Agree or Disagree with Barack Hussein Obama?

[coachTanthony]

Agree

Disagree

[abc3643]

Obama didn't say that. And, what he did say is being taken out of context.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/obama-trump-american-dream/

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-obama-trump-dream/fact-check-obama-misquoted-as-saying-the-american-dream-is-to-be-donald-trump-idUSKBN23G275/

“[Americans have] a continuing normative commitment to the ideals of individual freedom and mobility, values that extend far beyond the issue of race in the American mind. The depth of this commitment may be summarily dismissed as the unfounded optimism of the average American—I may not be Donald Trump now, but just you wait; if I don't make it, my children will.”

...

Obama and Fisher did not write that Trump was the “American Dream” but mentioned him as an example of success or wealth. In context, they write that the economic status exemplified by Trump is hoped for with "unfounded optimism" by the average American.

...

When asked about the misattributed quote, Garrow told Reuters via email this is a perpetuated error, noting it is “hard to erase falsehoods from the record”. He added: “Once a falsehood gets out there on the web, it takes on an independent life as the very nature of the web discourages people from checking for reliable sources.”

The misleading quote may have stemmed from the headlines of several media outlets that reported on Garrow’s book and the paper’s excerpt. According to Snopes here , some outlets misleadingly implied in their headlines that Obama called Trump the American Dream, while clarifying the reference to Trump in the body of their articles.

VERDICT

Partly false. Barack Obama did not say Donald Trump is the American Dream. Obama mentioned Trump in an unpublished Harvard paper titled “Race and Rights Rhetoric” to exemplify the economic status that the average American hopes for with “unfounded optimism”.

=================

Why do you keep doing this shit? You ask stupid troll questions to get Xper and you never do your due diligence and put things in context. How can you call yourself a "Coach" when you do shit like this? Be better and earn your appellation.

[Part2603]

I love how you think your pedantry is a win here.

You literally just conceded that yes, Obama did list Trump as an example of economic success. It'd be interesting to go through the rest of his paper. Does Obama perchance make vague accusations that Trump didn't earn his money, and that he only got it through white privilege, and that while capitalism is good within reason, the government really should do more to achieve equity, by redistributing wealth without understanding how that wealth was generated in the first place?

[abc3643]

@Part2603 I agree but, to be clear, not so much economic success, but simply wealth. Trump has been a famous wealthy person for decades, so he'd be your go-to icon for wealth.

That's what Obama's comment was about... People's belief in the American Dream that if they work hard they can make it, so he used Trump, arguably the most famous rich person in the United States, as example of making it.

[abc3643]

However as a NYer like Trump and who has watched him for 51 years, I will make an unvague comment about Trump and his wealth. He didn't start from scratch like most people. His father, Fred Trump, is the one who really developed the Trump empire. Furthermore his father got a head start because of Fred's mother.

When you have $10,000,000 and you double it, that's $20,000,00.
When you have $10 and you double it, that's $20.
So, it's a lot easier to make a lot of money when you already start out with it.

[coachTanthony]

"Why do you keep doing this shit? You ask stupid troll questions"

Why do you keep commenting on them?

[abc3643]

I get annoyed because your questions are de facto trolls even if you do not intend to troll. You should be a more responsible citizen here. Plenty of times, you do ask good questions and I have no problem. But when 1) people stir the shit, 2) trying to fuck people over (which you don't do, thank God), or 3) are lazy about their responsibility to others and themselves like simply forwarding propaganda and not doing due diligence or establishing context, then I am going to call them out on it. You can be better than shit like this - I know, I've seen it - so BE better.

[coachTanthony]

You think this is propaganda? It's a funny photo that is OBVISOUS not real and if people think it is then that is where the funny reactions come from. It's arrogant to label someone and tell them what they should or should not post. You BE better.

[abc3643]

Actually, it is propaganda. Certainly to Trumpsters. It's about as funny as an enema.

[coachTanthony]

Then so be it more to come then. Wasn't planning on it but i'll be damned if someone is going to tell me what to post and not to post. Hit the block button buddy!

[abc3643]

I am not trying to tell you what to post or what not to. Just have some personal responsibility to others.
I mean, geez, if you're 53, then I shouldn't have to tell you this shit because you should be mature enough and in-tune enough with your instincts to know better.
Then again, what do I know since there are plenty of immature idiots older than me.

[abc3643]

What you could have done with this question is indicate that you knew it was fake. That's it. Had you done that, then I would have been... ok... with it.

[coachTanthony]

Sensitive people can go elsewhere... I don't play that "hold peoples hand" game.

[abc3643]

I understand where you're coming from and do not disagree. But we are older and we should be setting an example.

[coachTanthony]

GAG is an outlet for me to ask interesting questions and have fun triggering people as well. You do you man... stop telling people what they should be doing and go set the example yourself.

[Part2603]

I mention how Democrats don't understand wealth generation and then low and behold a Democrat demonstrates his lack of wealth generation in his reply.

"It's easier to make a lot of money when you already have it" is a stupid and vapid talking point that you will find in a social justice classroom but not an economics or entrepreneurship classroom. Lol at you answering the question "How did Trump's wealth get created?" with "He inherited it." Does food come from the grocery store?

[abc3643]

@Part2603 Don't give me your horseshit. Learn some fucking mathematics and history.

[Part2603]

Lol at you thinking mathematics is economics.

[blueonblack22]

He also once famously quoted “never underestimate Joe Biden’s ability to f*ck things up.” Yes he really did say that.

https://nypost.com/2023/07/11/barack-obama-was-right-to-be-wary-of-joe-bidens-ability-to-f-k-things-up/

[coachTanthony]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Anonymous]

If you all dream about being an obese man who's about to go to jail, pursue it!

[coachTanthony]

That would probably be slightly better then dreaming about being anonymous lol

[Dongie]

Heh, they will hang themselves thinking they're doing a public service.

[LaurenM1997]

No that would be a disaster and a frustrating pain for america

[OlderAndWiser]

Interesting quote. I don't aspire to be Trump, but I wouldn't mind having some of his wealth.

[handsomelad70]

Neither would I, but CERTAINLY NOT his criminality !!!1111

[OlderAndWiser]

@handsomelad70 So I assume you would not want to be a member of the Biden family either.

[Syntosi]

That is probably fake but comedy gold. More specifically, because Trump is the living amalgamation of every ugly stereotype that Americans has. He is rich but incredibly in debt. He is incredibly entitled and narcissistic. He is incredibly dumb but keeps failing upwards and even becomes the president etc... He is such a cartoonish figure that he fits right into a comedy show like the Simpsons. Trump is like if the universe created a caricature to have a laugh at Americas expense. If someone wrote a character like that in a book no one would be able to take them seriously because surely no such person could actually exist.. yet here we are.. reality is far stranger (and funnier) than fiction.

[Part2603]

Yes, debt is how capitalism works. If you have a track record of being productive enough banks will invest in you to generate ROI for their customers.

The more "in debt" you are the more trust is place on you to direct capital expenditure.

[Syntosi]

@Part2603 I disagree. Capitalism loves debt but it is also a risk and as with all gambling, over a long enough time period the house always wins and the economy will always collapse because some idiot took out too much debt.

Also I am not saying Trump has a lot of debt because he is productive. I am saying he has a lot of debt because he is living above his means and putting up other peoples money as collateral for his risky business decisions. Trump has a horrible track record of being a terrible investment for other peoples money (including banks). He does not even pay people wages, why on earth would he pay back loans? The fact that he is still given loans has more to do with influence peddling and corruption which is again an ugly American stereotype.

The more I think about it the more he is just the "Perfect" American stereotype. He truly embodies all the worst aspects of the country.

[Part2603]

"Capitalism loves debt but it is also a risk and as with all gambling, over a long enough time period the house always wins and the economy will always collapse because some idiot took out too much debt."

Oh yeah? Explain how.

[Syntosi]

@Part2603 Fundamentally, the economy works on trust which also includes loans. Break that trust and you break the economy and debt is taking that trust and using it to make money. "You give me money today and ill give you more money tomorrow" sort of thing. As long as you maintain trust, and repay your debts, this works just fine (it really does not but we are going to turn a blind eye to reality for the moment). The moment you break that trust however all hell breaks lose. Things you thought had value no longer does not etc..

But lets change focus a bit. Why does debt cause such chain reactions? Because Capitalism loves debt and unless you force a section of it to maintain solvency then everyone is going to take debt to each other. You borrow money from one person, who in turn is in debt to another person etc.. etc.. etc.. You fail to repay your debt, the guy you borrowed money from can't get his money back from you and he also fails to pay his debt and the people who relied on their investment in him can't repay their debt and like a house of cards the system falls.

But why do everyone take out debts in Capitalism? Because you can leverage debt to increase profits.

[Syntosi]

@Part2603 Lets say you have 100 dollars and want to invest it to earn 10% interest which gives you 110 dollars. Pretty good all things considered. But what if you want more? Lets say you take out a loan for 100'000 dollars and invest your 100'100 dollars and get back 110'110 in return and then repay your loan with an interest rate of 7% or something leaving you with 3'110 dollars which is 31.1 times the amount you started with. As such you are incentivized to take out loans that are as large as possible, usually in orders of magnitude larger than your actual net-worth to earn the maximum amount of return and anytime you succeed you are incentivized to go even higher until you one time fail and is forced to attempt to repay that fantasy sum that is worth more than you will ever make in your entire life.

So to bring it all back. Capitalism (without strict regulation) creates chains of debt holders that are leveraged far above their actual ability to repay in the case their investment (usually in borrowing their money to other people, thus perpetuating the debt chain) fails. While individually it might be a low risk it only takes one to fail for all of them to fail and thus their risks are added together to become far more likely as a collective to fail. And once they fail, they shake the trust in the economy which can cause further failures such as bank runs or crashes in housing markets etc.. and the only way to try resolve the issue is to start pumping money into the system so that all those gamblers can get money back and repay their loans and postpone the collapse until later but because the trust is broken no one wants to do that anymore and someone like the government has to step in.

Just an example though. I could go much further in debt or use real world examples. Point is that Capitalism leads to debt which leads to economic instability.

[onedarkcloud]

Looks like Biden read the book and improved on it. I mean 40 plus years in Congress and accomplished nothing except to take up space rename a police station and vote against civil rights

[Syntosi]

@onedarkcloud I might not like Biden but he actually has a track record of things he has done. Claiming otherwise just tells me that you did not actually look it up beforehand.

[Red_Arrow]

That was a phony remake of a photo and a bullshit quote. Educate yourself and read https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-obama-trump-dream/fact-check-obama-misquoted-as-saying-the-american-dream-is-to-be-donald-trump-idUSKBN23G275/

I know the truth is not as interesting to you as the nonsense rumors.

[coachTanthony]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 triggered

[Red_Arrow]

lol. Seems you are the triggered one when your post is shown to be false,..

[coachTanthony]

I know it's false it's people like you who get all upset even though you know it is lmao

[Red_Arrow]

I am not all upset. I knew it was phony bullshit that you were putting out, so it really does not bother me.

[Dongie]

He actually said this. It was all over the place after he won.

[Dongie]

REALLY...

[Red_Arrow]

@Dongie Everybody knows it was false. Even the asker admitted that.

[Dongie]

Hahahahahahahaha

[Dongie]

Hahahahahahahahaha

[AviatorTom]

An obvious fake. In 1991, Obama was 30 years old, and that's a high school picture.

Anyway, I'm very happy and content in my own skin, no desire to be someone else.

[OtterMan68]

don't confuse MAGA with facts. Let them have their "alternate facts"

[avery58]

Dang he's older than I thought

[exitseven]

That is really ironic. I guess it is the American Dream to be a billionaire. I would rather be Bill Gates.

[Dongie]

I'd rather be poor than him.

[exitseven]

@Dongie I would not want to actually BE him, just be one of the world's richest men.

[Dongie]

Yeah. I'd be fine with a couple million. I wouldn't want the headache. People bugging you all the time. About 2.4 mil in the bank

[DryGermanGuy]

David Pakman had a good segment on how the fringe right seems to be obsessed with Barack HUSSEIN Obama and his wife.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/UPe5JvwUmYM

[Wiredone]

I would never want to be trump or anyone else. I. Quite happy with the person I am

[DJB72]

When he said it, it was accurate.

Probably less so now.

[handsomelad70]

I'm only half-American, but being Donald Trump would be my worst nightmare.(Sorry, Mr. President !!!)

[loveslongnails]

Sounds more like a nightmare than a dream, Coach.

[Dongie]

Yeah, even on this I can't say I agree. On anything that thing says. Vote for Trump tho.

[worldscolide]

Ha even Obama knew it

[JesseP1nk]

Oh wow. I wonder why americans haven't canceled Obama yet. Usually americans dig in someones past and cancel someone for saying things 10+ years ago

[DrPepper12]

DJT compares to obama like Danny devito to arnold Schwarzenegger; like pauly shore to Einstein;l. He couldnt hold obamas dick with those tiny orange hands

[Dongie]

But HE wouldn't want to.

[DrPepper12]

@Dongie Are you sure? Lets ask Epstein! Oh, thats right.. like seth rich he's dead...🤷🏻‍♂️

[Dongie]

Yeah, didn't you hear? Hillary had him made.

[OtterMan68]

It's both sad and hilarious you think that's an actual yearbook photo and quote.

[coachTanthony]

It's for sure hilarious lol

[MacDaddyRico]

The firstb gay POTUS and first tranny 1st Lady?

[Theodoricus]

God save Donald Trump.

[Dongie]

AMEN 😇🙏

[KostasKouvalis]

To a certain extent, yes

[Dargil]

It depends on about what.