‘Somebody else’ and Obama’s concept of how the world works
A pair of four-word phrases are proving unshakable for the Obama campaign.
The first is a line Obama actually spoke last month in Virginia: “You didn’t build that.” The second is the implication in a new advertisement by Obama’s super PAC that attacks Mitt Romney’s corporate past: Romney killed a lady.
Taken together, they reflect the president’s apparent belief that the good things as well as the bad things in our lives — success and failure, joy and tragedy, growth and death — are the products of forces beyond our control that only government can bring to heel. Unless you’re rich, in which case you didn’t do the good things in your life, just the bad things in others’.
“You didn’t build that” has been making the rounds for weeks now. The full line — “If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that” — came amid a laundry list of ways in which, according to Obama, the successful should play down their own success. It wasn’t because you were smart or hard-working; Obama said “a lot of smart people,” a “whole bunch of hard-working people” weren’t so rewarded. Chalk it up to “a great teacher … this unbelievable American system … roads and bridges … government research [that] created the Internet.”
In short: “Somebody else made that happen.”
The speech resonated with the public, but not the way Obama intended. It resonated negatively, and not because successful people don’t acknowledge those who helped them along the way. Of course they do.
It resonated negatively because Obama focused exclusively on the collective. No acknowledgments of the ways successful people differentiate themselves, much less the government-imposed obstacles many of them overcome. Just a brief nod to “individual initiative” while bowing to the greater number of things “we do … together.”
It resonated negatively with a public that has become accustomed to hearing Obama talk about success almost always in the passive voice: It happens to people “who’ve been most fortunate” and who “have been incredibly blessed.” By, one can only guess, “somebody else.”
The attack on Romney is fresher. It arose in a video ad by Obama’s super PAC, in which a man who once worked for a company bought by Romney’s Bain Capital essentially blames Romney for his wife’s death from cancer.
The man, Joe Soptic, worked for GST Steel in Kansas City, which Bain bought in 1993. In 1999, Romney left Bain. In 2001, GST Steel closed its doors and Soptic lost his job and his health insurance. “A short time ater that,” Soptic says in the video, his wife was diagnosed with late-stage cancer. She died within weeks.
It’s a tragic story, but the ad omits a few details. First, that Soptic’s wife still had a job and health insurance until 2002 or 2003. Second, that her diagnosis and death were in 2006, five years after Soptic lost his job.
Amazingly, the ad isn’t even an attempt to justify Obamacare. It’s just a crude attempt to put blood on Romney’s hands.
Although an Obama spokeswoman initially denied knowing Soptic’s story, claiming the campaign is insulated from the super PAC, a recording of a conference call from this spring reveals the very same spokeswoman talking with Soptic about his story. The Obama campaign has also run its own ad with Soptic, depicting him wearing the very same shirt (see photos on left).
But maybe we shouldn’t blame her or the campaign for that little fib. After all, in Obama’s America, only the super-successful could be responsible for something bad. Somebody else, I’m sure, made that happen.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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419 comments Add your comment
Thulsa Doom
August 10th, 2012
11:22 pm
“Obama’s comments about “you didn’t make that all by yourself” was taken out of context and you know it, Kyle.”
Um. No. They weren’t.
getalife
August 10th, 2012
11:22 pm
Oasis was next to Barnacle’s.
Hillbilly D
August 10th, 2012
11:23 pm
the thomas Jefferson nonsense?
That and “not intended to be a factual statement” have got to be two of the silliest things posted on these blogs.
Fred
If you must drink, don’t drink and blog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93mv8LPtmro
Dusty
August 10th, 2012
11:24 pm
getalife
I think most of the Democrats in Washington are moles. Everytime the Senate has something on whcih to vote, they all go underground leaving ol’ Harry to whisper “We will not consider that at all.”
Nothing gets done and the Dems did it!! Yep, the DEMS did it.
Old Timer
August 10th, 2012
11:25 pm
Romney Will Announce His Running Mate at 9AM ET Saturday in Norfolk.
getalife
August 10th, 2012
11:26 pm
Dusty,
The do nothing gop house sent over their ideology.
That would never pass.
We could use a choice to dissolve congress when they hit 10% approval.
Fred ™
August 10th, 2012
11:27 pm
HillbillyD: You are hitting on some of my favorite bands tonight. The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys is one of my favorite albums. I was going to link the title track but i hadn’t heard the youtube version here and was too impatient to listen to it all before I posted. I’m going to link this one, listen to it AND the title track though…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR_kkOQJJpg
Fred ™
August 10th, 2012
11:29 pm
But on a quick double take Hillbilly Deluxe, do you care for this one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R82OM5tzcrk
JKL2
August 10th, 2012
11:29 pm
getalife- Our President is a White Sox fan
ROFLMAO!!!! He’s such s fan he couldn’t name a player he liked, past or present. He said he grew up in Hawaii, watched the cubs, and then after about a dozen Ummms, he came up with some nonsense about them being a blue collar team.
I doubt he even knows where Comiskey Park is…
PS: I do know it’s called the cell now.
SheeshLouise
August 10th, 2012
11:29 pm
…and @md
since you like to play SILLY LITTLE GAMES with this whole thing…
Where did the PAPER AND METAL CURRENCY come from that was able to be passed from your employer to you in exchange for your “work”? Oh.. okay…
PlatinumBlack
August 10th, 2012
11:30 pm
Are you a big Doors fan
huge. i connect with him somehow… some kind of narcissistic Namaste, i think.
getalife
August 10th, 2012
11:30 pm
Old Timer,
Good, sick of hearing the corporate media spew about it.
He will need another hail mary like palin.
Hillbilly D
August 10th, 2012
11:31 pm
This is one of my favorite songs. I tried to post it on Youtube a couple years ago and they took it down. Glad somebody got it through. I wonder how Mary’s doing these days……..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53yXU114JyM
Hillbilly D
August 10th, 2012
11:32 pm
Fred @ 11:29
Yeah, I like that one.
MarkV
August 10th, 2012
11:34 pm
Kyle continues to lie about what Obama said in a speech: ”The full line — “If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that,” and then he dares to criticize a story by Obama’s super PAC? Does he have any shame?
Bruno
August 10th, 2012
11:34 pm
The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys is one of my favorite albums.
I can’t believe it, someone finally put my favorite song from that album up a few days ago. Only 78 views so far.
Here’s “Many A Mile To Freedom”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8zxuq9cBzE
RW-(the original)
August 10th, 2012
11:34 pm
Since the “roads and bridges” the government builds is what makes a business succeed why is it the business right next door to mine just failed?
Hillbilly D
August 10th, 2012
11:36 pm
Like the groove in this one (low volume for some reason)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_Dp2Z-CN_w
Fred ™
August 10th, 2012
11:36 pm
Hillbilly @11:31: That was one of my favorite Albums lol. You really ARE in my head tonight. My favorite off that album was this song. (Damn you lol, I was goona do one for PB first but you posted that)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3cgnnLKIsk
JKL2
August 10th, 2012
11:37 pm
getalife- We could use a choice to dissolve congress when they hit 10% approval.
Pelosi actually got it right when she said we needed to drain the swamp. She just missed the point that her butt ugly mug is right there at the top of the list.
Thulsa Doom
August 10th, 2012
11:39 pm
RW,
To add to that point what a lot of people can’t seem to figure out when extolling the virtues of govt building a road is that govt didn’t really build that road. The taxes paid by the private sector to fund govt is what really built that road.
Dusty
August 10th, 2012
11:39 pm
getalife,
The Dem led Senate is the blockade, hon. But who needs a budget, something we don’t have in the USA. The president spends whatever and wherever he wants and forget the doggone $$$$ debt! I think he is going to hit 10% very soon. He’s almost to zero with me.
Go BRAVES. You can beat the SOX with one hand tied.
Fred ™
August 10th, 2012
11:41 pm
Madam Platinum Black: The Doors always appealed to my dark side which is massive. When I say that, I mean Mister Morrison of course. While it is tough to single out one song that is my “favorite” this one has always been at the top of the list just because the versatility it has…….. lyrics, music, vocals……. I really can’t think of many songs that can match it (Roger Waters did). I mean…. The Monk Bought Lunch? Really lol?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbpRlqqzSD4
SheeshLouise
August 10th, 2012
11:41 pm
@RW
As is said in “tha hood”
“You must be smoking that s**t?” I hope you are only being facetious with your last post. I would hope you have the ability to understand that the President was saying NO business operates in a vacuum, and that in order to become “successful” there are various factors that come into play, such as using the country’s infrastructure or other services in some form or fashion in order to get and stay going. Now, do you wanna to continue to lie to yourself about these things, or what?
Dusty
August 10th, 2012
11:42 pm
Bruno,
I do not have red hair. Not this week. But maybe I’ll try that next week
getalife
August 10th, 2012
11:42 pm
“Go BRAVES. You can beat the SOX with one hand tied.”
See.
congress spends the money Dusty.
Our President can veto or sign the bill..
Bruno
August 10th, 2012
11:43 pm
HD–I’ve been wanting to play this song from the Doobie Bros for you for the longest.
“White Sun”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dTBTeoS0MA
JKL2
August 10th, 2012
11:43 pm
getalife- obama the White Sox fan
Listen to one of the greatest orators of our time: http://www.ihatethemedia.com/obama-not-white-sox-fan
It’s amaizing what the man can do when they turn off the teleprompter!
Hillbilly D
August 10th, 2012
11:43 pm
I think no member of Congress should get another paycheck until they pass a budget. I bet that would get them off their collective fannies.
Hillbilly D
August 10th, 2012
11:45 pm
Bruno
I haven’t heard that in years.
Bruno
August 10th, 2012
11:46 pm
One more song I love from my college days. I’m sure other people have their own interpretation, but “Paper Sun” always makes me think of those little pieces of paper that take you out into the cosmos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cp_3NEWTzU
Thulsa Doom
August 10th, 2012
11:46 pm
Hillbilly D,
Better yet take away the paycheck until they balance the budget or at least put it on a fiscal trajectory to do so within 5 years.
JKL2
August 10th, 2012
11:47 pm
Dusty- The president spends whatever and wherever he wants and forget the doggone $$$$ debt!
Saul Alinsky taught him the only way to bring about the changes he wants would be to collapse the system. Spend us into oblivion and watch everything collapse like it did in Russia.
getalife
August 10th, 2012
11:47 pm
Hillbilly D ,
I agree, congress is a mess in need of reform.
Bruno
August 10th, 2012
11:48 pm
I would hope you have the ability to understand that the President was saying NO business operates in a vacuum, and that in order to become “successful” there are various factors that come into play, such as using the country’s infrastructure or other services in some form or fashion in order to get and stay going. Now, do you wanna to continue to lie to yourself about these things, or what?
SheeshLouise: F Obama.
RW-(the original)
August 10th, 2012
11:48 pm
I think no member of Congress should get another paycheck until they pass a budget. I bet that would get them off their collective fannies.
HD,
Congress consists of two houses. The one with 435 members has no problem passing a budget. The other 100 not so much
getalife
August 10th, 2012
11:49 pm
Bruno,
Blotter acid will not help you study Religion.
You could not read the words.
SheeshLouise
August 10th, 2012
11:49 pm
So @Thulsa Doom
People who are self employed, or Public sector employees like teachers, firefighters, police officers and other law enforcement (FBI, CIA…MILITARY PERSONNEL) DID NOT pay for that same infrastructure??
You “must be smokin’ that s**t” too? Puff, puff, pass. You’re hitting it too hard. You people on the hard right are really delusional.. and I personally try hard not to make it a left vs. right thing. But, it’s just TOO obvious. You are totally LOCKED in to certain ideas, like the private sector is the only thing going in the country, that if someone believes ANYTHING to the contrary of you they are automatically a “lib”, all rich people are “job creators”, if someone is a Democrat they are an unemployed welfare recipient yada yada SheeshLouise!!!!! Has to be unhealthy for the brain chemistry.
Fred ™
August 10th, 2012
11:49 pm
Bruno: I wore out my copy of that album and got it on disc when they first did it back in 87 when I was in Germany. Someone (I know who) stole the disc and I haven’t found it since. Same with my Cat Stevens “Foreigner Suite” and Robert Palmer’s “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley.
At least I FINALLY found Palmer on youtube but Cat Stevens “Foreigner Suite was taken down. here is the first side of the Palmer. Save it and enjoy it when you have more time. And God bless the person who put it up……..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMnzytIbH1I
Dusty
August 10th, 2012
11:51 pm
Wellll….MarkV is back amongst us. How ya been? Still singing the same ol song I see.
Kyle does not lie. He gives his version of what he reads just like you do. His judgment is not clouded by hero worship like yours.
You don’t score any points by calling people “liar”.
getalife
August 10th, 2012
11:52 pm
Good grief, they could not even pass what they agree on.
Get the President is their priority.
SheeshLouise
August 10th, 2012
11:53 pm
@Bruno
I am no one else but me. I have nothing to gain by posting as someone else on the same blog thread, especially ones of more substance. That’s way too much trouble for me. Sorry.
Fred ™
August 10th, 2012
11:53 pm
Bruno: Here is a Doobie Brothers tune I think you will appreciate. It’s one of MY favorites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEvy8mROAj0
Bruno
August 10th, 2012
11:53 pm
Robert Palmer’s “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley.
Fred–I think I’m a bit older than you, but we used to listen to “Sneaking Sally” back in college.
That, along with a lot of King Crimson and Hendrix.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgUZfb5AX8E
Hillbilly D
August 10th, 2012
11:54 pm
Congress consists of two houses. The one with 435 members has no problem passing a budget. The other 100 not so much
True but if 100 people are holding up 435 people’s paychecks, something might get done.
JKL2
August 10th, 2012
11:54 pm
Thusla- Better yet take away the paycheck until they balance the budget or at least put it on a fiscal trajectory to do so within 5 years
Hear, hear! Paul Ryan tries to cut $80 Billion out of over $2T and the Demwits were screaming bloody hell about how the Republicans were trying to kill old folks and starve children.
By definition, the Democratic party is about as Conservative as you can get because they fight like hell to do nothing.
Fred ™
August 10th, 2012
11:56 pm
Later Bruno , PB and HBD. Ya’ll have pleasant tunes and pleasant dreams (you too Doomy if you are still here).
Bruno
August 10th, 2012
11:57 pm
Blotter acid will not help you study Religion.
You could not read the words.
There are some experiences which transcend words, getalife.
Wouldn’t you love to see Dusty all miced up. Then she would know what the Jesus experience is all about.
getalife
August 10th, 2012
11:57 pm
They balanced the budget before in a different moderate environment.
The people are divided so they are doing what the people want.
I think we need to get back to that moderate environment.
Thulsa Doom
August 10th, 2012
11:58 pm
“People who are self employed, or Public sector employees like teachers, firefighters, police officers and other law enforcement (FBI, CIA…MILITARY PERSONNEL) DID NOT pay for that same infrastructure??”
I never said that they do not pay for some of that same infrastructure. They do. They give back a % of their salary in taxes but nowhere near enough to pay for themselves. But the rest of their salaries, their benefits, etc have to be financed by other taxpayers. Surely you knew this.
As for the rest of your angry rant you sure seem to be heavy on blanket statements about conservatives and short on facts.