Saturday, September 27, 2008

Biden and Obama Don't Know Much about History

Here is what Joe Biden told CBS Evening News early last week:

"When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, 'Look, here's what happened,'"

The only problem is that the stock market crashed in 1929 and FDR did not become President until 1933. FDR was the first President interviewed on television, but not until 1939, after the depression was largely over.

Here is part of Barack Obama’s closing statement from his first Presidential debate between Obama and McCain last night at the University of Mississippi:

“You know, my father came from Kenya. That's where I get my name. And in the '60s, he wrote letter after letter to come to college here in the United States because the notion was that there was no other country on Earth where you could make it if you tried. The ideals and the values of the United States inspired the entire world. I don't think any of us can say that our standing in the world now, the way children around the world look at the United States, is the same.”

The only problem is that when Barack Obama, Senior came to the United States in 1959, the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) would not have admitted him. James Meredith became the first black student at Ole Miss 3 years later on October 1, 1962 backed by federal marshals and troops send by President John Kennedy to force his admission in the face of opposition from Democratic Governor Ross Barnett. In the ensuing riot, 2 people were killed, 48 soldiers were injured, and 30 U.S. Marshalls were wounded by gunfire. James Meredith was himself wounded with birdshot by a sniper 4 years later during a civil rights march to Jackson, Mississippi.

I guess they can always fall back on Sam Cooke:

Don't know much about history
Don't know much biology
Don't know much about a science book
Don't know much about the French I took
But I do know that I love you
And I know that if you love me too
What a wonderful world this would be

No comments: