Dan Quayle was forever branded an imbecile by the MSM for misspelling the word "potato".  Barak Obama, however, seems to have a free pass to engage in intellectual faux pas' that make Quayle's gaffe appear innocuous and insignificant.  From his "father's" flag draped coffin (his father died in his home country of Kenya), to his recent lament about Hillary having an advantage in Kentucky based on its proximity to Arkansas (Obama's home State of Illinois shares a border with Kentucky while Arkansas does not), to his "57 state" whopper, the MSM continues to excuse Obama's own unique brand of "DUH" as some form of campaign battle fatigue. 

Obama is not unintelligent, and he surely knows there are 50, and not 57, States in the United States.  But where on Earth did the number "57" come from?  It is a strange figure just to pluck out of thin air.  If Obama was indeed worn out (the excuse proffered by the "tingling" media), he obviously confused the state reference with another reference rattling around in his mind. 

The human brain is not a random number generator, but retrieves information already stored for later reference.  In cases of fatigue, one reference point may be confused for another.   

So where did the number 57 come from?  H. J. Heinz used to use the "57 varieties" tag long ago, but that was before Obama's time.  Besides, Ketchup and the arugula Obama seems to love don't mix.  Can't be the European Union or NATO, since they have less than 57 states.  The UN is out, since it has more than 57 members. 

The only reference out there that links the number "57" with a reference to "states" is the Organization of Islamic Conference.  From the OIC site:

"The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations which has membership of 57 states spread over four continents."

http://www.oic-oci.org/oicnew/home.asp

Perhaps Obama's fatigue led to his confusion between the 50 United States and the 57 States in the OIC.  So far, that seems to be the most plausible explanation for his confusion without making his intelligence an issue.

The flag colors are close.  The US has red, white and blue while the OIC flag is comprised of red, white and green.

For those that do not read Arabic, the writing on the flag says "Allah Akbar".  I wonder if those come in lapel pins?

With OIC members spread across 4 continents, it is easy to see how that level of campaigning would wear a candidate out.