Romney to Olympians: 'You didn't get here solely on your own'

[kpete]

Romney to Olympians: 'You didn't get here solely on your own'
By NBC’s Domenico Montanaro

Mitt Romney has criticized President Obama for his “you didn’t build that line,” when it came to businesses. The president was making an “it takes a village” argument, which the Romney campaign and conservatives have roundly panned.

But in 2002, during his speech at the Opening Ceremonies at the Winter Olympics -- the games in which Romney was lauded for turning around the management of the event -- Romney made a similar argument about Olympians.

"You Olympians, however, know you didn't get here solely on your own power,” said Romney, who on Friday will attend the Opening Ceremonies of this year’s Summer Olympics. “For most of you, loving parents, sisters or brothers, encouraged your hopes, coaches guided, communities built venues in order to organize competitions. All Olympians stand on the shoulders of those who lifted them. We’ve already cheered the Olympians, let’s also cheer the parents, coaches, and communities. All right! (pumps fist).”

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/23/12904508-romney-to-olympians-you-didnt-get-here-solely-on-your-own?lite

[DrDan]

1. I sure hope someone has that on tape - to hear those words from mitt's own voice would be priceless

[beac]

13. The quote in question starts @1:41,

but it's worth watching the whole thing to gawk at Rmoney's incredible awkwardness, lack of charisma and truly bad speech giving.

[DrDan]

16. that has to be a commercial

it just writes itself

[beac]

17. Agreed. And I hope they find a way to incorporate that

dorky fist pump he does in it.

[Lifelong Protester]

2. So again, he was for something

before his handlers told him he was against it.

[brewens]

3. You could make the same point Robme uses about Obama never having been a business man.

Robme was never an athlete as far as I know. Other than watching trainers torture his wives horse, he would have no idea what it takes to train hard enough to even have a shot at the olympic level.

[Angry Dragon]

4. So really all Obama did was quote Willard

Willard now either has to apologize to himself or attack himself

[MidwestTransplant]

5. Sounds pretty Communist to me.

[rfranklin]

6. Notice how the Republican operative fails to mention "communities" (and gets it wrong altogether!)

*** UPDATE *** A Republican strategist sends over this response: “The Obama Campaign is comparing the government to a loving parent? What happened to Julia?”

For the record, the post did not originate with the Obama campaign but an NBC archive search.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/23/12904508-romney-to-olympians-you-didnt-get-here-solely-on-your-own?lite

And let's not forget the hundreds of millions in federal tax money that Romney used to fund the Olympics!

Despite opposition from Sen. John McCain and other Republican leaders, the Winter Games’ federal budget grew from $200 million to about $600 million on Romney’s watch, according to his book. When various transportation and other works projects are included, the federal government spent an estimated $1.5 billion from the time the Games were awarded to Salt Lake City in 1995 until they took place in 2002.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/10-years-after-salt-lake-city-olympics-questions-about-romneys-contributions/2012/02/01/gIQABnCX9Q_story_2.html

[asjr]

7. Romneybot was not born--he was put together

from scraps in an old castle in Transylvania.

[nc4bo]

8. 2002. Romney/Bain Capital/Sealy Mattress Co./official mattress of the Olympics

Article was dated March 24, 2002.

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/111261116.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+24%2C+2002&author=&pub=Boston+Globe&desc=FOR+MATTRESS+FIRM+TIED+TO+ROMNEY\%27S+OLD+COMPANY%2C+DEAL+WAS+OLYMPIC-+SIZE&pqatl=top_retrieves

How's this for a case of strange bedfellows? Sealy Mattress landed a plum marketing deal last June: The bedding giant was named the official mattress supplier for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Under the deal, Sealy was to provide 5,000 mattresses for athletes in the Olympic villages and training centers. The arrangement also was good for Olympic chief and gubernatorial candidate Mitt [ROMNEY]. He and his former colleagues at Bain Capital, a Boston investment firm, are Sealy's majority owners. They took a stake in the company in 1997, with plans to eventually resell it or take it public at a large profit. Three Bain partners sit on the board of the company, which is based in Trinity, N.C. Sealy pays Bain $2 million a year in management fees.

How does THAT happen?

Olympic guy says: We need some really good mattresses for these athletes boss.

Boss Romney says: Well I'm your huckleberry.

:shock:

[Berlum]

9. Freaking etch-a-sketch HIPOCRITE Republicans. Sheesh.

Don't Republicans know that everyone of integrity SEES plainly how full of shit they are.

Don't Republicans know that everyone is laffing at how screwed-up Republicon morals are not the matter of 'truth.'

Sheesh.

[Igel]

10. "Solely."

Believe it or not, that's most of the complaint.

"Olympians, you didn't get here on your own power" is blatantly false.

"Olympians, you didn't get here solely on your own power" is true.

A call for modesty and humbleness, to show gratitude to those who helped is good. But it's only really proper coming from the side, as a reminder or exhortation. "I didn't get here on my own" is taken as modesty, giving one's self negative face and giving others positive face. Such modesty may be false, but it builds social cohesion and good will. It says there are others besides you. It's inclusive and acknowledges debt.

A claim that you and yours are really whose responsible for another's success and a demand for payback is crass and self-aggrandizing. "You didn't do this" gives others negative face. When all those you cite as being really the great ones are somehow on your team, you're giving positive face in a way that reserves most of it for yourself. It builds a faction within social but destroys more social cohesion and good will than it builds. It says you're really the important people. It claims ownership. That's great if you're in that faction--all you see is increased social cohesion and you feel good because, well, you've gotten the credit you always knew you richly deserved. That's the little picture. What it produces is the defensive response from some businessman, "Yes, I certainly did do that on my own."

"That response? That businessman didn't say that. That snarky politician, that cloying aid, that kid from school who dropped out, they're the ones who achieved it. He couldn't have said it without them!" Yeah, not so great.

[krhines]

11. The difference is

Olympians get their funding from the rich and huge corporations. We always need to find a way to give them credit for everything.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

12. Romney needs to retroactively go back and keep videotape from being invented

Dang that videotape that keeps making me look bad.

[groundloop]

14. PLAGIARISM - Obama committed plagiarism

[NYC Liberal]

15. I feel an ad coming in 3...2...1...

Can't wait to see what the Obama campaign does with this.

[rocktivity]

18. Here's a start

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=172124


rocktivity

[Jim Lane]

19. Thanks, kpete! I've added this gem to the Romney collection on Wikiquote

This page has a collection of quotations by and about Romney, and I've added this one so that it's more permanently available.

[stlsaxman]

20. replace "communities" with "corporations" and it's about right. n/t