The Daily Background
| Associated Press claims Obama exagerates Kansas death toll to 10,000 — Without quoting him
by Arlen Parsa
Uhhhh, what the hell is this? Associated Press:
Barack Obama attacked President Bush for the Iraq war and promised universal health care by 2012 during a campaign appearance Tuesday and he drastically overstated the death toll from last weekend’s Kansas tornadoes.
[…]
… caught up in his exuberance, the Illinois senator blurted out that 10,000 people had died in twisters that tore through Kansas. The death toll was 12.
A short while later, his shirt sleeves rolled up and his head glistening with sweat, Obama appeared to realize his error.“There are going to be times when I get tired. There are going to be times when I get weary. There are going to be times when I make mistakes,” he said.
Dear AP, you can’t just say something like that and run the huge headline “Obama overstates Kansas tornado toll” without quoting what his exact words were. Without any quote at all, this sounds incredibly dubious. Seriously, what kind of journalism is that? Almost Drudge-like. That said, I will take all of this back, if somebody reports tomorrow that he said something like “OMG 12,000 people died in Kansas due to the tornadoes last week! The Holocaust never happened! Saddam Hussein orchestrated 9/11!”
