Posted on 10/06/2011 7:31:26 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Skip ahead to 9:40 for the key bit. The left, understandably, is salivating over this soundbite, coinciding as it does with Cain’s rise to frontrunner status and the media’s push to make the Wall Street protests into a Very Big Deal. The whole thrust of Obama’s re-election message on the economy next year is to counter his incompetence with the GOP’s supposed callousness: Yes, granted, things are a disaster, but he cares a lot and is trying super-hard whereas Republicans don’t care much about the average American at all. Aren’t you better off with a guy who doesn’t know how to fix the problem but is doing his best instead of a guy who thinks the problem is your fault and wants you to suck it up? This clip plays right into that message; I suspect Democrats will use it in general-election ads even if Cain’s not the nominee, as an example of what the GOP as a whole believes. Imagine how it’ll play with, say, an unemployed fiftysomething who got laid off after 20 years because his company was forced to downsize after the recession. No wonder ABC and CNN have pieces out this afternoon showcasing the quote. Even Ben Bernanke’s showing more sympathy for anti-Wall Street grievances.
But here’s the question: Will Romney and/or Perry dare use this against Cain in the primary? If Mitt’s willing to demagogue Perry’s view of Social Security as being worse than a Ponzi scheme, he’s certainly willing to hit his newest threat on this — unless there’s so much grassroots enthusiasm for Cain’s pushback on the protesters that it’s too risky to take him on. When I tweeted the link to the video this afternoon, my feed lit up with replies thanking Cain for injecting a note of personal responsibility into the OWS din. Romney would have to tread lightly if he went after Cain for it, but he might not be able to resist a chance to posture now as a champion of the unemployed given how dangerous his banker image might otherwise prove in the general election.
As for Cain’s claim (which he admits he has no facts to support) that the protests have been orchestrated to distract from Obama’s policies, I don’t think it’s true yet. As noted last night, the nucleus of this thing appears to be our old friends the anarchists. But Cain’s certainly right that this is why Democrats have suddenly taken such a keen interest in the protests. The more Wall Street or “the banks” or whatever the hell else they’re protesting is to blame, the less Obama is. More media coverage, stat!
He’s right.
But I don't think rich kids have any legitimate bitch.
Not prove they are orchestrated? Have you bother to actually LISTEN to them Hot Air?
>>> actually, it’s a little more complicated than that. An economy dominated by giant corps that are subsidized and controlled in various ways by a giant government can very easily pick winners and losers en masse. >>>
Well yes, and Cain’s overall message is more complicated than just “your fault” too. He’s making a point with that quote. FTR he speaks a lot about the problem with picking winners and losers. And it’s a huge problem.
Yeah, try selling that notion to Bill Gates or Ross Perot or Warren Buffet the Koch bothers or Herman Cain. People who started with NOTHING. Sorry but the 60s era economic dogma you just expressed above is not based on fact, it is based on emotion.
He’s right. In this land of opportunity, the only reason that one is not successful in life is lack of drive.
I blame the parents.
I agree with Cain on this!
stop blaming everyone else for your failures in life!
Herman Cain is a heartless racist. Or we will soon be told so as soon as the Perry supports start posting. ;-)
Yes, he is right. The big question I have, as do others, is if the demonstrators complaints are ligit, why are they not demonstrating in Washington where the control of the money is?
Those successful citizens that you mentioned earned their income BEFORE the takeover of industries by the US GOVERNMENT.....
Agree- Herman Cains comment was a sentiment that I feel when I see these punks.
They are mocking everyone that has worked hard to achieve the American Dream.
It would be interesting is any of these punks have ever had a job. Then I would be “judging” them if I didn’t want to hire a gal with guaged ears, tatoos and pink hair. Most of these kids just don’t want to work!
rant/off and btw JMHO
If you're one of the 20% of the population unemployed, it's your own fault. Here I thought (all this time) that the Obama policies had something to do with it.
Really, really dumb thing for Cain to say.
The key is that the corporations are effectively controlled by big government, which means that winners and losers can be chosen. The “government” is the key part. Invisible Hand is correct.
It’s confusing.
Blame yourself if you don’t have a job. Blame yourself if you’re not rich.
True of some people, untrue of others. Some people at the protests are to blame, some are not. In the wider USA, some people are to blame, some are not.
I realize Cain received huge kudos for saying those words, but when I saw them I cringed. What a lost opportunity to nail Obama, Reid and Pelosi for their horrible policies that have killed millions of jobs and are fundamentally transforming America into a third world country...in the early stages thereof, but heading there.
It just made some people feel good to hear jobless people blasted, especially if they are protesting.
Is that what this is about? Personalizing a lousy economy down to the level of saying, if you don’t have a job, it’s your own fault?
No. We are about conservative economic policies being the ones we must have to turn this economy and country around before it is too late.
I realize I will be mercilessly attacked for saying this.
Because you must now say nothing against Herman Cain...not even if it is the gospel truth. I found that out when I dared remind that he did indeed accuse Perry of being racially insensitive, even posted his exact words which made the charge. That is the race card, pure and simple. Instead of apologizing for it, he denied saying what we heard him say.
For that, I was told basically to shut up. Don’t say that, even if true, because we must unify against Obama and you can’t tell that truth without hurting the cause.
Where were these folks when Cain attacked another candidate for being racially insensitive (which was provably false and based on a Liberal Rag hit piece)? That was real unifying, wasn’t it?
No legitimate complaints, no.
But the common theme seems to be - “someone else should be forced to supply everything I need and want with no effort on my part”.
I've been rich, and I've been poor--I blame nobody but myself for both--and that's WHY I am now rich and no longer poor.
The wise will listen to Herman Cain and get rich.
The stupid will continue doing what they've been doing and, instead of lighting a candle, curse the darkness.
I love the man. A politician who tells the unvarnished truth? Unheard of!
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