Originally posted at American Thinker. blog
The fact that whitehouse.gov repeatedly posts messages peppered with misspellings is a good reason the administration should employ fewer Czars and hire a persnickety English major, proofreader and copy editor.
The misspelled White House webpage represents a president who leads a party that habitually mocks the brainpower of everyone from Dan Quayle to G.W. Bush to Democrat-deemed-dim-bulb Sarah Palin. Yet, errors are continually made on a website associated with a president renowned for exceeding intellectual acumen and unparalleled oratory precision.
Whitehouse.gov inaccuracies began in 2009 when the President’s name showed up on a press release that said: “an arms-related agreement between Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev was signed by Barak Obama.” There are only two explanations for such a gaffe. Either the typist was unsure of the new president’s first name, or thought Russians spelled Barack-Barak.
Again in September of 2009, a message originating in the White House was posted on education.gov announcing: “President Obama delivers National Address to America’s Schoochildren” at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. Though impossible to determine, but difficult not to speculate, could the same typist have also loaded the President’s speech into the teleprompter?
Evidently, the White House learned nothing from the spelling debacle. A few months later, at the first state dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the First Connoisseurs of epicurean fine dining entertained dignitaries off an Indian-themed dinner menu. One problem – the bill of fare was apparently typed by the same individual who keyed in the “Barak” press release and the misspelled Department of Education notice.
To the Indian-themed extravaganza, Michelle wore a handmade “strapless gown” covered with “hand cut sterling silver sequins sewn on nude silk chiffon.” The ensemble required “three weeks of work by 40 people, completed in Naeem Kahn’s family workshop in India.”
Meanwhile, back at the White House, a team of Ivy League geniuses couldn’t correctly typeset or proofread a one-page menu. Willamette Valley, Oregon Riesling was spelled Wilamette Valley and the 2007 Grenache was spelled Granache. Thibaut-Janisson Brut was missing a hyphen, chick peas a space and gelée an accent.
The Obama bons vivants of fine wine and cuisine, bedecked in haute couture and entertaining international guests off a misspelled menu registers on the mortification meter on an equal plane with a Hooter’s waitress slipping and falling with a tray of Bud Lights.
All the same, even the smartest President to ever sit behind the Resolute Desk has been known to misspell “Sycasuse“ when making basketball picks. Obama’s inability to place letters in the right order indicates the spelling-challenged are endemic to a White House where perpetrators leave alphabetical confusion on menus, between brackets on white boards, in press releases, and on educational promotions.
In fact, the “Wilamette” culprit resurfaced in a web-posted condolence to earthquake/tsunami-torn West Sumatra. The distracted master of the keyboard actually managed to kick the “hell” out of Michelle by omitting the double “L.”
The first lady’s name was incorrectly spelled “Michele,” which ironically is an “a” shy of “Michaele” of Tareq and Michaele Salahi fame. Michaele Salahi was one half of two uninvited guests who allegedly breached security at the first State Dinner where, in addition to the menu, it’s possible that a misspelled guest list assembled by a crackerjack presidential staff in need of a remedial course in both spelling and reading, could have caused the chaos.
