# Great diplomat Obama strikes again. "Ignorance and incompetence" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 30, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541 "2012-05-30T13:43:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/141 "2012-05-31T06:06:06Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > …“Remember the Maine” - well, do we? Not really. I mean we know what that refers to, but we really don’t harbor any long term grudges against Spain. … Well, of course not, why should an iceberg be Spain’s fault? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/142 "2012-05-31T06:14:49Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s safe to say Mitt Romney will carry Poland’s electoral votes come November. Poland’s been solid GOP territory ever since Ford liberated it from the Soviets back in 1976. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/143 "2012-05-31T07:37:50Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Well, of course not, why should an iceberg be Spain’s fault? Iceberg, Goldberg, what’s the difference? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/144 "2012-05-31T10:18:53Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I’ve heard more than once that antisemitism is **still** powerful in Poland. Which is rather amazing in a country where practically nobody born since WWII has ever met a live Jew. That is a patently untrue statement. There has been a resurgence of Jewish population and Jewish culture in Poland. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/145 "2012-05-31T10:53:33Z")
> [@FuriousGeorge](#): > > Suck my balls, you smarmy condescending fuck. Tell you what. [Go here.](http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/)Find the one you like best and shove it so far up your ass that you can taste it in the back of your fucking throat. I think I’ve never heard a more poetic phrasing of “I was wrong and I have no idea what I’m talking about.” Gold star to you, sir. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/146 "2012-05-31T11:57:04Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > That is a patently untrue statement. There has been a resurgence of Jewish population and Jewish culture in Poland. Which just goes to show that some people never learn. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/147 "2012-05-31T12:28:39Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > I think I’ve never heard a more poetic phrasing of “I was wrong and I have no idea what I’m talking about.” Gold star to you, sir. 😉 This is a Dope practice that drives me up a wall. If you have nothing to contribute beyond some retarded fucking game of gotcha (Yeah, I know, fuck that meme.) without actually addressing the fucking point and spirit of the post then save the poor hamsters some fucking time and energy. See post 112 on how to say “You got it wrong, idiot,” AND actually having something useful to contribute This is a lesson that would serve you well and go a long way in curing the verbal diarrhea that I’ve seen from you. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/148 "2012-05-31T13:29:17Z")
Is it possible that Poland doesn’t know that we all know what really went on there? Is it possible that the majority of Poles (in Poland) don’t really know what happened (vis a vis the treatment of Jewish by Poles)? Not that it has anything with what Obama said. Or maybe they are feigning offense to keep people from looking too close into it and finding out they were not _completely_ innocent of the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/149 "2012-05-31T13:39:40Z")
They know. My parents remember locals coming up to the camp fences to gawk. Plus they lived in a large city before it became the ghetto, and remember how their former neighbors turned on them. My parents city had a population of about 500,000, of which, in 1930, 200,000 were Jews. That many Jews ending up dead, disappeared or in the ghetto is not a subtle thing. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/150 "2012-05-31T15:52:51Z")
Is it election season (aka “the silly season”) in Poland, too? ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/151 "2012-05-31T16:40:09Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > [50,000 Jews in Poland today.](http://articles.cnn.com/2008-09-30/world/poland.jewish.revival_1_lauder-foundation-jewish-life-poland-s-jews/2?_s=PM:WORLD). And yes, anti-semitism is strong in Poland. And France. And Holland. And Britain. etc. etc. > > Oh and for your education: [A Jewish renaissance in Poland | Poland | The Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/07/jewish-renaissance-poland) Uh huh. Might I recommend for you the BBC documentary _Stadiums of Hate_? It’s on YouTube, and will give you an opportunity to learn how to say “Jewish Whore” in a new language. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/152 "2012-05-31T16:41:22Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > [50,000 Jews in Poland today.](http://articles.cnn.com/2008-09-30/world/poland.jewish.revival_1_lauder-foundation-jewish-life-poland-s-jews/2?_s=PM:WORLD). There were 3,500,000 Jews in Poland before World War II. So 97% of the Jewish population is gone. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/153 "2012-05-31T17:07:01Z")
If Obama let Biden deliver the speech, Biden would have confused Poland with Philadelphia!😃 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/154 "2012-05-31T17:09:34Z")
Oooh, snap! Wilde? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/155 "2012-05-31T17:18:37Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There were 3,500,000 Jews in Poland before World War II. So 97% of the Jewish population is gone. There seem to be conflicting cites on this. The article Terr posted was written in 2008 and says > [@](#): > > There are an estimated 25,000 people with Jewish ancestry in Poland, according to monthly magazine Midrasz. But also says > [@](#): > > In 1939 there was an estimated 3.5 million Jews living in Poland, compared to around 50,000 in 2008 – but the fact that it survives at all reflects the progress the country has made since 1989. But I also found [this page](http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/jewpop.html) which claims to be updated in 2010 which says 3,200 out of 38,038,000 are Jewish. It may be that many of the people with Jewish ancestry aren’t claiming to be Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/156 "2012-05-31T17:41:49Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Oooh, snap! Wilde? See, the joke is they both start with P, and Biden is somewhat prone to gaffes. It’s a lot funnier when you know the background. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/157 "2012-05-31T20:26:28Z")
Anyway, this is about as important as the Romney campaign’s misspelling ‘America’ as ‘Amercia.’ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/158 "2012-05-31T21:39:58Z")
🙂 Hey, I got one! How does a Polish soldier salute?! [With two fingers!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-finger_salute) One for God, and one for Country! Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk! Aren’t Polacks **stupid?!** 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/159 "2012-05-31T23:11:36Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > There seem to be conflicting cites on this. So depending on what year you’re looking at there are either 50000, 25000, or 3200 Jews remaining in Poland. And somebody writes that Poland is making “progress” on this issue. Is anyone else concerned? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/160 "2012-06-01T00:35:44Z")
> [@FuriousGeorge](#): > > This is a Dope practice that drives me up a wall. If you have nothing to contribute beyond some retarded fucking game of gotcha (Yeah, I know, fuck that meme.) without actually addressing the fucking point and spirit of the post then save the poor hamsters some fucking time and energy. Physician, heal thyself. :rolleyes: > [@](#): > > See post 112 on how to say “You got it wrong, idiot,” AND actually having something useful to contribute This is a lesson that would serve you well and go a long way in curing the verbal diarrhea that I’ve seen from you. It’s always a pleasure to hear from a fan, but you’re not really giving me any compelling reason why I should give a shit about you or what you think. You’re ignorant, you’re unfamiliar with the terms of argument you’re using, and you’re profoundly uninteresting. Have a nice life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541.md?page=9)