GOP's 'We Built It' Refrain Is Both Puzzling And Telling (NPR)
by Ron Elving
The 2012 Republican National Convention may have been the first gathering of its kind to take its theme from a gaffe.
Some variation of the phrase "We Built That" was the theme of the first night but, in effect, dominated the stage rhetoric throughout the convention. The phrase was the only one heard as often as "Hurricane Isaac."
The national party chairman, the speaker of the House, the keynoter and the vice presidential nominee all hit the mark like clockwork. Every major speaker on stage returned to the theme, talking about what they and others had built for themselves and how it was theirs and not the government's. Even Mitt Romney, in the final speech of the Tampa convention, said President Obama "had almost no experience working in a business ... jobs to him are about government."
On the final night, delegates were shown a video of President Obama actually uttering the fateful words "You didn't build that ... somebody else made that happen" at a July 13 campaign stop in Roanoke, Va. Most reporters who were there took note of the remark, but in the context in which it was made — discussing education, infrastructure and other services that governments at various levels provide to make new businesses possible.
"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. The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don't do on our own."
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more: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/08/31/160370383/gops-we-built-it-refrain-is-both-puzzling-and-telling?ps=view&ec=mostpopular
I see "gaffe" is now defined as "quote taken out of context".
