Obama: Journalist Beheading "Captured the World's Imagination"

There must have been a glitch in the teleprompter (from the Daily Caller) (h/t Father Paul):

President Obama today signed into law The Daniel Pearl Freedom of Press Act, which expands efforts to identify countries that don’t share our love for the First Amendment. He also took time to honor the man the bill is named after, journalist Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and beheaded by Islamic extremists in 2002 in what the President called a moment that ‘captured the world’s imagination.’ The Obama administration has pushed to have Pearl’s professed killer, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, tried in civilian court.

Via Cuffy Meigs:

Just like the pair of amazing NASA rovers on Mars, the Yukon Gold Rush, and quirky British skier Eddie the Eagle, the barbaric videotaped slaughter of Daniel Pearl was one of those singularly magical moments that “captured the world’s imagination”, according to Obama.

And of course, Obama doesn’t say exactly who slashed Pearl’s throat, sawed off his head and hacked his body into ten pieces. Here’s a hint: Obama wants to remove him from Gitmo and try him in New York City, just blocks from another place that “captured the world’s imagination.”

Although there have been times that the beheading of certain journalists would probably "capture my imagination", Obama has this whole story wrong. Daniel Pearl was not beheaded because he was a journalist or because terrorists don't like the First Amendment. He was beheaded because he was Jewish and American, and that part of the story seems to be missing.