I’ve noticed that some people are having a visceral reaction to what is being reported that Obama said about America being soft. But when I listened to the audio myself, I didn’t hear what everyone was reporting. Now perhaps I’ve got this all wrong, but it seems to me that Obama is talking about America over the last two decades being soft, “losing our competitive edge”.
Here’s what Obama said (via Weekly Standard):
“I mean, there are a lot of things we can do. The way I think about it is, you know, this is a great, great country that had gotten a little soft and, you know, we didn’t have that same competitive edge that we needed over the last couple of decades. We need to get back on track.”
Notice Obama said “that HAD gotten a little soft” and then referred to us not having that same competitive edge over the “last couple of decades”. Seems clear to me that he’s talking about America’s position in the world over the last 20 years. If I had to translate, it would be that Obama is saying that America has been losing it’s global competitive edge for the last 20 years and it needs to be fixed.
But then notice the title of the Weekly Standard: “Obama: America’s Gone ‘Soft’“. Now that makes it sound very different from what he said in the article. If you just read the title, it sounds like Obama is saying that over the last few years America has gotten soft, which would be offensive to most of us given the fact that his policies have brought us to this low level.
The Wall Street Journal also titled it in the present tense: “Obama: U.S. Has Become a ‘Little Soft’“. Even Drudge has it listed as “‘AMERICA’S GOTTEN A LITTLE SOFT‘”. Again, offensive if you just read titles.
Look, I’m not one to defend Obama and I’m not saying I agree or disagree with his assessment. But it seems to me that the way it is being reported and what he actually said are two different things.
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