The sesquicentennial anniversary this week of the Gettysburg Address provided the most recent framework for what has become a tragedy of errors and omissions for the Obama administration.
The latest omission appears to be an outrage, but in reality is only an outrageous lapse of judgment by what should be an astute public relations staff that ought to know better.
It’s all over the internet that President Obama removed the words “under God” from a phrase in Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address he recited. In audio and video clips heard ’round the world, various politicians, lawmakers, dignitaries and other celebrity types read the phrase “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.”
But when Obama says it, he reads, “the nation shall have a new birth of freedom.”
That’s because he was reciting one of the earlier manuscript versions of the historical speech-and that version did not yet include “under God.” All indications are that he simply read the words given to him by Ken Burns’ organization, which conceived the “Learn the Address” program.
So it wasn’t really an omission. But it was a big time error. Obama staffers would have to be ostriches to not realize that the president is perceived as hostile to religion as traditionally expressed in government symbolism.
Any reading of an historic document other than the original should have triggered a red flag. Who else is reading this version? Who’s reading the final version? Will this reading be appropriately annotated?
The flagging should have grown even more crimson once the phrase’s omission became evident. No sage politician would happily record some earlier version of the Pledge of Allegiance, leaving out “under God,” and for good reason:
The internet’s capacity to replicate things is exponential, and social media’s structure creates explosive distribution.
The whole episode might not have been so bad but for the sister omission of Obama electing to not attend the 150th anniversary event in Gettysburg on Wednesday.
Evidently the same brain trust that failed to anticipate fallout from what everybody would think was a deliberate misreading of the Gettysburg Address also miscalculated the bad impression a presidential no-show at the event would leave.
Especially since the “schedule conflict” turned out to be some non-significant speech to Wall Street CEOs.
In the modern vernacular: Seriously?
Since 1863, 24 other presidents have made the pilgrimage to the battlefield on Nov. 19 to commemorate the military casualties and Lincoln’s enduring words.
And for heaven’s sake, if this president is too busy to make time for the ceremony culminating a year-long sesquicentennial series of events at one of the best known and most revered venues of the Civil War, his advisers need to make sure he’s too busy to attend (and be photographed at) a college basketball game the weekend before, too.
These Gettysburg mishaps come on the heels of the previous series of errors and omissions surrounding the Affordable Care Act, and more particularly the healthcare.gov website.
Yet another recording of President Obama’s voice is echoing over the internet, this time from a Sept. 26 speech in which he touts how simple it will be for “all Americans” to go online and shop for health insurance.
“You can compare and purchase affordable health insurance plans, side by-side, the same way you shop for a plane ticket on Kayak-same way you shop for a TV on Amazon,” Obama told a crowd at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Md.
This confident declaration contained both error and omission. He erred critically by comparing healthcare.gov to highly successful online companies.
And by omitting a phrase like “I’ve been told” or “my understanding is,” the president implied firsthand knowledge that he later denied having when he explained that he would never have made those claims within a week of the website launch had he known it wasn’t ready.
Even lazily inquiring minds wonder how the president can be so out of touch with the core component of the eponymously nicknamed signature legislation destined to be the legacy of his presidency.
Nonpolitical observers are now beginning to question how many errors and omissions it takes (remember the recurring “you can keep your current health-care plan, period” promise that didn’t really mean “period”) to add up to utter incompetence.
Corny-copia update
A decade ago, when I first proposed 10 Corny Things To Do At Thanksgiving, the Black Friday phenomenon was just starting to materialize as a merchandising mecca event.
Since it’s starting to bleed over into graying Thursday and become an affront to holiday corniness, I’m updating my list with Two Tricks To Beat Black Friday.
Sleep in-If you stay up late watching any of the classic black-and white movies featuring great Thanksgiving scenes, you’ll have trouble tackling 4 a.m. lines where the best early bird deals are found.
Wait for Cyber Monday-trends show online deals are often as good as in-store, plus you’re less likely to get caught up in a shopping frenzy and overbuy. Obama is right about it being easier to compare shop and save online (just not about health insurance).
Enjoy a simple, sentimental, family Thanksgiving!
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Dana Kelley is a freelance writer from Jonesboro.
Editorial, Pages 18 on 11/22/2013