Obama's sniper tale? When he stood up to Detroit's 'cold' shoulder

Is this another Bosnian sniper incident, where a Democratic candidate for president describes a scene involving some personal courage, but later videotape shows that maybe perhaps it wasn't really quite all like that exactly?

Sen. Barack Obama, the leading Democratic candidate for his party's nomination, is very fond of telling receptive audiences the story about how last May he walked right into the automotive lion's den of Detroit and told those industrialists they were going to have to shape up, change the way they do things and start making more fuel-efficient vehicles to protect our environment.

"And I have to say," the straight-talking Obama tells his chuckling followers, "that when I delivered that speech, the room got really quiet. [Laughter] Nobody clapped."

Well, in honor of Obama's return campaign visit back to Michigan this week, someone -- perhaps Republicans, perhaps someone closer to home politically -- assembled videotape of Obama's oft-told tale and spliced it side by side with videotape of that actual Detroit speech.

You'll never guess what. The room wasn't quiet at all. Obama, in fact, got a loud round of applause. And at the end of his address the camera's view of him at the podium is partially blocked because the audience of local businesspeople and automotive executives was rising to give him a standing ovation.

(UPDATE: Ben LaBolt, an Obama spokesman, has provided numerous contempoary independent news accounts of the candidate's Detroit speech. They describe the audience as presenting a standing ovation at his introduction but only delivering "polite" or "light" applause during it, along with selected quotes from some audience members praising his courage or consistency in delivering the message about better mileage.)

There were no departure ceremonies after the speech because of sniper reports. Far too dangerous for that. It was all he could do then to duck his head and just run for the vehicles. See for yourself below.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[Kent Waller]

LA TIMES: YOU CAN QUIT CAMPAIGNING FOR HILLARY, IT IS OVER.

[Steve]

This is about Obama being full of himself......He, a single man, can push around detroit automakers. Does he understand that not everybody wants a 35mpg car? Yes he does, but he would rather dictate to people what they can or can't have, how they will get it, and who will be responsible.

You people are gullable.....change in his terms means socialism. Government/Obama doesn't care about you. He cares about being in control of you. Most liberals need somebody in control of them, but I'm willing to roll the dice and let you figure it out on your own.....

[Don Hannaford]

THIS IS NEWS!!! If gas is $4.00 a gallon, If the Iraq war is still going bad, if we are in a recession, If President Bush's approval rating is at 30%,let's look at the rising National debt, the shrinking of the dollar, Who really cares if McCain is too old, lost his bearings,whether he voted for Bush or not, whether he can't tell sunni from Shia, Whether or not Reverend Wright or Ayers will hurt Obama, or that Hamas wants Obama to win, or if Obama wears a lapel pin (Neither Clinton nor McCain wear one) or whether he misspoke of 57 states,whether we care if Clinton came under fire in Bosnia. Wheter Britney is wearing under pants or not, People are worried about the real issues: Gas Prices, The War, The economy. Americans want "change in this election," and they especially care about health care, jobs, gasoline prices, college affordability and the Iraq war.

[Millie]

Obama is certainly a very good speaker but we have had great speakers throughout history who have been diasterous. I just finished reading one of his books and I was left with the impression that Obama is a racist...he is anti-white. The worst terrorist in this world has just issued another threat.....the leader of Venezuela is gathering weapons........Obama wants to sit down with the Iranian leader........Hamas wants Obama as the leader of the U.S.A. Doesn't Obama scare you? He would be wrong, wrong, wrong for the U.S., esp. on foreign policy. He's a liar. He admits in his books that the way he speaks and what and how he says words can convince people of things not true. Well......speaks for itself......

[Wildmonk]

You Obamamaniacs are amazing in your ability to deceive yourselves.

Yes, the clapping *is* muted...but this is obviously because the sound being used is coming through the media feed (essentially, Obama's microphone).

Second, are you *serious* in saying that people are clapping just because it was the "end of his speech"? So Obama gets a *standing ovation* but, because the audience didn't stand on their seats and hold up cellphones while wolf-whistling, they were *actually* quiet?

Truth is, Obama delivered a tough speech. Truth is, the audience wasn't crazy about certain parts of it and didn't clap much in those parts. But it is equally true that Obama, like Clinton, took a situation that required very little courage and now exaggerates the story profoundly to make it look like he has exhibited great courage and leadership.

So? He's just a politician. Same as any other, really. The only thing exceptional about him is that he (a) speaks well from prepared notes (better than anyone since Bill) and (b) has almost no record to run on that would tell us whether he can really deliver anything *but* those speeches.

In the end, though, I agree that this won't be Obama's "sniper tale." It isn't powerful enough nor will the media pay any attention at all to their candidate's snafu.

[gajim]

"It is really sad that people keep trying to find something to bring Obama down, really pathetic things at that. People should realize he is change and change is always good."

Unless you're talking about Climate. Then change is bad, very bad, right?

[Mike M]

If you people knew how corrupt our government and the Clintons really were you wouldn't be talking all this garbage. We may be taking a chance with Obama but we already know what we would get with the Clintons and McCain. How many years of failure does it take for you people to wake up. McCain and the Clintons have been in office for years and look at the hole our country is in. From NAFTA to scandal you people could care less. I don't get it.

[cbiggie]

This is a reverse op... good try.

The end result is to convince you he was right and the auto workers kinda liked his ideas... not that he lied.
In other words, it's not so bad.

I guess he'll say he got the places confused or one of his staff remembered the city wrong... as in, 'Maybe it was the Saturn plant in Tennessee'. Only for media to look for that clip and see they loved it. Bonus Obama.

As a previous commenter stated, it was calm... no one fainted, swooned or clasped their hands in prayer.

Hint for the 'journalists', when will you get around to things that matter... like the Iraq contracts involving Compapnion Security and the power plant in Iraq, telling us which charities that returned donor money went to and the murder of three black, gay men from his church within weeks of each other, why two cousins tried on terror support gave to his campaign and the money hasn't been returned, Auchi and Alsammarae (or how someone could be connected to Oil for Food and the oil lobbyists aren't brought up, and how interpol could want his other donor, yet someone arranged a visa for both of them outta Chicago and there both of them walk freely) and the number one question, who vetted him and where are his documents.

Oh, and read his books, he contradicts everything he says and does by his own hand.

Good day.

P.S. Exelon, telecom

[SenorT]

Andrew Malcolm has already had his hat handed to him by a couple of commenters like Aengil who correctly point out the context and full video...

Pulitzer finalist eh? Has everything been watered down to mediocrity these days??

[shannon]

Well, if you are Obama and you are used to hearing thunderous applause, it isn't happening here - there is a titter of applause. I can get behind his remark.

[T. Edwards]

'Change is always good?"

Someone hasn't been reading their Edmund Burke.

[AK]

Wildmonk wins the thread. It's true that Detroit isn't thrilled with fuel efficiency mandates. The crowd didn't roll around on the floor and start speaking in tongues like they usually do when Jug-Eared Jesus speaks. But the crowd applauded his health-bailout-for-CAFE-standards line, and Hopewell Rezko Changington said they didn't. It's not as bad as the sniper fire thing, and most politicians lie/exaggerate. But Hillary and McCain never promised us a rose garden. The Obamessiah did. Then he lied about the crowd's response, and had the audacity to hope the video would never surface.

[snofyr]

The author is looking for a needle in a haystack. Keep looking...

[Rhoda]

What a bunch of crap!

[Cory]

Obama would stoop to any level and say anything to get elected. Disgraceful!

[Hogarth]

"Gas Prices, The War, The economy. Americans want "change in this election," and they especially care about health care, jobs, gasoline prices, college affordability and the Iraq war."

Weren't we supposed to get all of that with the 2006 Dem win in both houses of Congress?? Well, weren't we? Where is it?

Gas Prices: Dems vote against drilling in a postage stamp sized desolate area in the largest state in the country. Dems vote against using Shale oil in another underpopulated desolate state.

The War: talk, talk, talk. In their hearts, they seem to know the war was the right thing to do, because even with the power to stop it, they don't. They play political games with it, but haven't the guts to stop it. That is the lowest form of politics.

College affordability? Colleges are holding billions in tax free endowments. Congress has the power to change this. What is the president supposed to do? He doesn't legislate - Congress does.

Health care is in a mess because of Congressional meddling. Mandatory coverages, etc. have raised the price of so-called "insurance." Get Congress away from legislating expensive mandatory coverage that most people don't want or need, prices come back down.

Obama can do nothing with his Neo-Socialism but make all of this worse.

[p rega]

he will just blame this on his staff, like his last 12 mistakes.

[Joseph]

Come on ... Obama is right. To him, the number of claps in that video is nobody alright, he is used to thunderous applause, not meek clapping. When it comes to applause, he can't hear that kind of clapping. So he is right :-). The English language can be ambiguous, metaphorical even.

And we don't see who is clapping. Is it histarget audience or just his supporters who clap on cue ?

[Burford Holly]

Who do I bill for the 30 seconds I wasted reading this piece of fluff?

[dmack]

uhhhhh. this IS dumb. Obamessiah is a tool, to be sure, but nitpicking this is just nuts. He rolled into detroit and pushed fuel efficiency via gov't regulation and it was quiet becuase they were being polite and listening to the latest socialist to come to town. WTF are people doing comparing that to the bosnia incident which is a pure and simple lie from a mentally ill person? Jeez. It's easy to poke holes in obamessiah's stands on things, why screw around with this silliness?

[Roy Mustang]

And in the 20 years he attended a Black Liberation church, he never noticed the pews were filled with racists.

But we all love Obama because of his DNA, right? The very genetic embodiment of a post racial America. Too bad his character is so flawed.

[jcrue]

RE: Mike Carlson's comment above 12:34AM

I think they are looking for anything they can report about Obama at this point.

He has absolutely no track record of decision making or executive experience, couple that with an astronomical number of "present" votes in the Senate and little else to show for his years of "public service", all that is left to be found is generally negative or critical.

If there was something substantive to report on Obama, the press has already beat it to death during the primaries season we have had to endure.

[B. Christopher]

I've taken your paper for 30 years ....but things have changed with the new owners. the old leadership would have had the reporter go back & watch the whole address (http://youtube.com/watch?v=j1nno1El3-g - )before writing an article on a clip.. instead we get reaction on clip out of context. Where's Conrad when we need him.
RETURN TO THE EXCELLENCE THAT WAS A TIMES TRADITION...and leave this to fox news.

[Sammy]

Another day, another Obama lie. This guy is a buffoon and a liar, and doesn't belong anywhere near the presidency.

[M. Simon]

How is he going to preserve jobs in the auto industry?

1. Make Americans buy American cars or else.
2. Outlaw factory automation

Sounds like a plan to me.