redblueamerica.com

Auschwitz. There are only a handful of words that immediately conjure up such a strong emotional response. Surely, it is a reminder of worst and the best of humanity. As a leader and role model for future generations, the next President must have a clear understanding of such pivotal moments in our nation's history. At the very least, he or she should have some basic knowledge of history.

Senator B. Hussein Obama mentioned that he has an uncle who not only served this country in World War II, but also was among the first liberators at Auschwitz. He went on to give the family account of how his uncle refused to leave an attic for six months after returning home. The candidate reminded his listeners that we must provide adequate care of our returning troops. Of course no one will disagree that America has a huge debt to our armed forces for the dedication and selfless sacrifices they make so that others may not know the horrors of war.

The problem is that Auschwitz was liberated by the 322nd Rifle Division of the Red Army on January 27, 1945. Of course, this may just be a slip up, but one must wonder how genuine Obama truly is about embracing the message of this story that he heard so many times over the years, when he can't even remember the actual location that his uncle served. It turns out that his great uncle was at Buchenwald when it was liberated, but perhaps we should let him off just as HIllary was never called on her account of a sniper filled trip to Bosnia.

The actual problem here isn't his memory, but rather that he seems to have missed the point of this family account. Instead of focusing on his embracement of College Marxism, perhaps he should have learned the significance of lessons the world learned from not taking threats seriously. One must also question his sincerity if he can't even remember the facts of a story he claims to have internalized so dearly. Perhaps he will visit one of this country's veteran administration hospitals or perhaps engage a holocaust survivor in their views on his foreign policy approach. If he can retell his uncle's experiences and still not view Iran (among others) as a credible threat (see his May 18 comments), then one must wonder is he capable of realistically leading this nation if such historical challenge arose?