Sorry, President Obama--but the US did not "invent" the automobile

[Bicoastal]

The Germans did.



Karl Benz, 1888.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

1. I think he meant the auto industry, or the modern auto industry

Assembly lines, and all that jazz.

But yes, I caught that too.

[Bicoastal]

2. Well, we DID create all that jazz...

;)

[treestar]

3. Don't worry, the freeps will never catch that one

they will want to believe Americans invented it.

[biopowertoday]

38. nope, they heard him and are correcting Pres. Obama.

[BuyingThyme]

4. Internal combustion?

[Teaser]

5. Please, the Irish did it first

And they ran on whiskey.

[Historic NY]

9. The Irish get blamed for everything....with their wonderful nectar.

[Jackeens]

11. Oi! Henry O'Ford was as jober as a sludge.

[SoxFan]

14. The Water of Life

Seriously. The word whisky is derived from the Gaelic phrase uisce beatha "water of life".

[Historic NY]

17. hey I'm with ya.

[fadedrose]

6. Assembly line nt

[liberalmuse]

7. Kill joy!

Fuckin' DUers and they're being "well informed" (I'm kidding. I loves you guys!)

[Urban Prairie]

8. Being a Detroiter...

Yeah, the assembly line was invented here, not the automobile.

[Historic NY]

10. ah but we perfected it.

[Ioo]

12. We perfected it from a hand made one off to something in every driveway

[thevoiceofreason]

13. It's Debbie Downer!

Enjoy the moment.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

15. Yeah, but then they went and bombed Pearl Harbor...

[Hello_Kitty]

22. LOL

You owe me a new keyboard.

[Deep13]

16. We invented the modern, mass-produced automobile.

Before that they were custom made toys for the rich. Some of them still are.

[Historic NY]

18. that damn Eli Whitney & the cotton jin did it.

[Occam Bandage]

24. Having not read this thread before replying, I am somewhat surprised by how

closely my post resembles yours.

[hugo_from_TN]

19. This will not go over well in Germany.

They are very proud of their accomplishments in the auto industry. Obama needs to educate himself and apologize to Germany.

[Kalyke]

25. My husband's Beemer certainly isn't an accomplishment.

It's in the shop every three months.

He's unloading it for a Ford Escape Hybrid as soon as he's not upside down on it.

[hugo_from_TN]

30. Should have bought a car from Stuttgart...

The Bavarians are no match for Schwabians when it comes to building cars.

[Numba6]

20. A little old lady in Moscow invented the first internal combustion machine -- Pavel Chekov

[Occam Bandage]

26. And she only drove it to the markets on Sunday. It's a real steal, partner, a real steal. nt

[mmonk]

21. I'm thinking he meant how we revolutionized the manufacturing

process and mass assembly.

[Occam Bandage]

23. We invented the commercially viable mass-produced automobile.

Benz invented a handcrafted toy for the rich. We invented the auto industry. I think Obama's claim is fair.

[wyldwolf]

27. In any color you wanted, too... as long as it was black.

[hugo_from_TN]

28. No it is not

Obama said our nation invented the automobile, not the automobile industry. He was wrong. Do we have to twist ourselves into pretzels (invented by Germans "Brezeln") in order to give him an excuse for this mistake?

[Occam Bandage]

29. Yes, if you look at the claim on its face, it is technically incorrect.

Similarly, if Obama in a speech about the vision of Kennedy were to say "America was the first to the Moon" he would be technically incorrect, because the Russians sent an unmanned probe to the Moon before we did.

But yet only pedants would complain, because it is obvious that he meant "first to send a man to the moon," and not "first to send an object to the moon." Similarly, it is obvious in a discussion of the modern automobile industry, that Obama was referring to the creation of the modern mass-produced automobile, and not to the first vehicle that was propelled with an internal combustion engine.

[hugo_from_TN]

31. It wasn't obvious at all

Perhaps he should have added the word 'industry'?

[Occam Bandage]

32. He could have added it. nt

[Bake]

33. What, so now he needs to APOLOGIZE to Germany?

No effin' way.

Bake

[Uncle Joe]

34. That will teach them a lesson for bombing Pearl Harbor!

:grr:

[PurityOfEssence]

35. Peugeot's been making and selling internal combustion engined cars continuously since 1891

I think they were the second in the business...

[marshall]

36. It's a nuance, like inventing the internet

In the long run history isn't necessarily factual, it's whatever the victor chooses to make it. We are the "leader of the free world" and Obama is our leader, so if he wants to say we invented automobiles who is there to argue with that?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

37. Petty Semantics.

Any reasonably rational clear thinking individual would know exactly what he meant and the accuracy of the statement.

Couldn't find anything else to bitch about at the moment I take it?