This isn't the "dog bites man" sort of story, although most days it would be. In this case, it's
RutherfordGate:
It's not unusual for President Obama to criticize his Republican predecessors from time to time, but this morning, he targeted his scorn not at George W. Bush or Ronald Reagan, but ... Rutherford B. Hayes. As
Politico reported:
Speaking about the need to develop new sources of American energy in Largo, Md., Obama used our 19th president as a failure of forward-thinking leadership.
"One of my predecessors, President Rutherford B. Hayes, reportedly said about the telephone: 'It’s a great invention but who would ever want to use one?'" Obama said. "That's why he's not on Mt. Rushmore."
"He's looking backwards, he's not looking forward. He's explaining why we can't do something instead of why we can do something," Obama said.
Do
read the whole thing. Then you can correct your friends who sincerely quote Obama's gross historical error. And refer to New York Magazine to do so.
