Excellent response to a Tea Bagger re: the "You didn't create that job" comment

[Atman]

A friend of a FB friend posted the poster below, and I was unfortunate enough to see it. Please note the Photoshopping of Obama's head on a poor black person's body, eating watermelon. But I know they're not racist...



Anyway, posted this very good reply;

Yep, the Colonel cooked every piece of greasy chicken, drove all the trucks, waited on every customer, cleaned every toilet, in every Kentucky Fried Chicken... ever.. Only in a Tea bagger world. It was a pretty good speech our president made.

But Lord.. have the president give the go ahead as commander and chief to take out Osama Bin Laden..... and Tea Baggers squeel... "somebody else made that happen!" Tea Baggers, having it both ways and crying about it... Ha haaaaaaaaa!

[CJCRANE]

1. Obama's point was that Colonel Sanders (for example)

didn't make the roads, didn't educate his employees, didn't create the infrastructure and enforce the laws that make business enterprise possible.

[WillowTree]

7. The problem is, he put together two consecutive sentences that gave a whole different mini-context.

He could have said "If you have a business, you didn't build that by yourself" or ".......you didn't build that alone". He could have said "Other people helped you along the way". But he said "If you have a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen". There are literally dozens of other ways he could have put it and the missing context doesn't matter a whit because the cold hard fact is he said it and they're going to use it, just like the President's campaign would use it if Mitt had said something that clumsy. It's just the way it is.

[CJCRANE]

11. "That" refers to the infrastructure he mentioned in the previous sentence.

It's pretty clear. The English language has this thing called paragraphs which sometimes contain more than one sentence.

However, I agree with you in the sense that the media often can't understand a whole paragraph and latches onto single sentences.

[WillowTree]

12. But it's not what he said. What part of that don't you get?

He uttered two complete sentences that said something other than what he really meant and now the other side is using it. Of course they are.

And don't kid yourself that those who are perpetuating this didn't understand the "whole paragraph". Most of them surely did. They're "[latching] onto" the two sentences that the President actually said that suit the image of the President that they want to paint. Just like "I was for the $87 million before I was against it".

Now and then a politician on either side of the debate speaks faster than he's thinking and says something really stupid and his opponents will always, always use it against him. This is Obama's turn. Can he recover from it? Probably. Will it take some work and careful explaining.......likely over and over for awhile? Maybe.

[CJCRANE]

13. Here's the full quote (two paragraphs):

"There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me -- because they want to give something back. They know they didn’t -- look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something -- there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. (Applause.)

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 meaning is very clear. It's a fake controversy IMO.

[WillowTree]

14. If you don't see the difference...

.....between "...if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own" and "If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that"

beyween "...somebody along the line gave you some help" and "Somebody else made that happen"

then you'll never understand why this has gotten some traction. In both cases, he didn't quit while he was ahead. And the result was that those two sentences were a GIFT to the Romney campaign and they accepted it with glee.

They're only using the President's own words as he spoke them. They're not doctoring tapes, they're just using the portions of what the President actually said that suits their purpose. It's what politicians and political campaigns on both sides do day in and day out. It's the way the game is played. Whining about "out of context" or the whole paragraphs may make you feel better, but it doesn't change a thing. He said it. There's damage control to be done. Then on to the next thing or, if we get really lucky, then they'll get on to discussing the actual issues instead of some out of context words that one or the other uttered.

[Atman]

16. No one said there isn't "a difference!" Therein lies the problem.

We know what he meant, because he's given essentially the same speech a hundred times, and he phrased it properly before. Ezra Klein pointed this out, that he and his brethren in the media hear these same stump speeches every day, hoping, waiting, for something different. Most days, they don't report on the stump speeches, because it's the same stuff that the candidate said in the last town in which he spoke.

So, when the President went off his prepared remarks, for whatever, reason, THAT is when the media dogs perked up their ears. THAT is something to report on! Now, they knew that wasn't what the president meant. They knew that to their very core. But his misstatement was now NEWS. Did they report on a misstatement, or did they report on the President saying that you didn't build your own business, even thought they new exactly what he was saying, contextually?

It could have been reported as an unfortunate straying from the script, as many reporters actually did. But not Fox News. And certainly not Mitt Romney, who knew EXACTLY what the President was saying, but chose to build a big lie around it.

I certainly know how the game is played. I play it. I create these kind of ads for candidates from national to state to local races. We look to pounce on whatever we can. But I can't honestly say that I've had jumped on this one, regardless of my party affiliation. In polite conversation, sometimes you let a gaffe by a friend go by because you know it was just a slip of the tongue, and not germane to the discussion. Sometimes you're just a total dick if you point out the simple mistake to the group of people listening.

If anything, Romney's remarks proved how totally desperate he is. He's been getting his ass kicked for a couple of weeks now. But "playing politics" and outright, flagrant LYING, are two different things. Often there is a fine line between the two, but grown ups should be able to tell the difference. Obviously, there's not a lot of grown ups working this one.

[CJCRANE]

17. I agree with you to a point...

but I still think it's a dishonest attack and dishonest journalism.

For example, I could say "I would never say - I hate Russians - because I think they're great!".

If I was a politician the media could quote me as saying "I hate Russians" but it would be a dishonest quote. Context matters.

The media knows that but out of some kind of bias or desire to be "fair" they let Romney get away with this one. They could debunk it very, very easily.

IMO we shouldn't limit ourselves to just one sentence or phrase to communicate, that's descending to the level of a bumpersticker mentality and Breitbart journalism.

Anyway, I've posted the full quote above so people reading this thread can make up their own minds. They don't need to listen to bloggers or pundits and talking heads.

[Atman]

2. I should note, btw, that was my friend's reply, not mine.

Just sharing it here because I liked it. The hatred posted in the original FB thread is, as you can imagine, running high. The usual references to baboons, communists, etc. The Tea Baggers are genuinely unhinged.

[liberal N proud]

3. Where would KFC be if the Colonel did not have customers to buy his greasy chicken?

You can't build a business without the customer.

[SoutherDem]

4. I guess he also

built the buildings with his own hands, made the cups and napkins, raised the chickens, processed the chickens, built the light bulbs, not to mention paved all the roads going to and from his heart attack factories. By the way he seem to be doing so today even though he is dead. What an American!

[drm604]

5. You should point out that the quote is out of context

and that "that" was referring to public infrastructure, not the business. Then link to a video of Obama's speech that shows the quote in context.

[Atman]

6. I don't think they know what the word "context" means.

The last was recollection was when Mrs. Crabapple tried to teach them about the Table of Context in the 5th grade. They don't have much call fer that book learnin' stuff.

[AlbertCat]

8. Rugged Individualism!!!!

....from people who can't get off their cell phones long enough to drive to the store.

[DefenseLawyer]

9. If you make that argument you have already allowed our opponent to frame the debate.

by taking a sentence out of context in a statement about roads and bridges.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. Excellent point about bin laden!

Excellent indeed!!!

[lame54]

15. It's true - he actually did all those things himself...

in that pic he's 28 years old

[Saokymo]

18. I just want to point out

that Obama's head has been Photoshopped (badly) onto "Sad Keanu Reeves'" body:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2024939_2024940_2025353,00.html

Even their racism isn't original.

[Atman]

19. I pointed this out above...and they turned the bird into watermelon.

Watermelon and fried chicken. BRILLIANT! And not at all racist, because we all know the Tea Baggers aren't racist.

.