Obama has polticized past President biographies

[August]

There is a page for every US president on the official White House website and Obamas campaign team has added comments about him to every one dating back to Calvin Coolidge.

Take the one for Hoover:

Did you know?

President Herbert Hoover signed the bill founding the Department of Veterans Affairs July 21, 1930. President Obama is committed to making sure that the VA, the second-largest cabinet department, serves the needs of all veterans and provides a seamless transition from active duty to civilian life, and has directed his Administration to modernize the way health care is delivered and benefits are administered for our nation's veterans. First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden launched Joining Forces to mobilize all sectors of society to give our service members and their families the opportunities and support they have earned.

Here's the one for Ike:

Did you know?
President Dwight Eisenhower established the President's Council on Youth Fitness on July 16, 1956 (now known as The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports) after learning from a study that American youth were less fit than European youth. Today the Council is still going strong***8212;with Olympians and professional athletes on board***8212;working in conjunction with the First Lady Michelle Obama***8217;s Let***8217;s Move initiativeto help promote healthier lifestyles.

Is there anything this guy won't take credit for? Are there any shoulders he won't jump on top trumpet his vision of personal greatness?

Check it out yourself at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents

Do it while listening to this song:

[TLAM Strike]

In 2002, President George W. Bush’s State of the Union was the first to be live broadcast on the Internet. In 2011 and 2012, President Obama’s State of the Union speeches were available in an enhanced live stream version that featured infographics, charts and data side-by-side in real time with the President’s speech.

Really lame way to link your self there Obama.

President Reagan designated Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday; today the Obama Administration honors this tradition, with the First and Second Families participating in service projects on this day.

In a June 28, 1985 speech Reagan called for a fairer tax code, one where a multi-millionaire did not have a lower tax rate than his secretary. Today, President Obama is calling for the same with the Buffett Rule.

.

[Ducimus]

Before I pull out the pitchfork and torch, i have a couple questions:

- Has this been done before with previous presidents?
- Is it just the website were talking about?

[August]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

Before I pull out the pitchfork and torch, i have a couple questions:

- Has this been done before with previous presidents?
- Is it just the website were talking about?

Both are good questions that I do not have the answers for Duc. But I suspect that if George had done it too it would have been severely lambasted in the MSM to the point that few of us wouldn't know the answer to at least the first one.

[Ducimus]

MSN was probably too busy having a cow over Bush's umpteen signing statements to notice if he had.


All i can say without any evidence is:
IF....
- this hasn't been done before
- said descriptions in physical official locations were also altered (web site content is organic in nature and always changes)

Then this is a real freaking LOW attempt at coat tail riding. EDIT: Hell, altering plaques in real locations is something youd see in the DPRK, which makes this even worse.


However, IF
- This has been done before,
- and it's just the website that's been altered,

Then this is politics as usual, and worthy only of rolling eyes. Yeah, still low, but not a new low that wasn't already established. All politicians are scumbags anyway.

[mookiemookie]

Definitely a bad idea, regardless of if he was or wasn't the first to do it.

[vienna]

Then this is politics as usual, and worthy only of rolling eyes. Yeah, still low, but not a new low that wasn't already established. All politicians are scumbags anyway.

Amen to this...

In the end, nothing new to see here, move along now...



...

[Ducimus]

If he had the descrptions changed in real world locations outside of the website, that is some SERIOUS shennigans though. That cannot be allowed, period. I think its a safe bet this hasn't taken place, but if it had..... That is reason to be SERIOUSLY angry. I've been ambivalent about him, don't really care, but that would tilt me to outright rage in 0.5 seconds.

[August]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

However, IF
- This has been done before,
- and it's just the website that's been altered,

Well even if the answer to one or both of those questions is no the precedent has now been set.

[August]

Oh and from the website:

The Presidential biographies on WhiteHouse.gov are from “The Presidents of the United States of America,” by Michael Beschloss and Hugh Sidey. Copyright 2009 by the White House Historical Association.

[AVGWarhawk]

I think it is awesome. He is a stand up guy. I can wait for the next book.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

Before I pull out the pitchfork and torch, i have a couple questions:

- Has this been done before with previous presidents?
- Is it just the website were talking about?

That specific page, according to archives.org only came into existence 30 Jan 2009. 10 days after Obama was sworn in.

The "Obama" additions were not there for the last update recorded on the archives of 29 Jul 11. For some reason the archives do not list any changes after that date.

So to answer your question, no it was not done by any previous president but that's because this specific webpage did not exist prior to Obama. Obama was the first president to have historical president information on whitehouse.gov (which has been around since 27 Dec 96). Other sources show it starting in 1994 though.

[CaptainHaplo]

Originally Posted by Platapus

So to answer your question, no it was not done by any previous president but that's because this specific webpage did not exist prior to Obama. Obama was the first president to have historical president information on whitehouse.gov (which has been around since 27 Dec 96). Other sources show it starting in 1994 though.

You are incorrect - I pulled info off of whitehouse.gov regarding president bio's in 2007 - prior to Obama being elected. It was a source that was footnoted for a report my son was doing - I used it as an "official" source of data and showed him how to note it correctly.

While I can not state if the bio's have ever been politicized this way - I can tell you that none of the ones we looked at during that time had anything on them that "connected" them to the current president at the time.

[August]

Originally Posted by CaptainHaplo

You are incorrect - I pulled info off of whitehouse.gov regarding president bio's in 2007 - prior to Obama being elected. It was a source that was footnoted for a report my son was doing - I used it as an "official" source of data and showed him how to note it correctly.

While I can not state if the bio's have ever been politicized this way - I can tell you that none of the ones we looked at during that time had anything on them that "connected" them to the current president at the time.

I thought they'd been around for awhile.

TLDR and not really willing to play your game.
Thanks for playing mine though.

Is that the new " your side is worse than my side" game unavailable in all good games stores where eventually the umpire steps in and rules that both sides are as bad as each other at which point someone complains about the umpire supporting one side because clearly when both sides are equally crap one has to be crapper and it is always got to be the other one and these moderators are just so unfair for not supporting the crap side instead of the crap side?



You were right on topic Jim, Bollards