Gaffetastic. Obama Blows Line From Statue of Liberty in Immigration Address — It's Even Wrong on the White House Website!
Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, July 1, 2010, 12:51 PM
“Give me your tired, and your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to be free…”
President Barack Obama
Blowing a line from Emma Lazarus‘ famous poem.
Amnesty Speech
July 1, 2010
Umm… It’s “yearning to breathe free”, Barack.
Barack Obama blew a line from Emma Lazarus‘ poem “The New Colossus” that appears on a bronze plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty today during his immigration speech.
Here’s Barack Obama fumbling the lines from one of the world’s most famous poems:
(At 2:41 of the video)
Hat Tip Bob Grant
It wasn’t a fluke…
The White House website even has the wrong words:
Of course, this surprises no one.
Here’s more on this famous poem:
Emma Lazarus, whose own family fled persecution from Europe generations earlier, took up the cause of these new immigrants. Although she was a poet, she spent much of her time advocating for better health care and housing for the newcomers. And inspired by what she saw and heard, she wrote down her thoughts and donated a piece of work to help pay for the construction of a new statue — the Statue of Liberty — which actually was funded in part by small donations from people across America.
Years before the statue was built — years before it would be seen by throngs of immigrants craning their necks skyward at the end of long and brutal voyage, years before it would come to symbolize everything that we cherish — she imagined what it could mean. She imagined the sight of a giant statue at the entry point of a great nation -– but unlike the great monuments of the past, this would not signal an empire. Instead, it would signal one’s arrival to a place of opportunity and refuge and freedom.“Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand,” she wrote,
A mighty woman with a torch…
From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome…
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!”…
“Give me your tired, and your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to be free…
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”Let us remember these words. For it falls on each generation to ensure that that lamp -– that beacon -– continues to shine as a source of hope around the world, and a source of our prosperity here at home.
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Busted!… Obama Headlined a DEMOCRAT SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA Event in 1996 **FLIER**
Published May 24, 2012 at 8:46 pm - 89 Comments
Adirondack Patriot commented:
Even someone in the Marine Corpse living in one of the 57 states would know that.
sliderblaze commented:
blame it on the prompter
cc commented:
As usual, he is wrong. Emma Lazarus did not “help pay for the construction” of the statue. It was a gift from France. Her poem was part of a COMPETITION to raise funds to build the stone platform on which the statue sits. The statue itself was a gift from France to celebrate the centennial of the Declaration of Independence.
Andreas K. commented:
Well, that’s smart power. Or something.
martha commented:
I’m thinking of Glenn Beck’s speech at CPAC and he gave an interpretation of that speech that knocked it out of the park,
and this tin-pot dictator ca’nt even get the quote right
Joylily514 commented:
All I can think of to say is, if Bush had done this…you know the rest.
big L commented:
you forgot to put “breathe” in YOUR copy
BigAlSouth commented:
Now wait just a dang minute, Mr. Hoft! Are you saying that my President blows?
aro5o75 commented:
He also made up the history behind the Statue, he knows nothing of American history so he just makes it up. He knows that none of his disciples know American history either. They ignorantly swoon over his empty fraudulent rhetoric.
He and they make me sick.
ogee commented:
He’s a f*&^%n boob. “Does he know anything?” says O’Reily the MSM boob.
BigAlSouth commented:
. . . and he did not blow a line. He did a line of blow . . .
Paul_______ commented:
Who cares?
What we need to do is to shove the Torch up his ass, literally.
Bob commented:
I just want to take a pill, go to sleep, and wake up in 2012.
down with dems commented:
You can’t expect leadership from someone who reads the teleprompter like Ron Burgundy and thus is at the mercy of whoever typed the speech in. President Talking Head, nothing more.
Obama also has many leather-bound books… on socialism.
NoMo commented:
What he really meant:
Give us your losers yearning for free stuff
and voting democrat.
ProLifer commented:
Quiet!
You will piss him off.
Kenny Solomon commented:
Gaffe ?
Error ?
Mistake ?
How about this take……….. Purposeful.
They’re re-writing history……
Nudge….. Cass Sunstein’s specialty. The most dangerous man in America.
One time, it might be a full book, unpublished for years, but “somebody” wants to reissue it…… and it’s altered. But since nobody’s seen it for a while, nothing seems wrong, or out of place…… until somebody who does notice actually says something….. and is taken to the woodshed, ridiculed, character assassinated, etc.
Another time it could be one chapter.
Sometimes they’ll mess with only one page at a time, or maybe just one paragraph in an innocuous setting
But worse……… They’ll go and flip one word in something major – a purely American tradition – planting the seed for “change”.
Yes, I deeply believe they are THAT DANGEROUS and easily capable of pure evil.
Kenny Solomon
Proud armed Son of The Great Satan.
…..and Eeeeevil Jooooooooooo too.
Auntie Em commented:
The man is a disgustin, and anyone that has something good to say of him cannot be trusted with children.
November 2012.
Sen. Fuller Bull - D commented:
He’s channeling Freddie Mercury.
Formerly known as Skeptic commented:
It’s also “Give me your tired, your poor,…” not “Give me your tired, and your poor,…” I hope that the version on the WH website is the “as delivered” transcript and not the “as prepared.” Those are acceptable reading mistakes (although I noticed the extra ‘and’ immediately), but if someone wrote it that way they should be fired.
Paul_______ commented:
“Under every government the last resort of the people is an appeal to the sword; whether to defend themselves against the open attacks of a foreign enemy, or to check the insidious encroachments of domestic foes.”
Quote by:
A Framer
Anonymous ‘framer’ of the US Constitution
Source:
Independent Gazetteer, January 29, 1791
What the hell are we waiting for???? We have domestic enemies. Why are we accepting slavery???
Lily commented:
Hey, I’M YEARNING TO BREATH FREE!
I live in a country that used to be free. Now my government passes laws the people don’t want and takes their money for other people’s comfort. When the people complain, they are insulted and sent away. My government thinks we are just here to work, send our money to them, and shut up about it.
What country can I go to now for freedom?
Mender commented:
Why is that so surprising for a douche that doesn’t put his hand on his heart for the Pledge of Allegiance? I’m sure that witchy-witch Michelle had nothing to do with that, right? What a hateful [c-word] she is.
Betsy Ross commented:
Good thing his name isn’t George W Bush…
The Triguy commented:
The only thing that’s free anymore in this country IS breathing. Oh, wait. I forgot about Cap and Tax. Nevermind.
Karen commented:
Isn’t it time for these folks to go on vacation?
As Charles Krauthammer says, “at least when they are not there, they are not doing any damage” (or he says something close to that)
Paul_______ commented:
We have a choice:
Either we overthrow the Communists by taking to the streets and snatching them out of office because elections will change nothing or accept slavery.
You can leave America, but what’s out there is even worse. No worries though, you can stay, America is catching up rapidly with the rest of the world.
brooklyn commented:
LOL!
There were so many delusional, dishonest, destorted nonsense in this speech.
As if Obama had something to do with the ‘drawdown’ in Iraq…
Hardy har har.
The glaring reality, Obama said Our strength in ‘diversity’ clearly misses the entire point of the USA. People from all over the world, came in droves for FREEDOM, especially ECONOMIC FREEDOM.
Obama’s citing some famed Immigrants who excelled in the PRIVATE SECTOR making lives better for all, only highlights the folly of the disastrous Democratic Party’s socialist vision.
They are destroying the very reason why so many came to the USA, taking away freedom, and turning us into a State Run Economy.
It could not be more ironic and pathetic.
DNC TITANIC continues.
Bobbi85710 commented:
Jim, make sure you put the correct version of the stanza up at the bottom of your article. I tweeted the article and rosethistleart sent me this message at 2:55pm via Web
@bobbi85710 at the bottom of that article it says “be free” too. Whoops! She’s right!
Debbie commented:
They are rewriting history, but I think this was just another flub by the young ones who write his speeches and maintain the website.
“give us your people who want to be on the government dole, indebted to the government for their daily needs, who must vote Democrat in order to keep the trough open.
Somebody had a great idea, you don’t contribute, you don’t vote. When the majority is feeding at the Federal government’s trough, they can vote for/against whatever they want. Which puts the rest of us working slobs at a very big disadvantage.
Just my momentary opinion.
HandyBill commented:
Oil-bama = Epic Fail, and the peanut farmer sleeps better at night.
mike191 commented:
Paging David Brooks: this is a person with no interest in American history, he is an empty vessel who can only read from a teleprompter.
Kevin P commented:
I truly despise communists.
Steve commented:
OBVIOUSLY IT MUST BE BUSH’S FAULT!!!
Thank you for posting this GP! We used it on today Common Cents post (with a Hat Tip).
http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com
Opus #6 commented:
Give me your tired, huddles felons, yearning for free stuff.
PAT09 commented:
Rush nailed it today……. it is the Statue of Liberty and the poem was an invitation to the oppressed to come live in the light of liberty, not the Statue of Immigration where all have an entitlement to sneak in without consequence then demand a right to suckle at the teat of the nanny state.
Elly commented:
Barack Obama = Never met a good quote he couldn’t high jack for his own agenda.
gus commented:
B+
Paul Revere commented:
You’ll have to forgive him, he got too excited counting all of the undocumented democrats in the country.
24AheadDotCom commented:
Instead of concentrating on gaffes, let me suggest instead concentrating on how Obama tried to mislead people:
http://24ahead.com/n/10085
If you – yes you – work to show Obama supporters how he tried to mislead them, that might have an impact on this issue. You can do that by leaving comments on blogs and MSM sites, through Twitter and Facebook, and so on. Your goal should be to convince *his supporters* that he isn’t trustworthy.
Peggy commented:
The whole story was a mess. I was screaming at the radio. I guess his hatred of Europe came through–is it really just bad history alone? God help us either way.
The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France commemorating our nations’ friendship and honoring our Declaration of Independence (which Kagan’s not sure she buys into re: natural rights). The funding issue was related to the pedestal, not the statue.
Has any France representative complained yet?
The whole speech ticked me off. He’s laid the groundwork to blame the GOP–he was so blatantly political!–when the bill doesn’t pass. He’ll take that out on the hustings this fall.
Jeff commented:
Darn that TOTUS! Not to mention the speech is just another fabrication; France donated the statue, the donations were merely for the construction of the pedestal, and the original intent of the Gift of the Statue from France was nothing to do with imigration, rather it was to be a beacon of light, lighting the way to liberty.
kato commented:
A puppet is only as good as his handler.
Blame the guy who writes the copy for the teleprompter.
Bunni commented:
Another day, another obongo outrage. I agree with the guy who said I’d like to take a pill and sleep until 2012.
heroyalwhyness commented:
That both the WH script and the msm swoon not only ignore these gaffs but consistently facilitate them, is beyond sobering. The degree of success gained by the deliberate Dumbing Down of America as described by Charlotte Iserbyt is here for all to see.
bg commented:
++
OT.. sorry for posting this so late..
Standing For Our Soldiers
==
Johnny Walker commented:
Thank you to those who remembered the poem enough to notice the gaff. After double checking with a simple internet check, I was surprised at the lack of diligence and detail the President apparently expects… at the very least his speech writer should be fired.
@stopobama2012 commented:
He also stated that Donations from Across America paid for theStatue, I guess he didnt realize New yorkers paid for the pedastel only, The French paid for and gave us the Statue
Don Abernathy commented:
Come on… for a Kenyan that ain’t bad…. How many Americans know the Islamic the call to prayer….
roflmao
Sandy commented:
.
Thank God I missed the speech. I was yelling so loudly this morning when Obama said all Illegals should be able to get good paying jobs. At my age, I can’t take this kind of rage.
Sandy commented:
I thought Obama was going to focus on jobs — I just didn’t know when he made that statement he meant jobs for Illegals.
Sandy commented:
To any who still believe that like every other President this guy has America’s best interests at heart — I have a bridge you might like to buy in Brooklyn.
Sandy commented:
Jeffrey Immelt had harsh words for Barack Obama, US president, lamenting what he called a “terrible” national mood and expressing concern that over-regulation in response to the global financial crisis would damp a “tepid” US economic recovery. Business did not like the US president, and the president did not like business, he said, making a point of praising Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, for her defence of German industry.
“People are in a really bad mood [in the US],” Mr Immelt said. “We [the US] are a pathetic exporter…we have to become an industrial powerhouse again but you don’t do this when government and entrepreneurs are not in synch.”
Does this mean that Chris Matthews and the rest of the loonies at MSNBC will stop drooling when Obama speaks?
bg commented:
++
forget hm blowing a mere line, he blew it in it’s entirety..
if you listened to Rush today, then you would
know the true history of the Statue of Liberty..
It’s the Statue of Liberty – not the Statue of Immigration!
enjoy!!
==
JeannieBee commented:
Thank you, skeptic and others, for pointing out the correct and much more poetic wording –”your tired, your poor” — and the many other mistakes in this horrible misappropriation of Lady Liberty. Also note his total ignorance of Jewish history, and of the meaning of “e pluribus unum” which actually refers to the many states joined in one union.
One serious problem in the main posting — the central gaffe occurs around minute 32, NOT 2:41. This means I had to listen to almost the entire speech to hear it, and since that awful racism speeh in 2008 I’ve made it a point of honor NEVER to listen to this clown at any length. So, for my sake and for the many others who likewise can’t abide this fool, please avoid mistakes like this in future. Thank you!!
bg commented:
+
re: bg #64
video transcript & much more..
re: It’s the Statue of Liberty – not the Statue of Immigration!
==
Sandy from Chesterfield commented:
They are just changing our history as Michelle said they would. MICHELLE OBAMA: “Barack knows that we are going to have to make sacrifices; we are going to have to change our conversation; we’re going to have to change our traditions, OUR HISTORY; we’re going to have to move into a different place as a nation.”
bg commented:
++
WTF? Beyond Words
==
bg commented:
++
Statue of Liberty Centennial: Ronald Reagan
==
LimoLibsStink commented:
0bama:
Give me your tired and your AFDC dependent poor,
Your huddled stupid masses yearning to vote for me…
And, I will Gerrymander this country into the sea…
I would go on but I can’t see my teleprompter. Sure, Gerrymandering is the oldest trick to dilute the votes of the taxpayer – but it works for me!
Just ask Harry Reid or Barney Frank they have gerrymandered and screwed the crap of their voters.
I am just taking Gerrymandering to a higher level. I will Gerrymander all 57 states! I flair my nostrils to breathing free of being kicked out of Office by angry taxpayers.
My limousine is running and Barney and I have a meeting with George Soros. We will ram this through like Barney Frank penetrating my poodle’s butt. Good day.
Bob Grant commented:
@ Jeanie Bee
I don’t know how that happened.
I sent Jim the link with the edited version of the soundbite but somehow the long version is what he received.
I’m but one rung above knuckle puncher on the I T evolutionary ladder, Sorry.
dcat commented:
bg, :+:
For this!
and for For this!
Most of us will uphold the truth!
Emma Lazarus commented:
If you’re going to put my poem in your mouth, at least have the courtesy to get it right!
MrBlonde commented:
Beck at CPAC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJM6K_TBrWc
Phil commented:
In comment #7, big L writes that Jim Hoft messed up on the word “breathe” in his own copy. Jim, are you going to just leave it like that?!?!
Oh, by the way Ed Kennedy screwed up on this, too:
http://www.adl.org/immigrants/introemk.asp
Then again, so did scores of others, according to Google. (Obama’s friends probably do all their research via Google. Heh.)
bg commented:
++
re: bg #64/66
WRONG:
re: [And inspired by what she saw and heard, she wrote down her thoughts and donated a piece of work to help pay for the construction of a new statue — the Statue of Liberty — which actually was funded in part by small donations from people across America.
Years before the statue was built — years before it would be seen by throngs of immigrants craning their necks skyward at the end of long and brutal voyage, years before it would come to symbolize everything that we cherish — she imagined what it could mean. She imagined the sight of a giant statue at the entry point of a great nation -– but unlike the great monuments of the past, this would not signal an empire. Instead, it would signal one’s arrival to a place of opportunity and refuge and freedom.]
RIGHT:
[The Statue of Liberty was never meant to be a symbol of immigration. It was meant to be a symbol of liberty and freedom. The Statue of Liberty as designed and constructed had nothing to do with what Emma Lazarus wrote, and it's another distortion of the left to suggest that this country was founded for the express purpose of taking anybody, anywhere, any planet, any country, who wanted to come into the country. Under the guise that they were poor, they were huddled, they were hungry, they were thirsty. It was not about immigration at all. It was about liberty. We don't call it "the Statue of Immigration." We call it the Statue of Liberty. It was dedicated October 28th, 1886.]
==
Bob Grant commented:
@ Phil #75 & Big L #7
It’s U 2 that are wrong.
Jim has posted the transcripted passage of Obama’s speech where he erroneously retells the story of Emma Lazarus & then compounds the stupidity by booting the poem itself.
I guess you don’t think it’s important to know just how ignorant our POTUS & his entire staff is on Americana 101.
&
Newsflash Jim put the correction in the opening.
–”Umm… It’s “yearning to breathe free”, Barack.”–
What do you think he has time to type all the stuff that on this site ? He cut copies & pastes most of it & then adds it to the site.
GEEEESH Why do people insist on attacking the messenger.
GOP KICKS ASS commented:
He also said a few other disturbing things. One, that people raised money for the statute – it was a gift from France. He also said being born here isn’t what makes one an American.
Rather it is an idea. I guess that’s because he wasn’t born in America, but considers himself an American because of his socialist ideas.
Madmatt commented:
This “celebrity in chief” makes our last
prez look really capable,almost likeable,
He and wife are both equally unamerican,
and thus incapable of thinking in “freedom’s
terms.Every day that he is in office is a day of “national mourning”,this is just one of the thousands of “mentally challenged” things he has done thus far….,itll just get worse,and that is
if we are lucky! Hope and change?
“Hope this s**t changes”!is more like it!
Not THAT Gullible! commented:
This B.O. person in the White House is full of Guile in everything he says and does.
How many times have I heard commentators say, “He is brilliant!” ? You’ve heard them as well.
Well, he IS brilliantly guileful but in nothing more!!
Has America ever made a worse mistake than putting him in the White House? I think not.
This STILL is “One Nation Under God” (NOT A MUSLIM NATION) and as long as it is, there is still HOPE for America.
RockThisTown commented:
Give me your tired, and your poor,
Your huddled lawyers, yearning to destroy
the living, breathing U.S. Constitution.
A Republican misspells “potato” and the liberal media destroys him. Our anointed Democrat President can’t even get a quote right, even reading from the teleprompter, and he gets a pass.
Donovan commented:
so they made the specific phrase wrong… wow. amazing that it doesn’t change the meaning.