We know that Obama and Osama are both somewhat unusual names, but B is not the same letter as S. It just isn’t.
Just like OBAMA with a b is not at all the same person as OSAMA with an s.
Not a hard distinction to draw, right?
WRONG.
Various people who really, seriously ought to know better have been mixing these two men up ever since Barack was just a wee Senator from the state of Illinois. It’s not just Republicans and Fox News either, though the anchor on the D.C. Fox affiliate took the prize for unfortunate “mistakes” last night when he summed up his coverage of President Obama’s announcement of Osama Bin Laden’s death by saying, “President Obama … telling the nation and the world President Obama is, in fact, dead.”
Really, dude? You want us to believe that was just a goof? You added the President part and everything. I think we should introduce you to a gentleman named Freud. As in the guy with the slip.
To be fair, Keith Olbermann slipped up in the very same post in which he was busy mocking the above Fox affiliate, writing, “Mr. Bush personally de-prioritized the hunt for Obama.”
No, he didn’t, Keith. He just made the mistake of letting the RNC add Sarah Palin to the McCain team.
Mitt Romney, Ted Kennedy and John Ashcroft, as well as MSNBC, CNN and, of course, Fox News, have gotten these two political figures mixed up on more than one occasion. It happens all the time, in fact. But, on a night when one of them had the other one killed, the mix-ups got a tad extra ridiculous.
This has to go down in hisotry for the most times an American president has falsely been reported shot. NDTV, an Indian TV station ran a headline that announced, “Obama was shot in the head.” Of course, they were running a picture of Osama at the same time, so that was a bit less alarming than a rather unfortunate Tweet from MSNBC’s Norah O’Donnell which read, “Obama shot and killed per @JimMiklaszewksi.”
In the history of totally unfortunate typos, that’s gotta be tops of the list. Not to mention enough to give your fellow countrymen and women a Twitter induced heart attack.
But she’s not alone. Nymag.com provided all those who shake their heads at the press/public figures/politicians who can’t handle names, which are not John, Jacob or Jingleheimer Smith, with a fun list of offenders:
Geraldo Rivera said on Sunday, “Obama is dead, I don’t care … what am I saying?”
What ARE you saying, Geraldo? Hmmmm?
Senator Susan Collins caught herself doing it, then mocked Fox News for doing the same thing.
Good catch, Susan.
CNN.com reported on Monday that there is “no indication Obama tried to surrender.”
No, CNN. He didn’t.
CBS News correspondent Mark Knoller did it twice.
Note to self, Mark. When you work for a major news outlet and your blackberry starts auto correcting Osama to Obama, FIX IT.
Rush Limbaugh did it at least twice on Monday.
But, then again, he IS Rush Limbaugh. We wouldn’t be surprised if he has trouble telling the difference between the two.
Last, and certainly saddest offender on the list? Spike. Freaking. Lee.
That’s right.
He tweeted the following:
DNA MATCH IS CONFIRMED. It was Osama Bin Laden who was killed. I think pictures being released of the Body of Obama is next.
If this spring has established ANYTHING it’s that Twitter is a bonafide weapon. Whether that’s of mass destruction or of mass humiliation depends on whether you’re using it to Tweet about an oppressive regime or freak out over the same thing your friends just heard from the NYTimes.com urgent news updates (trust me, every human being in the English speaking world who gives five cents and a stick of gum about the news already gets those on the same damn smart phone they’re reading your tweet on. Unless you’re ahead of them, or you have something to say, they’re not reporting, stop with the amateur news updates!). Either way, it’s dangerous. Use with extreme, friggin’ caution. Or, at least spell check.
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I can see how a layperson may make this mistake, but a professional news reporter? Come on! I guess everyone’s human and makes mistakes.