Just when you think it can’t get any sillier…..along comes
the “You Didn’t Build It” meme.
Anyone
capable of rational thought knows exactly what President Obama so ungracefully
tried to say several days ago. But
rational thought has little to do with politics.
That the Republicans have taken advantage of the President’s
gaffe is not surprising. That it’s gone
to the extent it has is somewhat surprising.
That a lot of very stupid people are falling for the meme is
predictable.
What the President was trying to say – and this is crystal
clear to anyone who follows politics – is that the government, which the
Republicans have done their damndest to demonize for the past several decades –is
inextricably involved in the creation of even the most private of private
businesses. Senator RoJo the Clown,
whose principal business skill was marrying the boss’s daughter, denies and
downplays the role of the low-interest government loans he took advantage of,
the rail siding at his business the government was a partner in, the tax breaks
he got from the government, and on and on – to say nothing of the roads,
bridges, and other infrastructure elements the government played a role in.
At a rare stop in his home town yesterday, Paul Ryan told
the local media (after having told the national media in prior interviews) that
this “you didn’t build it” thing was a rare slip by the President, giving us a
clear picture of his inner thoughts, and that (Ryan posits) President Obama
really thinks the government is (insert your favorite theme here: “the source
of all good”; “the source of all success”, etc.) depending on which news outlet
Ryan is talking to. He regurgitated the
same crap in Janesville yesterday, where the “Walker Stalkers”, who have long
since worn out their novelty and have now become sort of an embarrassment,
again demonstrated their love of free speech by trying to drown out and shout down Romney and
RoJo and Ryan’s remarks.
A momentary sidebar: I am the son of a man who built his own
business from the ground up, selling insurance at night to augment family
income after his full day of teaching (which also involved driving a school bus
route beginning at 6 AM and ending around 6 PM). Eventually, he went to part-time work at the
high school and then switched to full-time insurance sales and management after
he’d bought out competing agencies and the business got big enough to need his
full-time attention. He built it with
help from my mother and hard work. I am
self-employed in a business I built with my experience, connections, and
hustle.
And yet I know
exactly what the President was talking about.
The Republican talking heads have taken this “you didn’t
build it” meme to an absurd extreme.
Late last week, the “Fox and Friends” morning show featured an on-set interview
with 5- and 6-year old sisters who run their own lemonade stand, and who
claimed to be extremely offended by the President’s “you didn’t build it”
remark. The girls fed a bunch of
rehearsed lines to Steve Doocy and Gretchen Carlson about their investors being
their parents and the growth of their business was due to their hard work and
not the government. Steve and Gretchen fawned
at every utterance and joined the girls in expressing indignation that the
President would say such a horrible thing.
(Did you know that Gretchen is one of those effete intellectual snobs
the Republicans hate? She was a Rhodes Scholar. True.)
5- and 6-year old minds are perfectly suited to the “you
didn’t build it” meme, and they prattled on about how they were offended by the
President’s remark, and the government has nothing to do with their success.
I have a few questions for the girls (and their parents)
about this lemonade stand that the government has nothing to do with. First, what’s the source of the water you use
for your lemonade? Did you drill your
own well, do your own testing and lab work to be sure you weren’t about to
poison your customers? Or, are you using
a municipal water source, built, paid for, and maintained by local taxpayers
who constitute THE GOVERNMENT? Then we
could get into the access question, about the streets and sidewalks the
customer base uses to patronize the girls’ business. Do they provide their own security for their
lemonade stand, or do they rely on the local law enforcement unit OF GOVERNMENT
to make sure it’s safe for them to keep cash on the premises of the their
business?
I have dozens more questions like these.
I think it’s safe to say 5- and 6-year old minds couldn’t
cope with questions like mine, because they’re not yet at a level of
development to understand the social web within which they operate.
And, perhaps that’s why the “you didn’t build it” meme
appeals to those mouth-breathers who aren’t capable of independent thought,
either.
As always, our blogger cuts right to the chase ... The president was talking about infrastructure ... Specifically roads and bridges. If you doubt that, it is easy enough to verify. The video was edited to mislead.
ReplyDeleteThe more important question is why should we trust anyone - not just a candidate - who would create and/or participate in such a patently deliberate lie.
"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..."
ReplyDeleteReally? "[the] system" is "roads and bridges"? "[the] teacher" is "roads and bridges"?
Great teachers don't build businesses, nor do they "inspire" business-building. Thought, maybe, or curiosity, but not business-building.
And the roads were PAID FOR by.....? Right-o!! Other business people, or their employees. The bridges were PAID FOR by.....? Oh, right! TAXPAYERS.
see: http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/141002/obamas_you_didnt_build_that
No editing there; it's a Friend of Barry....