Or something like that. During last nights’ complete waste of time “debate,” Obama asserted that the invention of the computer was due to a government defense project of some sort. Per The Washington Times:
“The same way the computer was originally invented by a bunch of government scientists who were trying to figure out, for defense purposes, how to communicate,” he said.
The mistake was reminiscent of Mr. Gore’s comments about the Internet. When running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1999, he told a CNN interviewer: “During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet.”
The first computers were created by teams of professors and graduate students. The two teams with the strongest claim to the invention were from Iowa State University and the University of Pennsylvania, where the research originally was funded by the Army during World War II.
Maybe Brokaw’s “Manhattan Project” question helped muddle Obama’s thoughts. Nah, this question came after. From CNN’s transcript:
Should we fund a Manhattan-like project that develops a nuclear bomb to deal with global energy and alternative energy or should we fund 100,000 garages across America, the kind of industry and innovation that developed Silicon Valley?
What the hell does that even mean? I get the “Manhattan Project” part, it’s the “100,000 garages” that stumps me. Why not a couple thousand shoe stores, or 1,500 beanie factories? Anyway, in response, John McCain said, “Blah, blah, blah, you know who voted for the Bush-Cheney energy bill, that one,” and pointed at Obama. (I’m paraphrasing here.) This seemed to be part of McCain’s strategy to portray Obama as “not-yet-ready-for-primetime.” It clearly rattled Obama, because later, he took a “nyah nanna-na-nah, same goes for you!” approach, when he said this:
Now, Sen. McCain suggests that somehow, you know, I’m green behind the ears and, you know, I’m just spouting off, and he’s somber and responsible.
McCain: Thank you very much.
Obama: Sen. McCain, this is the guy who sang, “Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran,” who called for the annihilation of North Korea. That I don’t think is an example of “speaking softly.
Now, Obama’s media supporters are predicting that other sources will soon be calling McCain racist for the “that one” comment. While Grampa Mac was clearly being dismissive, it’s much less clear that his derision was racially motivated. But then, I guess whenever an old white guy, in essence, calls a younger black guy, “Sonny,” you could make the racism case. Whatever. All I know is, I would have cared a lot more about the whole race thing a few months ago, before racism itself became a stereotype.
Besides, the “green behind the ears” thing makes Obama a Vulcan. And, he called himself that.
