Myths/Obama is a socialist - Revision history

Woozle at 21:24, 23 April 2015

2015-04-23T21:24:04Z

Woozle: another reply

2015-04-23T21:23:43Z

another reply

Woozle: /* Sources */ typo

2015-04-22T22:40:29Z

Sources: typo

Woozle: /* Sources */ h/t

2015-04-22T22:40:11Z

Sources: h/t

Woozle: Created page with "{{hdr/myth|Barack Obama is a socialist; the Obama administration advocates socialist policies}} ==Myth== ===Examples=== * "After eight years of Obama-style socialism, we n..."

2015-04-22T22:39:07Z

Created page with "{{hdr/myth|Barack Obama is a socialist; the Obama administration advocates socialist policies}} ==Myth== ===Examples=== * "After eight years of Obama-style socialism, we n..."

New page

{{hdr/myth|Barack Obama is a socialist; the Obama administration advocates socialist policies}}
==Myth==
===Examples===
* "After eight years of Obama-style [[socialism]], we need to [[Republican Party/small government|shrink government]]." — [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28gQmHUfYOE George Pataki ad: "What Matters" - No Distractions!] (video)
* "Obama is a disaster because he’s an unmitigated socialist..." — [[Ted Cruz]]<ref name=bloomberg />
==Reality==
You've got to be kidding me.
{{box/quote|
Look, there’s no reason for “socialism” to serve as a synonym for “stuff Republicans don’t like.” It’s an actual word with a fairly specific meaning, involving public ownership of the means of production.

And it in no way reflects the Obama era. After corporate profits reached all-time highs, the stock markets reached all-time highs, and the sharp drop in the unemployment rate was based almost entirely on private-sector job growth, I thought to myself, “Well, at least they’ll stop calling Obama a ‘socialist.’” But here we are anyway, hearing the same nonsense.

Have we considered the possibility that Republicans literally don’t know what “socialism” means? Isn’t it plausible that knee-jerk partisans have relied so heavily on the word for so long that they simply have lost track of its definition?

Cruz complained last year, “Right now, the top 1 percent in this country … earn a higher share of our national income than any time since 1928.” I’m curious: does the far-right senator believe those are economic conditions created by “an unmitigated socialist”? Or does Cruz believe the president is just really ineffective in implementing his socialist vision?
|Steve Benen<ref name=TRMS />
}}
==Sources==
<references>
<ref name=TRMS>'''2015-04-22''' [http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/thats-not-what-socialism-means That’s not what 'socialism' means] (by Steve Benen)</ref>
<ref name=bloomberg>'''2015-04-21''' [http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-21/ted-cruz-says-president-obama-is-an-unmitigated-socialist- Ted Cruz Says President Obama Is an 'Unmitigated Socialist']</ref>

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 Socialism means the public ownership of the means of production. Does President Obama advocate that? Nope, he doesn’t. Has never suggested a single policy that would even hint at it. This is just an attempt to poison the well. The American public thinks socialists are evil and therefore calling someone a socialist inoculates those people against supporting them.
 |Ed Brayton<ref name=EB />
 ==Sources==
 <references>

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 ==Sources==
 <references>
-<ref name=TRMS>'''2015-04-22''' [http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/thats-not-what-socialism-means That’s not what 'socialism' means] (by Steve Benen)(via [https://plus.google.com/u/0/+TheRachelMaddowShow/posts/91Q2Gpmk278 Google+]</ref>
+<ref name=TRMS>'''2015-04-22''' [http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/thats-not-what-socialism-means That’s not what 'socialism' means] (by Steve Benen)(via [https://plus.google.com/u/0/+TheRachelMaddowShow/posts/91Q2Gpmk278 Google+])</ref>
 <ref name=bloomberg>'''2015-04-21''' [http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-21/ted-cruz-says-president-obama-is-an-unmitigated-socialist- Ted Cruz Says President Obama Is an 'Unmitigated Socialist']</ref>
 </references>

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{hdr/myth|Barack Obama is a socialist; the Obama administration advocates socialist policies}}
+{{hdr/myth|Barack Obama is a socialist; the Obama administration advocates [[socialist]] policies}}
 ==Myth==
 ===Examples===
@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 You've got to be kidding me.
 {{box/quote|
-Look, there’s no reason for “socialism” to serve as a synonym for “stuff Republicans don’t like.” It’s an actual word with a fairly specific meaning, involving public ownership of the means of production.
+Look, there’s no reason for "socialism" to serve as a synonym for "stuff Republicans don't like." It’s an actual word with a fairly specific meaning, involving public ownership of the means of production.
-And it in no way reflects the Obama era. After corporate profits reached all-time highs, the stock markets reached all-time highs, and the sharp drop in the unemployment rate was based almost entirely on private-sector job growth, I thought to myself, “Well, at least they’ll stop calling Obama a ‘socialist.’” But here we are anyway, hearing the same nonsense.
+And it in no way reflects the Obama era. After corporate profits reached all-time highs, the stock markets reached all-time highs, and the sharp drop in the unemployment rate was based almost entirely on private-sector job growth, I thought to myself, "Well, at least they’ll stop calling Obama a ‘socialist.’" But here we are anyway, hearing the same nonsense.
-Have we considered the possibility that Republicans literally don’t know what “socialism” means? Isn’t it plausible that knee-jerk partisans have relied so heavily on the word for so long that they simply have lost track of its definition?
+Have we considered the possibility that Republicans literally don't know what "socialism" means? Isn't it plausible that knee-jerk partisans have relied so heavily on the word for so long that they simply have lost track of its definition?
-Cruz complained last year, “Right now, the top 1 percent in this country … earn a higher share of our national income than any time since 1928.” I’m curious: does the far-right senator believe those are economic conditions created by “an unmitigated socialist”? Or does Cruz believe the president is just really ineffective in implementing his socialist vision?
+Cruz complained last year, "Right now, the top 1 percent in this country ... earn a higher share of our national income than any time since 1928." I'm curious: does the far-right senator believe those are economic conditions created by "an unmitigated socialist"? Or does Cruz believe the president is just really ineffective in implementing his socialist vision?
 |Steve Benen<ref name=TRMS />
 }}
 ==Sources==
 <references>
-<ref name=TRMS>'''2015-04-22''' [http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/thats-not-what-socialism-means That’s not what 'socialism' means] (by Steve Benen)(via [https://plus.google.com/u/0/+TheRachelMaddowShow/posts/91Q2Gpmk278 Google+])</ref>
+<ref name=TRMS>'''2015-04-22''' [http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/thats-not-what-socialism-means That’s not what 'socialism' means] (Steve Benen)(via [https://plus.google.com/u/0/+TheRachelMaddowShow/posts/91Q2Gpmk278 Google+])</ref>
 <ref name=bloomberg>'''2015-04-21''' [http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-21/ted-cruz-says-president-obama-is-an-unmitigated-socialist- Ted Cruz Says President Obama Is an 'Unmitigated Socialist']</ref>
 </references>