Obama backs away from his "strongest experience I have in foreign relations" claim

[Karmadillo]

On Nightline last night, he seems to say he didn't say what he seemed to say. Here's the original statement:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/659550,obmock112007.article

<edit>

He noted his father was from Kenya and that he himself spent part of his childhood in Indonesia. ‘‘Probably the strongest experience I have in foreign relations is the fact I spent four years overseas when I was a child in Southeast Asia,’’ he said Monday.

more...

And here's what he said last night on Nightline:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=3916663&page=1

<edit>

TERRY MORAN: So let's talk about experience, which you talk about a lot. You said recently that the strongest experience you have in foreign relations is that you grew up for four years as a child in Southeast Asia.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA: Well, that's not exactly what I said. What I said was I think one of the things that sets me apart is that I spent time in other countries. And this wasn't just the four years that I was actually living in another country. My mother was a specialist in international development, and she, throughout my high school years, was traveling back and forth.

more...

[Cameron27]

1. lol

He said exactly that.

[MethuenProgressive]

9. "Well, that's not exactly what I said."< Fibber!

Inexperience shows.

[NYCGirl]

2. Here's what he said:

"If you don't understand these cultures then it's very hard for you to make good foreign policy decisions. Foreign policy is all about judgment," said Obama.

"The benefit of my life of having both lived overseas and traveled overseas ... is, I have a better sense of how they're thinking and what their society is really like," Obama said.

"A lot of my knowledge about foreign affairs isn't just what I studied in school -- I studied international relations when I was in college -- it's not just the work I do on the Senate foreign relations committee.

"It's actually having the knowledge of how ordinary people in these other countries live."

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gRVlNCfrTmHF-OGaFGEQyKgQI2Pg

[AtomicKitten]

4. funny how careful editing creates a completely different impression

Ah, politics.

[cuke]

8. Funny how NYCGirl had to chop up Obama's words to make it make sense

Obama said (in an unchopped up quote) ‘Probably the strongest experience I have in foreign relations is the fact I spent four years overseas when I was a child in Southeast Asia,’

But no, he did not say that.

[NYCGirl]

12. Unfortunately, we have a 4 paragraph rule here. But that's why I included the link.

I give people credit for having enough brains to read the article.

[cuke]

17. My point still stands

Obama got pwned. The quote that isn't chopped up shows that it is EXACTLY what Obama said. I can't wait to watch the video, if it's available

[NYCGirl]

21. And do you have a problem with what comes after that statement?

"A lot of my knowledge about foreign affairs isn't just what I studied in school -- I studied international relations when I was in college -- it's not just the work I do on the Senate foreign relations committee.

"It's actually having the knowledge of how ordinary people in these other countries live."

[Lucinda]

6. CNN (and elsewhere, have a different quote)

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/19/obama-cites-childhood-in-helping-shape-world-view/

"...After first mentioning that as a senator he's had "frequent interactions with world leaders" on fact-finding missions across the globe, the Illinois Democrat added, "But you know, probably the strongest experience I have in foreign relations is the fact that I spent four years living overseas when I was a child in Asia — Southeast Asia."...

[Lucinda]

3. If I remember correctly, there is video of him making the statement...

Looking for the link....

[Cameron27]

5. That would help.

I'll look for the video too.

[Lucinda]

7. The Foreign Policy meeting video is up at Obamas website...Not sure if

that's the right day. I'm on dialup and it's tooooo slow to load, or I'd dig through it.

I tried to find the DU thread I was remembering and it looks like it's gone. It did get pretty heated. :) Poooof.

The news articles quoting him are everywhere though.(quoting his original statement)

[Cameron27]

10. Ok, I'll look.

on edit: The video isn't there, at least I can't find it on his site.

[Lucinda]

13. It's off a link on the main page on the left. Here ya go:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post_group/ObamaHQ/Cx7J

They are embedded in the post. Obama is the bottom two that I can see...maybe others.

Still not sure that this is the right stuff...but it's worth checking.

Luc

[Cameron27]

15. Oh boy that was long lol,

The stream screwed up the first few minutes, so unless he said it then, it's not on the two videos that have him speaking.

[Lucinda]

25. Thanks for checking. If I had tried it I'd still be waiting for it to load. :)

I never did find the big cranky thread that was running when the story first broke.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

11. Obama is a chronic liar, but that does nothing to diminish his honesty

[1corona4u]

23. LOL.....n/t

[Tactical Progressive]

14. So, right off he lies

Obama - "Probably the strongest experience I have in foreign relations is the fact I spent four years overseas when I was a child in Southeast Asia,"

Nightline - "You said recently that the strongest experience you have in foreign relations is that you grew up for four years as a child in Southeast Asia."

Obama - "Well, that's not exactly what I said." ...

That IS exactly what he said. When even a DIRECT QUOTE isn't owned up to, what can you say about how fast and loose Obama is with even the facts that come right out of his mouth?


And now, he's pulling his Mom's work experience in as his own. Which I find amazing. Mind you, I think there's some merit to that, so I'm not bashing there at all, but this is the guy that derided Hillary's 30 years as an adult in the highest executive offices of State and Federal government as nothing but bystanding, now claiming his Mom's work experience when he was a teenager as a bolster for his foreign policy credentials. Just unbelievable.

Now we wait to see whether a single Obama acolyte on this board will own up to either the laughable core of his argument, or the hypocrisy of his revision.

[CyberPieHole]

16. Flippity-flop

is the sound Obama makes when trying to twist his answers around.

:kick: and recommend

[calteacherguy]

18. Obama was being witty, but people didn't get it.

I think the quote — "Probably the strongest experience I have in foreign relations is the fact I spent four years overseas when I was a child in Southeast Asia" — was meant as a kind of witticism, a play on the words "foreign relations." He developed relationships with people in a foreign country. If there were a novel titled "Foreign Relations" — you'd instantly get it.

[Karmadillo]

19. Was he being witty when he said it or when he said he didn't say it?

nt

[Josiah1982]

20. lol that's sad yet funny

[AtomicKitten]

22. Oh, look. The OP is making fun of Obama again.

Nice break from just attacking him.

[NYCGirl]

24. They probably couldn't find another Bill Sammon article to post.

But give 'em time.

[sandnsea]

26. Nobody cares, seriously

All these ridiculous word games don't matter to people.

Pretending you were against a war when you were for it, now that's a different matter completely.