Obama and the “Lazy” Debacle

Last weekend, President Obama was in attendance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Hawaii (Allen and Isenstadt). When discussing foreign investment in America, President Obama said the following, “Well, this is an issue, generally. I think it's important to remember that the United States is still the largest recipient of foreign investment in the world. And there are a lot of things that make foreign investors see the U.S. as a great opportunity — our stability, our openness, our innovative free market culture. But 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”(Farley).
Although, Obama says that American have been a LITTLE lazy in attracting new foreign investors he clearly said nothing about Americans being lazy. Aside from the remark, Obama actually complimented the United States by saying that we are still the country with the most foreign investment which is because of our great attributes as a country. However, Republican politicians have been distorting President Obama’s comment and taking it completely out of context. First, Rick Perry tried to use the sound bite to make voters believe that Obama was calling the American public lazy in general. Perry actually made a political ad in which he uses that clip, however, he distorts the context of the clip because he makes it seem like President Obama was calling Americans lazy as a whole. The ad starts with the clip of Obama saying “we've been a little bit lazy, I think, over the last couple of decades.” However, the original question is not included, so unless the viewer knew the context of the question, then the viewer is lead to believe that Obama was saying that about all Americans. In addition, the clip does not include Obama’s previous or following remarks after that particular sentence.
In his previous remarks, Obama actually complimented the United States. After the clip, Rick Perry comes on and asks if the viewer can believe that President Obama said that Americans being lazy is what is wrong with our country and called it pathetic. He said that it is time for a balanced budget and concluded the ad by saying that President Obama and his “socialist” policies are bankrupting our country. After watching the ad, the only thing that was pathetic to me was Rick Perry. Rick Perry loses all credibility because he was not being honest and twisted the context of President Obama’s remarks.
Mitt Romney also accused President Obama of calling Americans lazy. In South Carolina, Romney said the following, “Sometimes I just don't think that President Obama understands America. Now I say that because this week, or was it last week, he said that Americans are lazy. I don’t think that describes America” (Huffington Post). However as Obama’s full quote proves, he was never calling Americans lazy. He was only saying that Americans have been lazy in attracting new foreign investors. Even though, I think President Obama used the wrong choice of words I am disappointed by how the Republican politicians have distorted the context of his remarks. However, I also understand that the election is a year away and attack ads will become more commonplace on television. As Carl Forti, a Republican political consultant, said about the clip, “You will definitely see more of it. It’s definitely something campaigns will use” ( Allen and Isenstadt). I can only hope that the general public is well-informed enough to know exactly what President Obama said. I also hope that President Obama thinks about his word choices better next time.




Works Cited

Allen, Jonathan, and Alex Isenstadt. "Obama's 'lazy' Remark Catches Fire - Jonathan Allen and Alex Isenstadt - POLITICO.com." Politics, Political News - POLITICO.com. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .

Farley, Robert. "Fact Check: Obama's 'lazy' Comment Taken out of Context." News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World - USATODAY.com. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .

Post, Huffington. "Mitt Romney Criticizes Barack Obama's 'Lazy' APEC Remark." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .