GOP stoops to Orwellian rewriting of history
Remember when Mitt Romney told America that he just didn’t give a rip about poor people?
He did, you know. He said it word for word, on Feb. 1, 2012, and I quote:
“I’m not concerned about the very poor.”
Of course, that’s not what Romney meant, and everyone knew that’s not what he meant. Taken in context, he meant that the safety net for the very poor remains intact, and that the real challenges lay in solving the problems of the middle class. So after a brief kerfuffle in which a few people tried irresponsibly to make his statement into something it clearly wasn’t, everybody moved on.
Contrast that to what the Republicans are doing with Obama’s “You didn’t build that” statement. Like Romney, he said it word for word: “You didn’t build that.” And just like Romney, that is not what he meant and everyone knows that’s not what he meant.
Taken in context, he meant that no person or business succeeds alone. For those who care about such things, here are his actual remarks:
“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. 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.”
In my mind, it says a lot that the Republicans are building their 2012 convention message, and much of their 2012 campaign, around what they know in their hearts to be a blatant lie. That lie is repeated and repeated and repeated, and it gets no more truthful with each iteration. In fact, as demonstrated by an RNC video shown at the convention last night, it gets worse.
Note that the audio has been edited to remove the entire runup to the magic four words — the part in bold above — leaving behind no audible trace that Obama ever uttered it. The words simply vanish, and history is altered. As George Orwell wrote in 1984:
“And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed – if all records told the same tale – then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.’”
It is distressing to see so many Americans gleefully embrace and rally around what they know in their hearts to be a doctored version of history. And it gives an ironic twist to the fine words of N.J. Gov. Chris Christie last night in his speech to the GOP convention, in which he stressed the importance of telling the truth to the American people:
“We’ve never been a country to shy away from the truth,” he said. “History shows that we stand up when it counts and it’s this quality that has defined our character and our significance in the world.”
“Standing up when it counts” does not mean basing much of a campaign on an obvious, shameless lie. Not in New Jersey, and not anywhere else in this great country.
Except perhaps in Tampa.
– Jay Bookman
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467 comments Add your comment
JamVet
August 29th, 2012
9:12 am
I think we can agree…
Uh oh. Old habits die hard.
His own personal convictions and arguments are so terribly weak that he dares not use a singular pronoun.
Perhaps he is the blog’s Mrs. Slocumbe – “And I am unanimous in that!”
So, no, WE do not agree with that sophist explanation that even a bright nine year old could see through…
weetamoe
August 29th, 2012
9:12 am
In fact Obama’s sneering mockery and denigration of people who have achieved modest success provides the context, making the four words even more damning. To Obama being smart and working hard have nothing to do with achievement. Meanwhile, democrat operatives have defaced the wikipedia page of young Mia Love a young woman of color who is a mayor in Utah, editing her bio to call her a *dirty worthless whore* who has sold out—and some democrat daughters are demanding dignity and respect by prancing about outside the convention site clad in pink vagina suits.
Jay
August 29th, 2012
9:12 am
So Rags, your glaring mistake in a written communication that you had time to reread and edit says nothing about your basic intelligence, yet Obama’s use of an improper pronoun in a speech says everything about his.
Do I have your argument right?
TaxPayer
August 29th, 2012
9:12 am
If only Romney could tell us the truth about his off-shore activities including his Swiss bank account and his Cayman Island businesses.
East Cobb RINO, Inc. (LLC)
August 29th, 2012
9:12 am
“It is not a lie if YOU believe it” – George Costanza
Normal Free...Pro Human Rights Thug...And liking it!
August 29th, 2012
9:12 am
joe
August 29th, 2012
9:08 am
Again I have to ask,
What could President Obama done about the economy by himself? Please answer this time.
Simple Truths
August 29th, 2012
9:13 am
Fred,
Dreams From My father, Page XVII:
“For the sake of compression, some of the characters that appear are composites of people I’ve known, and some events appear out of precise chronology”
Obama wrote the book. This is a direct except from it. Whether I have read the book is not an issue.
Thanks for lying!
b-troll
August 29th, 2012
9:14 am
I think I can possibly say I’ve seen everything now. Poop powered motorcycles….
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/08/28/mind-the-skid-marks-toto-toilet-company-unveils-poo-powered-mot/
Brosephus™
August 29th, 2012
9:14 am
I’m just waiting for Romney to deliver the line, “See, you can trust me.” with a wink just like good ol’ Joe Isuzu. I listened to some of the speeches last night. I’m with Doggone in that I’m beginning to just tune things out completely because of the doubling and tripling down on outright lies. If you have to lie to make your point, then you don’t have a point to make.
It’s his socialist ideology slipping out and being revealed in his speech. He’s not being taken out of context at all.
If that were indeed the case, the GOP and their attack PAC’s wouldn’t have to truncate Obama’s words to sell their propaganda. They could use his entire speech and still make the same point, yet at no time have they ever done that, have they? Even when Romney ran the ad in New Hampshire last year, he cut out Obama’s context to create a lie. He even acknowledged that and was proud of what he had done. Damn shame that someone with such a despicable character could even get a nomination for dog catcher, much less being nominated for a major party for President.
Peadawg
August 29th, 2012
9:15 am
TaxPayer
August 29th, 2012
9:12 am
If only we could focus on jobs and the economy and stuff that actually matters. We all know Romney paid a very low percentage in taxes. We all know he is a 1-percenter who wants more tax cuts for the rich. It’s time to move one.
Normal Free...Pro Human Rights Thug...And liking it!
August 29th, 2012
9:15 am
Fred ™
August 29th, 2012
9:12 am
Fred,
You just put into words the true meaning of “It takes a village” to raise a kid… Thanks.
From Pine View Farm » Blog's archive » Lies and Lying Liars
August 29th, 2012
9:16 am
[...] in Tampa. August 29, 2012 | Posted by: Frank | Posted in: Republican Lies | Bookmark this post QOTD [...]
ITS ALL BUSHS FAULT
August 29th, 2012
9:16 am
Chris KrispyCreme keynote loser is another bloviating asshat that has failed to do his job but sure likes telling others what to do. He and the rest of the GOP Carnival Barkers have absolutly nothing to offer to American people.
Fred ™
August 29th, 2012
9:16 am
The, I do not pretend to understand anything Chauncey does.
First off, who the hell is Chauncey and what has he to do with this discussion.
Secondly, ironic don’t you think that while you are trying to prove that President Obama is somehow unfit as a human being for not using text book English, you can’t type a single post without grammatical errors.
But please, continue on with your hypocrisy, it’s amusing to watch you try to impart an air of intellectual superiority when you are stepping on your johnson with every post. I love laughing at you and your hypocrisy.
Welcome to the Occupation
August 29th, 2012
9:16 am
American political discourse is so degraded and debased that it is an open invitation to the most cynical political players — almost always the right-leaning parties, but not always — to distort and oversimply and do every kind of violence to a any scrap of language it can get its hands on. Which is what the Rove-ified GOP is doing once again in front of our eyes.
There is one purpose to this and one only: to appeal to the so-called “low information voter”, the person who 1) is either too ignorant to understand the issue behind the statement, or 2) literally is so cynical himself that he knows it’s a fake debate, but is swayed by it anyway because he figures the system is so corrupt that lying and fakery are normal states of being for it.
Ewrin's cat
August 29th, 2012
9:16 am
Jay – You didn’t write that!
ragnar danneskjold
August 29th, 2012
9:17 am
‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’
DannyX
August 29th, 2012
9:17 am
“The O Team is trotting out campaign ads with Bill Clinton down in FL….”
Down in Florida Romney has taken out a restraining order against George W Bush that requires Bush to stay out of Florida during the convention.
Bush is in neighboring Georgia were he will be giving his “We destroyed that” speech
Skip
August 29th, 2012
9:18 am
Only some forgot 800.000 jobs a month lost.They don’t know that’s worse than 150.000 gained.
Steve-USA "None of the Above"
August 29th, 2012
9:18 am
The problem is he believes the “help” is the more important factor than hard work and determination.
@Jay tell your bosses I like the updated AJC web site.
Normal Free...Pro Human Rights Thug...And liking it!
August 29th, 2012
9:18 am
b-troll
August 29th, 2012
9:14 am
For a guy my age, that’s not a bad thing…beats having to pull the porti-potty behind the bike…
Mike
August 29th, 2012
9:19 am
What a great commercial! God Bless Bob Sakata and his company.
Chris Sanchez
August 29th, 2012
9:19 am
Jay: agree with Steve-USA…let your peeps at AJC know they did a good job with the new site!
ragnar danneskjold
August 29th, 2012
9:20 am
Dear Fred @ 9:16, I fear you lack the cultural experience of the late 1970s, as “Being There” was an Academy Award nominee. And, of course, the difference between Chauncey and your humble correspondent is that I recognize an ambiguity, and apologize and correct it immediately, and the one with hubris doubles down. (That final phrase is a cultural reference to a “blackjack” strategy; “blackjack” is a card game.)
Fred ™
August 29th, 2012
9:20 am
Simple Truths
August 29th, 2012
9:13 am
Fred,
Dreams From My father, Page XVII:
“For the sake of compression, some of the characters that appear are composites of people I’ve known, and some events appear out of precise chronology”
Obama wrote the book. This is a direct except from it. Whether I have read the book is not an issue.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Yes actually it IS the issue. You can’t accurate put something in context that you haven’t actually read. You can only mouth someone else’s words and thoughts, which is exactly what you are doing. That makes you nothing more than a per-programmed sock puppet without an original thought.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 29th, 2012
9:22 am
Not to hijack the thread but just be aware that Matt Taibbi’s cover story on Mitt is now available online at Rolling Stone.
Excellent read.
saywhat?
August 29th, 2012
9:22 am
Jay
August 29th, 2012
9:12 am
“So Rags, your glaring mistake in a written communication that you had time to reread and edit says nothing about your basic intelligence, yet Obama’s use of an improper pronoun in a speech says everything about his.
Do I have your argument right?”
____________________________________________
LOL. I was thinking the same thing. I think we can all agree that we will not be hearing from mr rags about this. It will disappear into the “w” vortex of history that never happened, and must never be mentioned.
moonbat betty
August 29th, 2012
9:22 am
Last night’s convention was truly awe-inspiring.
It gave me goose bumps to know the time is drawing near where we can begin to undo the damage inflicted upon this great country by the democrats the last 6 years.
Since 2006, the democrats have brought our great country to it’s knees.
Tears of joy are welling up in my eyes as I type this as should yours.
Rise up America!
God Bless America and Mitt Romney!
Fred ™
August 29th, 2012
9:23 am
LOL b-troll. The look on the woman sitting on the motorcycle is priceless given the context of the story.
Jeff
August 29th, 2012
9:23 am
Fred claims to be independent, What a joke, He is a full, all out left wing liberal!
Jay
August 29th, 2012
9:23 am
Truth, the fact that Obama himself noted that composites were used, and explained WHY composites were used, badly undercuts your entire claim. What he did is more or less standard practice to protect private individuals from publicity they did not seek.
TaxPayer
August 29th, 2012
9:23 am
If only we could focus on jobs and the economy and stuff that actually matters. We all know Romney paid a very low percentage in taxes. We all know he is a 1-percenter who wants more tax cuts for the rich. It’s time to move one.
And we all know that Romney lies. How do you trust anything he has to say about the economy or jobs. He has to be honest about his past and about his taxes and about how he really made his money first.
Ewrin's cat
August 29th, 2012
9:24 am
I don’t think the R’s are taking President Obama’s statements out of context…..
If he had acknowledged the risks taken by individuals to start a business I may be able to give O a pass, but he didn’t
Cosby
August 29th, 2012
9:24 am
All politics..the Obama aka Barry gang do the same…The difference is, Obama wants everyone on the same level..marxism at its best…where everyone has the sme standard of living with big brother taking care of them. to an extent, we are looking at where that will leave..people unable to take cae of themselves, have little or no ambition, are willing to live meager lives while they pro create and use drugs, alcohol etc…you see it on the media all the time..”they should have”: or ‘Why is there no help”..”they should have done”…a complete product of LBJ’s great society..we will all live in poverty. What is needed in the USA and Jay will never ageree to is a change of attitude. the citizens need to understand they are “Responsible” for themselves. their actions and decision making has consequences. Life is not fare, life is difficult, and life will throw you a curve just when you think you have it correct. But if we all jump on the Obama band wagon where government is the caretaker..then who will work to provide us the goods and services we desire. who will invest in new technology, medicine, surgical procedures..nobody because everyone will be sitting on the poarch pro creating drinking cheap liquor! The Obama way!!!
Ewrin's cat
August 29th, 2012
9:24 am
Taxers!
tony de fixer
August 29th, 2012
9:25 am
dear simple ; Oh I mean simple truths; there you go taking another statement out of context.
ken
August 29th, 2012
9:25 am
Obama and Truth
1.) Selma March Got Me Born – NOT EXACTLY , your parents felt safe enough to have you in 1961 – Selma had no effect on your birth, as Selma was in 1965. (Google ‘Obama Selma ‘ for his full March 4, 2007 speech and articles a bout its various untruths.) ! !
2.) Father Was A Goat Herder – NOT EXACTLY, he was a privileged, well educated youth, who went on to work with the Kenyan Government.
3.) Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter – NOT EXACTLY, he was part of one of the most corrupt and violent governments Kenya has ever had.
And the list of lies goes on and on.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 29th, 2012
9:26 am
I don’t like the site changes. Used to be able to bookmark an opinion page and see em all at once. Now I gotta use the AJC front page.
Yes I will get over it…
saywhat?
August 29th, 2012
9:26 am
Fred ™
August 29th, 2012
9:16 am
The, I do not pretend to understand anything Chauncey does.
First off, who the hell is Chauncey and what has he to do with this discussion.
Secondly, ironic don’t you think that while you are trying to prove that President Obama is somehow unfit as a human being for not using text book English, you can’t type a single post without grammatical errors.
But please, continue on with your hypocrisy, it’s amusing to watch you try to impart an air of intellectual superiority when you are stepping on your johnson with every post. I love laughing at you and your hypocrisy.
____________________________________________________________
For this to be true, I think we can all agree that mr rags must own a very high stool.
Fred ™
August 29th, 2012
9:26 am
ragnar danneskjold
August 29th, 2012
9:17 am
‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’
++++++++++++++++++++
Great, now he is quoting talking eggs.
Attention: We need meds on aisle 3 please………..
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 29th, 2012
9:26 am
Jay, are you active in this weekends book festival?
the cat
August 29th, 2012
9:26 am
Jay-I would like recognition as being the first blogger on here to use the term “asshat” and almost getting thrown off the blog. Now it is being used by everyone! Can I trademark it?
mm
August 29th, 2012
9:26 am
Republicans can’t get elected without lying. Can you imagine how many votes they would get if they told the truth?
We’re going to raise your taxes so that we can cut the taxes for corporations and the rich.
We’re going to privatize SS by turning those trillions over to Wall. St.
We’re going to get rid of Medicare and turn those trillions over to the insurance companies. You foot most of the bill.
We want to give civils rights to fetuses, but once you’re born we don’t care about you.
TaxPayer
August 29th, 2012
9:27 am
PeaDawg,
What do you think about the Romney campaign’s claim that Mitt will create 250,000 jobs per month for four years if he is elected.
For principles
August 29th, 2012
9:27 am
You want Orwelian re-writing of history? Just look at the text books in government schools. Government rewrites history all the time to make THEIR version the one everyone learns.
Think Pearl Harbor was unprovoked? Think FDR’s policies ended the Great Depression? Think WW2 ended the Great Depression? Think the Gulf of Tonkin incident really happened that way? Think the Luisitania was just another innocent passenger ship travelling to Europe? Think the Maine was actually blown up by the Spanish in Havanna harbor? Think all of Truman’s generals believed that dropping the Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary? Think the Japapanese weren’t trying to surrender prior to Aug. 6th 1945? Thank government history books because none of those things happened the way they say they did. Hitler understood the big lie. In current day, the Bush administration perfected the practice but Obama is doing his very best to outdo even Bush.
Of couse Romney is a liar. He hasn’t held a consistent position on anything his entire life. The only GOP candidate with a 30 year consistent voting record in congress was rejected by the GOP because of his “inflexibility.” This is what americans want in a politician – someonw who tells them whatever they need to hear, whenever they need to hear it. We didn’t get this screwed up as a country by accident.
Ronald Reagan
August 29th, 2012
9:27 am
Governors make better Presidents than Senators do!
TaxPayer
August 29th, 2012
9:27 am
Deniers!
PJ
August 29th, 2012
9:28 am
“That’s Obama’s newest strategy, he wants to run on Clinton’s record because he can’t run on his own.”
At least he can brag on the last Dem President. Where’s Waldo (George Bush). The Right can’t talk about him, show him, nor want us to think about him. He is person non grata in the Republican party.
wahoo
August 29th, 2012
9:28 am
Jay, I don’t think the GOP campaign is based on a “lie” as you claim. It appears to me that when you and I hear those words spoken by the President, we simply hear very different things. I don’t speak for Republicans but I would guess many Republicans heard those words the way that I did.
I helped start and manage a small business with a few partners. We’ve now enjoyed a moderate level of success. We took financial risk and made personal sacrifices to see it through. Of course we owe gratitude to our clients who pay the bills, our parents, spouses, mentors, etc. And of course there is a gratitude to the system around us that in some part helped create the environment for the business to succeed. But my other partners and I have the driving force behind the business, not someone or something else. Most other people I know engaged in owning and running small businesses feel the same way – we acknowledge that we don’t do every single thing ourselves or that we have had some help along the way – but by and large we did build our businesses.
I listened to the words in context. I read the words in context. I will tell you straight up that I personally found his comments to be very insulting. I still do. I think you do the President a disservice by posting them here.
Joseph
August 29th, 2012
9:28 am
This fine lady wouldn’t be alive if Obama had his way…. Who’s extreme?
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/abortion-survivor-appears-in-150000-tv-ad-campaign-to-expose-obamas-extreme-abortion-record/
b-troll
August 29th, 2012
9:28 am
Fred / Normal
I’m against road rage. But if someone ran a biker with that bike off the road, I’d have a hard time blaming them.
ragnar danneskjold
August 29th, 2012
9:28 am
Dear Jay @ 9:12, good morning, unlike Fearless Leader, I do not profess to be The One, nor do I arrogate all decisions for all people to my own superior capacity.
I note your absence on my Elizabeth Warren challenge. Perhaps you will acknowledge that, mere weeks before Chauncey’s unfortunate language, Ms. Warren said the same thing, and with the meaning attached by the “Orwellian GOP?” Would you agree that her view of the economy is perverted and an embarrassment to the democrat party? Disavowal of Ms. Warren would go a long way toward buttressing your flawed argument.
Peadawg
August 29th, 2012
9:28 am
“What do you think about the Romney campaign’s claim that Mitt will create 250,000 jobs per month for four years if he is elected.”
I’ll believe it if I see it. I take everything these 2 politicians say these days w/ a freakin’ dump truck of salt. Not just a grain.
Jay
August 29th, 2012
9:29 am
No, Finn. Headed out of town to visit an ailing relative.
USinUK - thug with a uterus ... and former Girl Scout
August 29th, 2012
9:29 am
“I guess Jay sleeps well at night knowing that the “private sector is doing fine.””
“Big business is doing fine in many places,” Romney said during a campaign fundraiser Thursday. “They get the loans they need, they can deal with all the regulation. They know how to find ways to get through the tax code, save money by putting various things in the places where there are low tax havens around the world for their businesses.”
Fred ™
August 29th, 2012
9:30 am
And, of course, the difference between Chauncey and your humble correspondent is that I recognize an ambiguity, and apologize and correct it immediately, and the one with hubris doubles down.
Again I ask, why are you talking about a silly movie character in a discussion about real life people and politics? We don’t care what Peter Sellers (Chauncey) was scripted to say. What has that to do with the discussion. We are talking about President Obama, not some brain dead movie. But then given your screen name and a majority of your posts you DO have a decided lack of ability to separate fiction from the real world.
Lions and tigers and bears on my………
MANGLER
August 29th, 2012
9:30 am
I reluctantly watched last night (well, read along because I was in a loud place) because it’s Georgia and therefore Faux Noise has to be on by law.
I tried my hardest to feel something for the plight of Elizabeth and her poor basement apartment upbringing – but when I remembered that neither of them was born into a struggling working class family and have never worried about money and yes, raising 5 kids is not easy – unless you pay nannies to do it for you and have maids and chefs at home to cook and clean which gives you time to trod around the globe … come to think of it, no, she’s never worked a day in her life. So please quit trying to connect to the little people. You sound condescending and flakey.
Does anyone else find it odd that Santorum (awesome name with no possible connotative possibilities) spent 30 minutes trumping the MittBot but had spent 9 months trashing him in debates? Kind of odd to listen to back handed complements from the other side of his mouth this time.
As for Tony Soprano from Jersey … I just keep waiting for him to pound his chest and utter “da Bears!” and then keel over and use his tax paid helthcare for life
Brosephus™
August 29th, 2012
9:30 am
I don’t think the R’s are taking President Obama’s statements out of context…..
If he had acknowledged the risks taken by individuals to start a business I may be able to give O a pass, but he didn’t
I disagree. If you’re dinging him because he didn’t acknowledge the risks taken, why give the Republicans a pass for not acknowledging everything else that allows the individual to get to the point where they can take on those risks? Seems like both arguments are one and the same. Obama acknowledged the secondary actions that helped the primary, and the Republicans are focused on the primary actions and disregarding the secondary.
To me, it’s basically a dumbass argument, but that’s just my opinion. For anybody to make such a big stink out of that speech really says they don’t have much of anything else to attack Obama on so they need to gin up drama at every given opportunity. All the GOP needs to do is stick to the economy, but instead, we see keystone cop like Benny Hill chase scenes over complete and utter nonsense.
USinUK - thug with a uterus ... and former Girl Scout
August 29th, 2012
9:31 am
“unlike Fearless Leader, I do not profess to be The One”
Obama never did, either.
nice try
Welcome to the Occupation
August 29th, 2012
9:31 am
At least he can brag on the last Dem President. Where’s Waldo (George Bush). The Right can’t talk about him, show him, nor want us to think about him. He is person non grata in the Republican party.
The name Bush. Absolutely Unutterable.
Unutterable.
Just think about that.
Donovan
August 29th, 2012
9:32 am
Scared, aren’t you Jay Bookman? Scared, aren’t you liberals? Scared, aren’t you Democrat Party?
Very effective advertisement? You bet is is.
Now Bookman is trying to call the ad a lie, a spin, and is a fabrication just like all of the truths that I have been making him aware of for the past 16 years.
The problem with you guys is that you are supporting and backing a losing cause. A cause so Un-American and so aggregious to the fabric of this country that it is indefensible. Obama is a ghost selection with Marxist/Socialist leanings. He exposes himself and his ideology with speeches and sayings of, “you didn’t build that” and “we need to spread the wealth around”. You get these kind of speeches and sayings from North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, China, Vietnam Nam, and Russia.
In contrast, America saw last night a beautiful and truthful couple who will be the next occupants of the WH. Full of character and honesty that Americans have been denied for 4 years. How about Gov. Haley? Beautiful and smart. How about Gov. Christy? Strong and truthful.
So all of you Bookman myrmidons keep buying into his “big lie” conspiracy, stay unemployed, blame the wealthy, keep spending, don’t balance the budget, incur more debt, depend on government entitlements, depend on failed government management, and I shall be here throwing it right back at you. You think that the Republicans are spinning the “out of context” thing? Hardly. Just because you all have been spinning untruths for so long, you can’t see the forest for the tree.
What goes around, comes around. What you see is what you get. Now let’s hear it from all you smart voters who elected this rabble and want 4 more years of the same.
Steve-USA "None of the Above"
August 29th, 2012
9:32 am
Fred – “The look on the woman sitting on the motorcycle is priceless given the context of the story.”
She does look a little flush.
Please tip your waitress.
Normal Free...Pro Human Rights Thug...And liking it!
August 29th, 2012
9:34 am
USinUK,
I’ve been meaning to ask you this but I keep forgetting. I’ve checked all the Governmental files, CIA files, FBI files, IRS files, and the GOP Enemies files, but I can’t find it anywhere….So…Where the hell is your cooking blog???
ragnar danneskjold
August 29th, 2012
9:34 am
Dear Jay, just curious, was Chauncey using a teleprompter at the notorious Norfolk speech?
Fred ™
August 29th, 2012
9:34 am
Jeff
August 29th, 2012
9:23 am
Fred claims to be independent, What a joke, He is a full, all out left wing liberal!
+++++++++++++++
Oh cool, Jeffy decided to be a big boy and use a capitol J today.
Shame his mind didn’t grow up to.
Yeah Jeffy, anyone who doesn’t walk lock step with the far right wing talk radio nut case agenda is a full blown liberal socialist commie pinko homosexual deviant. I know that. You got me.
Here’s your sign:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5ZkdHImCuQ
Citizen of the World
August 29th, 2012
9:35 am
I would try to encourage some of these right wing TV and talk fans to seek out other sources of information, but have little hope that they can resist the Fox News bevy of beauties and their simplistic spewings. Or Rush and his righteous indignation. Or Sean and his suppositions.
Why should they confuse themselves with the facts when the fiction fits in so nicely with their desired worldview?
Simple Truths
August 29th, 2012
9:35 am
Jay, I disagree. Using a composite is different from changing names to protect the innocent. I agree changing a name will protect someone’s identity. I understand the President’s logic for that.
When you create a composite, you start changing details of what actually occurred. You are rewriting history. I won’t call it Orwellian, but it is rewriting history.
Newby
August 29th, 2012
9:35 am
Weetamoe said, “In fact Obama’s sneering mockery and denigration of people who have achieved modest success provides the context”
Sir, I believe you think you percieve what is not there. There is no mockery. There is no sneering. The concept that you could think that anybody disdains success is ludicrous. Has something bad happened to you to make you see “mockery, sneering, and deigration” where none exists?
Gordon
August 29th, 2012
9:35 am
When Bush said “Mission Accomplished” he didn’t mean the war was over.
When Palin said “I can see Russia from my front porch” she didn’t mean literally or that it made her an expert in foreign policy.
When Gore said whatever he said about inventing the internet I don’t think he meant HE actually invented the internet.
When Jay Bookman said Obama was the most frugal president since Eisenhower I don’t think he meant it the way most people took it. At least I hope not.
So yes, Obama was talking about the roads and bridges and he said “you didn’t build that.” But so what? The business owner who used the roads and bridges pays taxes on all the vehicles his business has that uses those roads. Obama seems to believe the government should get more credit for providing the infrastructure that businesses use than most people do. I wonder if he believes it should get the blame when a business that uses roads and bridges fail?
ragnar danneskjold
August 29th, 2012
9:35 am
Dear USinUK @ 9:31, good morning, you err.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=molWTfv8TYw
mm
August 29th, 2012
9:36 am
I see the cons pissed off the Ron Paul supporters yesterday. There goes 10% of the con voters. LOL
Jym Allyn
August 29th, 2012
9:36 am
I am expecting that very shortly someone will have the wisdom to compare “ConservaNut” strategy to the deceptions and lies inherent in alcoholism, drug abuse, spousal abuse, sex abuse, and gambling addiction. The key commonality is that addicts don’t know when they are lying even when they are not in the midst of their addiction.
(Oh wait, they already have: drug addict Limbaugh, alcoholics Bush and Beck, sex addict Morris, gambling addict Buchanan, misogynist O’Reilly, and slut Palin.)
And when the chad settles on November 7, the GOP faithful are going to be hit with some Golden Plates when they discover that “the enemy of my enemy” is still my enemy, and that Evangelicals stay home from voting because they would rather have a Black President than a Mormon or Catholic.
Brosephus™
August 29th, 2012
9:36 am
Yeah Jeffy, anyone who doesn’t walk lock step with the far right wing talk radio nut case agenda is a full blown liberal socialist commie pinko homosexual deviant. I know that. You got me.
gadem
August 29th, 2012
9:36 am
The state of Politics today, and the refusal of journalists in general to do their job and call a lie a lie is very disheartening. In my opinion, they have allowed this lie to be told so much that it is basically truth. I also fault President Obama for not coming out and calling the lie a lie. It is just like this is bizarro world or something.
saywhat?
August 29th, 2012
9:37 am
Wahoo, you wrote ” And of course there is a gratitude to the system around us that in some part helped create the environment for the business to succeed”.
What do you say to people who want to tear down that system of physical and social infrastructure because it “costs too much”? Obama’s quote is not meant to berate business owners but to celebrate their success, and highlight some of what made their success possible, and keep that possibility open to all. It is in defense of future business owners. that he is speaking.
USinUK - thug with a uterus ... and former Girl Scout
August 29th, 2012
9:37 am
Normal – http://www.wordpress.redskitchendiaries.com
Normal Free...Pro Human Rights Thug...And liking it!
August 29th, 2012
9:37 am
Donovan,
That you can’t see the Ad for the lie it is, speaks volumes about you.
Jay
August 29th, 2012
9:37 am
No, Ragnar, I would not in the least disavow Warren’s statements. She stated:
“There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there — good for you!
But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that maurauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory, and hire someone to protect against this, because of the work the rest of us did.
Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea — God bless. Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”
That is absolutely true, word for word. Plaster it on billboards, in full context, for all I care. In fact, I find it hilarious that you view such words as something to be disavowed.
She told the truth.
Joe Hussein Mama
August 29th, 2012
9:38 am
S. Truths — “Jay glosses over the uproar when Mitt said “I like being able to fire people.”
Then again, Obama’s not making that one of his campaign’s applause lines.
Fred ™
August 29th, 2012
9:38 am
the cat
August 29th, 2012
9:26 am
Jay-I would like recognition as being the first blogger on here to use the term “asshat” and almost getting thrown off the blog. Now it is being used by everyone! Can I trademark it?
++++++++++++++++++
I’ve been using asshat long before you came to this blog. Ask anyone here cat. As a matter of fact, I had to define it for a couple people when I first started using it.
I LET you use it, now don’t go getting all greedy.
You DIDN’T build that.
USinUK - thug with a uterus ... and former Girl Scout
August 29th, 2012
9:38 am
oh, FFS, Ragnar … “we are the ones we have been waiting for” /= “I am The One”
jeebus, I always knew you were an idiot, but THIS takes the biscuit
Goldie
August 29th, 2012
9:39 am
And the Romney campaign is continuing with their “welfare” ads, with total lies about Our President, because Romney himself does not care if he has to tell lies in order to get elected. A Romney campaign advisor has stated that they will not let “fact-checkers” stop them from running with their blatant lies… and the Cons are so pleased with all the lies!
TaxPayer
August 29th, 2012
9:39 am
Will the real Mitt Romney please stand up, and take a bow. And tell us all about yourself and how you created all those jobs and did it in a manner consistent with your Mormon upbringing.
Steve-USA "None of the Above"
August 29th, 2012
9:39 am
Jay – “No, Finn. Headed out of town to visit an ailing relative.”
Sorry to hear that Jay, I hope everything turns out OK.
Ahem
August 29th, 2012
9:39 am
Concerning this piece by Jay:
Talk about grasping at straws…blah, blah, blah.
saywhat?
August 29th, 2012
9:40 am
Gordon wrote “So yes, Obama was talking about the roads and bridges and he said “you didn’t build that.” But so what? The business owner who used the roads and bridges pays taxes on all the vehicles his business has that uses those roads. Obama seems to believe the government should get more credit for providing the infrastructure that businesses use than most people do. I wonder if he believes it should get the blame when a business that uses roads and bridges fail?”
______________________________________________________
Or perhaps Obama believes we continue to need taxes to maintain the current infrastructure and build more for the furture, vs cutting taxes for the wealthy and letting the infrastructure collapse? Where would your beloved business owner be then?
ragnar danneskjold
August 29th, 2012
9:40 am
Dear Jay @ 9:37, so when the GOP says that Ms. Warren’s leftist-economics argument is what Chauncey meant with his inflammatory words, why is that “Orwellian?” Sounds like a mainstream interpretation of leftist philosophy. Friend Gordon @ 9:35 already explained why Ms. Warren’s economics fail, and I adopt his argument in toto.
Ben Shockley
August 29th, 2012
9:40 am
Anderson Cooper ripped Debbie Wasserman Schultz of the DNC on live television for a blatant lie about Mitt Romney. You can watch the video right here…
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/80088.html
DNC stoops to Orwellian rewriting of history….
Lying liberal liars and the lies they love to tell. I guess Bookman is only outraged about lies and comments taken out of context when instructed to be outraged by his handlers at the DNC.
Chuck Irving
August 29th, 2012
9:41 am
Jay,
Pick on the words all you want.
The truth remains this: there is no telling what Obama will do next in taxation, regulation and demands to businesses, big and small. This is the fear – and how EVERY person slightly familiar with business – from bankers to business owner large and small – sees as a giant red flag. Risks must be planned for or they can wipe you out, literally. No one, from Apple to the corner store, gets any support – financial or otherwise – without first understanding and then having plans in place to manage risks. Regulatory risks is a VERY big factor and has now been front and center since 2010 stifling every possibility of sustained growth.
I believe the President is plenty smart enough to know this even though he does not have an MBA. Larry Summers certainly would have told him. So why is he continuing to seed the unrest with threatening to tighten his tax and spend grip on the lifeblood of American ingenuity?
The only answer I can come to is that he is the tip of an iceberg of a movement who really wants the America that has been the most successful model of prosperity in history to give way to a totalitarian regime that removes all the individual drive and innovation to serve not the collective but the privileged few – Presidents who have an entourage with jets, movie stars with multiple homes, philanthropists who try to appear with a conscience after driving their competitors out of business. In other words, those who gave MILLIONS to Obama’s campaign instead of sending that same money to working charities to help those in need.
Some of these regimes came and went but others are still here – the former East Germany (go watch The Life of Others), the former Soviet Union, present-day China. If you believe the United States should follow their example, then go ahead, pick apart more words in your intellectual sandbox while we goes down the dumper.
I, for one, want people who are RESPONSIBLE in charge, not blamers, not preachers and not tabloid thugs.
EJ Moosa
August 29th, 2012
9:41 am
A few economic truths….
Before Obama even took office, corporate profits were already rebounding. The low point for the overall economic profit picture was the second quarter of 2008, two quarters before Obama even took office.
In September 2009, corporate profits surpassed the peak under George Bush. and for more than two years Obama has been president while the total profits of all businesses in the US have been higher than we have ever had.
So when you talk about Orwellian revisions, let’s visit this one.
Oh yes, corporate profits came out today for the second quarter 2012.
How’s the scorecard look? Under Obama we had 6 consecutive quarter of double digit profit growth(for the preceding four quarters). Now some of you will say that was because things were so bad. Reread what I wrote at the top before you draw that conclusion.
Under Bush, we had 17 consecutive quarters that had double digit profit growth(for the preceding four quarters).
For the second quarter 2012, we were up 6.06% over the same quarter last year.
And for the last four quarters, we are up 7.56%, less than the level needed to add jobs for the next twelve months.
Fred ™
August 29th, 2012
9:42 am
mere weeks before Chauncey’s unfortunate language
There you go again failing to seperate fact from fiction. Chauncey was a MOVIE character. He has nothing to do with Ms. Warren or any other modern day REAL person. Quit talking to the voices in your head.
Welcome to the Occupation
August 29th, 2012
9:42 am
Jay: Elizabeth Warren: “Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea — God bless. Keep a big hunk of it. ”
You give away the game right there.
The right wingers are right to the extent that as long as we stay in the frame of capitalism – which is what the “keep a big hunk of it” means – you cannot really stop the logic from sliding to the point where it is now, which is that the rest of us have NO rights in the face of the aristocracy/royalty of capital. It’s just a matter of time. The only solution is to do away with the capitalism logic altogether.
Jay
August 29th, 2012
9:42 am
“Dear Jay @ 9:37, so when the GOP says that Ms. Warren’s leftist-economics argument is what Chauncey meant with his inflammatory words, why is that “Orwellian?”
Who said it was Orwellian, Rags? Nobody that I know of.
JR
August 29th, 2012
9:42 am
b-troll
August 29th, 2012
9:08 am
Romney himself has made his views known about the Obama quote.
He said (and I paraphrase): When a kid gets an A in a class, you don’t give the credit to the bus driver.
I agree.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Without the bus driver the kid doesn’t get to school to make the A. He doesn’t get to school to learn the material to take the test. Without the carpenter he doesn’t HAVE a school.
No man is an island.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Without the student, there is no A to be made, no bus to be driven, and the driver doesn’t have a job.
No island is a man.
Goldie
August 29th, 2012
9:43 am
And don’t we all love to hear Gov. Christie talking about how Romney believes in “shared sacrifice” by all Americans — when has Romney ever said that??? All I’ve heard him say is that his millionaire friends will get more tax cuts if he is elected president — OMG!
The GOP lies and propaganda is neverending!
ragnar danneskjold
August 29th, 2012
9:43 am
Dear USinUK, I think my interpretation is fair – a supreme egoist such as Obama, when he says “we,” is using the royal or editorial “we.”
Normal Free...Pro Human Rights Thug...And liking it!
August 29th, 2012
9:43 am
USinUk,
Just signed up…thanks!
saywhat?
August 29th, 2012
9:43 am
Oh crap, I made a typo and spelled “future” incorrectly. Now I’m a dumbass like rags and this chauncey fellow he loves so much.
Ben Shockley
August 29th, 2012
9:43 am
Debbie Wasserman Schultz and CNN’s Anderson Cooper engaged in a heated exchange Thursday night when Cooper charged that the Florida congresswoman “misquoted” the Los Angeles Times in a letter that the anchor also said misrepresented Mitt Romney’s stance on the Republican Party’s abortion platform plank.
The segment, which has gone viral in the conservative blogosphere, features Cooper, on his CNN show “Anderson Cooper 360,” pointing to a fundraising email Wasserman Schultz signed. He said that a quote she used from the Los Angeles Times in the appeal was taken “completely out of context.”
“The DNC chairwoman calls out Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan for saying they don’t entirely agree with that plank,” Cooper said. “And here’s how she backs it up…’But guess what? ‘The Los Angeles Times’ reported yesterday that the platform was, and I quote, ‘written at the direction of Romney’s campaign.’
But Cooper said the quote “was ripped, in fact, out of a sentence,” saying that the real piece read, “Delegates for presumptive nominee Mitt Romney are voting down substantive changes to the platform language that was written at the direction of Romney’s campaign.”
“Do you at least acknowledge that the quote that you gave from “The L.A. Times” is completely incorrect?” Cooper asked, after a back-and-forth over Romney’s record on allowing for abortions in certain instances, like rape.
“No, I don’t acknowledge that. I know that is what you’re saying,” Wasserman Schultz shot back. When he started to read the quote, she interrupted, “Anderson, what I’m saying is, it doesn’t matter.”
“I think what you say does matter,” he said. “You’re quoting the LA Times and, again, you’ve misquoted them to back up a position.”
Wasserman Schultz said that the point of the fundraising email was to highlight Romney’s connection to his party’s platform ban on abortion, which doesn’t specifically designate exceptions for victims of rape or incest.
“There’s no way a presidential candidate can separate himself from that party’s platform,” she said.
Cooper challenged her assertion there, too, but the most fiery moments of the segment centered on the question of the quote from the Los Angeles Times.
“Just as you don’t like being misquoted, I don’t like being misquoted, I’m sure the LA Times doesn’t like being misquoted to back up your political position,” Cooper said. “I don’t understand why you’d need to do that.”
Mick
August 29th, 2012
9:44 am
donovan
Well, no one can accuse you of not having passion for your cause but the hypocrisy of your words is laughable. As if the romneys are the golden childen, as if he really cares about the middle class and the poor. If you take what he says it still is all about the wealthy class and tax cuts and we are sick of it. Talk about a proven failure, your tax cutting party has created the biggest deficits ever and destroyed the middle class at the expense of the few. Republicans have to earn back the trust of the middle class. There is nothing being said or done that warrants any trust from the party of tax cuts and one dimensional religious ideology – you can have it…