Reply to Did you build this? ...by David Brooks

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]"Foaming at the mouth" is one more example of GOP-speak for "What the hell is that uppity guy doing in the White House?"  Forgive the somewhat racially tinged term uppity, but if PP sees foaming at the mouth, I can sure as hell see a bit of subliminal racism![/quote]

of course you do, because that's what you WANT to see.  it is so much easier to say that people who disagree with the President's views are racists because it skips you right out of any substantive discussion on the issue at hand.

I wouldn't say he was "foaming at the mouth" (and I'm not a member of the GOP), but his tone and cadence [i]were[/i][b] different for that part of his speech; it does not sound like the "usual" Barack Obama.  my THEORY on it is that he typically is a pretty sincere person and most if the time he really does believes what he is saying.  But I think the "you didn't build that" portion of his speech (and that's EXACTLY what he said -- not you had help, not you don't do it alone (although he intimated at that) his exact words words were   "If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen.")  -- it is too far down the 'let's hate the rich" path for him (because, after all, he is part of the "rich").  i suspect that he, like most of us (yes, even my [b]very[/b][i][u] republican family and friends), know that success comes from a combination of hard work, risk taking, innate intelligence, some luck, and yes, HELP FROM OTHERS.  has nothing to do with his race.  
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Your post would be more credible, if you didn't selectively quote him.  Let's really look at what he said:

[quote]There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me -- because they want to give something back.  They know they didn’t -- 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.  (Applause.)

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.  The Internet didn’t get invented on its own.  Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.

The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.  There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don’t do on our own.  I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service.  That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires. [/quote]

It is quite clear by the examples in his speech, that when he says you didn't "build that", he is referring to roads and bridges, infrastructure like the Internet, and the american system in general.  He is not referring to the business itself.  And if there is any confusion, the following paragraph, where he says "my point is..." makes this clear.

We can play pretend games with the meaning of his speech, but anyone with an education (and not even an elite Ivy one) can understand this.  You are having fun at the President's expense because he stuttered in a speech.  If that's the best you can do, you are in for a rough November.[/quote]

again, i disagree.  perhaps it was just not well written, but "you didn't build" that follows "if you've got a business..."  whoever wrote the speech took it a step too far.  regardless, if you read my post i think is it clear that i think we all understand what he meant and that most agree (except for the most devoted Ayn Rand-ians among us, perhaps) that we all have help along the way.

i think we're all in for a rough November.  October, too.  I'm tired of the ads already and we're nowhere close to the end.

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