I must admit that upon listening to Barack Obama mention his uncle’s presence at the liberation of Auschwitz, I felt no small amount of pride at knowing immediately the exact nature of his gaffe: while the heroic actions of American soldiers in Europe during WWII were numerous (see my father’s post below), they did not include the liberation of Auschwitz. Obama’s uncle helped to liberate the Buchenwald, many miles away and on the other side of Berlin (if American soldiers had reached Auschwitz, the Cold War would have presumably been a very different affair).

This is beyond forgivable, as few Americans can easily name any Nazi concentration camp, and if they should happen to do so at all, it will almost certainly be confined to Auschwitz.

OK, maybe Dachau. But certainly not Buchenwald.

I base this on nothing more than my own observations, but I think very few would disagree. As such, attempting to rake the good Senator over the proverbial coals of military history in this instance is nothing short of absurd. If I had to account for every instance wherein I got a historical fact wrong while attempting to make a much larger point, my rhetorical skills would be stunted, to say the least.

However, Obama does have some explaining to do, but on an entirely different subject: Trinity United Church of Christ. I recently heard Dick Morris – alas, I cannot remember where – remark that the irony of Obama’s predicament is that after spending the early part of his campaign convincing the American People that he is, in fact, a Christian, and is most certainly not a dirty-neck Muslim, he is now forced to convince them that he never attends church. Where, oh where is H.L. Mencken when we need him?

Many have argued that this kind of thing is irrelevant to Presidential politics, which explains why Senator Obama threw Rev. Jeremiah Wright under the bus after one too many missteps, and more recently, has very publicly renounced his membership at TUCC altogether. The reality is that it is highly relevant, as most reasonable people (or more importantly, those inclined to visit a voting booth this November) would have not been content to sit through a single one of Wright’s paranoid, conspiratorial tirades or passing remarks which include the phrases “9/11″ and “chickens have come home to roost” in uncomfortable proximity to one another. By his own admission, Obama had a close relationship with Rev. Wright, and the notion that these ideas were unknown to him until they surfaced on YouTube is silly. We should all be concerned with the question of what Mr. Obama really believes and how close that is to what he is willing to say in an effort to be elected. His long-term membership at TUCC speaks volumes on this subject.

As someone who has, in the past, found himself constantly at odds with his pastor, I can offer Senator Obama some advice: Leave. That’s what I did roughly six years ago; I stopped going to church, was less irritated on Sundays, and gained a few hours of sleep on the weekends to boot. As decisions go, it was a winner, and I highly recommend it. Oh, and try not to do it 20 years after the fact.

Of course, the fear is that Mr. Obama did not find himself at odds with his pastor. This is a legitimate concern, as I would certainly argue that anyone who holds the views expressed by Rev. Wright – or even fails to object to them strenuously – is someone whose ideology and lucidity are highly suspect, if not outright disqualifying with respect to the job of President.

We all need to know what kind of man Mr. Obama really is. We have reached a point in history when it is no longer safe to assume that the Marxists and would-be philosopher-kings are confined to the fringes of society (namely, institutions of higher education), unwilling to enter the mainstream. At this point, Obama makes Hillary Clinton look like William F. Buckley (at least at first glance). Out with it! Let’s hear some overt endorsement of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as immutable human rights from Senator Obama.

HAH! I won’t hold my breath.