And If He Had Followed Up With A Call For Tax On Olympic Gold...

You'll Never Walk (or Work) Alone ...

NBC News nails down the False Equivalence of the day award with this "gotcha" moment from 2002 in which Mitt Rommey encourages Olympic athletes and observers to thank the parents, coaches and supporters of the athletes. I am just going to restore Romney's comments to their original sequence to more fully emphasize the length of this NBC stretch:

In full context, Romney, of course, also praised the Olympians’ efforts – right before he made his “you didn’t get here solely on your own” remark:

“Tonight we cheer the Olympians, who only yesterday were children themselves,” Romney said. “As we watch them over the next 16 days, we affirm that our aspirations, and those of our children and grandchildren, can become reality. We salute you Olympians – both because you dreamed and because you paid the price to make your dreams real. You guys pushed yourself, drove yourself, sacrificed, trained and competed time and again at winning and losing.”

"You Olympians, however, know you didn't get here solely on your own power,” said Romney, who on Friday will attend the Opening Ceremonies of this year’s Summer Olympics. “For most of you, loving parents, sisters or brothers, encouraged your hopes, coaches guided, communities built venues in order to organize competitions. All Olympians stand on the shoulders of those who lifted them. We’ve already cheered the Olympians, let’s also cheer the parents, coaches, and communities. All right! [pumps fist].”

That can't be controversial. By way of contrast, Obama was explaining that business leaders didn't build "that" (either their business or the infrastructure that supports it) as a justification for even-higher taxes:

But you know what, I’m not going to see us gut the investments that grow our economy to give tax breaks to me or Mr. Romney or folks who don’t need them.  So I’m going to reduce the deficit in a balanced way.  We’ve already made a trillion dollars’ worth of cuts.  We can make another trillion or trillion-two, and what we then do is ask for the wealthy to pay a little bit more.  (Applause.)  And, by the way, we’ve tried that before -- a guy named Bill Clinton did it.  We created 23 million new jobs, turned a deficit into a surplus, and rich people did just fine.  We created a lot of millionaires.

     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.

Not much of an analogy to Olympic athletes. Now, if instead of taxes Obama had been calling on internet millionaires and Wall Street's hedge fund heroes to give up a round of applause to their moms and dads and these titans were churlishly refusing, well, we would have something to argue about.

 

 

 

Comments

[NK]

Mitt's 2002 statement is COMPLETELY right. The Olympians make it based on their ability and hard work. But don't forget their family and supporters that helped them achieve their goals. 'Bam is ALMOST competely wrong-- business owners do nothing, the government facilitates all.

[Sue]

NBC can now compete with the WaPo on which one is sillier. Romney eating couscous or thanking parents.

[Danube of Thought]

Any voter who buys into this "analogy" was a lost cause anyway.

[Daryl Herbert]

"Instead of collecting income tax and capital gains tax and the corporate tax this year, I want every business leader to stand up and give the government a big round of applause."

[Sue]

I recently saw an advertisement for some product that used the parents of Olympians. Showing them getting them up at the crack of dawn to take them to practice, etc. I can't remember the product, but wouldn't it be funny if it was GE?

[Thomas Collins]

It's the difference between private efforts and voluntary associations operating within a legal framework that protects property and contract rights and a State-Is-All so pay more taxes approach.

This must be really hurting Obumbles if Axelmessplouffe is having its MSM friends try to find ways to do oppo research on Mittster to push the equivalence meme.

[peter]

You know in fairness fairness to commies and socialists, the old Soviet bloc did put together quite an Olympics showing, although tainted by East German women juiced on testosterone and various other forms of cheating. Nobody, but nobody puts on a better display of stadium cards and rhythmic gymnastics than North Korea, but is that what we really want from our society. The analogy is flawed.

[Sue]

Proctor & Gamble.

[bio mom]

Has anyone posted this yet? Bain has backfired.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-07-23/poll-romney-obama-economy/56439758/1

[Gus]

"You didn't build that business"
Would be analagous to:
"You didn't win that gold (fill in the blank) medal.

Only a libtard would not see the difference.

[mikey]

My sense is that it is harder to define your opponent when the incumbent is running on a bad economy. Most voters probably want to vote for the challenger and shrug of the attacks.

[bgates]

I don't know how you wingnuts can oppose forcing people to send more money to the federal government when you admit mothers drive their kids to swim practice.

[NK]

bio mom-- thanks for that link. OK-- 'Bam is losing 2-1 to Mitt on the 'economy.' That's game over since in EVERY poll the 'economy/jobs' is issue 31 to LV-- so what to do? Expect from AxelPlouffe alot of 'Mitt's a cult leader who wears magic underwear' and nonsense like that.

[NK]

Issue #1 (not 31)

[Clarice]

From Insty:

GALLUP: By more than 2-1, Americans think Romney would be better at handling the economy and restoring prosperity.

Plus: “A record number of Americans express skepticism about the activist role of government Obama espouses; 61% say the government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses. That’s the highest number since Gallup began asking the question in 1992.”

why do people watch TV news? It's like agreeing to be lobotomized.

[rse]

Clarice-sometimes I watch abc evening out of curiosity as to what abc wants me to believe and thinks merits the limited time vs what I happen to know actually went on that day.

It's a chasm plus abc is really pushing health and wellness as at least 25% of any given show. It would be mysterious to me except that World Happiness Report the UN inaugurated in 2012 and the Belmont Challenge document that I have and much of the Prosperity without Growth and Degrowth push all call for substituting physical, emotional, and social wellbeing of all citizens as the new goal of govts instead of material, GNP, economic growth.

I have noticed Obama is leaving that aspect of his hopes for his 2nd term out of his campaign rhetoric.

It appears though that abc execs have the memo as to what memes are to be pushed constantly. Of course Disney also shows up regularly as a primary sponsor of this New economy for the 21st century. And Comcast would benefit from the UN's broadband for all push.

Tis quite the Corporatist vision for the 21st century.

[Clarice]

I'd bet that every health report has come from one of the lefty ngo's to ABC via a Fenton Communications presser.With nary a word changed.

That's how the AP health and nutrition news works.

[rse]

Ford is one of the primary backers of the Global Transition 2012 initiative with the new economics foundation in the UK. The Schumacher Society in Boston has renamed to be new economics institute, an affiliate, and they are quite determined to push this tragic vision on us.

[Jane - talk is cheap!]

"Instead of collecting income tax and capital gains tax and the corporate tax this year, I want every business leader to stand up and give the government a big round of applause."

LOL

[daddy]

After reading TM's NBC story I was thinking maybe we could attribute all of America's success to Wheaties.

But then I saw this:

Never mind.

[Extraneus]

Any voter who buys into this "analogy" was a lost cause anyway.

Hopefully there are some indies who don't buy in but will scratch their heads at the false equivalence desperation.

[Jim Eagle]

What an idiotic analogy and comparison. We know journalists know nothing about business, economics, middle america, constitutional construction, the Tea Party dynamic, guns, and venture capitalism but now we have to add athletic exceptionalism to the list.

If Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte fail to win more than 8 gold medals I am blaming their parents, their coaches and Obama.

[Greg Q]

Thanks bgates, I really needed that laugh. ;-)

Thanks Tom, for cutting to the core of the illogic.

[Carol Herman]

The whole thing is media manipulated.

Back in 1984, by the way, Los Angeles hosted the olympics. People feared traffic jams, so most of those who lived in LA, went out of town.

I'd bet this is true in London, as well. The big hoopla and coverage make you think the locals are falling all over themselves "buying tickets." Doubt this is true. Since you can watch events on the "telly."

Or you can get results these days tweeted to you.

But the media? Spills big bucks in to cover the "event."

Want one that was popular? Kate & Will's wedding day.

This? Not so much. Biggest story? The American uniforms were "out-sourced" by Ralph Lauren ... to China. And, what's with the berets?

[Carol Herman]

Polls accurately predict elections? Then, I guess Dewey won.

But back in 1948 Truman, who was low on cash. (And, not particularly liked by "leading democraps") ... hit the rails ... and talked at each stop ... to about 2,000 voters. Wasn't much press back then ... interested in America's byways. So Truman took the press "by surprise."

You know what surprised Eleanor Roosevelt, following her husband's death? All the people who came out to pay their respects ... as the train took his body back to DC.

Yeah. Eleanor was actually surprised. (She didn't like her husband all that much.) But seeing people lined up ... with their hats off. And, tears streaming down their cheeks.

Politicians rarely read the mood of the public.

Mitt Romney's selection? Totally done by the books. (The media's way of putting out the jokers in Iowa ... so that the republicans got to pick a guy without charisma. But yes with an insider's ticket.)

Karl Rove knew enough to pull Jeb Bush out of the way.