched and meant that number then got it wrong; they jus use it in their agenda-speak for talk radio and talk tv.

Just the way the rolling stone rolls

[scherzo]

Well it did happen in Kansas. Maybe he was factoring in the folks who were merely launched safely to Emerald City. Sure, they can get home...but you try picking up a pair of ruby slippers in this economy.

-scherzo

[Vapor Trails]

I was wondering if the Yellowstone supervolcano blew up, or something!

[QueenTiye]

Good heavens.  That's an awful thing to say, glibly.  Not the worst thing by far, but, bad.  Maybe he misunderstood and there were tens of thousands of homes damaged?

QT

[Captain Jack]

Juris Rovvius, on May 9 2007, 07:20 PM, said:

16 is the *official* number. I heard the DoD is undercounting it.

Even if it rose to 160, that's still a vast difference from 10,000.

Hambil, on May 9 2007, 07:35 PM, said:

It's a screw up, and makes him look bad. A few hundred more of those and a website or two called Obamaisms, and you've got a case.

Indeed it is a screw up.  Not a major one, but a screw up nonetheless.  A gross error, and one he hasn't made any correction of last I checked.  Why would I need a few hundred more to have a case?  Would you like me to discuss his actions toward the guy who created an Obama fan-site that was taken away from him because his campaign team didn't want to pay for it?  It simply shows a case where the man failed to check the facts, and should at the very least raise an eyebrow on his future speaches/comments and so forth.  We all make errors, but this is way off.

offworlder, on May 9 2007, 07:37 PM, said:

yeah I heard this on Rush's radio this morning ~
he didn't get that number, he was jus speakin fas is all
Obama impresses me as the kinda guy who speaks more than reading prepared speaches, except at some convention where there are teleprompters and everyone has a prepared text speach --
but he speaks, he chats, he goes like extemporaneous-plus, with phrases and headline titles but then gets to talkin ; so it's easy when gettin really crankin and the passion and the adrenalin and the symbiosis with the audience -- and misspeak a line ; bah, I don't expect any righties really think he researched and meant that number then got it wrong; they jus use it in their agenda-speak for talk radio and talk tv.

Just the way the rolling stone rolls

Bush is good at speakifyin' too.  

Sure, I can understand a person getting carried away talking, but 10,000 dead???

scherzo, on May 9 2007, 08:38 PM, said:

Well it did happen in Kansas. Maybe he was factoring in the folks who were merely launched safely to Emerald City. Sure, they can get home...but you try picking up a pair of ruby slippers in this economy.

-scherzo

Umm, if they live in Kansas, and they ended up in Oz, I doubt they'd be wanting to go back to Kansas.    Except for maybe Smallville.

Digital Man, on May 9 2007, 08:54 PM, said:

I was wondering if the Yellowstone supervolcano blew up, or something!

That's next week.

QueenTiye, on May 9 2007, 09:10 PM, said:

Good heavens.  That's an awful thing to say, glibly.  Not the worst thing by far, but, bad.  Maybe he misunderstood and there were tens of thousands of homes damaged?

QT

Agreed, it was an awful thing to say, but not the worst thing.  Maybe he did misunderstand, or was misinformed.  I certainly would like to know.  I'm curious.  That poor town essentially got wiped off the map as far as property goes.

[Nikcara]

It sounds to me like he misspoke.  He might have meant 10,000 homes destroyed, or whatever.  I don't know.  I agree that it doesn't make him look good, but I'll wait until he gets known for silly mistakes before I really make fun of him for it.

Honestly, if Bush misspoke every now and then, I'd shrug and move on.  I misspeak all the time.  But Bush does it just about every time he opens his mouth, often with amusing results.

[Hambil]

Quote

It simply shows a case where the man failed to check the facts, and should at the very least raise an eyebrow on his future speaches/comments and so forth.  We all make errors, but this is way off.

Damn straight! Lazy bum just wants to lay claim to 10,000 dead without actually doing the work of helping kill them, like Bush.

[Captain Jack]

It sure is nice having you around, Hambil.  

[The Oncoming Storm]

I do extemp speaking all the time when I lecture.  My mind's racing to stay ahead of where my mouth is and it can be fairly easy to make a mistake like this.  I'm no Obama fan, but, this can be a fairly easy mistake to make for an extemp speaker.  Shoot, I had a student in the most recent production say, "Pame and shain" for "Shame and pain."  And that was a guy using a script!

[Zwolf]

Just a verbal gaffe.  You'll find 'em in anybody who makes that many speeches with that many people listening.  He probably meant to say "ten dead" or something and just goofed up and added a "thousand" after it... I've said dumb stuff like that myself.

It's a cinch he wasn't trying to lie, though, since it would be (and was) waaaaaaay too easy to catch it when he's off by thousands and thousands.

This gaffe doesn't tell you much about Obama.  But the fact that Rush and Drudge and other right-wing shills have been playing this up as much as they can tells you something about the GOP:  they're frickin' terrified of Obama.  And they should be.  

Cheers,

Zwolf

*edited because, lo and behold, I made a verbal gaffe myself.  Toldja I did that sometimes!

Edited by Zwolf, 10 May 2007 - 09:39 AM.