I can hardly wait until the comments that will be added to photos of Pres. Obama receiving Olympic medalists at the White House.
Until then:
Nooooo… somebody else won that for them.
Seriously, ….
WDTPRS kudos to the WINNERS. They won that.
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I just saw an interview with the whole group of girls…er um … women.
They were well coached, and not only in gymnastics. They have been coached to do interviews, too. A few genuine moments came through, however.
I hope they can now relax a little and that the press will give them some room to be themselves.
Exactly.
Someone else built the roads and bridges they traveled on and the cars they were in to get to the gyms someone else built where they practiced in and besides– Obama was President when they won so—
under the “new Obama think” their hard work and dedication to an ideal is not what really counts.
Of course -not every gymnist who traveled on those roads and bridges had the ability and dedication to make the team-but ——nevvermind.
As an American I am very proud of everyone on this team. Congratulations to them, their families and coaches. Lots of individual talent and hard work went into this win and “most” of us know it.
THEY did win.
The girl from Greece tweeted something that kept her off of the Greek team so I guess they have to be coached on what to say now also. Sadly -it is the new world we are living in.
Kudos, indeed. Those young women are superb athletes, and excellent representatives of this country.
Does anyone else get teary-eyed while watching the Olympics?
Speaking of Olympic gymnastics, has anyone seen this hilarious Olympic-themed commercial for a
for a new movie?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwBqUe8Rrq0&feature=player_detailpage
So their parents, families, friends, coaches, donations, US Olympic Committe, and possibly tax dollars did not contribute to their earning medals? I know it’s nice to emphaisze the rugged individualism that the drive to athletic and business greatness entails, but it misses the reality of what contributes to success. I know “you didn’t build that” comes across to some as communist, but no one achieves greatness on his own. I credit them, but I know that the podium on which they stand was built by many people in their lives.
@Giuseppe
Fine, if you want to go into that: None of it would have been possible without God. Game over.
Other people can make you capable of winning.
But they can’t make you win.
Ah, more of the Roanoke soundbite taken out of context. If anyone heard the whole speech is was great. Basic Distributive Justice 101.
frjim4321 says:
Ah, more of the Roanoke soundbite taken out of context. If anyone heard the whole speech is was great. Basic Distributive Justice 101.
Was it taken out of context? Or was it a gaffe? I think the latter.
frjim4321: I have heard it all, in context, and it was propaganda 101; nothing at all to do with justice. Once again, and consistent with his history, Obama preys on the voters’ ignorance of economics.
President Obama wasn’t taken out of context; he meant exactly what he said when he copied Elizabeth Warren’s marxist rhetoric. He believes that government gives everyone what they should have, and he believes that private ownership is “selfish”. He doesn’t take notice of the fact that roads, leos, educational system, etc, are ALSO paid for by the business people. If you took the entire government spending on those “gifts” he cites as coming from the state, they would represent about 25% of federal spending. The top tax payers are already paying for 48% of spending….nearly double. Most of the them would welcome a chance to merely pay for the services paid for by the government. President Obama just doesn’t think the way most Americans think.
President Obama just doesn’t think the way most Americans think.
That may be the most charitable summary of his thinking I have ever heard!
@Mamajen – You are right on the money. We think we can do a lot, but ultimately we can do nothing without God. It is hubris to think otherwise.
wmeyer: Thank you, I really have to work at it!
The President reminds me so much of my property law professor who was a dyed-in-the-wool Marxist. He spent an entire semester trying to convince us to stop saying things like “May I borrow your pen?” or “Could you pass me my notebook” because he wanted us to learn that it is not possible to “own” anything, not even a pen. The State owns everything and permits you the opportunity to use it for a while. We had a lot of fun at his expense, poor fellow. Hey wait a minute….I wonder if that Obama chap was in that class????? Hmmmmm.
Well, after all this controversy blew up, I listened to the whole thing, in context. It is indeed true that he copied almost word for word Elizabeth Warren’s earlier speech, so this was not inadvertent or out of context.
The first problem is that his premise is wrong. The taxpayers pay for roads and bridges, as well as schools — not only from the general fund but also with substantial direct payments: when the road in front of our house was paved, we were socked with an almost $5,000 paving assessment. The tax we pay on every gallon of gasoline is also supposed to go for roads and bridges (but much of it doesn’t). The school assessments in our property tax bill are also significant. And the money would not be there if the business owners were not working hard and therefore paying taxes . . . .
The second problem is that everybody benefits from roads, bridges, schools, etc. but very few step up to start and run a business. It’s hard, risky work and outside most people’s comfort zone. It’s the willingness to work hard and take the risk, and the ability to provide a product or service that customers demand, that makes a successful business, not the fact that a road happens to run in front of your shop or that you had a good teacher in high school.
But aside from the fact that this president fails to understand basic economics, as Kipling says, “It was the tone, man, the tone!” Dismissive, condescending, superior . . . the same sort of voice and gestures he uses when talking about ‘bitter people clinging to their guns and Bibles’. I think that is what has really riled up small business owners. This president dislikes them and thinks they are inferior, and he proves it over and over again.
Well said, AnAmericanMother!! You really get a sense of how these Marxist thinker feel about the rest of us when you watch the original video of Elizabeth Warren giving the speech President Obama delivered in Roanoke. She is so angry she can hardly control herself, jabbing her finger in the air with barely restrained hostility at those “evil” businessmen. That anyone could watch her performance and then steal the speech from her ought to raise some eyebrows.
Guiseppe: It isn’t an either/or thing. I don’t know anyone who has started and successfully-run a business who goes around claiming “I did all myself! No one helped me!” I’ve never heard a business owner make such an absurd claim. On the other hand, no one but the business owner took the risk, sweated out making payroll week after week, stayed awake nights worrying, spend the long hours, gave up vacations and family events……you get my point. With a wave of the hand, President Obama dismisses the contributions of people who make our country great – “You didn’t do that”. As AnAmericanMother points out so clearly above, it is his disdain for ordinary Americans who work hard to build businesses that is so revolting.
sorry, lots of typos in my above. Typing too fast.
AnAmericanMother – I think you are right about both the content and the tone.
While there is a point to be made that none of us can succeed solely on our own, but with the help of others*, so too is it true that it takes drive, energy, ambition, and perseverance to succeed at anything, and that is something the individual* does. In an effort to humble the proud individualist, the president actually belittles what is so wonderful about the human drive to go faster, higher, stronger (pardon the vernacular). There are deficiences both in content and tone.
*insert ‘through the grace of God’ to make the sentences complete
Sissy says:
because he wanted us to learn that it is not possible to “own” anything, not even a pen. The State owns everything and permits you the opportunity to use it for a while.
That’s an atheist version of St Thomas’ thought, which that God owns everything, but certain people have use things.
Thus: There is a right to private property, but it is not absolute.
should be: certain people have use of certain things.
robtbrown: I think Prof’s view was that the State is God, so yes. All belongs to the Sovereign. He’ll give you some aspect of possession for some finite period of time, according to His likes. I don’t mind the concept at all in connection with God. The notion that the federal government owns my pencil bothers me a bit.
Sissy,
Pencils, specifically Dixon Ticonderogas, come directly from God.
Which is why I handle mine with such reverence and care, Giuseppe! But I don’t think Fr. will appreciate it much if I start putting pencils in the collection plate.
The notion that the federal government owns my pencil bothers me a bit.
The notion that the federal government owns anything is silly; they are simply a proxy for the people, a fact which both parties often overlook.
wmeyer: Amen. Would that we were represented by more people who understand that.
I will match anyone here in my opposition to Obama’s re-election, but repeating this quote (yes, “out of context”) ain’t gonna help. The way it’s being trumpeted fired up a co-worker of mine who is an Independent who voted Dem last time, he was really enraged by what he was told the President said. Then he encountered the entire quote, and without particularly liking or agreeing with it, his response was “The Republicans must have no arguments of their own if this is the kind of tactic they think helps.” Because like it or not, the quote as used by the Romney campaign is indeed “out-of-context,” and the campaign isn’t refuting what the President said, it’s simply holding up a fragment and urging us to react to that. Which is a pretty weak strategy.
Come on, there is PLENTY to really object to and oppose in Obama’s record. But, just as the patent stupidity of the birther claims made his opponents look unbalanced, this tactic just makes Romney look like he’s grasping at straws. Now the point Obama is making is itself arguable (as several posters here have proven) so why not address that instead of pretending he said something that, in easily viewable context, he didn’t?