Lies, Damn Lies and G.O.P. Video
"But why stop there? Why not go whole hog and just make stuff up?"
http://keller.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/28/lies-damn-lies-and-gop-video/
We did build that, has already been established as one of the more dishonest political memes in a campaign season undisturbed by shame. The Republicans took a clumsy phrase from an Obama speech in July, in which the president pointed out that most American business successes have been assisted by infrastructure, education or incentives underwritten by the government. The Republican spin-masters whipped this into a preposterous claim that Obama denied American entrepreneurs any credit for their creations. The fact that this slogan has been thoroughly debunked has not kept it from being the defining theme in Tampa.
Until Tuesdays opening festivities you could call this a particularly egregious example of the familiar political game of ripping things out of context. (As in, I like to fire people.) A little distortion. A bit of oppo jiu-jitsu. But why stop there? Why not go whole hog and just make stuff up?
Today, the GOP proudly announced in a press release, the Republican National Convention unveiled three These Hands videos profiling small business owners in Colorado, Nevada and Ohio who built their business themselves, a clear contrast to President Obamas claim that small business owners didnt build their businesses.
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Each of the videos, by the way, continues with the lament of a hard-working businessman a Colorado farmer, the owner of a Nevada candy company, and the president of an Ohio electric company each profoundly insulted by what Obama
um, never actually said. Or maybe the Republicans found the only three businessmen in America who have never made use of the interstate highway system or the Internet, never benefited from farm price supports or a government-backed student loan, never enjoyed a business-related tax break.