The president’s horrifying mistake

If George W. Bush or Ronald Reagan had made the kind of mistake President Barack Obama made 10 days ago, the full weight of the condescending liberal class, led by the so-called "mainstream media," would have mercilessly rained criticism upon their heads.

"Senile," they would have cried. "Stupid," the talking heads would shout.

But because it was Obama, the liberal mob hardly managed a peep.

In case you missed it (which you more than likely did), here's what happened:

Our commander in chief, in full campaign mode, stopped by Fort Drum in upstate New York to address the troops from the 10th Mountain Division, which had recently completed deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama said: "First time I saw 10th Mountain Division, you guys were in southern Iraq. When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasn't receiving it posthumously."

The soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division listened in stunned obedience.

It was actually Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta of the 173rd Airborne who last year became the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor to have fought in Afghanistan, and the first living recipient since the Vietnam War. Sgt. 1st Class Jared Monti of the 10th Mountain Division was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2006 and awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2009 by President Obama.

A reader of the military blog "Blackfive" put a finger on the magnitude of the mistake:

"How does the commander in chief mix these heroes up? He put that medal around Giunta's neck and he stood with Monti's parents as they grieved. These fallen heroes leave such a great legacy, and we should know all their names."

There's no particular value in speculating as to why America didn't hear more about this mistake. Some might say it had something to do with the degree of care the general media has for the military -- one dead soldier's story looks like another dead soldier's story. Others might point out the "plantation mentality" the liberal elite demonstrate for minorities ("There, there, there, Mr. President, how can anyone expect a disadvantaged American such as yourself to keep these names straight?")

The point we ought to contemplate this Independence Day weekend is that our president committed an error such as this and it barely touched the American consciousness. Had the president mixed up NBA stars Steve Nash and Carmelo Anthony, can you imagine the media attention?

Americans can by and large name the No. 1 draft pick of their favorite NFL team, but they can't name one distinguished soldier from their home state.

President Obama apologized to the family of Jared Monti for the mistake, once he was informed of it. The White House has yet to say whether it was the mistake of a speech writer somewhere or whether the president was winging it off script. They only say the president "misspoke."

The Los Angeles Times illustrates the "there, there, there" philosophy of most big newspapers to this mistake:

"President Obama, at recent campaign stops, has pointed out that his hair is now getting gray, a sign of how he has aged and the toll taken by his job. But on Thursday, the president had a different kind of senior moment."

A "senior moment" hardly describes it. How about an outrageously embarrassing moment? Or, a horrifying mistake considering his audience was Fort Drum?

President Obama ended his ill-fated pep talk to the soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division by concluding, "your commander in chief has your back."

If the president does, indeed, have the backs of our soldiers (and if we as a country do as well), then the least we can do is get the names of our heroes right.

Sherman Frederick (sfrederick@reviewjournal.com), the former publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and a member of the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame, writes a column for Stephens Media. Read his blog at www.lvrj.com/blogs/sherm.