July 31, 2008

Obama: Don't Know Much About History, Biology - or Evidently, U.S. Currency

Hatched by Dafydd

In my entire lifetime (not that long, for heaven's sake!), I have not seen a presidential candidate who ran a campaign so dirty, so vapid... and so ignorant of the ordinary characteristics of contemporary American culture and middle-school level history as Barack H. Obama is now running.

E.g.: Yesterday, Obama blatantly accused John S. McCain of plotting a racist campaign against him; today, Obama's campaign coyly pretended that wasn't what their fellow meant at all, at all.

But in the process, they made yet another ludicrous mistake, this time about currency, folding money, dollar bills -- one of the most common manufactured items ordinary people encounter every day, unless they are so out of touch with normal life that they have "people" to handle such distasteful things for them.

Here is Obama's original accusation (actually, prediction of a future accusation) with its painfuly obvious implication:

Stumping in an economically challenged battleground state, Obama argued Wednesday that President Bush and McCain will resort to scare tactics to maintain their hold on the White House because they have little else to offer voters. [They haven't done it yet, but I'm sure they're gonna!]

"Nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face. So what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me," Obama said. "You know, he's not patriotic enough, he's got a funny name, you know, he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

Although the McCain camp initially declined to respond to Obama's race baiting, evidently the Obama campaign started getting a little nervous about what its boss had just said, in what was probably yet another junior-moment off the teleprompter. That same day, they got out front, aggressively and pugnaciously saying the cold-blooded prediction of upcoming racism had nothing to do with race:

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said the senator was not referring to race.

"What Barack Obama was talking about was that he didn't get here after spending decades in Washington," Gibbs said Thursday. "There is nothing more to this than the fact that he was describing that he was new to the political scene. He was referring to the fact that he didn't come into the race with the history of others. It is not about race."

Ah... so Obama only meant that he didn't "look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills" who got to the White House "after spending decades in Washington." All right, gentle readers, let's all open our wallets and take a look at those bills...

  • $1 bill -- George Washington: Washington -- our first president, for the benefit of Obama supporters -- was a surveyer and soldier; he first became active in politics in 1758, when he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses; but this is not "Washington," or even the equivalent of that day (which would be New York or Philadelphia)... it was more like a state legislature, though Virginia was still a royal colony.

    In 1774, Washington was selected to be a Virginia delegate at the First Continental Congress, his first national position. But less than a year later, he was chosen to be Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. The war (that would be the Revolutionary War, for you Democrats) lasted until 1781; Washington retired from the Continental Army in 1783.

    In 1787, he was sent by Virginia to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, at which he was elected president of the convention. Two years later, he was elected the first President of the United States by a unanimous vote of the electoral college.

    Total time served in "Washington" (which wasn't yet Washington, obviously) prior to his election: Less than three years, or a year less than Barack H. Obama.

  • $2 bill -- Thomas Jefferson: Jefferson was a busy fellow, the president whose federal service came closest to meeting the ironic claim of Robert Gibbs that Obama referred only to the "decades in Washington" that " all those other presidents on the dollar bills" boasted before their presidential elections.

    Jefferson was chosen as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress (one year), the Congress of the Confederation (one year), served as Secretary of State under George Washington for four years, and served as John Adams' vice president for four years.

    Total time served in "Washington" prior to his election: ten years. Still a bit shy of "decades," though.

  • $5 bill -- Abraham Lincoln: Lincoln ran unsuccessfully for the Illinois General Assembly in 1832; two years later, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1846... but he served only a single term, choosing not to stand for reelection after a fiery speech that was not well received.

    Lincoln was nominated for the United States Senate in 1858, but he lost the election to Democratic incumbent Stephen Douglas. In 1860, he successfully ran for President of the United States (shortly to become the untied states).

    Total time served in Washington prior to his election: A single two-year term in the House.

  • $10 bill -- Alexander Hamilton: First of all, Hamilton served for less than one year in the Congress of the Confederation (1782-3); he was Secretary of the Treasury for six years, giving him less than seven years in federal service.

    But second, as I'm sure Obama and all of his supporters are well aware, Alexander Hamilton was never President of the United States. He was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr in 1804. So I reckon he doesn't count.

  • $20 bill -- Andrew Jackson: Another general who became president, Jackson served in the U.S. House of Representatives (from Tennessee) for one year and in the Senate for less than a year. He was again elected senator twenty-four years later, in 1822. He ran for president in the election of 1824, then resigned from the Senate in 1825, following the "corrupt bargain" that brought John Quincy Adams to the White House, despite Jackson having a plurality of the electoral-college vote. Jackson was decisively elected president in 1828.

    Total time served in Washington prior to his election: five years, spread across nearly thirty (two at the beginning, three at the end).

  • $50 bill -- Ulysses S. Grant: General. Civil War. President. He was elected three years after the war ended.

    Total time served in Washington prior to his election: Um... that would be zero.

  • $100 bill -- Benjamin Franklin: I'm really, really, really certain that all those screaming Obama fans, who see him as the next Paris Hilton, are well aware, from their deep knowledge of history, that Benjamin Franklin was also never President of the United States, having inconveniently died in the middle of George Washington's first term. He also never served a day in federal service in the country; his only national office was ambassador to France.

    Total time served in "Washington": also zero.

And that exhausts the list of current United States currency in general circulation.

There are some goofy bills only used by banks and suchlike:

  • The $500 bill has William McKinley, who spent no time in Washington prior to his election;
  • The $1,000 bill has Grover Cleveland, who also served no time in Washington before his presidency -- McKinley and Cleveland were both former governors;
  • The $5,000 bill has James Madison, who was Secretary of State under Jefferson for eight years before becoming our fourth president;
  • The $10,000 bill has Salmon P. Chase -- who served for 19 years in Washington, but was never president;
  • And the $100,000 bill -- yes, there was such a thing -- has Woodrow Wilson... who also went directly to the presidency from a governorship.

Sadly, it appears that Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs is a bit bewitched, bothered, or bewildered about American history (and currency): Not a single United States President on any denomination of our currency served "decades in Washington" prior to his election. Not one! Not on any of the circulating currency; not on any of the bank bills... and not even any of the three non-presidents who grace our currency or bank bills. (The closest non-president is Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase, with his nineteen years.)

I'm afraid that I must reluctantly conclude either that Barack Obama is completely ignorant of American folding money and/or American history... or else that he really did deal a race card off the bottom of the deck, after all.

But there is something to salvage here; there is definitely a sense in which Obama is totally unlike "all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

They all had great accomplishments in their lives prior to running for the presidency. They won wars, or served as governors, or passed significant legislation during their brief tenures in Congress. Even Abraham Lincoln, arguably the president who was closest, among our greats, to being a dark horse, during the 1850s -- and particularly because of his debates with Stephen Douglas during the senatorial election of 1858 -- was considered the foremost and most respected opponent of slavery in the immediate pre-war period, a towering national figure even without having held major elective office.

Barack H. Obama has a couple of speeches under his belt.

So in that sense, indeed yes; he doesn't look much like the presidents on American currency. And indeed yes again... he does have a funny name.

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, July 31, 2008, at the time of 2:26 PM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: boffo

What exactly does someone who has spent decades in Washington *look* like?

I suppose the literal answer to that question is this, but somehow I doubt that's what Obama had in mind.

The above hissed in response by: boffo [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 31, 2008 3:24 PM

The following hissed in response by: Baggi

I'm starting to think that Obama missed some culturally important years as a youngster living abroad.

I wish I could ask Obama a question on live television. I'd ask him, "Senator Obama, what is the color of the United States flag?"

This would show me whether or not he understands something so simple as American Culture.

I'd be willing to bet he wouldn't answer, "Red, White and Blue."

I'd also be willing to bet that his followers would excuse his lack of an appropriate response as not a big deal.

The above hissed in response by: Baggi [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 31, 2008 7:35 PM

The following hissed in response by: Eilish

You know, I'm getting really tired of this "funny name" business. Barack, have you forgotten (or have you ever heard of) Millard Fillmore? I mean, really...Barack Obama is not that funny compared to poor Millard. Let's get some perspective here, people!

The above hissed in response by: Eilish [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 31, 2008 10:09 PM

The following hissed in response by: Eilish

You know, I'm getting really tired of this "funny name" business. Barack, have you forgotten (or have you ever heard of) Millard Fillmore? I mean, really...Barack Obama is not that funny compared to poor Millard. Let's get some perspective here, people!

The above hissed in response by: Eilish [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 31, 2008 10:10 PM

The following hissed in response by: Eilish

Oops, sorry for the double-post!

The above hissed in response by: Eilish [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 31, 2008 10:12 PM

The following hissed in response by: LarryD

... all those other presidents ...

I think that's the real gaffe.

The above hissed in response by: LarryD [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 1, 2008 8:05 AM

The following hissed in response by: Davod

Barack's campaign could be a boon for educators.

As soon as he makes comments of a historical, geographical, or social (Dollar notes)nature, teachers across the nation could get their students to fact check him.

For instance wrt to Berlin - which places are cities and which are countries?

How many states comprise the USA?

How many presidents are on Dollar bills?

Why is Obama a different president than those on the dollar bills (trick question)?

Then again - the MSM could make it part of their daily columns.

The above hissed in response by: Davod [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 1, 2008 2:23 PM

The following hissed in response by: Davod

PS:

At some stage I would like to see some advertising (not from McCain) highlighting that Obama acts like has already been elected when he not even the Democratic candidate.

Obama doesn't think he needs to have a vote in November.

The above hissed in response by: Davod [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 1, 2008 2:27 PM

The following hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh

Davod:

At some stage I would like to see some advertising (not from McCain) highlighting that Obama acts like has already been elected when he not even the Democratic candidate.

Actually, Barack H. Obama is a Democratic candidate -- the only remaining Democratic candidate.

He is not yet officially the Democratic nominee.

Dafydd

The above hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 1, 2008 4:02 PM

The following hissed in response by: Davod

Thanks for reminding me.

The above hissed in response by: Davod [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 3, 2008 3:09 AM

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