September 10, 2011

Did PBS cover an Obama gaffe?

When Obama addressed congress last Thursday, one of the vignettes he used was about Abraham Lincoln. Here's what the NY Times reporter heard Obama say:
We all remember Abraham Lincoln as the leader who saved our Union. Founder of the Republican Party. But in the middle of a civil war, he was also a leader who looked to the future.
After the speech people began to note that the Republican party actually wasn't founded by Lincoln, who joined two years after the party was in fact founded.

Let me quickly say that I never knew who founded the party so I'm not very concerned that Obama made a mistake. What interests me is that when PBS initially posted their version of the transcript, the line about Lincoln was missing.

They've since corrected their so-called transcript. Turns out they simply posted the prepared text of the speech that was given to PBS
by the president's staff, and didn't contain the "founder" line, and the network simply published what they were handed instead of listening to the actual speech and publishing what was actually said.

But imagine the furor in the press if Palin or Bachman or Perry--or Bush--had made this exact statement!

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