LogikAndReazon
Gold Member
- Feb 21, 2012
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Barack Obama really does seem like an Ayn Rand villain at times. The Washington Times's Kerry Picket notes an especially glaring example, from a speech the president gave in Roanoke, Va., Friday:
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.
Several points beg to be made here. First, as Picket points out, it takes chutzpah for the man who boasts of having personally killed Osama bin Laden to tell businessmen, "You didn't build that."
Second, the government did not create the Internet "so that all the companies could make money off the Internet." It developed the Internet's predecessor, the Arpanet, as part of what everybody agrees is the legitimate function of national defense--the one area of government Obama is anxious to cut.
Finally, Obama didn't even come up with this noxious idea himself. He ripped it off from Elizabeth Warren. First the white man steals her ancestors' land--well, 31/32nds of her ancestors steal the other 1/32nd's land, anyway--and now this.
Political Correctness and Racial Tension - WSJ.com
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.
Several points beg to be made here. First, as Picket points out, it takes chutzpah for the man who boasts of having personally killed Osama bin Laden to tell businessmen, "You didn't build that."
Second, the government did not create the Internet "so that all the companies could make money off the Internet." It developed the Internet's predecessor, the Arpanet, as part of what everybody agrees is the legitimate function of national defense--the one area of government Obama is anxious to cut.
Finally, Obama didn't even come up with this noxious idea himself. He ripped it off from Elizabeth Warren. First the white man steals her ancestors' land--well, 31/32nds of her ancestors steal the other 1/32nd's land, anyway--and now this.
Political Correctness and Racial Tension - WSJ.com
