Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Civility Watchdog: RNC Chair Reince Priebus' Speech to GOP Convention

On August 28, 2012, Reince Priebus gave a speech opening the GOP National Convention. Below are some of the highlights concerning civil, productive debate:
"But Barack Obama thinks the government is at the center of the economic universe. He thinks that if you started a business, “You didn’t build that.” Well, how would he know? President Obama’s never run a company. He hasn’t even run a garage sale or seen the inside of a lemonade stand. So it’s time for a President with real experience in the real economy. Mitt Romney will be that President. Barack Obama and his party may be satisfied with attacking the American Dream. But Republicans won’t be satisfied until we’ve rebuilt the American Dream."
Comment: First, this is a distortion of Obama's "you didn't build that" remark. Obama was saying that business-owners didn't build "this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive".

On the matter of Obama's business experience, it is a faulty appeal to authority to argue that, if you didn't run a business, you're not fit to offer up policies that will be good for business. Whether Obama's policies are good for business-owners is determined by the content of those policies, not by the background of the person espousing them.

Lastly, to say that Obama and Democrats are satisfied with attacking the American Dream is name-calling. It's a derisive caricature on par with saying that Romney and Republicans are satisfied with declaring war on the poor. I'm sure Priebus doesn't like being demonized by Democrats, he shouldn't do the same to them.

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