Comments about ‘Barack Obama's 'Polish death camp' gaffe continues to fester’

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Published: Thursday, May 31 2012 4:30 p.m. MDT

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William Gronberg
Payson, UT

The wrong use of just 1 word can have serious repercussions when spoken by the President of the United States. ““Polish” death camp” was a serious error by Mr. Obama. He does know better than that. Every erroneous word can come back to bite you when you are in that position. To think that Mr. Romney is spending a great deal of his own money to place himself in that position.

Ex Pat
Salt Lake City, Ut

Does he really know better than that? If he did why didn't he correct it immediately? How about corpsman, how about 57 states, how about the ipod (whatever)given to the Queen of England with his speeches on it, or Michelle touching the Queen, obama bowing to the saudi prince and so many more that just tell us that he has kids in his administration that know nothing about culture and history. But then I don't think he does either, or he would've immediately said, "wait a moment, sorry about that, I know how much the Polish people suffered during the war".
After all they were the country who were promised a shield and when obama made deals with the Russians that went away.
BTW, Romney doesn't need to spend his own money.

the truth
Holladay, UT

RE: Ex Pat

You forgot about the bust of Winston Churchhill that england gave us as a gift, that obama returned.

I am sure there are many other gaffes.

Obama is an embarassment in foreign relations.

Eugene, OR

Yes, it continues to "fester" because the DN runs a screaming headline about it on the front page.

Isn't it time for another story on how dreamy Mitt is?

Somewhere in Time, UT

Obama made an error in speech. But, the real gaffe was in not IMMEDIATELY jumping forward and making a really serious apology. Again, he's making it clear that he is a rookie and an amateur.

Eugene, OR

I just went to the CNN, ABC News, and Fox News websites. No mention of this "scandal."

Stay classy, DN.

metamora, IL

Well said, Cats. Everybody says stupid things, even presidents. But for a man who declared that he was intent on using diplomacy to make friends of our enemies, it appears he has mostly used a lack thereof to alienate our allies.

Salt Lake City, UT

Yes it was a serious gaffe that offended a close ally. However, compared to the last presidents errors of judgment that left tens of thousands either dead or wounded, it's small potatoes.

It's instructive to observe how the two sides will defend or attack a presidential mistake, and how viciously, compared to the proportion of the error made. Several posters here love to take every opportunity to denounce Obama as an foolish amateur hack.

However, when compared to the truly disastrous mistakes of the previous Republican president, Obama's mistakes and missteps are orders of magnitude less severe. That conservatives will beat this mistake to death while defending or ignoring errors far more grave made when their side was in charge says a lot about how (un)seriously they take fair judgment. If you listen to conservatives tell it, nothing bad happened until Obama took over. It's like the Bush years didn't even happen.

Politics isn't team sports. It's not about scoring points for your side, but about the pursuit of a better society for the most people. For all his faults and missteps, Obama is heads and shoulders above his Republican opponents.

metamora, IL

UtahCentrist: A point well taken. I would not justify W's errors, but I am not convinced his Iraq decision was necessarily an error. Yes, 1000's have lost their lives or been maimed. But a vicious dictator was killed who had killed 100's of thousands of his own people and probably would have continued his course of action. Al Qaida was also maimed, running for the Pakistani hills to hide for cover. It's ability to hit and run was completely destroyed -- thus, I suppose, saving potentially as many lives as were lost in the war -- and perhaps dissuading many young Muslims from joining the cause.

But again one of Mr. Obama's selling points in the previous election was his insistence on using diplomacy. Yet, we have seen very little of it, particularly when it comes to our allies. No one has died . . . yet . . . as a result. But for one who promised hope and change, who was awarded a Nobel Peace prize (for what? being black, Democrat & president?), I would expect that he would issue a high level formal apology for insulting an entire people. Is that raising expectations too high?

Mcallen, TX

And Obama was a Harvard graduate? What an embarrassment to the school, and our country.

Go Big Blue!!!
Bountiful, UT

Imagine what abuse W would have received for these slip ups. The national press definetly plays favorites.

Salt Lake City, UT

Eugene, OR

Stay classy, DN.

Hmmm. There's that tricky 'ole reading comprehension thing again.

It's been mentioned on ABC News, CBS News, the NY Times, Fox News, the NY Daily Times....

Stay well-read, KJB1.

Syracuse, UT

I'm surprised Obama didn't immediately apologize since he's usually so good at it.

Eugene, OR


I'm sure it's been mentioned on other news sites, but the point is that it's currently not a leading story anywhere I could find. It's not on the front pages anywhere right now...except for here at DN.

The headline here says it's "festering", and it's clearly not.

See what I mean?

metamora, IL

May not be festering in US media's eyes . . . does not follow that the Polish people are not deeply hurt by this statement and lack of true apology.

Iowa City, IA

Embarassing. Obama needs to do another apology tour across the world, this time apologizing for himself. I'm sure he'd do the 58 states too if they actually existed.

Citing the Polish death camps was not a gaff, it was intentional. So was his bowing to muslim leaders, so was his comment on clinging to "guns and the bible". In addition to all this he grossly supports selective gender abortions. If all that is not enough, he's spending us into oppression. This man is as calculated and eccentric as they come. Both parties need to get him out.

Rugeley, Staffs

Interesting to see that some of you can complain on here about Obama's gaffe with Poland, and then refer to the "Queen of England," and "...bust of Winston Churchill that England gave (you.)" Queen Elizabeth the Second is not the Queen of England. She is the Queen of the United Kingdom, and the Commonwealth of Nations. England did not give you the bust of Winston Churchill. Great Britain or the United Kingdom gave it to you.

If you are going to bring Obama to task, please get your bit right. (I am not overly fond of Mr Obama, but if his gaffe is wrong, so is yours.)

Kaysville, UT

This continues to show the bias he has against Israel and how he needs a tele-prompter to help him keep his words and not his convictions straight. He has plenty of staff that should have caught that mistake. His political statements against what the normal United States of America policy has been is establishing a lot of work for the next administration to settle. I am sure the Secretary of State is not happy to have to pursue talks with Poland over this type of issue. The US of A and the missile defense system and our relations with Poland have suffered. We expose them to the wrath of Russia and then waiver and tell Poland they are on their own, more or less. Poland has been in the middle of wars during WWI and WWII and lived under the Communist type of rule of Russia for a long time. In May 2012, Russia's biggest military day, Russia's top military officer has threatened to carry out a pre-emptive strike on U.S.-led NATO missile defense facilities in Eastern Europe if Washington goes ahead with its controversial plan to build a missile shield.

Mcallen, TX


Let's call it gender profiling.

metamora, IL

UtahCentrist: your point is well-taken.

I note however that in viewing Bush's Iraq War that we are only seeing what actually happened and not what could have happened. Yes, 1000's of lives have been lost and 10,000s. but a vicious dictator who had killed 100s of thousands of his countrymen is gone. Al Qaida is hiding in Pakistani hills and eviscerated. Certainly Hussein would have continued his course of action and al Qaida most certainly would have pursued its goals of reeking world devastation. While Bush entered this war on potentially false pretenses and its consequences have not been small, the potential is there that it stymied and stopped disastrous events for millions.

On the other hand, Mr. Obama promised us hope and change in the previous election, was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize (for? being black, Democrat and president?). He insisted that diplomacy was key to dealing with our enemies and allies alike. Yet, his failure to provide a high level, formal apology to the people of Poland is anything but diplomatic.

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