By Yael Lavie, Sky News producer
Just when you think the US primaries are losing their flare for the bizarre and absurd they deal us a fresh one, no pun intended, straight out of the oven.
Hillary embellished landing under Bosnian fire, McCain can not seem to get his Sunnis and Shiites right, but the last gaffe by Barack ‘wonder boy’ Obama, may possibly be the sloppiest thus far. Or should we say, this week.
Speaking to veterans on American memorial day Mr Obama laid down the need for more post traumatic stress disorder treatments for the military, recalling how devastated his uncle was upon returning home post librating Auschwitz during WWII.
Let's start with the obvious which the Republicans were cheerfully quick to point out - Auschwitz, my dear presumptive candidate, was not liberated by the Americans but by the Red Army.
Now a quick check also revealed that on his American side Mr Obama has no uncles and it is doubtful any of his Kenyan relatives were serving in Soviet uniforms during WWII. Big faux-pas.
Fast forward to the Obama campaign response of correcting the gaffe recalling it was a distant relative rather than uncle and ‘sorry, the death camp was Buchenwald not Auschwitz, oops’.
Now for the sake of full disclosure I must admit – indeed I am Jewish. I am also of German Jewish descent and many of our family members perished in the Holocaust. As such I would like to recommend the following guidelines to the American candidates:
1. Leave the Holocaust alone. Really trust me, don’t touch it. No matter what, you will lose trying to use it as an argument.
2. Holocaust survivors will argue it is of little taste to compare the anguish of a soldier in WWII after witnessing a camp liberated to the anguish of those who survived five years of living in it without being gassed to death.
3. Furthermore try avoiding turning it into a political ping-pong between parties. Not good. Think of other world leaders who use it in diplomatic rhetoric. Hint: they are very short, run their own country and live in the Middle East, three steps left on the map from Iraq.
Finally though, if you are intent on incorporating it in your campaign, remember that to those who lost family members or survived it, the Holocaust is not a laundry list of names.
So by all means, if you are to use it, please get your death camp straight.
Khalid - yes, libraries gave us power, but then work came and made us free. Manic street preaching or what ?
Posted by: Dixon, Luton 30 May 2008 12:39:36
Well [Nelly Furtado] sounds like they just dont seem to want to [Say it Right] do they?
Posted by: Khalid 29 May 2008 17:44:17
It baffles me as to what exactly goes through a politicians head,they must be surrounded by so many 'yes people'that at times they must feel invincible,its one of those stages were the Boss makes a joke,and everyone laughs,even the joke 'sucks'and the Boss is a halfwit.Hillary makes the comment about being under fire,and she has the worlds press as a witness;and our P.M decides that he will tax the middle class till they squeak while we are all sucking our fillings out in temper.
Someone has to adive these people and I wonder if they all have a bet going to see who can make their employer say the silliest thing.Now if that's true, they are on a worldwide roll,and its not them that we need to employ but their teachers....but then again we would probably find out that they were the scrip writers for 'Monty Python'.
Posted by: Clive.Cumbria 29 May 2008 14:56:07