LA Times Blog: Barack Confuses Concentration Camps

So what? Barack confused the names of concentration camps.

The point that Obama was making was that returning vets (like his great-uncle) do not get the support they need after suffering trauma in wartime.

That's not a gaffe. That's a commendable policy statement, with a minor confusion.

We are all so tired of the smart mouthed nitwit nit pickers.

And yes, the consensus of the public at large is that Hillary's invocation of the RFK assassination stands on its own as a disgusting remark - and has nothing to do with any other gaffe by any other candidate at any other time.

The Nazi death camp that Barack Obama's great-uncle actually helped liberate

Barack Obama, at a Memorial Day event in Las Cruces, N.M., credited his great-uncle, Charlie Payne, as being among the U.S. troops who liberated the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz.

The trouble with that bit of history is -- as the Republican National Committee pointed out today -- is that the Soviet Red Army was the military force that liberated the World War II death camp.

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.”

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?

-- Stuart Silverstein

The Times blog further clarifies the facts, "The correct story is that Mr. Obama’s great uncle, Charlie Payne – his grandmother’s brother – actually helped liberate Ohrdruf, a sub-camp of Buchenwald. Mr. Payne was a member of the 89th Infantry Division."