Obama: Unfiltered and Off the Teleprompter
Posted by David Webb on Jul 25, 2012
http://www.americanlivewire.com/obama-unfiltered-and-off-the-teleprompter “If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”
Unless you have been living under a rock, you heard this ideological gem uttered recently by Obama. Now, for a president during the middle of a campaign election that focuses on creating jobs to say that the people who create jobs – didn’t actually do that…well, you have to assume he is starting to drink his own “kool-aid.”
Well, this statement has set the blogosphere, the talking heads, the media pundits, and Obama’s personal PR firm – MSNBC – working overtime to try and deflect the idiocy onto anyone else. Meanwhile, the rest of us who live in the real world try to understand why an allegedly Harvard-educated individual would make such a colossal mistake.
So, let’s have at them – and see what shakes out.
The liberal left is saying that the Republicans are misrepresenting what Obama meant. That they are taking what he said completely out of context, that they are being obstructionists, that they are hating a black man in the White House – sorry…reflexive expectation. Let’s get back on track, shall we?
So, let’s present the whole context – the entire paragraph that included that now famous line.
“…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…”
So, I get it. Obama is right. The government IS responsible for my success. Why didn’t I see it all along? I am totally incapable of doing anything good if it wasn’t for the government. Man, how could I be sooo stupid? D’oh!
But, wouldn’t that also mean that the government is responsible for my failure as well? I mean if they get to take credit for my success, then they are to blame for my failure…right? So, that means the government is responsible for the following:
8.2% unemployment – over 8% since Obama has been in office
Workforce that has shrunk by over 7 million workers since Obama has been in office
Unemployment benefits that have been extended to 99 weeks
20 additional taxes that will kick in with the full implementation of Obamacare
Income inequality – since they are the ones who made some businesses more successful than others
Housing foreclosures
Environmental disasters – I mean you can’t blame BP since it is the government that made BP successful in the first place
Wall Street melt…
But…but…it’s Bush’s fault! (Sorry, these damn reflexive expectations.)
However, that is something that you don’t hear Obama (and the Democrats) proudly proclaiming, do you? They made you successful, but the Republicans made you fail – if you listen to them.
But, their logic does not work in the real world. Time for a rewind –
So, let’s present the whole context – the entire paragraph that included that now famous line.
“…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 liberal left is stating that everyone is taking the president out of context. That he was not talking about the success of small business – he was talking abo…about…how infrastructure made your business successful.
So, the corner store where you buy your coffee on the way to work is successful because the government built a road to it. Really? That’s what you want to go with – a road makes that business successful. A road is why people come into that corner store to buy coffee?
So, the fact that someone passed a Starbucks, McDonald’s, and a Dunkin Donuts to buy coffee from that little corner store is because the government built a road is the reason they are successful – well, glory be to Obama!! Could it be because they made freshly brewed coffee that tasted better than the others and then sold it at a lower price which got people to drive by all of fancy chains to come visit that corner store.
It was the road that made my business successful. Hate to break it to you, this is not the Field of Dreams, they don’t come just because you built it. You have to build it, then you have to let people know it is there, then you have to work at it harder than anyone else so it is successful.
Care to try again?
“…If you were successful…There was a great teacher somewhere in your life…”
There are some wonderful teachers out there – hell, people have told me on more than one occasion I was one – but the reality is what makes a teacher great? The general answer is the success of the student. The real answer is that the student listened to the teacher and took it upon themselves to actually do the work and therefore made himself a better student. All the teacher did was to get the student to see the “light.”
You know I am right. For those of you over thirty, what happened when you didn’t do an assignment? You failed. You didn’t do the work for the entire year – you failed the grade. It was up to the individual student to do the work and pass on his own. No parents’ begging/complaining, no social promotion.
There are some great teachers out there, but they didn’t help me become successful – they challenged me to be successful on my own.
Got something else?
“…The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet…”
Hold up – I thought Al Gore created the internet. The government creating the internet made businesses successful, really?
I won’t even bore you with a history lesson – but realize that it was the government that made your online business successful. Think about it – start an online business, and BAM, you’re rich because the government made the Internet. That’s all it takes.
So, Facebook is a huge success – until it went public, but MySpace is dying; and they are both on the same internet. Why government? Why are you willing to let MySpace die? What did they ever do to you? Is it because the over 800 million worldwide users prefer Facebook’s functionality over MySpace?
No, that couldn’t be it. MySpace tried to do it on their own. So, whatever part of your life you think is a success, well – you didn’t earn it, the government did it for you.
