In recent weeks, Barack Obama has committed a series of gaffes that have solidified the impression that he is not ready to be a serious contender at the Presidential level.

The most recent is his attempt to misuse the tornado that tragically destroyed much of Greensburg, Kansas, for political ends. First he repeated the silly story, which was invented and then abandoned by Democratic Governor Sebelius, that the Iraq war had somehow prevented Kansas's National Guard from responding effectively to the tornado. That was bad enough, and a poor reflection on Obama's character. But then he entered the twilight zone with the bizarre claim that the tornado had destroyed the entire town and killed 10,000 people.



In fact, the tornado killed twelve people. What is doubly strange about Obama's gaffe is that it betrays a surprising lack of understanding of weather. Tornadoes are very violent, but relatively small. They do not do widespread damage in the way that hurricanes, for example, do. In fact, the most damaging tornado in American history killed 689 people, only one-fifteenth of the number claimed by Obama for the Greensburg tornado. The idea that a tornado could hit a small town and kill 10,000 people would immediately be regarded as ludicrous by anyone who knows anything about weather. Obama is, I guess, a city guy, but still...that level of ignorance is striking in someone who aspires to be a national figure.

Obama now says that he misspoke because he was tired. This further confirms, I think, that he is not ready to be taken seriously as a national politician. We are supposed to believe that he meant to say "12," but because he was tired he said "10,000" instead? If that is really true, he is ill-suited to be President, and, frankly, not well suited to be a Senator, either.

UPDATE: For those who are not up to speed, and in response to a frequent but ill-informed commenter, I destroyed "media matters" here. Not that it has anything to do with Obama's gaffe.