POTUS Cites Wrong Founding Document

Modern Conservative ^ | January 28, 2010 | Gina L. Diorio

[history_48]

One would hope the President of the United States would know the difference between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. But in last night's State of the Union Address, President Obama said:

We find unity in our incredible diversity, drawing on the promise enshrined in our Constitution: the notion that we are all created equal….

Um, wrong founding document, Mr. President. It is in our Declaration of Independence that we read:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

As a Facebook friend of mine quipped, "So, does he blame the speechwriter or Bush?"

 

[an amused spectator]

Hey - Obama has got 50 IQ points on all of us, so shut up.

At least, that's what someone on USAGayToday said...

[gov_bean_ counter]

I guess we have verification that he actually passed the bar, don't we?

[SandRat]

[The Citizen Soldier]

Easy for a speech-writer to make a mistake when referring to a document he’s never read.

[hoosiermama]

Are you certain, Onyx, that BO didn’t write it?

One more for the list, John.

[CodeToad]

“I guess we have verification that he actually passed the bar, don’t we?”

Do we?

[FlingWingFlyer]

No problem. Politico has him covered. Declaration of Independence. The U.S. Constitution. They are all the same to the leftist kooks.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

He was a constipational scholar because he is FULL OF IT.

Agreed, his face definitely looks as if he needs an enema.

[Nosterrex]

There are no rules in rhetoric concerning logic or facts. The purpose of rhetoric is to persuade people to the speaker's point of view and to move them to action. Code words are important, such as he quoted from the Declaration of Independence, they are invoked to create pathos and identity. You have to remember that the people that write Obama’s speeches have studied rhetoric and psychology. They have tested this speech on focus groups. They know all the rhetorical tricks. Facts are irrelevant. Logic is irrelevant. It is what people hear that matters. People that have studied rhetoric can identify many of Obama’s gimmicks. They have been used for centuries.

[twoputt]

Reagan69,

Everytime Barry speaks, you can further understand why his school records are sealed. This guy is just unbelievable.

[muawiyah]

Even up to the present time there are many Americans who hold that the true national Constitution is the item we call the Declaration of Independence, and that the Constitution of 1790 is just an operations manual for a government.

To some degree it depends on what you think the words mean. To another degree it depends on how you view American history ~ as a nation with a succession of government structures, or as a government with different rule books.

I kind of tend toward the idea that the National Constitution is as was expressed in the Declaration ~ and that was Abraham Lincoln's opinion on the matter ~ "Four Score and Seven Years Ago", not "Three Score and Thirteen Years Ago".

Not going to duel over it ~ not yet ~ not this time ~ but for the first time in his speechgiving career he got it right.

[Clock King]

Remeber, O is a constitutional scholar, so he knows. /sarc

[TruthWillWin]

But the constitution is a living document. He can just make changes to suit his needs.

[AlaskaErik]

In all fairness, I don’t know anything about Kenya’s constitution either.

[Paperdoll]

A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER IN ONE OF OUR MORE CORRUPT58 STATES AT THAT! THIS GUY COULDN’T PASS A SIXTH GRADE GEOGRAPHY TEST OR QUOTE FROM THE PROPER DOCUMENT, OR KNOW THE NUMBER OF STATES WHICH ARE UNITED! AND HE IS THE POTUS! WHO’D A THUNK IT?????

[kiltie65]

I came to this country as a 12 yr. old and as a result had great gaps in my “Americanism” that would not have been there had I been American born. I hope I’ve acquired the necessary knowledge over these latter years, and feel totally American in my soul. His dumbness about things American reflect his upbringing abroad (Indonesia). But he admits he can recite that Muslim call to prayer spot on! I personally feel he had no desire to assimilate...he can portray an American but I don’t think his soul is involved.

[Enchante]

uh, will the Mediascum notice that Obozo doesn't even know the difference between the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence????

it is the DofI that proclaims "all men are created equal" and the US Constitution doesn't say that at all - ironically, that has often been a point of criticism for leftists attacking the Constitution, so it's pretty sad that Obozo could screw that one up..... I'm sure he'll blame his speechwriters, but isn't he supposed to be the "Con Law Professor" as we've heard many times?

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union , establish Justice , insure domestic Tranquility , provide for the common defence , promote the general Welfare , and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Leftists now will try to say that "establish Justice" means equality in present-day terms, but of course it was not remotely what the framers of the US Constitution meant except in the strict formal sense of equality before the law and the govt --- but certainly not with all the liberal emphases of recent decades on a welfare state, massive redistributionist policies etc.

and of course in the 18th century no one at all meant by "General Welfare" what the "welfare state" is regarded as nowadays --- that phrase pre-1800 meant the overall economic opportunity of living in a free and successful country such as the just-forming USA (with no comparable examples elsewhere in the world), but certainly nothing like what liberals mean today of guaranteed "welfare" benefits....

[allmendream]

I bet if it was either in “Das Kapital” or Mao's “little red book” he (and his inept team) would have been able to have sourced it correctly.
;)

[kiltie65]

I came to this country as a 12 yr. old and as a result had great gaps in my “Americanism” that would not have been there had I been American born. I hope I’ve acquired the necessary knowledge over these latter years, and feel totally American in my soul. His dumbness about things American reflect his upbringing abroad (Indonesia). But he admits he can recite that Muslim call to prayer spot on! I personally feel he had no desire to assimilate...he can portray an American but I don’t think his soul is involved.

[Canedawg]

He is a village idiot and it shows.