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Obama's "Truth Team" Explains "You Didn't Build That"

TR1982

TR1982

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Another gem from the "Truth Team" (Formerly "Attack Watch"):

"Romney decided to selectively edit President Obama to make it appear like the President was insulting small businesses: “[President Obama] said this, ‘If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.’ That somebody else is government, in his view ... To say something like that is not just foolishness, it’s insulting to every entrepreneur, every innovator in America, and it’s wrong.”

But it’s Romney’s statement that’s wrong—it’s a complete distortion. Here’s what the President actually said:

“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet. The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.”

The President’s full remarks show that the “that” in “you didn’t build that” clearly refers to roads and bridges—public infrastructure we count on the government to build and maintain."

Oh, that makes sense. When he was saying, "You didn't build that" he was obviously talking about roads and bridges. Although if that was the case, you'd think he would have said "You didn't build those". But what do I know.
 
Meh. Not the most careful choice of words. But if this was his "point", then it's fine by me:

Quote:
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The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.”
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I have never seen the commercial at issue because I strictly watch crappy movies on FX and sportscenter but have heard all the hubbub. In my immediate intuitive response to reading the quote for the first time I think that the way it goes from Teachers to Roads & Bridges and then to the Internet sounds like he is referencing those things and not the overarching theme of small businesses. But then again who the fuck cares. Cons will interpret the way their pre-conceived beliefs lean them towards and Libs would assuredly do likewise if the situation was reversed. Nothing to see here.
 
TR1982 said:
Another gem from the "Truth Team" (Formerly "Attack Watch"):

"Romney decided to selectively edit President Obama to make it appear like the President was insulting small businesses: “[President Obama] said this, ‘If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.’ That somebody else is government, in his view ... To say something like that is not just foolishness, it’s insulting to every entrepreneur, every innovator in America, and it’s wrong.”

But it’s Romney’s statement that’s wrong—it’s a complete distortion. Here’s what the President actually said:

“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet. The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.”

The President’s full remarks show that the “that” in “you didn’t build that” clearly refers to roads and bridges—public infrastructure we count on the government to build and maintain."

Oh, that makes sense. When he was saying, "You didn't build that" he was obviously talking about roads and bridges. Although if that was the case, you'd think he would have said "You didn't build those". But what do I know.
Click to expand...

That's how I took it when I first heard it, but that's hardly a defense to his misguided notion. Even if you say, "Well you didn't build the infrastructure...", a) I did, since I paid as many taxes as the next guy, and b) assuming I didn't pay a dime in taxes, those bridges where there when the other guys DIDN'T build the business that I did. In short, O's entire attitude (even as explained) fails the Bruce Dickinson test: I might put my pants on one leg at a time, but when my pants are on, I make gold records.
 
CNN said Faux News used the out of context lie line over forty times today
 
To both sides: If someone clarifies their meaning within the same paragraph as a potentially questionable statement, simply accept the clarification and forgo the gotcha bullshit. Thanks. To both sides.
 
Saying Obama said or inferred that entrepreneurs "didn't build that" related to their companies is as dishonest as dishonest as saying the following about the statement below:

"He said southerners wanted Lincoln dead. He's a southerner. He wanted Lincoln dead."

Original statement-

"John Wilkes Boothe and partners conspired to kill Abraham Lincoln and Seward. Many southerners wanted Lincoln dead. I was not one of them. I realized the war over and the south had lost. Lincoln was the best for our nation."
 
Obama Truth Team. Sounds oxymoronic, with an emphasis on the final three syllables.

What Romney should have said as soon as possible:

bleedingheartlibertarians.com/2012/07/mitt-romney/#comments

My opponent is right in saying no one does it alone. He is wrong in thinking that is a condemnation of free markets and legitimately accumulated wealth. Markets are the most extensive and profound process of human cooperation we have ever discovered. The way to ensure that such cooperation continues peacefully and with mutual benefit is to allow people to try (and fail!) through the market to provide what others want and to keep the wealth they thereby earn, and to face the consequences of failure. Free markets are human cooperation; government redistribution is not cooperation, it is coercion. The justification for the wealth earned in the market is not that people do it alone. It is instead that allowing people to become wealthy by selling what others want to buy is the best way to ensure peaceful social cooperation and to improve the lives of the least well off.
 
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That would have been a strong statement by Romney. No doubt.

Of course, libertarians always seem to leave a hole in their logic probably because they have no idea what society would be like with minimal government.
 
If that's their explanation, it's even dumber than the original statement.

I knew what he said when he said it. I fully understood the context. It was an incredibly stupid thing to say and is reflective of the President's mindset no matter how you slice it. Infrastructure my ass.
 
PhDeac said:
Of course, libertarians always seem to leave a hole in their logic probably because they have no idea what society would be like with minimal government.
Click to expand...

Dodge City circa 1870.
 
ArlingtonDeac said:
To both sides: If someone clarifies their meaning within the same paragraph as a potentially questionable statement, simply accept the clarification and forgo the gotcha bullshit. Thanks. To both sides.
Click to expand...

2352824470_87910c2571.jpg
 
ArlingtonDeac said:
To both sides: If someone clarifies their meaning within the same paragraph as a potentially questionable statement, simply accept the clarification and forgo the gotcha bullshit. Thanks. To both sides.
Click to expand...

to all of you who view this in terms of sides and teams: go fuck yourself
 
Obama fucked up big time. He was wrong to say what he said and it will cost him some votes. Even if he was referring to infrastructure and education, it was wrong to rub business owners' noses in it. He should have said that government is here to help you and is glad to do so and we thank you for your contributions to it.
 
Hard to criticize people for viewing reality. We're pawns in a large chess game. It is about sides and teams.
 
it's one big team trying to fuck the rest of us
 
You talk so much about whining and pillowbiting...you must have a great deal of experience...
 
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