Harold B. Estes Letter to Obama - Urban Legends

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/a/harold_estes.htm?nl=1
Harold B. Estes Letter to Obama
Thank You David Emery, About.com Guide
From Guantamo, to France, to Egypt...

(You might want to read the whole thing before you forward this letter from your email and make yourself look seriously dumb).

XOXO
Me


Emailed letter attributed to 95-year-old World War II Navy veteran Harold B. Estes lambastes President Obama for 'telling our friends & enemies despicable lies' and advises him to 'shape up and start acting like an American.'

Description: Forwarded email
Circulating since: Nov. 2009
Status: Authentic

Analysis:
Chief Boatswain's Mate Harold B. Estes, USN (Ret.) is a real person residing in Honolulu, Hawaii, who does indeed turn 95 years old this December.

He is also the confirmed author of the above letter, which, according to Rick Terwilliger, Estes' longtime friend and publisher of Fore n' Aft Magazine, was dictated by Estes (whose eyesight is poor), signed by him, and mailed to the White House and a list of about 50 other handpicked recipients in November 2009.

Thanks, presumably, to one or more of those original addressees, Estes' letter has since been published on scores of blogs and online message boards, and "gone viral" in the form of the email reproduced above.

'Despicable lies' or misquotes?

While it is Mr. Estes' right as an American to upbraid the President, it bears pointing out that he has done so largely on the basis of misquotes.

Let's take a closer look at Obama's so-called "despicable lies."

*** Despicable Lie #1: "We're no longer a Christian nation."

Sure enough, Obama said exactly those words in 2006 at Sojourners magazine's "Call to Renewal" conference in Washington, D.C. But that wasn't the end of the sentence.

Here's the full quote, in context:

    Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation — at least, not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.

The awkward phrase, "at least, not just," was a verbal flub. As written, the passage was supposed to begin:

"Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation."

Sources:
   • Call to Renewal Keynote Address (as Written). BarackObama.com.
   • Call to Renewal Keynote Address (as Delivered). YouTube.com.


*** Despicable Lie #2: "America is arrogant."

Apparently paraphrased, out of context, from a speech Obama delivered to European students in Strasbourg, France on April 4, 2009:

    It's always harder to forge true partnerships and sturdy alliances than to act alone, or to wait for the action of somebody else. It's more difficult to break down walls of division than to simply allow our differences to build and our resentments to fester. So we must be honest with ourselves. In recent years we've allowed our Alliance to drift. I know that there have been honest disagreements over policy, but we also know that there's something more that has crept into our relationship. In America, there's a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.

    But in Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual but can also be insidious. Instead of recognizing the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to blame America for much of what's bad.

    On both sides of the Atlantic, these attitudes have become all too common. They are not wise. They do not represent the truth. They threaten to widen the divide across the Atlantic and leave us both more isolated. They fail to acknowledge the fundamental truth that America cannot confront the challenges of this century alone, but that Europe cannot confront them without America.

Source:
   • Transcript: Remarks by President Obama at Strasbourg Town Hall. TalkingPointsMemo.com.


*** Despicable Lie #3: "America hasn't lived up to her ideals."

Apparently paraphrased, out of context, from Barack Obama's speech at Cairo University in Egypt, June 4, 2009:

    And finally, just as America can never tolerate violence by extremists, we must never alter our principles. 9/11 was an enormous trauma to our country. The fear and anger that it provoked was understandable, but in some cases, it led us to act contrary to our ideals. We are taking concrete actions to change course. I have unequivocally prohibited the use of torture by the United States, and I have ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed by early next year.

    So America will defend itself respectful of the sovereignty of nations and the rule of law. And we will do so in partnership with Muslim communities which are also threatened. The sooner the extremists are isolated and unwelcome in Muslim communities, the sooner we will all be safer.

Source:
   • Transcript: Obama's Speech in Cairo. New York Times.





cartoon from here: http://media.photobucket.com/image/stupidity