Wednesday, May 28, 2008
WHAS News Uncritically Reports RNC Talking Points
So I was watching our local CBS station, WHAS 11's 11:00 news last night and the anchor basically read the RNC press release about the Obama/Auschwitz and Buchenwald flap. I already knew that he was talking about Buchenwald, but apparently WHAS didn't get the memo:
The RNC seized the opportunity to fire off a news release, saying that “unless his uncle was serving in the Red Army, there’s no way Obama’s statement yesterday can be true. Obama’s frequent exaggerations and outright distortions raise questions about his judgment and his readiness to lead as commander in chief.”WHAS needs to stop uncritically reading RNC memos. It took me 5 seconds to find out that this wasn't a "frequent exaggeration" or "outright distortion". I see no mention of it on their website, and I don't expect a correction.
The Obama campaign soon acknowledged that the Democratic candidate made a mistake. It explained that Obama’s great-uncle was in the 89th Infantry Division that helped liberate another notorious death camp, Buchenwald. Obama, the campaign said, “is proud of the service of his grandfather and uncles in World War II -- especially the fact that his great-uncle was part of liberating of one of the concentration camps at Buchenwald.”
All of which raises the question: What's worse, Obama's apparent gaffe or the RNC pouncing on a Holocaust-related historical mistake for political advantage?
Labels: Auschwitz, Barack Obama, Buchenwald, WHAS 11
# posted by David @ Wednesday, May 28, 2008 
