The Washington Post's official "fact-checker," Michael Dobbs, has taken Barack Obama to the woodshed over his Auschwitz-related ignorance:
"Many Americans might have problems distinguishing Buchenwald and Ohrdruf from Auschwitz. But should we not expect more from a Harvard-educated presidential candidate? Is it too much to ask that an aspiring commander-in-chief knows (1) that Auschwitz (like many of the other Nazi death camps) is in Poland, and (2) that the eastern advance of the U.S. Army in World War II stopped on the river Elbe?"
A couple of things:
1) It's not often that I rush to defend my dear old alma mater, but Obama received a Harvard education only at the law school. I would be willing to bet that if he was asked to produce the holding of Capron v. Van Noorden, he could do so quite ably. Unfortunately, such knowledge isn't the most useful thing in the world for a potential future president. The blame for Obama's ignorance in other areas rightfully rests with the lesser institution where he did his undergrad work, Columbia University.
2) The key phrase in the fact-checker's beef is not "Harvard-educated" but rather "aspiring commander-in-chief." Back in their school days, John McCain was a dreadful student where Barack Obama was a spectacular one. But for an aspiring commander-in-chief, John McCain knows what you have to know. It's becoming increasingly apparent that Barack Obama doesn't.
