Rep. Robert Greemore deliberately distorted President Obama's words

To the editor,

State Representative Robert Greemore, you would think, as a member of the New Hampshire Legislature, would not deliberately mislead the public, his constituents, and the readers of The Sun. But that seems to be exactly what he does in his long personal history published in The Sun on August 2nd, attacking President Obama. He claims, indignantly, that the president “smacked me right in the face” when the president allegedly demeaned every small business owner with comments that Greemore quotes: “If you (sic) got a business, you didn’t build that.”

If you were charitable, you would say Greemore just didn’t read the president’s entire comment, so that he doesn’t understand that the one-liner he quotes is entirely out of context. And if you believe that…

The reality is the Greemore deliberately distorts the president’s words, taking them completely out of context. What the president actually said a couple of weeks ago, commenting on how tax-funded infrastructures benefit successful businesses, was, “Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that.” Any doubt about what the president was talking about?

So, Representative Greemore, are you deliberately misleading the public, your constituents and readers of The Sun, or did you just not bother to read the president’s comments, taking a page from Romney’s surrogates?

Lest there be any doubt, here is the entire passage of what President Obama said:

"There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me, because they want to give something back. They know they didn't — look, if you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own. You didn't get there on your own. I'm always struck by people who think, 'Well, it must be because I was just so smart.' There are a lot of smart people out there. 'It must be because I worked harder than everybody else.' Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there.

"If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet."

My point is that the failure to credit the role of government in supporting private enterprise (education, infrastructure, small business loans, etc.) ignores the reality that no businessperson functions alone in this society.

Marian Tucker

Meredith