In retrospect, this is probably a quote Mitt Romney wishes he could take back.
The clip comes from the opening ceremonies at the 2002 Winter Olympics, at which Romney reminded the athletes, "[You] know you didn't get here solely on your own power. 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."
Of course, the current iteration of Romney presumably finds this offensive. After all, President Obama believes successful businesses are the result of individual initiative and public institutions, and Romney spent nearly all of last week arguing that such a belief is "foreign," an attack on success, proof of radicalism, and an effort to denigrate private enterprise.
If Romney wanted athletes to share the credit for their success with families and communities -- they didn't get there solely by their own power, he said -- by his own standards, Romney was trying to vilify the hard work of Olympians, at the Olympics, no less.
In case there's any doubt, it's obviously pretty silly to believe Romney was attacking athletic success when he said Olympians didn't get there all on their own -- about as silly as Romney's major offensive last week, which was based on an out-of-context presidential quote he ended up agreeing with anyway.
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He said it very nicely; I guess another decade of life has changed his mind, so that he currently does not believe what he previously said. That is, after all, his pattern on many, many issues.
A decade? If his current performance is any indication, he'd changed his position when he was 5 steps away from the podium.
Gol Durn Fernickity Video tape . Following me around like a lame mule .
Jest won't leave me alone .
Willard "Gabby" Romney
Further proof that he is the most dangerous politician in our history. He has all this trail and yet acts like anything he says about anything is fine - which is the definition of a B.S.er
No no no...It doesn't take a village. It takes the Village People, young man.
It takes a village to raise an idiot. It seems that every position Mitt takes, there is a video somewhere where he said the opposite. The Obama campaign can lead Mitt by the nose just by agreeing with positions he has taken in the past. A good supply of old op-eds and political speeches will offer a good beginning. It is so hard to remember all the lies, right Mitt?
My problem with all the lying is the lack of being called out. He lies constantly & it is just dismissed as politics. All politicians exaggerate, but he takes it to an unacceptable level.
Mitt Romney is a product of our culture. He is not alone and whenever he speaks, he is expressing someone's belief who does not have a loud enough voice to be heard. Let us stop condemning a single person for the beliefs of thousands or millions. In his very words, and those of President Obama, it takes a community, a village, a cooperative effort by many people to create an outcome. I do not agree with Romney's current stance on this topic; however, I also know that he is speaking for probably millions of people. I think he is incorrect in his current stance, and correct in his prior Olympic statement. What is lacking here is a coherent conversation among all of us to civilly express our positions and listen to the others' points of view. I trust that we can each make a new decision on how to approach this question and eventually come to consensus.
Romney isn't seeking a position that calls for representing the best interests of all the people. I would have no problem with his campaign (aside from the failure to present policies) if he would just pick a position he feels does just that. My issue is he keeps swapping positions when it suits him at the moment.
Now let's see an edited Obama ad,something like. You did'nt get here soley on your own power.All Olympian's stand on the shoulder's of those who lifted them.As Romney say's, what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, which is wealthy speak for What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
@st.john. If it was believable that Mitt was speaking for thousands or millions of people instead of for millions and billions of dollars it would be less abhorrent to have him twist POB's words for his own gain. If he would define a position he supports instead of damning everything being done or attempted to get done, he would seem more sincere. Until then, his lack of apparent honesty is fair game.
I'm related to neo_republicans. And Mitt represents everything they stand for: Facts are meaningless. Accurate polling is meaningless. The mathematics and economics behind good major policy decisions are meaningless. All that matters, literally ALL that matters right now, is getting the Black Man out of the White House.
You want to impose religious views onto people who don't share your beliefs? You want to raise taxes on everyone except for those who actually have good paying jobs? You want to eliminate all the saftey nets I've spent my life working towards? You want to eliminate Unions (which were the only way my parents and grandparents got themselves out of abject poverty)? You want to go to war to impose Democracy on other countries while denying it to our own citizens? You want to turn the United States into the United Corporations? Go ahead! Just get the Black Man out of the White House! (We'll fix everthing back to the 1940s and 50s once he's gone.)
Of course, they don't say Black Man, cause that would show that rascism is alive and well and living in their house. They say nicer insults like Obummer and Oblamer.
Every Republican ideal that he embraces must now be eschewed just for one reason and one reason only: get the Black Man out of the White House! All logic, all previous ideals, are gone with that one imperative left behind.
$32 trillion dollars are located in offshore tax havens. I wonder what Mitt's share of that is.
I wonder why he had to get government money to fund the Olympics when he could have donated the entire amount and probably gotten a tax write off, and had them renamed the Willard Olympics.
The argument should be: Businesses should pay higher taxes because they make
more use of the infrastructure that the common man. IE truck line use the roads
to transport run their business; builders need city planning departments more than the home owner. This argument should go to tax liability rather than business
success. Business' could not operate with out government infrastructure just ask
India how hard it is.
What do you call the federal tax added to every gallon gasoline and diesel that becomes part of shipping costs ? Those that use do pay, business and individuals alike. I have yet to hear any business spokesperson make the claim that infrastructure is not a valuable and legitimate role for government. Most times when you have a debate you counter your opponents argument - Business has never made the argument that Obama has imagined, that they have become successful without any help from anybody. BTW - did you know that there are privately owned toll roads all across America saving Government tons of money and those that use more , pay more.
I agree Pantleg, but I knew a trucker who was fairly liberal who thought that was too much to ask. I love truckers, as they helped me when nobody else would.
We should say, the trucker gets paid more by business that always pass their costs onto the customer, of course the top tier Execs would not take less profit.
The etch a sketch strikes again! Romney just can't wrap his head around the fact that he lives in the age of video tape, and just about everything he says as a public figure has been recorded! The flip-flop king has struck again!
Just goes to prove the adage, that if you tell a lie over and over again, gullible people believe the lie instead of the actual facts. Mitt, Rush, Sean, and the Fox gang are masters of this adage.
I bet he would like to take that back retroactively too, LOL
Romney is also obviously reading from a teleprompter!!!
Noooo! Say it isn't so, he's really a Democrat! Well, apparently he was a Democrat until the Republicans made him a better offer. Let us pull your strings, and we'll make you even richer!
Is this one of those things: "whatever I said, I stand by what I said", Mitt?
Yep, one more among many!
"I never said most of the things I said" Yogi Berra
To be an equivalent statement from Romney he would have had to say -
"Those of you who think you're such a great athlete you didn't win that race - somebody else won that race -your parents, your coaches.... "
Take note which candidate stands by their statement by repeating it over and over again on into the election. Somehow I think Obama would love for all of us to forget what he said.
No, that wouldn't be equivalent, alQemist.
What would be equivalent would be saying you did that on your own. The help you got from your parents and coaches was meaningless. Congratulations on your initiative to extract all that knowledge from them without them knowing it!
That is a very true statement! You are aware of course, of the many changes in Romney's positions on so many important issues, aren't you?
Romney is correct. It is all you liberals choosing to take it out of context that are once again wrong. As a parent in order for my daughter to take part in her athletic teams requires a "village". It requires me to pay for her participation and gear. It takes other people taking on the role of coaches. It takes the school with the communities support to run the athletic programs. It takes the bus drivers to transport the kids to away events, etc. But, my mother who owned her own small business for over 20 years did it on her own. She found the shop location on her own. She decorated the place to her liking on her own. She did not get a loan or gov't help from anyone, and worked long hard hours to make it a success on her own. So, in short Romney is correct in regards to athletes. But obama and all the liberals defending him are dead wrong in their disrespect of business owners!
Sorry, Manny, but you've got it backwards. 100% backwards.