Obama “Lazy Comment” – Did Obama say Americans are lazy?
Recently, in a Q&A session with the head of Boeing Obama claimed that “we’ve” been lazy about attracting foreign investment. It’s clear from watching the actual interview that Obama is either referring to the government or business. The full quote is here:
“But, you know, we’ve been a little bit lazy, I think, over the last couple of decades. We’ve kind of taken for granted — well, people will want to come here — and we aren’t out there hungry, selling America and trying to attract new business into America.”
In this MSNBC segment, Lawrence O’Donnell compares Obama’s full statement to the ensuing hatchet jobs from Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.
What Obama is saying here is clearly in line with what Republicans generally claim: that American regulations and taxes make it difficult to do business here and this persuades investors to invest outside of the United States. That doesn’t stop Mitt Romney and Rick Perry (who are certainly proponents of this notion) from falsely claiming that Obama is claiming that Americans are lazy.
It’s no secret that political campaigning has long-since abandoned any notion of honest discourse and has certainly trampled on everything I ever learned in my Ethics of Journalism course back in my college years. But the level at which the GOP Presidential candidates trample this is simply beyond reproach.
The Republican presidential candidates have been trying to outdo each other in attacking Obama, and these attacks certainly fit the mold. Mitt Romney is likely trying to break through to a solid #1 spot instead of being constantly overtaken by a different “GOP flavor of the month.” Rick perry (who rose and fell from his status as the “flavor of the month” some time ago) is in desperate straits (especially after what appears to be a drunken speech and an embarrassing moment when he forgets the 3rd federal government agency he’d get rid of).
In Perry’s case, a desperate attack like this is almost understandable. At this point it would seem he has little to lose since his campaign appears to be falling to the wayside and his chances of winning the GOP nomination are pretty much done for barring a miracle. Romney is a different story however. Surrounded by GOP candidates whose statements and actions often border on satire, Mitt Romney has maintained a more dignified and disciplined campaign. So while it’s not too surprising to see Perry stoop to this level, it is a shocker to see Romney do so. This may be yet another attempt from Romney to court the GOP base. After switching from an acceptance of human caused climate change to one of borderline climate change denial, and taking on a more imperialistic tone, it may very well be that the Romney campaign is trying to court the GOP base by partaking in the satire.
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