Oh man, Jon Stewart was on fire last night covering the RNC, from noting that Reince Priebus looked competely wasted while giving his speech, to then hammering the GOP for their ridiculous attack line of "we built it" from deliberately taking Obama out of context. After talking with Aasif Mandvi, Jon had some choice "suggestions" for other ways the GOP could use "we built that" as their slogan.
It was the foundation of the night's theme, self-reliance, encapsulated by a new Republican call to arms. See if you can catch it.
REINCE PRIEBUS: He thinks that if you started a business, "you didn't build that"!
BOB MCDONNELL: You did build that!
MIA LOVE: We built it!
JASON CHAFFETZ: The government didn't build it. They built it!
JOHN SUNUNU: They really did build it!
RNC AUDIENCE: We built it! We built it!
ANN ROMNEY: Mitt Romney was not handed success. He built it!
Built it! Uh, the emphasis was a little off there. When was the last time we heard a catch phrase that was such a peculiar mix of braggadocio and whiny petulance?
CHARLIE SHEEN: Wow, WINNING!
Yeah, I think that was it.
(wild audience cheering and appaluse)
"We built that" is the Republican retort to Barack Obama's collectivism. And it's one of the first political mantras I've heard in a long time that sounds like you're supposed to say the word "duh" beforehand. "Duh, we built it!"
....
Wow. They got t-shirts, songs. I imagine soon, "we built it" will have its own breakfast cereal...
Really? Already??
We Built Thatz. It's the free market cereal where every box comes with a prize inside. The prize is rat feces, cuz the FDA can suck my balls.
....
You know, I hate to say it, but the whole "we built it" chant thing, it's a little call-and-responsey. Maybe it's the crushing humidity, or the really ridiculous humidity, but I'm kinda getting into it.
Let me address the convention. Um, let me see if I can address the people there, and see if I can get into this theme. All right. Ready?
A convention theme and a political campaign, cynically based around something the President never actually said.
RNC AUDIENCE: We built it! We built it! We built it!
Yes, you did build that! No one can take it away from you. All right, let me try another one.
A party-wide persecution complex, where any reference to the collective good is somehow taken as a denigration of an individual's achievement.
RNC AUDIENCE: We built it! We built it!
You did build that too! You're very busy. All right, let me try another one.
A moral code that equates parental financial assistance with moxie and entrepreneurship, while equating government financial assistance with lack of character and way-of-life-destroying dependency.
RNC AUDIENCE: We built it! We built it!
(in voice of adult talking to a baby) Yes you did! Yes you did!
(audience cheering and applause)
All right, I got one. Hold on, I got one. I got one!
The convention center you're sitting in!
RNC AUDIENCE: We built it! We built it!
That's factually inaccurate. Actually, that was taxpayer money and union workers. Let me try again.
An alternate reality, where Barack Obama is a socialist Muslim, global warming is from polar bear farts, Fox News is fair and balanced, and the greatest threat to our way of life in a time of unprecedented economic inequality and institutional advantage for the wealthy is two dudes who wanna get married!
RNC AUDIENCE: We built it! We built it!
(wild audience cheering and applause)
You must be very proud.
Video and transcript below the fold.
Actually, Priebus was sounding what was the main motif of the evening, that Republicans have shitty lives too.
SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER: My dad and my uncles owned a bar in Cincinnati. I worked there growing up, mopping floors, waiting tables.
NEVADA GOVERNOR BRIAN SANDOVAL: In college, I worked in a hospital cafeteria.
UTAH CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE MIA LOVE: My parents immigrated to this country with $10 dollars in their pockets.
NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE: Dad grew up in poverty.
BUSINESSMAN PHIL ARCHULETTA: From humble beginnings, I built a successful business.
MONTANA LT. GOV. CANDIDATE STEVE DAINES: I've built businesses and created hundreds of jobs.
"I was born inside a bloated dead rabbit carcass! And I was raised by maggots. Today, I own three Wendy's franchises. Because at home, I was never allowed to speak maggot."
It was the foundation of the night's theme, self-reliance, encapsulated by a new Republican call to arms. See if you can catch it.
REINCE PRIEBUS: He thinks that if you started a business, "you didn't build that"!
BOB MCDONNELL: You did build that!
MIA LOVE: We built it!
JASON CHAFFETZ: The government didn't build it. They built it!
JOHN SUNUNU: They really did build it!
RNC AUDIENCE: We built it! We built it!
ANN ROMNEY: Mitt Romney was not handed success. He built it!
Built it! Uh, the emphasis was a little off there. When was the last time we heard a catch phrase that was such a peculiar mix of braggadocio and whiny petulance?
CHARLIE SHEEN: Wow, WINNING!
Yeah, I think that was it.
(wild audience cheering and appaluse)
"We built that" is the Republican retort to Barack Obama's collectivism. And it's one of the first political mantras I've heard in a long time that sounds like you're supposed to say the word "duh" beforehand. "Duh, we built it!"
Only one problem, this defining theme of the campaign is based on a statement that the President made...
BARACK OBAMA (7/13/2012): You didn't build that!
But, he was actually referring to...
BARACK OBAMA (7/13/2012): Somebody helped to 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, that... you didn't build that.
See, he was talking about roads, bridges, convention centers, the infrastructure government has a hand in also building that helps create some of the stable conditions that aid entrepreneurship. So obviously, you're going to want to bring some nuance and not overplay your hand on this "we built it" thing.
RNC ANNOUNCER: Performing "I Built It", Lane Turner!
(dismayed audience laughter)
You've gotta be kidding me! How do you build a song.... Oh shit, just play it.
LANE TURNER: ♫ I built it, with no help from Uncle Sam.
Wow. I owe the will.i.am "Yes, We Can" song a huge apology. Wow. They got t-shirts, songs. I imagine soon, "we built it" will have its own breakfast cereal...
Really? Already??
We Built Thatz. It's the free market cereal where every box comes with a prize inside. The prize is rat feces, cuz the FDA can suck my balls.
....
You know, I hate to say it, but the whole "we built it" chant thing, it's a little call-and-responsey. Maybe it's the crushing humidity, or the really ridiculous humidity, but I'm kinda getting into it.
Let me address the convention. Um, let me see if I can address the people there, and see if I can get into this theme. All right. Ready?
A convention theme and a political campaign, cynically based around something the President never actually said.
RNC AUDIENCE: We built it! We built it! We built it!
Yes, you did build that! No one can take it away from you. All right, let me try another one.
A party-wide persecution complex, where any reference to the collective good is somehow taken as a denigration of an individual's achievement.
RNC AUDIENCE: We built it! We built it!
You did build that too! You're very busy. All right, let me try another one.
A moral code that equates parental financial assistance with moxie and entrepreneurship, while equating government financial assistance with lack of character and way-of-life-destroying dependency.
RNC AUDIENCE: We built it! We built it!
(in voice of adult talking to a baby) Yes you did! Yes you did!
(audience cheering and applause)
All right, I got one. Hold on, I got one. I got one!
The convention center you're sitting in!
RNC AUDIENCE: We built it! We built it!
That's factually inaccurate. Actually, that was taxpayer money and union workers. Let me try again.
An alternate reality, where Barack Obama is a socialist Muslim, global warming is from polar bear farts, Fox News is fair and balanced, and the greatest threat to our way of life in a time of unprecedented economic inequality and institutional advantage for the wealthy is two dudes who wanna get married!
RNC AUDIENCE: We built it! We built it!
(wild audience cheering and applause)
You must be very proud. We'll be right back.
Sam Bee then talked to
RNC delegates about their party platform's position on abortion, and how Mitt Romney disagrees with it. It's AMAZING to hear delegate after delegate try to defend that by saying Romney was free to "make the choice" to do just that. The cognitive dissonance is thick with these people.
Jon then talked with
Herman Cain, which went long. This time, you NEED to see the entire unedited interview. Seriously. The kicker is in part 3 when Jon just NAILS Cain for his LIE about the welfare to work requirement attack the Romney campaign has been going with.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3