Posted on 04/06/2009 6:00:32 AM PDT by Josh Painter
President Barack Obama made a world-class gaffe in front of the entire planet's press during his news conference in Strasbourg, France. The transcript was released by the White House on April 4:
Q Sonja Sagmeister from a little country, Austria, from Austrian Television. Mr. President, you said you came here to learn and to listen. So a quite personal question -- what did you learn from your personal talk with the European leaders? And did this change in a certain way your views on Europe and its politics?So what's so embarrassingly wrong about what the president said? Only this:PRESIDENT OBAMA: It's an interesting question. I had already formed relationships with many of them. Some of them I had met when I traveled through Europe before my election. Some of them I had met because they came to Washington after the election. This is the first time I've been in a forum with so many of them at the same time.
I'm extraordinarily impressed by the quality of leadership. I am constantly reminded that although there are cultural differences that are important and that we have to be sensitive to, what we have in common between Europe and the United States so vastly exceeds any differences that we have; that we should not forget why we are allies, and we should be careful about some of the easy stereotypes that take place on both sides of the borders.
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 -- and, you know, people are pursuing their interests, and everybody has their own particular issues and their own particular politics.
But I think it's a testimony to the success of the European Union, as well as NATO, that on very important issues, each leader seems to be able to rise above parochial interests in order to achieve common objectives. And I think that has accounted for some of the extraordinary success and prosperity of Europe over the last several years.
German is the official language of Austria. Worldwide, 10 million native speakers speak German and it ranks as the tenth most spoken language in the world. The total number of German speakers leaps to around 130 million people if non-native speakers are included. Linguists class German as an Indo-European language. It is also the official language of Germany, Belgium, Liechtenstein, and part of Switzerland, Luxembourg, and others.In other words, this is no such language as "Austrian." Isn't there someone on the White House staff, a director of Protocol or something, whose job it is to make sure the leader of the free world knows these things? Or did no one say anything because they assumed that it was reasonably common knowledge?
You probably recall the howls from the drive-by media and the leftosphere when Fox News' Carl Cameron said that he was told "by folks" - folks without names, apparently - that Sarah Palin didn't know that Africa was a continent. The press and "progressive" bloggers had a field day with it, even though it was only a rumor and had never been confirmed by anyone willing to put their name behind it.
For that, Gov. Palin was maligned. A "dubious grasp of geography," sniffed HuffPo's Nicholas Graham. Wonkette, dripping with superiority, posted, "And did we mention that she thought Africa was a country, and not a continent? Wait until she hears about Australia: it’s both." Salon's Anthony Freed wrote: "Stunningly, but not surprisingly, the gal who was 3% of the vote and an old man's heart beat away from the presidency thinks Africa is a country in and of itself." It would later come to light that the "Martin Eisenstadt" who took credit for passing the tidbit along to Fox News does not exist. It was a hoax. But many Palin critics still believe the continent meme, even though it's never been more than a rumor.
Obama's ignorance of Austria and what language is spoken there, however, is a unicorn of a different hue. It's on the official White House transcript. It's on video (at the 28:30 mark). Many people know that German is spoken in Austria, and they didn't have to look it up. So where are the Obama-worshippers on this? They are curiously silent. No snickering from HuffPo, no acidic Salon snorting, no "dumb as a bag of hammers" diaries from Wonkette. The double standard runs deep and wide, and there's no ceiling, glass or otherwise, limiting the heights to which the Left's hypocrisy can soar.
h/t: Free Republic
- JP
Why is nobody talking about the comparison he made between EU politics and the US Senate?
Everyone in the Senate is wheeling and dealing for their own self-interest, issues, and politics?!
Really? We suspected as much, but the POTUS just casually confirmed it and it’s no big deal?
We get what we deserve when comments like that are dismissed.
Ahhh, but are you from the ‘real’ Chicago? lol..
That there is a source for an inaccurate or at minimum incomplete statement does not make it any less inaccurate.
Good news and bad news. The good news is that a list is being kept. The bad new is that it is being kept in the same vault as the birth certificate.
Hmm, she specifically asked for his personal feelings. Tough to find your personal feelings in a script or on a teleprompter...so he blew it big time! I hope to see many more questions on his personal feelings.
Yes, so do I. I'd also like to know what languages he's studied, other than Arabic and Indonesian. His "brilliance" has yet to be backed up by any facts, other than the fact of winning elections ... which (given how he did it) definitely implies a great deal of low cunning, but not necessarily high intelligence or education.
Did you mean to send this to me?
I was making a joke about Michelle and Chicago. I’m not sure what you are talking about.
Austrian? Throw another shrimp on the barby!
My ex-sister-in-law was born in Innsbruck. I know she speaks German, but will vouch for her leader. She’s very involved with Albany, NY Dems. Ha!
Foster’s—It’s Australian for beer!
Someone so scary-smart and worldly should know these things already. One measure of intelligence is the awareness of one’s environment and surroundings.
My company farms out a lot of our CTM trial material production to a company in Austria, and members of our group go there frequently for consultation, provide manufacturing assistance, etc.
We always make jokes along the line of "so, do you know how to speak Austrian?" and so forth. We also purposefully confuse Austria with Australia, asking people who come back after a week over there things like "So, get any surfing in?" or "throw another shrimp on the barbie mate?"
I didn't realise there was any out there - much less a President of the United States - who was stuid enough to actually make this type of mistake.
The reason his school records have been sealed is that he never completed High School.
No worries. The media will cover this up and continue to lick Oslambla’s behind.
I was surprised to see German listed as an official language for Belgium and had to look it up. It is an "officially recognized language.
I was also surprised to see Dutch listed. The Belgians do not speak Dutch, but Flemish. I guess Flemish is a version or dialect of Dutch.
He should have stuck to 'merci beacoup' as he so famously accused most Americans of during the campaign.
Can this guy prove any more what a moron he is? America has 57 states . . . . bowing to the Saudi King, learning Australian . . . . ., etc., etc., etc?????
Geez, and the leftists and the press (redundant, I know) tried to portray BUSH as being dumb!!!
After just a few months in office, the gaffes are piling up at a prodigious rate. And being studiously ignored by all the half-wit “comedians” who claim there is nothing funny about Obama.
Now, if you had grown up on the south side of Chicago....
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