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Thursday, June 13, 2013

The Rest of The Story: The "Founding Founders"

    Today, the White House created a bit of a kerfuffle with a blog post entitled "The Papers of the Founding Founders Are Now Online".  No, that's not a typo of mine.  Here's the screenshot:


    After Charles C.W. Cooke of National Review raised the alarm, Twitchy got into the act. Sooner, Twitter was abuzz with the news.  Many assumed it was actually a case of political correctness gone meta.  Whatever the reason, it was not long before the adjustment was made, and the "Founding Fathers" resumed their rightful place in U.S. history.
    But there's more.  Unlike many of the current scandals (IRS, NSA, DOJ, AP, ETC.) where journalists, pundits, and bloggers have so far searched in vain for the smoking gun, the incontrovertible evidence of presidential fingerprints, this time is different.  The path of this scandal leads directly to the Oval Office, indeed to the lips of President Obama himself.  (OK, technically the path leads to Ford's Theatre, but "Oval Office" sounded more dramatic.  On June 7, 2010, the president spoke at an education and arts event at the famed theatre in Washington, and near the close of his remarks, according to the official White House transcript, he said the following [emphasis added for dramatic effect]:
And as we celebrate Independence Day, there are few better examples of how the spirit of our Founding Founders did more than just create a nation -- it inspired people in every corner of the globe yearning to be free.
     In a somewhat disappointing footnote to this story, the video of the actual event reveals that President Obama actually said "Founding Fathers," White House transcript notwithstanding.  Oh, well, Woodward and Bernstein's place in journalistic history is secure... for now.

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