‘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
SBinF
August 11th, 2012
8:49 am
A Paul Ryan pick?!
Listen closely, do you hear that? It’s Barack Obama going, “YIPPEE, WOOHOO!!”
SBinF
August 11th, 2012
8:51 am
“Julia–It’s all about policy, not personality. Unfortunately, in your shallow, race-centered world, you can’t understand that. Take your race-tinged glasses off once in a while.”
This is why the modern conservative movement is going the way of the dodo. Can’t you fathom a world where people have evaluated Obama’s policies, and decide to support him because of his policies??
Bruno
August 11th, 2012
8:51 am
A lot like segregated baseball where a bunch of white boys thought they had game that wouldn’t even make the minor leagues now days.
Is it just me, or does it seem that the Libs around here can’t move past race?? Pretty ugly in my book.
Bruno
August 11th, 2012
8:52 am
Can’t you fathom a world where people have evaluated Obama’s policies, and decide to support him because of his policies??
SB–If it’s all about policy with you guys, why is race gratuitously dragged into nearly every discussion??
Don Abernethy
August 11th, 2012
8:52 am
I have lived in an era when the US was respected and admired my the rest of the world. Now with the present administration always apologizing to other countries and trying to become a socialist nation like Europe our country is no longer respected or admired. This administration must reflect the views of a lot of voters who did not grow up when America was great. Voters who are much more liberal and whose morals do not match those of the WW II era. I had hoped we could defeat Obama. The emails I have received these past three years seem to indicate he could never win but now polls show him ahead 7 points. Romney’s pick of Paul Ryan will move Obama ahead even more. It is very depressing to think I will have to put up with Obama another 4 years.
SBinF
August 11th, 2012
8:54 am
You mentioned race, not me. Conservatives just can’t grasp the thought that people support Obama because of his policies. No, we support him because of his race, we support him because we’re “brainwashed.” The GOP and conservative movement need to do some soul searching and figure out why their locus of support is old white men. Maybe it’s your policies that push people away. Ever considered that?
SBinF
August 11th, 2012
8:55 am
OH NOES, we will become a socialist state!!!1
I’ve yet to see anyone articulate how the U.S. is more of a socialist state today than it was 10, 20, 30 years ago.
Grob Hahn
August 11th, 2012
9:08 am
I keep hearing “out of context, out of context” being used to defend Obama in much the same way it has been used for a very long time to deal with Joe Biden’s mouth. Weird how Obama’s carefully-planned agenda didn’t factor their odd relationship. And of course, Obama’s relationship with that nasty racist Hillary Clinton (or at least that’s how he saw her during the primaries as he walked over her campaign’s carcass).
But roll the tape back to Bush, we love going back to Bush right? Remember “MIssion Accomplished”? Who was that banner for? The president? Nope. It was for the ship. They were heading home, their mission was accomplished. Instead their pride was twisted to be used as toilet paper with GW’s face printed on it. A LOT of people have not forgotten that slap in the face. All because of context.
And crimes of opportunity on the part of candidates, PACs and the press.
Grobbbbbbbbb
Bruno
August 11th, 2012
9:14 am
You mentioned race, not me.
Sorry, Bro, it was Julia and GT who started in with the racist garbage this morning. And every other morning. For some reason, Libs are obsessed with race. Maybe you can explain why.
GT
August 11th, 2012
9:16 am
In criminal law there is a on going enterprise theory that says a criminal is still responsible for a crime if he birthed an operation that is on going after the individual has passed the statue of limitations. Romney created Bain, Bain does horrible stuff, without the creation this vehicle would not have been in the area to do what it did. The buck stops at Romney, he is responsible. He only wants the good image from Bain and apparently the thing went to hell after he left. How convenient. If you look at Romney history even back to prep school you will see a weak character that would easily find fall guys to save his bacon. A lot of rich guys do this they think they are holly and can’t get dirty, let Mikey eat it and if he lives I will take some.
SBinF
August 11th, 2012
9:17 am
Right. I didn’t mention race. You don’t address any of my substantive points. I guess that speaks volumes…I’ll be supporting Obama, I’m not brainwashed, and I’m not waiting on a government check. After Mitt’s choice of Paul Ryan, sheesh, that’s all I can say!
Mr_B
August 11th, 2012
9:22 am
Mr. Abernathy:
“The emails I have received these past three years seem to indicate he could never win but now polls show him ahead 7 points.”
I would suggest that you start ignoring the emails and actually take stock of both where Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney are proposing to take the country. If you wish a return to the policies of the 2000-2008 years, by all means vote for Mr. Romney.
If, on the other hand, you feel that the interests of America are better served when everyone has an equal shot at success, when the country sacrifices together to solve our financial problems, when we do not involve ourselves in costly and needless wars in places like Iran, I would encourage you to consider a vote for Mr. Obama.
Oh, and that “apology tour” thing exists only in the imagination of the Heritage Foundation.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2011/02/obamas_apology_tour.html
@@
August 11th, 2012
9:25 am
IT’S PAUL RYAN!!!!!!
I
could
not
be
happier.
A little R&R from Obama/Biden.
Rest & Relaxation. Restore & Repair.
It’ll be R&R going FORWARD!
Mr_B
August 11th, 2012
9:27 am
Morning, Bruno.
GT
August 11th, 2012
9:27 am
Nothing about race, I am just saying when five foot men think they are basketball players because the system lets them think they are by systematically excluding taller people there is a hypocrisy going on. O points this out and people go crazy, rich short people. This is not about race, poor and middle class whites are being blackballed in this system too, but they are the ones who think it is about race and are loyal to the plantation owners just because they are white like them. The rich throw them a few toys let them get fat and lazy and getting the vote is very easy. The rest of us don’t go down so easy.
Jack
August 11th, 2012
9:28 am
I really don’t think the opinions of the liberals here come from those that actually vote. But IF you do vote for Obama, you also get Biden; and that’s something to be really proud of. Wear a Biden button.
Mr_B
August 11th, 2012
9:30 am
“IT’S PAUL RYAN!!!!!!
I
could
not
be
happier.”
Me neither! (Well, he could have picked Newt or Bachmann; But Obama has never been that lucky!)
RW-(the original)
August 11th, 2012
9:33 am
I bet the moderators are wetting themselves trying to figure out a way to save Biden in the coming VP debate.
Great choice, Mitt
SBinF
August 11th, 2012
9:33 am
Well, Romney definitely shored up the angry white man vote.
Not sure he expanded the GOP’s tent very much though.
Welcome to the Occupation
August 11th, 2012
9:34 am
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
Surely you’ll acknowledge, Kyle, that what this debate really is about or should be about – Obama’s relative articulateness or inarticulateness aside – is the vulnerability of the less fortunate and less powerful in this country to the vicissitudes of life: a serious illness or health condition being one of the major ones. And in an economy where productivity has grown steadily while wages have stagnated for the vast majority, it’s reasonable to ask: just why is this country the only major industrialized country in the world without some form of universal health coverage?
That glaring fact could at least be somewhat justified, arguably, while there was some hope of the economy continuing on an indefinite expansive course out into the future, but now that the fruits of the ruthless dismantling of older social democratic mixed-model strictures and a hyper-marketization of everything are on display for all to see, I think that argument becomes quite apparent in all its cruelty.
So for you to wrench the discussion out of that, its proper context and try to paint this as being about “government”, is a bit disingenuous. Of course, Obama is also partly to blame here for not going a crucial step further and emphasizing the fact that these questions have nothing at all to do with being pro- or anti- “big government”. Everyone is in favor of the government that favors their group’s interests. Big business interests and their conservative defenders are just as dependent on big government as anyone else. But given the mileage that conservatives get out of trying to convince voters otherwise, exploiting their resentment against the supposed “freeloaders”, I can understand why they have their opinion people like you out there still pushing that line.
Because it pays.
GT
August 11th, 2012
9:35 am
This running mate is the last act of a desperate candidate not unlike the Palin choice. Romney is really slipping in the polls and this truck load of money, his only hope to whitewash his evil, will dry up if there is not some energy in his campaign. He has done us a favor picking Paul Ryan. One on one with a guy who has taken cheap shots and throws the red meat of lies to the mob is exactly what this country needs. Bring him out of the bushes and tell the class what’s so funny, Mr. Ryan, I can’t wait to hear.
Ken
August 11th, 2012
9:45 am
The man has never held a job that wasn’t a direct link to the government teet…government seldom creates any opportunity for the average businessman who isn’t politically connected. Whether at the local, state or federal level, government intrusion, regulation, zoning; government impedes business development, requires expensive attorney fees and typically some government employee- who makes union employees look highly productive- continues to stand in the way. Anyone who owns a business knows exactly what I am saying.
Remember how he said during the debates how he had a plan for creating jobs? And stupid voters brought iinto it.
independent thinker
August 11th, 2012
9:48 am
Kyle – I would love to have you explain the myriad of federal subsidies that vulture capital firms like Bain ge when they take over a company and ship it overseas. How much did Bain get in tax breaks for relocation expenses when it shut that steel mill and shipped jobs overseas? Romney wrote the book on using government assistance through tax write offs to get wealthy. How did that $77,000 tax deduction do in the Olympics?
MarkV
August 11th, 2012
9:51 am
Dusty@ 11:51 pm
Still singing the same ol song I see, Dusty.
“Kyle does not lie. He gives his version of what he reads just like you do.”
There are no “versions.” There is the truth and the lie. Kyle continues the lie.
“You don’t score any points by calling people “liar”.”
Lying is lying. I have not called Kyle a liar – yet. Liar is a person who lies repeatedly, habitually.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 11th, 2012
9:59 am
Ryan???
Obama landslide!
Michael H. Smith
August 11th, 2012
10:02 am
I’ve yet to see anyone articulate how the U.S. is more of a socialist state today than it was 10, 20, 30 years ago.
Obamacare.
Articulated in one word.
Now that didn’t take long at all. Certainly not as long as it will take for you and your deflated ego to recover.
Then again Marxism by whatever degree really isn’t hard to beat, it’s even easier to expose.
RW-(the original)
August 11th, 2012
10:14 am
http://mckaylaisnotimpressed.tumblr.com/
Wonder what McKayla thinks of the Ryan pick
lefty_316
August 11th, 2012
10:25 am
Paul Ryan was a poor pick by Romney. He already has the Tea Party vote wrapped up, he should have selected Rob Portman to increase his chances of winning the swing state of Ohio.
I long to return to the republican party, my home for 24 years. However I cannot do so until there is a purge of the evangelical element and their perverted agenda..
“If I could conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded, that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious persecution.” George Washington, May 1789.
md
August 11th, 2012
10:25 am
“When you get a chance, how about doing some RESEARCH on our Federal Interstate Highway System. Specifically, go right to the ‘Interstate Funding’ section and get your fill:”
Funding section?? The sad part is that you actually believe the gov’t has the money to fund anything…….
And where pray tell Louise does the gov’t get it’s funds?? Hint…..from taxpayers, who get paid by some company that some guy/gal started when s/he took the risk and opened the doors……..
RW-(the original)
August 11th, 2012
10:26 am
You didn’t paint that!
Michael H. Smith
August 11th, 2012
10:26 am
Romney wrote the book on using government assistance through tax write offs to get wealthy
Doubt that statement, after all Congress writes the government assistance and taxes laws. Closer to the truth, what is making you mad is that Romney took advantage of every subsidy and tax write off that was written in the book.
However if when you truly live-up to your selected moniker you might support doing away with all tax subsidies, write-offs, write downs, shelters, deductions etc. for a much more honest less abusive flatter tax code. The present heavily aggressive multiple-compound progressive tax code is laden down with layers of dishonest and punitive laws, that in reality, if not in purpose, punishes progressive achievement while rewarding progressive deceitfulness.
md
August 11th, 2012
10:30 am
“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…”
Also from funds generated by those very same businesses……what part are you having a hard time with? The private sector (all those businesses “not” started by some individual) has to generate ALL the capital to keep EVERYTHING running.
If you can’t figure that simple concept out, I can’t help you……….
Michael h. Smith
August 11th, 2012
10:37 am
Back later on in the day possibly…
till than y’all.
md
August 11th, 2012
10:38 am
“The public employees themselves help pay for it partly through their own taxes. So 20% or higher or maybe lower of what they earn goes right back into the pool to help pay for govt services. What I am saying is that the rest of that public employees salary and benefits have to be paid for by everyone else. ”
TD….actually, that is not true either. I used to think it was until further examination. Since public sector employees get their entire salary from the private sector by way of taxes, even the 20% they may pay back in originally came from the private sector…….
md
August 11th, 2012
10:40 am
On topic, the biggest fallacy from the Obama speech comes from the line of “there are a lot of smart people out there”.
Yes, there are……the difference arises when those smart people make the choice of working for themselves or working for someone else……….
Goes back to we choose everything we do………
wj
August 11th, 2012
10:43 am
Notwithstanding the sorrow or losing a spouse, or more importantly using one’s own life, the Soptic commercial is based on anger or other motivations – rather than fact. Check out the facts, Mrs. Soptic died long after Bain changed hands, and she did have health insurance.
Facts emerge – and some blinded Obama-ites will not face them. Some diseases are fatal, and kill regardless of your health insurance coverage; and, health insurance is available to everyone now. Yes, it is available – and unlike what so many in O’s camp purport it is not free. Someone is paying for the insurance. This is not about the lack of available insurance; rather, this is about people wanting someone else to pay for their insurance.
I do not wish cancer on anyone, nor do I negate the incredible pain of losing a spouse – however, I am disgusted by those who lie to make a point and use those circumstances as their foundation.
Beyond Mr. Soptic, make no mistake the scheming and unsavory shameful behavior of the Obama campaign and inner circle are unmistakable and consistent. Their fingerprints are all over this – and they lied – yes, OBAMA LIED – when asked about this and so much more. We now know that they knew about it from the beginning, and are exploiting every untruth that they believe might help their self-serving agenda. They are deplorable.
WJ
Atlanta
SBinF
August 11th, 2012
10:47 am
“Obamacare.
Articulated in one word.”
So, you basically can not articulate how the U.S. is more a socialist state today in the past.
Awesome. I’m sure you’ve read so much Marx to be able to discuss Marxism adequately.
/sarcasm
md
August 11th, 2012
10:48 am
From page one for those that may have missed it….and pay attention to the word “buyout” as it makes all the difference in the world:
“JOE SOPTIC: Well, I guess the first thing I noticed after the company was bought out by GST, they became very union-non-friendly. I mean, they started looking for ways to eliminate jobs. In my case, in my department, they actually offered to buy our jobs out from underneath us.”
jconservative
August 11th, 2012
10:51 am
So Romney has chosen Ryan and I am sure he is happy with his selection.
And I am sure the White House is equally happy with Romney’s selection. They have been trying to connect Romney to the Ryan Economic Plan all spring and summer. Now it is a done deal.
The election will be about the Ryan Plan, Romney’s taxes and offshore money and not about the Obama record.
So now may the best political commercials win. Good luck to all.
md
August 11th, 2012
10:54 am
The fallacy about socialism and the US lies in the false pretense that it is an either/or proposition.
The facts indicate there is a fluid line between capitalism and socialism with many points along that line. With the passage of Obamacare, the current point on the line has moved further toward socialism, there is no way it hasn’t.
And one must also remember, Countries like Greece and States/Cities like CA are also not true socialistic entities…….but it is those policies that are their problem.
Greece is actually a case study on the old saying that eventually, you run out of other peoples money……as they did.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 11th, 2012
10:55 am
the evangelical element and their perverted agenda..
More dangerous than Al Queda in my opinion.
md
August 11th, 2012
10:57 am
“And I am sure the White House is equally happy with Romney’s selection. They have been trying to connect Romney to the Ryan Economic Plan all spring and summer. Now it is a done deal.”
The way I see it……now Ryan can actually frame the plan as he wrote it vs allowing the left to frame it in their terms.
And yes, it should get interesting……the fact check sites should have plenty to do in the next few months……
MarkV
August 11th, 2012
10:58 am
wj @ 10:43 am: “Check out the facts, Mrs. Soptic died long after Bain changed hands, and she did have health insurance. “
Check out the facts, and the logic:
Facts: Mrs Soptic did NOT have health insurance when she died.
Logic: That is exactly the point, that she was diagnosed and died AFTER both she and her husband lost their jobs and health insurance.
SBinF
August 11th, 2012
11:04 am
“The fallacy about socialism and the US lies in the false pretense that it is an either/or proposition.”
The U.S. has been a mixed political system for a long while. This is precisely my point. The irony of course is the same folks crying about socialism are the same people screaming “drill here, drill now!”
It’s ironic because the only way that oil drilled here would directly benefit the U.S. is if we had a state-owned oil company.
SBinF
August 11th, 2012
11:05 am
“Logic: That is exactly the point, that she was diagnosed and died AFTER both she and her husband lost their jobs and health insurance.”
Too bad they didn’t live in Massachusetts, they could have had access to socialized medicine!
oh wait,
SHHH!
JKL2
August 11th, 2012
11:17 am
fred- You haven’t a shred of originality in your body (or a shred of decency of honor) do you. You COULD have given credit to the person you stole this video from when he posted it at Jay’s 10 hours ago. But no, you wouldn’t do that………..
I guess I could have done that if I ever went into one of Jay’s music blogs. I probably would have given credit to the MSN homepage from when they posted it a couple days ago.
As a liberal, I’m sure you would say I have no honor since I spent the majority of my life in the military protecting your right to be a blathering idiot.
md
August 11th, 2012
11:18 am
“It’s ironic because the only way that oil drilled here would directly benefit the U.S. is if we had a state-owned oil company.”
Directly…yes, indirectly….no. Oil is all about supply and demand…….and in theory, the more supply the lower the price. Of course the only way to find out would be to drill as doing nothing maintains the status quo………
md
August 11th, 2012
11:20 am
“The U.S. has been a mixed political system for a long while. This is precisely my point.”
Mixed….yes, trending further toward socialism…..also yes. And that is the point others are making.
Dusty
August 11th, 2012
11:27 am
Well, good news this morning. As I read more facts about Ryan, he sounds better and better. I mean he’s got experience in government, a great education, a very bright mind, and the ability to get along with people in an attractive way. And he’s truly a conservative in finance!
At last, a man who does not bend in the wind and uses his mind. Just the right partner for Romney, the quiet leader with a sparkling young mind behind him. That’s a great combination and a fine decision by Romney. We are off to an excellent start in getting the country back on track!.
JKL2
August 11th, 2012
11:30 am
Lil Barry- Are there enough makers to save the country from the parasite “taker” class?
When you add the 47% to the OWS crowd and those who vote based on color of skin, obama is going to be really hard to defeat.
From my favorite cartoon: Bucky, “There sure seem to bee alot of stupid people in the world. What happens when all those stupid people vote?” Satchel, “The Democrat wins.”