Friday, May 16, 2008

Obama's "Bosnia snipper" moment?

Andrew Malcolm at the LA Times' Top of the Ticket blog - - -

Is this another Bosnian sniper incident, where a Democratic candidate for president describes a scene involving some personal courage, but later videotape shows that maybe perhaps it wasn't really quite all like that exactly?

Sen. Barack Obama, the leading Democratic candidate for his party's nomination, is very fond of telling receptive audiences the story about how last May he walked right into the automotive lion's den of Detroit and told those industrialists they were going to have to shape up, change the way they do things and start making more fuel-efficient vehicles to protect our environment.

"And I have to say," the straight-talking Obama tells his chuckling followers, "that when I delivered that speech, the room got really quiet. [Laughter] Nobody clapped."

Well, in honor of Obama's return campaign visit back to Michigan this week, someone -- perhaps Republicans, perhaps someone closer to home politically -- assembled videotape of Obama's oft-told tale and spliced it side by side with videotape of that actual Detroit speech.

You'll never guess what. The room wasn't quiet at all. Obama, in fact, got a loud round of applause. And at the end of his address the camera's view of him at the podium is partially blocked because the audience of local businesspeople and automotive executives was rising to give him a standing ovation. ...

Take a look.



What do you think?

Hat tip: Instapundit

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yet another example of Obama being revealed as a "typical" politician. Steve in New Mexico

Anonymous said...

I often say there's a good reason why "lawyer" and "liar" sound so much alike. Mr. Obama constantly proves to us he's not much more than a typical shifty shyster. Like we need another one of those in the White House!
Tarheel Hawkeye

Anonymous said...

Liar, liar, pants on fire. Bet the media is all over this one.

Anonymous said...

Tarheel - are any of the other candidates better options?

Oh well, at least there might be some hope out there for improvements to fuel-efficiency and alternative fuel sources.

Anonymous said...

Ad libs can be hazardous to your political health. I noticed on the video that there was an audible gasp from the NRA audience and little, if any, laughter. I don't think Huckabee was a strong contender for McCain's VP, but I think this gaffe puts him out of the race entirely. Frankly, he scared me with his tendency to tailor US policies after his interpretation of the bible. This is not a theocracy and we can't make public policies based on religious beliefs. Huckabee and all the other fundamentalists have the potential for great harm with their tendency to "biblicize" everything. It may be their belief, but it's not mine.
Tarheel Hawkeye

Anonymous said...

Ooops. My recent post was intended for the Huckabee/NRA thread. Sorry.
Tarheel Hawkeye