Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Bald-faced lies department
The Washington Post reports:
The president recalled that as a boy living in Hawaii, he would perch on his grandfather's shoulders and watch the space capsules land in the Pacific Ocean.
Oh. My. God.
He'll probably get a pass on this one, though. The paper's reporter, by using the verb 'recalled' instead of the more skeptical (and appropriate) verb "claimed," demonstrates she'll believe anything.
Splash, out
Jason
UPDATE: The White House website transcribes the President's remarks thus:
I should note, just personally, I grew up in Hawaii, as many of you know, and I still recall sitting on my grandfather's shoulders when those capsules would land in the middle of the Pacific and they'd get brought back and we'd go out and we'd pretend like they could see us as we were waving at folks coming home. And I remember waving American flags and my grandfather telling me that the Apollo mission was an example of how Americans can do anything they put their minds to.
So it was the Post's screw-up, not a lie by the President. Consider this post retracted, with my apologies.
The president recalled that as a boy living in Hawaii, he would perch on his grandfather's shoulders and watch the space capsules land in the Pacific Ocean.
Oh. My. God.
He'll probably get a pass on this one, though. The paper's reporter, by using the verb 'recalled' instead of the more skeptical (and appropriate) verb "claimed," demonstrates she'll believe anything.
Splash, out
Jason
UPDATE: The White House website transcribes the President's remarks thus:
I should note, just personally, I grew up in Hawaii, as many of you know, and I still recall sitting on my grandfather's shoulders when those capsules would land in the middle of the Pacific and they'd get brought back and we'd go out and we'd pretend like they could see us as we were waving at folks coming home. And I remember waving American flags and my grandfather telling me that the Apollo mission was an example of how Americans can do anything they put their minds to.
So it was the Post's screw-up, not a lie by the President. Consider this post retracted, with my apologies.
