Obama's Falklands Gaffe
The Telegraph reports on the latest diplomatic mis-step by President Obama. If anyone wonders why regular people mock the media, the subhed on the story might give a clue:
Barack Obama made an uncharacteristic error, more akin to those of his predecessor George W Bush, by referring to the Falkland Islands as the Maldives.
Reporters: He's been president for 3 years. He's an adult. He's leader of the free world. You don't need to cushion the blow of every single thing he does wrong by tying it to his predecessor. That's his job, OK?
But leave it to the media to miss the big error by Obama. John Tabin at The American Spectator writes:
This is a gaffe on top of a gaffe: The Maldives are in the Indian Ocean, and he obviously meant the Malvinas -- the Argentine government's name for The Falklands. But he shouldn't have been trying to say "Malvinas," either; that's an Argentine nationalist propaganda term that implicitly denies the right to self-determination of the 3000 British subjects who live on the Falklands.
Maldives, Malvinas, Falklands. Just words.
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Jul '10
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
James of England: "The "Malvinas" choice is unlikely to be accidental; the man was studying international relations at Columbia during the Falklands war."
I'll concede enrolled in that class, but no more. If you can produce his academic records from there, Occidental or any of the other institutions he drifted through, I will offer a handsome apology.
Aug '10
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
Obviously, for the MSM, they require more. Lots more, I would guess. But only because they begin with the assumption that Obama is so very smart.
I cannot imagine what it will take to burst the MSM bubble about their Chosen One.
May '11
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
James Of England
One of the happy things about this issue is that the Falklands are not vulnerable. Thatcher, Major, and Blair all helped create the fortress that the islands are today. The Argentine Navy retired their only aircraft carrier in 2000, and the Royal Navy retired the Argentines' only cruiser in May 1982.
The Argentines could take the islands in 1982 because the invasion was so unexpected, and there were only token forces in defense. Today any conflict would be a disaster for them, and they know that. They build up their military for its politically appealing sabre rattling sound, and for Latin American political advantage, not for actual use.
The politics still matter, but the nuclear option is off the table. · 31 minutes ago
Neither Belgrano, nor the 25th of May were critical in the first war. Arguably, the latter, if properly equipped, could have been. The British attrition of their own navy is more significant.
Imagine Hugo Chavez supports the invasion by sending a squadron of Flankers to Argentina. What does Cameron do? He may be limited to token punitive submarine-launched Tomahawk missile strikes on the mainland.
Edited on April 17, 2012 at 5:56pmOct '10
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
No, It's Maggie Thatchers fault. And no thanks to the French Exocet missile, which proved to be much less of a threat than the Argentine's believed.
Oct '10
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
Songwriter
Obviously, for the MSM, they require more. Lots more, I would guess. But only because they begin with the assumption that Obama is so very smart.
I cannot imagine what it will take to burst the MSM bubble about their Chosen One. · 38 minutes ago
It will be like lancing a boil.
Apr '11
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
ctlaw
Neither Belgrano, nor the 25th of May were critical in the first war. Arguably, the latter, if properly equipped, could have been. The British attrition of their own navy is more significant.
Imagine Hugo Chavez supports the invasion by sending a squadron of Flankers to Argentina. What does Cameron do? He may be limited to token punitive submarine-launched Tomahawk missile strikes on the mainland.
I agree that the Royal Navy has also suffered, but I disagree about the importance of the Argentine navy. The Belgrano ended up not being important because it was sunk. Had its battle group launched an attack, it would have stood a fair chance of being decisive.
Both ships were useful in the initial assault, and it's the initial assault that I do not believe the Argentines could replicate today. It's true that Chavez could help out, but probably not true that he could do so in a way that Britain couldn't respond to. If they took the islands, I agree that Britain couldn't recover them without help.
Apr '11
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
Jerry Carroll: James of England: "The "Malvinas" choice is unlikely to be accidental; the man was studying international relations at Columbia during the Falklands war."
I'll concede enrolledin that class, but no more. If you can produce his academic records from there, Occidental or any of the other institutions he drifted through, I will offer a handsome apology. · 2 hours ago
It wasn't just a class, it was his major. I'm willing to entertain claims that he was unexceptional, but not that he was utterly uninterested in international politics as they pertained to campus activity, nor that he attended no classes. Even with your father having been a professor, Harvard Law just doesn't take in the truly terrible students, even if they're black.
Mar '11
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
Mr Obama was simply scouting out Michelle's next vacation - the Maldives.
May '10
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
James Of England
It was a prepared speech, written by people who should be competent in the English language. · 2 minutes ago
2 hours ago
Fire the teleprompter.
Apr '11
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
There is another gaffe I have never heard mentioned. I saw it on Drudge and listenened to the clip. While campagning in Pennsylvania in 2008, he badly mispronounced the "Nittany" in Nittany Lions. It was as if he had never seen or heard the word. Some sports fan? It was very much like his goof on corpsman.
Aug '10
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
With the election of Barack Obama, every presidential gaffe became "uncharacteristic" and every worsened economic indicator became "unexpected".
Oct '10
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
Ricochet Hall of Legends comment.
Edit: Well no wonder, I just checked Jerry's bio. Folks, we have a ringer in our midst.
Edited on April 17, 2012 at 8:40pmJun '10
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
Kervinlee
James Of England
It was a prepared speech, written by people who should be competent in the English language. · 2 minutes ago
2 hours ago
Fire the teleprompter. · 1 hour ago
I would argue that Obama is one of the worst presidents in history. I think it's beyond dispute that he has the worst staff in history. Does the guy ever fire people? This was a pure unforced error, even if he meant the Malvinas.
Apr '11
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
tabula rasa
Kervinlee
James Of England
It was a prepared speech, written by people who should be competent in the English language. · 2 minutes ago
2 hours ago
Fire the teleprompter. · 1 hour ago
I would argue that Obama is one of the worst presidents in history. I think it's beyond dispute that he has the worst staff in history. Does the guy ever fire people? This was a pure unforced error, even if he meant the Malvinas. · 1 hour ago
It's a problem of having very young people on his staff. Like I say, I'm pretty sure if Obama was speaking off the top of his head, he'd get "Malvinas" right. This isn't "history of America", which he's not always great at. This was a big part of his time in Columbia. "History of Obama" is a subject that Barack knows extremely well; he is the author of two of the leading works in the field.
Jon Favreau, though, while much better paid and probably in many ways more skilled than most of the people handled by Leslie Watkins' office, was a one year old when the leftie outrage peaked.
Sep '10
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
James Of England
This isn't "history of America", which he's not always great at. ... "History of Obama" is a subject that Barack knows extremely well; he is the author of two of the leading works in the field. · 35 minutes ago
Heh heh.
Jul '10
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
Leslie Watkins
James Of England
This isn't "history of America", which he's not always great at. ... "History of Obama" is a subject that Barack knows extremely well; he is the author of two of the leading works in the field. · 35 minutes ago
Heh heh. · 39 minutes ago
Well, co-author anyhow.
Apr '12
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
Might be O's way of threading the needle. He didn't actually call it "Malvinas" so the Brits can't take him to task.
Jul '11
Re: Obama's Falklands Gaffe
Well, if they do, he'll just send back that historic bust of Winston Churchill that's right on the desk over there, and....wait a minute. Quick! Somebody call a corpseman! We wuz robbed!