Oops, he did it again......

Yesterday, campaigning in New Mexico (I think it was New Mexico - after all the man has visited 57 states), Barack Obama spoke about his uncle, who was part of the American brigade that helped to liberate Auschwitz. He said the family legend is that, upon returning from war, his uncle spent six months in an attic. “Now obviously, something had really affected him deeply, but at that time there just weren't the kinds of facilities to help somebody work through that kind of pain,” Obama said. “That’s why this idea of making sure that every single veteran, when they are discharged, are screened for post-traumatic stress disorder and given the mental health services that they need – that’s why it’s so important.”

First of all, let me say that I agree with Senator Obama the health services for the troops - mental and otherwise - are extremely important, and the Bush administrations handling of Veterans Administration responsibilities, such as health care, have been deplorable.

Now, lets get on to the good stuff. Gaffe A: Obama's mother is an only child, so he didn't have an uncle serving in WWII. Could have been on his fathers side, but I'm pretty sure we didn't have anyone from Kenya serving in an American uniform.

Gaffe B: The Americans didn't liberate Auschwitz, Russia did.

Now those are the two things the news channels seem to be commenting on the most, but really, after more than 16 years of Bill and Hillary campaigning, Aren't we all used to politicians making up stories to make themselves look righteous? As far as I'm concerned, this gives Obama some Washington cred - it proves that he is just another politician after all.

No, the thing that really caught my eye (or, I guess I should say ear) was this line: "The story in our family was that when he came home, he just went up into the attic and didn't leave the house for six months." Look at that sentence again. When was the last time you recounted some of your family history, and started with "The story in our family was....". Ever heard of Plausible Deniability? This is exactly the way you present something you know to be false, because then when you're caught in your lie, you can say "Hey, that was the story I was told."

You know what Barack? When I repeat a family story, a story I believe to be true (because, even though I wasn't there, I have no reason to doubt it), I state it as fact, not as a "story in our family", but fact.

Now before you think I'm being too hard on Obama, let me say that I don't think he should be held responsible, because he was under a great deal of express. After all, I understand that his helicopter landed in New Mexico under sniper fire......