I had a uncle who was one of the, who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps, and the story in our family was is that when he came home, he just went up into the attic and he didn’t leave the house for six months, right. Now obviously something had really affected him deeply but at that time there just weren’t the kinds of facilities to help somebody work through that kind of pain. That’s why you know the, this idea of making sure that every single veteran when they are discharged are screened for post traumatic stress disorder and given the mental health services that they need, that’s why its so important.
-Barack Obama, Memorial Day 2008
Turns out that wasn't 100% true. It wasn't Auschwitz, which was liberated by the Soviets, but Buchenwald. It wasn't Obama's uncle, it was Obama's great uncle -- which of course, is like calling your second cousin your cousin. I called my Great Aunt Lula my "Aunt" Lula, even though she was my grandmother's sister. Maybe it's a midwestern thing, but I'm guessing it's a pretty common familial shorthand nationwide.
So the big deal is that Barack Obama said that his uncle helped liberate Auschwitz. As "gaffes" go, this is nowhere near as glaring as confusing Sunnis, Shia, Iran, and al Qaeda might be. In terms of which is more topical, politics and religion in the middle east rate a little higher...
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