I read a lovely letter-to-the-editor via The Columbus Dispatch today.
The "piece" was titled "President seems to be protesting a bit too much."
The letter read as follows:
"It seems obvious that an action that is right needs little explanation; that which is wrong will cause the person taking the action to spend much effort trying to persuade that the action he took was correct.
In his first term, President Obama made 699 speeches. In his first term, he also proposed the so-called health-care reform. Need I say more?"
Let me answer that question - yes, you do. This man's link is about as solid as the link between water consumption and brain cancer.
The author says that which is right needs little explanation, that President Obama made 699 speeches in his first term, and also proposed his healthcare reform plan in his first term. See the connection? Look closer... Closer... Alright, so it's not there.
Whether or not the president made exactly 699 speeches is debatable, since the author didn't provide a source. Whether that's true or not, though, that doesn't mean all 699 speeches dealt with healthcare reform. In fact, it'd be pretty ridiculous to believe such a thing. What the author was attempting to do was tie the fact that the president made a great number of speeches during his first term (approximately one every two days, if that number is accurate) to his belief that the healthcare reform law is wrong and his belief that one shouldn't need a great deal of explaining to persuade one is right about something if it is in fact right. In other words, of ALL the possible policies the president either proposed or enacted in his first term, the author cherry-picked his least favorite to try and prove that it's obviously wrong.
Also, let's not kid ourselves here. In the world of politics, that whole "if-it-were-right-they-wouldn't-need-to-explain-it-much" theory is false. Just regarding the healthcare reform law, not only did the president need to offset rumors, lies, and talking points spread about by Republican politicians and conservative members of the media - from Fox News to talk radio to conspiracy-based websites, he also had to try and win over the public's opinion in the face of a barrage of ad-spending by groups attacking his healthcare plan. As of June 2012, approximately $235 million was spent on ads attacking the healthcare law, while only $69 million was spent on ads supporting it. That's a ratio of almost 3.5 : 1 in favor of the attack ads. So even if all of the president's 699 speeches concentrated on the healthcare reform law, it wouldn't prove the author's already far-reaching point. In fact, if this guy wants to re-read his letter, read the numbers I just posted, and temporarily stand back from his biased views, wouldn't the $235 million spent attacking the healthcare plan be proof that they were in the wrong and the healthcare bill was in the right? Logic is lacking with this author like snow is in Egypt.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2013/02/21/1-president-seems-to-be-protesting-too-much.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/health/policy/health-care-law-loses-ad-war.html?pagewanted=all
The "piece" was titled "President seems to be protesting a bit too much."
The letter read as follows:
"It seems obvious that an action that is right needs little explanation; that which is wrong will cause the person taking the action to spend much effort trying to persuade that the action he took was correct.
In his first term, President Obama made 699 speeches. In his first term, he also proposed the so-called health-care reform. Need I say more?"
Let me answer that question - yes, you do. This man's link is about as solid as the link between water consumption and brain cancer.
The author says that which is right needs little explanation, that President Obama made 699 speeches in his first term, and also proposed his healthcare reform plan in his first term. See the connection? Look closer... Closer... Alright, so it's not there.
Whether or not the president made exactly 699 speeches is debatable, since the author didn't provide a source. Whether that's true or not, though, that doesn't mean all 699 speeches dealt with healthcare reform. In fact, it'd be pretty ridiculous to believe such a thing. What the author was attempting to do was tie the fact that the president made a great number of speeches during his first term (approximately one every two days, if that number is accurate) to his belief that the healthcare reform law is wrong and his belief that one shouldn't need a great deal of explaining to persuade one is right about something if it is in fact right. In other words, of ALL the possible policies the president either proposed or enacted in his first term, the author cherry-picked his least favorite to try and prove that it's obviously wrong.
Also, let's not kid ourselves here. In the world of politics, that whole "if-it-were-right-they-wouldn't-need-to-explain-it-much" theory is false. Just regarding the healthcare reform law, not only did the president need to offset rumors, lies, and talking points spread about by Republican politicians and conservative members of the media - from Fox News to talk radio to conspiracy-based websites, he also had to try and win over the public's opinion in the face of a barrage of ad-spending by groups attacking his healthcare plan. As of June 2012, approximately $235 million was spent on ads attacking the healthcare law, while only $69 million was spent on ads supporting it. That's a ratio of almost 3.5 : 1 in favor of the attack ads. So even if all of the president's 699 speeches concentrated on the healthcare reform law, it wouldn't prove the author's already far-reaching point. In fact, if this guy wants to re-read his letter, read the numbers I just posted, and temporarily stand back from his biased views, wouldn't the $235 million spent attacking the healthcare plan be proof that they were in the wrong and the healthcare bill was in the right? Logic is lacking with this author like snow is in Egypt.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2013/02/21/1-president-seems-to-be-protesting-too-much.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/health/policy/health-care-law-loses-ad-war.html?pagewanted=all
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