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“You Didn’t Build That” Isn’t Going Away: It doesn’t matter what Obama meant. Here’s why.
Slate ^ | August 30, 2012 | Rachael Larimore

Posted on 09/02/2012 7:40:21 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

The official theme of the GOP convention Wednesday night was "We Can Change That," but that didn’t stop several of the speakers from revisiting Tuesday’s theme, the base-rallying battle cry: “We Built It.” The message: The righteous exploitation of President Obama’s “You Didn’t Build That” gaffe isn’t going away.

Ever since the president stood before a crowd of supporters in Roanoke, Va., on July 13 and, while explaining why the wealthy should pay more in taxes, uttered the infamous words “If you've got a business—you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen,” conservatives have hammered him for his disregard for small-business owners. And liberals have hammered back that Obama was taken out of context. To be fair, this is the full quote:

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.

Obama supporters can complain all they want. They can argue that when he said “that,” he was talking about the roads and bridges, not the business itself. It doesn’t matter. And it’s pointless to blame Mitt Romney or the RNC or anyone else for taking it out of context. Here’s why....

(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2012; 2012electionbias; anticapitalism; bhofascism; democrats; dnctalkingpoints; economy; elections; entrepreneurs; nakedemperor; nakedmarxist; nobama2012; obama; romney; slate; socialism; youdidntbrewthatbeer; youdidntbuildthat
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Exactly.
1 posted on 09/02/2012 7:40:25 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

He didn’t say what he said. If you think he said what you heard him say, you’re stupid.


2 posted on 09/02/2012 7:42:33 PM PDT by Steely Tom (If the Constitution can be a living document, I guess a corporation can be a person.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Precisely!!!


3 posted on 09/02/2012 7:44:09 PM PDT by SierraWasp (Government it'self is the REAL "Free Rider!" Obamacare will create burdensome "Free Riding!!!")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

It was no gaffe. he meant it.

The former co-founder of Car(l)Ma(r)x even supports the statement.


4 posted on 09/02/2012 7:44:09 PM PDT by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Pursue Happiness)
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To: GeronL

ditto that.


5 posted on 09/02/2012 7:45:46 PM PDT by Michael.SF. (Romney was right about the Olympics, but neither the Brits or the Dems will admit it.)
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To: GeronL

The Ameriquest of the used car industry.


6 posted on 09/02/2012 7:45:58 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.)
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To: GeronL

Well thank you Carmax for letting me know your political views, now I know who never to do business with.


7 posted on 09/02/2012 7:48:16 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (Giving more money to DC to fix the Debt is like giving free drugs to addicts think it will cure them)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Slate.com eh? Another leftist off the reservation.


8 posted on 09/02/2012 7:50:14 PM PDT by rockrr (Everything is different now...)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Back in the day, in my misspent youth, I was a student at the University of Oregon. I took a class in Marxism from one of the school’s strident and outspoken Marxists, and it was one of more eye-opening experiences of my life. To the point, then: Obama’s statement is classic Marxist thought. My prof taught us the same thing in our class - that is, the wealth appropriated by the capitalists came from the labor of the workers. The delusion of the capitalist is that he thinks that the wealth came from his effort, when actually it came from the workers. One day, at least according to the Marxists, the workers will rise up and kill the capitalists, thereby taking the wealth that they created through their labor. As my prof used to point out to the delight of those of us with more pedestrian values, good and bad have different meanings based on who you are. When the workers kill the capitalists, it won’t be good for the capitalists, but it will be good for the workers.

Famous Cherokee warrior Elizabeth Warren said the same thing last year, I believe.

In any case, I recognized Obama’s meaning the moment he said it. It’s an expression of his ideological core values.

God help us.


9 posted on 09/02/2012 7:54:00 PM PDT by redpoll
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; ...

The partisan media shills running the p.o.s. USA Today carried water for Obama’s reelection campaign over this weekend. Thanks 2ndDivisionVet.


10 posted on 09/02/2012 7:55:17 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: GeronL

He didn’t just only mean that. He firmly believes it.
Everything was given to him.
His educational opportunities, his employment, his political offices.
He hasn’t accomplished anything but the attempt at dividing and destroying the USA. Even at that, he isn’t alone.


11 posted on 09/02/2012 7:56:56 PM PDT by RedMDer (https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/default.aspx?tsid=93destr)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

obama meant just exactly what we thought he meant, context or no context!!!!

There is at least one other obama quote that should not be allowed to go away:

“Take the pain pill”!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-dQfb8WQvo


12 posted on 09/02/2012 7:57:56 PM PDT by Honorary Serb (Kosovo is Serbia! Free Srpska! Abolish ICTY!)
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To: Steely Tom
He didn’t say what he said. If you think he said what you heard him say, you’re stupid. And anyway, you really didn't build that without government help.
13 posted on 09/02/2012 8:02:33 PM PDT by fhayek
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To: Steely Tom
He didn’t say what he said. If you think he said what you heard him say, you’re stupid. And anyway, you really didn't build that without government help.
14 posted on 09/02/2012 8:02:39 PM PDT by fhayek
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Building things is racist.


15 posted on 09/02/2012 8:03:27 PM PDT by MuttTheHoople (Obama does not have the work ethic to be Anti-Christ.)
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To: SunkenCiv

I am tickled pink the media keeps commenting on this. I want this line to stay in the news, active and keep it’s punch! To me this is sweet payback for the way the leftists have twisted Sarah’s “I can see Russia from my house” statement, and refused to let that die even though it was shown to be a creative editing moment. As long as we keep it in the media discourse, it hurts the O re-election IMHO.

I want to see the empty chair phenomenon continue as well.


16 posted on 09/02/2012 8:08:15 PM PDT by austinaero (Obama or America - can't have both)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I find it difficult to believe someone like Obama could be so politically naive. He has been accused of being a socialist by the Republicans since and before he gained office, and he decides to go on a rant about how selfish business owners are for not wanting to pay exorbitant taxes. Then he complains his words were taken out of context. His problem is that the context is worse than the actual words. The context is not only the speech he gave that day but also his whole career.


17 posted on 09/02/2012 8:08:19 PM PDT by driftless2
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

How’s this from Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (1957):

James Taggart on Hank Reardon:

“Rearden. He didn’t invent smelting and chemistry and air compression. He couldn’t have invented his Metal but for thousands and thousands of other people. His Metal! Why does he think it’s his? Why does he think it’s his invention? Everybody uses the work of everybody else. Nobody ever invents anything.”

She said, puzzled, “But the iron ore and all those other things were there all the time. Why didn’t anybody else make that Metal, but Mr. Rearden did?” (page 262).

That’s what missing in this whole discussion of Obama’s about “You didn’t build that by yourself”: Every inventor of something new worked within an existing social and economic circumstance, and did what no one else did. That is why it is foolish to insist that the inventor didn’t do it by himself. Instead, he worked within the existing circumstances and did what no one else did. In that sense he did do it by himself in spite of what Obama thinks.


18 posted on 09/02/2012 8:09:33 PM PDT by TIElniff (Autonomy is the guise of every graceless heart.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

“You didn’t build that!”

Racist code-wording for you hate the BLACK President.

Just ask anyone at MSNBC or Daily Kos about this.


19 posted on 09/02/2012 8:10:08 PM PDT by tcrlaf (Election 2012: THE RAPTURE OF THE DEMOCRATS)
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To: austinaero
To me this is sweet payback for the way the leftists have twisted Sarah’s “I can see Russia from my house” statement,

You mean, the one that Sarah didn't say, but that Tina Fey said?

20 posted on 09/02/2012 8:11:22 PM PDT by thulldud (Is it "alter or abolish" time yet?)
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