# Political figures public displays of civic/historical ignorance? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 30, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-figures-public-displays-of-civic-historical-ignorance/523062 "2009-12-30T16:59:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-figures-public-displays-of-civic-historical-ignorance/523062/41 "2009-12-31T22:58:55Z")
NC had a state senator say a woman can’t get pregnant during rape because “the juices don’t flow” And yes he was a Republican. He was also a dentist so he had basic medical training. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-figures-public-displays-of-civic-historical-ignorance/523062/42 "2009-12-31T22:59:22Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Didn’t Reagan once claim he had been over in Germany photographing the camps during WWII? (he was actually at home making training films?) > But nothing can beat the ultimate: “I am not a crook.” Or Barack Obama claiming his grandfather had help liberate Treblinka (which was actually liberated by the Russians). ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-figures-public-displays-of-civic-historical-ignorance/523062/43 "2009-12-31T23:59:09Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Or Barack Obama claiming his grandfather had help liberate Treblinka (which was actually liberated by the Russians). Actually, Obama said he had an uncle who helped liberate Auschwitz. When it was pointed out that it was the Russians who liberated Auschwitz, the Obama campaign said he really meant Buchenwald. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-figures-public-displays-of-civic-historical-ignorance/523062/44 "2010-01-01T00:03:31Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > Actually, Obama said he had an uncle who helped liberate Auschwitz. When it was pointed out that it was the Russians who liberated Auschwitz, the Obama campaign said he really meant Buchenwald. Which I think was then factually documented… Obama’s uncle was indeed at Buchenwald while serving in the US armed forces, though I suppose his actual role in “liberating” it may be up for debate. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-figures-public-displays-of-civic-historical-ignorance/523062/45 "2010-01-01T13:52:41Z")
“As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?” --Sarah Palin one month before becoming the Republican candidate for vice president. ---
**Author:** ![Bisected8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a4c791/32.png) [@Bisected8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bisected8)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-figures-public-displays-of-civic-historical-ignorance/523062/46 "2010-01-01T14:07:10Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Obama’s statement during his recent (otherwise excellent, IMHO) Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech that the U.S. has never fought another democracy was simply incorrect, considering the War of 1812. You could argue that there hasn’t been a “pure” democracy since ancient Greece, of course. Considering that modern democracies involve having an elected figure make the decision rather than have _every_ decision subject to a vote. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-figures-public-displays-of-civic-historical-ignorance/523062/47 "2010-01-01T18:24:48Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > …But it is arguable if Great Britain in 1776 or 1812 was what we would consider a ‘democracy’. Technically, they were a Monarchy, and they were a long, long way away from the “one person, one vote” standard. Hell it’s arguable if the _United States_ in 1812 was what we consider a “democracy”. We did have a more liberal franchise than the UK, but for the most part only white men who owned land and/or payed a certain amount in taxes were allowed to vote. That’s hardly “democractic” by modern standards. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-figures-public-displays-of-civic-historical-ignorance/523062/48 "2010-01-01T19:14:21Z")
Obama also [claimed](http://www.barackobama.com/2007/03/04/selma_voting_rights_march_comm.php) that the 1965 march in Selma Alabama resulted in his conception. Obama was born in [1961](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama). Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-figures-public-displays-of-civic-historical-ignorance/523062/49 "2010-01-02T03:26:22Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Granted I was only 6 years old at the time, but I don’t recall Ford ever clarifying/retracting his statement about Poland… > > Was he thinking of Austria? > > What was he actually talking about? This might help: [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,946700,00.html](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,946700,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-figures-public-displays-of-civic-historical-ignorance/523062/50 "2010-01-02T08:34:35Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Obama also [claimed](http://www.barackobama.com/2007/03/04/selma_voting_rights_march_comm.php) that the 1965 march in Selma Alabama resulted in his conception. Obama was born in [1961](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama). > > Regards, > Shodan In a similar vein, Hillary Clinton claimed- not once but several times- to have been named for Sir Edmund Hillary of Everest fame as her parents’ way of challenging and inspiring her not to accept obstacles. She was in fact 6 years old when Sir Edmund scaled Everest and he was virtually unknown to most people (especially middle class Americans) prior to that. Confronted with this info she claimed that her mother had read a magazine article on his plans, a claim which also had problems. Later she claimed that her mother _told_ her after Hillary climbed Everest this was who she was named for and she had believed her. I think that most recently she admitted through a spokesperson that there’s no connection at all between her name and Edmund Hillary. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-figures-public-displays-of-civic-historical-ignorance/523062/51 "2010-01-02T15:55:30Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > When President Reagan was shot and Vice President Bush was out of town, Secretary of State Al Haig publically stated: _“Constitutionally, gentlemen, you have the President, the Vice President and the Secretary of State in that order, and should the President decide he wants to transfer the helm to the Vice President, he will do so. He has not done that. As of now, I am in control here, in the White House, pending return of the Vice President and in close touch with him. If something came up, I would check with him, of course.”_ > > No, the Constitution places the Secretary of State fifth in the order of succession, following the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate. > > Haig later tried to explain his statement away by saying that he just meant who was running the operations of the executive branch not describing the order of succession. But he did specifically state that he was talking about an order established by the Constitution and there is no Constitutional text on an order of rank in the executive branch and who gives orders to who. Haig did not outrank Secretary of Defense Weinberger or Attorney General Smith or Chief of Staff Baker, for example, and did not have the authority to give them orders. Actually, the Constitution does not specifiy the order of succession beyond the Veep but rather gives Congress the authority to provide by law who shall serve should the Prez and Veep slots be vacant (Article II, Section 1, Clause 6). The law governing the order of succession at the time of Haig’s statement (as well as today) is the [Presidential Succession Act of 1947](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_Succession_Act) which indeed places the Secretary of State fifth after the Speaker and President Pro Tempore. Prior to that, however, the Secretary of State WAS the third on the list, under the Presidential Succession Act of 1886. Maybe Haig (born in 1924) was remembering back to his high school civics. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-figures-public-displays-of-civic-historical-ignorance/523062/52 "2010-01-02T22:20:45Z")
> [@](#): > > **Shodan** : He[Al Gore] also mentioned that he believed the arctic ice cap was going to melt completely in the next five to seven years. That’s not what your link (Fox News) says that he said. They claim that he said that there is a 75% chance that the polar ice cap _could_ melt completely _during the summers_ in the next five to seven years. That’s quite different from your interpretation. When the scientist that he referenced denied that he would ever be so exact, Gore then said that the scientist had said that that was a “ballpark figure” when he talked with Gore. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-figures-public-displays-of-civic-historical-ignorance/523062.md?page=2)