Big Lizards:Blog:Entry “Behind the Mask”

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July 17, 2012

Behind the Mask

Hatched by Korso

If you were a kid in the 70s, you might remember the album cover for Kiss Unmasked, when the glam rockers pull off all their makeup only to reveal (gasp!) that they look exactly the same underneath! Ah, those were good times.

I was reminded about that the other day when I heard that speech Barack Obama gave in Roanoke, Virginia -- you know the one in which he lectured business people about how they really aren't that special?

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.

Oh, Lord. Where to begin?

Well, first off I will concede that most of the outrage has been whipped up by taking a piece of the quote, monumentally stupid as it is, out of context. Specifically, the "you didn't build that" part wasn't referring to business owners not actually creating their own companies; he was talking about the roads and bridges in the preceding sentence. For a guy who fancies himself Orator in Chief, he sure went out of his way to step in a rather obvious pile of rhetorical poo.

Obama does, however, let his own mask slip a little in the process-- revealing himself as the collectivist he's always been, something that anyone who's bothered to look even a little bit has known for a long time. And, like the dude at the end of that Kiss cartoon, I still say he stinks.

For who ponied up the cash for those roads, Barack? The private sector, of course. And who was it who actually built the roads, Barack? Why, private companies! The only thing government did was act as a transfer agent--kind of like a money launderer, only greasing some of the union skids along the way.

The point is, without the private sector government has nothing. Obama, meanwhile, thinks it's exactly the opposite. Such is the difference between his vision for America and Mitt Romney's.

Hatched by Korso on this day, July 17, 2012, at the time of 10:30 AM

Comments

The following hissed in response by: snochasr

My simple retort to that outrageous straw man argument is: "did that teacher get paid? Did the people who built the roads and bridges get paid?" Nothing was GIVEN to these entrepreneurs; they paid taxes for every last bit of it and a lot more besides.

The above hissed in response by: snochasr at July 17, 2012 2:04 PM

The following hissed in response by: seePea

most of the outrage has been whipped up by taking a piece of the quote, monumentally stupid as it is, out of context. Specifically, the "you didn't build that" part wasn't referring to business owners not actually creating their own companies; he was talking about the roads and bridges in the preceding sentence. For a guy who fancies himself Orator in Chief, he sure went out of his way to step in a rather obvious pile of rhetorical poo.

I do believe that he was not using a teleprompter. So much for being a great orator. Maybe , maybe he is Great Prompter Reader in Chief. I give him no slack as his overall theme was that of Elizabeth Warren's.

The above hissed in response by: seePea at July 17, 2012 3:17 PM

The following hissed in response by: Geoman

Where did the money come from for the roads? Well, of course, the government printed it, you ninnies!

The above hissed in response by: Geoman at July 17, 2012 5:22 PM