Obama Banking Committee Gaff

[Pangloss]

Obama made this statement in Israel this afternoon:

 

"This past week we passed out of the US Senate Banking committee, which is my committee, a bill to call for divestment from Iran as a way of ratcheting up the pressure to ensure that they don't obtain a nuclear weapon," Obama said

 

Two sources posted within the last hour:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/07/23/obama-incorrectly-claims-membership-of-senate-committee/

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/07/23/1218024.aspx

 

Unfortunately Obama is not on the Banking Committee. This one really irks me because it should have passed his internal "stink test". You simply cannot say something like that without realizing it's false. You can't not know what committees you're on. It's just not reasonable.

 

I may be jumping the gun a bit posting this so quickly. Perhaps there's a reasonable explanation.

 

(I want to check to see if he was even in the country when the committee passed it. I thought he was already on the road at the time. But I've got to get back to work so it'll have to wait.)

[Phi for All]

Unfortunately Obama is not on the Banking Committee. This one really irks me because it should have passed his internal "stink test". You simply cannot say something like that without realizing it's false. You can't not know what committees you're on. It's just not reasonable.

This is pretty bad. I felt a bit this way when McCain made the Iran/Pakistan border comment; you don't even start talking about the Middle East if you don't have your brain straight on the difference between Iraq and Iran. But this is much worse.

 

If he was reading from a prepared statement he should have taken those words back as soon as they were out of his mouth. And if he was just winging it, it shows a real disconnect that a Senator forgets which committees he's on, even if he is campaigning for another office.

[iNow]

Is he on some similar committee that he may be mistaking it for, or was he involved with getting the committee setup in the first place?

 

Seems less of a gaff (like mistaking Iraq for Iran or Sunni for Shia) than a poor word choice.

[Pangloss]

I can hear Hillary smirking all the way from here. (When she's not ducking from the sniper fire.)

 

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Update:

 

Looks like it was actually his bill, so he does have a valid reason for using the word "my" and therefore clearly just misspoke -- "my bill" is what he should have said. Obama helped write the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act which was then referred to the Banking committee where it became the bill under discussion today. (Frankly if I had his jetlag I'd probably take credit for birthing my parents. Under sniper fire. In a hurricane.)

 

This update was posted to one of the articles I linked earlier:

 

An Obama spokesman tells CNN “it was his bill, not his committee,” referring to the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act that the Illinois senator sponsored and introduced in May 2007. The measure was then referred to the Banking Committee, and passed a vote of 19-2 on July 17.

 

This URL from 2007 shows Obama as a co-author of the bill:

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/financialsvcs_dem/press0515072.shtml

 

So once again we find the reality molehill undermining the media mountain (1250+ articles on this on Google News already). I hope you all aren't too angry with me for posting this. Perhaps it is an interesting example for other reasons.

Edited July 24, 2008 by Pangloss
multiple post merged

[bascule]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/07/23/obama-incorrectly-claims-membership-of-senate-committee/

 

In a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday, Obama told the former Israeli Prime Minister, “I could fall asleep now standing up,” after Netanyahu asked him how his whirlwind trip to the Middle East and Europe is going.

 

Exhaustion?

 

 

Is it me, or is Obama starting to look a bit gray around the edges?

[iNow]

I can hear Hillary smirking all the way from here. (When she's not ducking from the sniper fire.)

 

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line[/hr]

 

Update:

 

Looks like it was actually his bill, so he does have a valid reason for using the word "my" and therefore clearly just misspoke.

 

<...>

 

(Frankly if I had his jetlag I'd probably take credit for birthing my parents. Under sniper fire. In a hurricane.)

 

Damn, I'm good.

 

But, you Pangloss, that first and last line were funny. Props.

[Pangloss]

You did indeed call it, kudos.