Oops! US State Department misspells name of Syria's president; Correction: More than one way to spell it

Grenell is right:

#Syria: Statement by Spokesperson Victoria Nuland on Bashar al-Asad's Speech http://t.co/YsmV6LxM

— Department of State (@StateDept) January 6, 2013

Spokesperson Nuland: Bashar al-Asad's speech today is yet another attempt by the regime to cling to power. http://t.co/YsmV6LxM #Syria

— Department of State (@StateDept) January 6, 2013

Spokesperson Nuland: Al-Asad's speech does nothing to advance the Syrian people's goal of a political transition. http://t.co/YsmV6LxM

— Department of State (@StateDept) January 6, 2013

Spokesperson Nuland: Al-Asad's initiative is detached from reality, undermines efforts of Joint Special Representative Brahimi. #Syria

— Department of State (@StateDept) January 6, 2013

Spokesperson Nuland: Even today, as Asad speaks of dialogue, the regime is stoking sectarian tensions and continuing to kill its own people.

— Department of State (@StateDept) January 6, 2013

Spokesperson Nuland: Asad has lost all legitimacy and must step aside to enable a political solution. http://t.co/YsmV6LxM #Syria

— Department of State (@StateDept) January 6, 2013

To some it may seem nitpicky. We all make spelling mistakes, after all.

But Grennell’s point about double standards is spot on:

https://twitter.com/RichardGrenell/status/288060651555917824

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If you don’t believe him, you must be too young to remember this:

A minor slip-up by Vice President Dan Quayle hatched a frenzy and a long-running joke. Quayle led a spelling bee for sixth-grade students while visiting an elementary school in New Jersey in 1992. Working from an inaccurate flash card prepared by a teacher, he corrected William Figueroa, 12, when the child spelled “potato” on the blackboard – making the boy add an unnecessary “e” at the word’s end.

Quayle would never hear the end of it. The media assault for this goof was truly relentless.

* * *

Correction: While the “Asad” spelling is unconventional in the US, it has been used by others and has been used by the U.S. Department of State for many years.  We’re no experts, but we now think there is more than one way to spell the name. We believe our original post was in error. We apologize.