President Obama is, correctly I think, taking some good natured ribbing from all sides for his rhetorical overreach in last night’s speech, claiming that America invented the automobile and solar energy when, in fact, others did.
Since we’re making pop culture references (Bobby Jindal as Kenneth Purcell), I’m reminded of Star Trek’s Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig), who routinely made such assertions as “Scotch whisky was invented by a little old lady in Leningrad.”
Right now at least, we’re in a honeymoon period when these things can more or less be kept in perspective.
One wonders, though, what the reaction would have been had President Bush made a similar claim. Almost certainly, Democrats would have reacted with outrage at Bush for some combination of dishonesty and ignorance. Doubtless, some Republicans have staunchly defended it, accusing detractors of treason.
