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Manhattan Diary by Cahir O'Doherty

Herman Cain, if you can't get elected blame yourself

Posted on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 09:55 AM

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There's out of touch and then there's Marie Antoinette. On the eve of French Revolution she was, history reminds us, convinced that the political instability she saw all around her would soon pass.

Many plots were hatched to help her and other royals escape the approaching Terror, but she rejected all of them because she felt assured it would all blow over. When you're that rich it almost always does.

So it's hard not to think of her high-handed arrogance when you listen to Herman Cain talk.

'I don’t have facts to back this up, but I happen to believe that these (Occupy Wall Street) demonstrations are planned and orchestrated to distract from the failed policies of the Obama administration. Don’t blame Wall Street, don’t blame the big banks, if you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself!' he said during a campaign stop recently.
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On the face of it, that's about as heartless and unvarnished an accusation as I've ever heard from a Republican candidate for president. Listening to these sentiments, you can picture him heartily applauding the decision to abandon the uninsured to their fates with the rest of the GOP debate audience.

Blaming unemployment on the unemployed is a longstanding conservative tradition. But bluntly stating that you don't have the facts to back up what you're saying and then condemning others without a thought? That's something new in American politics.

That's wearing ignorance as a badge of honor. That's playing to the lowest instincts of the electorate. Telling people you have no facts but the ones they want to hear is risible. I'm amazed the press has given him a pass on it.

Wall Street, says Cain, are the ones who create jobs. But actually, Wall Street bankers are in the business of making money, not jobs. Often they buy companies, lay off all the workers and then resell, making huge profits. Others simply speculate on the economy itself, getting rich betting on things like the price of oil. But just those kinds of risky bets eventually plunged our financial system into unparalleled crisis and caused the unemployment spike and the great recession - and now Cain thinks we should still be thanking them?

The same Wall Street wrecked the US economy three years ago, without anyone ever being held to account? The ones who packaged high-risk, subprime mortgages along with low-risk mortgages to create artificially attractive mortgage-backed securities? Not a single person has been indicted or convicted for what followed - the destruction of 20% of Americas national net worth accumulated over the course of two centuries. We should be grateful to Wall Street? Seriously?

If Wall Street are the ones who create jobs, Mr Cain, where are they? Wall Street has just enjoyed an unfettered freewheeling decade under George W. Bush and they concluded it with an international banking crisis, plunging the world into chaos. I don't think they're the 'job creators' Cain seems to think they are.

And has Cain even noticed the extent of the social and economic inequalities in America in 2011? Does he really think American's are just jealous of his own fortune? Does he really believe we should blame the White House? If you want to address income inequality then you should go to place where the economy is controlled (and here's a tip, it's not the White House).

Cain's comments make him sound like the most out of touch candidate ever to run for Commander in Chief. If he can't get elected, he should blame himself.

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peterson | Oct 13, 2011, 12:02 PM EDT

He still has more smarts than the liberals !!

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quixotic | Oct 12, 2011, 09:28 AM EDT

I'm not stupid enough or rich enough to be a Republican. Now if I were rich, I would also be smart enough.

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Springfield9 | Oct 11, 2011, 07:11 PM EDT

Cain played the "Race Card" and shot himself in the foot.

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seanomelbourne | Oct 11, 2011, 06:40 PM EDT

Cain thinks the middle class are ignorant and will swallow his uncle tom Bull Sh--te.Cain cowered in some university dorm when good men and women died,giving him the freedom and a lifestyle he would otherwise not have had. A true uncle tom pandering to wall street where only profits count and the middle class are fodder.

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jamieLM | Oct 11, 2011, 05:58 PM EDT

There are some whiners and slackers out there, but the vast majority of unemployed Americans are desperately trying to find work. Cain is wrong to blame the majority of people for their inability to find a decent job. He should have saved that kind of rhetoric for the very few people he knows personally that deserve a kick-in-the butt. It's not a matter of not being willing to work, but a matter of not having that opportunity. Cain just doesn't get it, nor does he hold accountable those who are responsible for limiting or eliminating those opportunities for others to work.

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hollabackgurl | Oct 11, 2011, 03:58 PM EDT

Cain is actually the poster boy for the modern GOP: a self-satisfied would be plutocrat scolding everyone as he rolls up the drawbridge.

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jamthecat | Oct 11, 2011, 03:34 PM EDT

Yeah, right, it's your own damn fault GE fired you and moved your job to China so they could rake in more profits and pay even less in taxes...oh, wait, they don't pay taxes. It's your fault Wall Street destroyed 20% of our national wealth. It's your own damn fault you can't buy health insurance because none of the billion-dollar companies will sell it to you. Yeah, Herman, right. But you can count on your well-trained, right-wing trolls to back you up, no matter what. It's their own damn fault they can't think for themselves. Okay...on that last point, I do sort of agree.

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tundish45 | Oct 11, 2011, 01:29 PM EDT

How does this article fit with Irish Central's stated aim of focusing on Irish and Irish American news? Oh, wait, maybe it is the part in which Cain admits he has no facts, but still has an opinion? That would be Irish --- provided it were expressed with wit.

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Nicomax | Oct 11, 2011, 01:28 PM EDT

The Cain Principal in action occurred recently when Hewlett Packard fired their CEO after only 11 months on the job, but compassionately gave him $13 million as a going away gift. "Only the few will be rewarded, the rest can only hope."

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danbre1 | Oct 11, 2011, 01:19 PM EDT

Cain has put more people to work than the White House policies in recent years. Cain has rightfully said the protesters should march on the WH if they want to lay blame where it really lies.

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LilPaddy | Oct 11, 2011, 12:10 PM EDT

Boy oh boy.... Cain must be doing even better than I'd thought... To receive such a Liberal hatchet job from Cahir O'Doherty shows how well Mr. Cain is doing... Cahir needs to get his lips out of Mr. Obama's ass...... Cain is correct, IF YOU DON'T HAVE A JOB? YOU ONLY HAVE YOURSELF TO BLAME!!! I got to L.I.N.Y. in Dec 1960 and have not been without work since Jan-61 (but then I had the advantage of having stayed in school until I was 13years old)....

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AngelPrecious | Oct 11, 2011, 11:31 AM EDT

Ripped by 2 black intelecctuals????? Ummm, who were they and what are their credentials. Cahir, you are hilarious and SO predictable. Cain is a MUCH better fit than the current person occupying the White House.

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Porickseantuny | Oct 11, 2011, 11:19 AM EDT

Does Cain's admitted opinion do more harm than 500 million dollars to Solyndra that Obama opined is an example of stimulant success?

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jamieLM | Oct 11, 2011, 10:56 AM EDT

I heard Cain say he'd like to go back to Don't Ask, Don't Tell and he'd repeal gay marriage. @Mr. O'Doherty, Congress called up the Goldman Sachs fat cats to the Hill who were all lawyered up and had an incredible amount of memory lapses. Congress gave them their usual tongue lashing and that was that. I guess Congress thought they'd done their duty for the American people. You are so right about those pond-scum guys who packaged up all those high risk subprime mortgages and haven't been held accountable. How about the worthless SEC who allows Wall Street hedge fund fat-cat managers to engage in illegal trading practices which causes so much volatility in the stock market and damages Am. companies and empties people's 401Ks and pension funds? Some regulation and accountability is definitely in order. Cain has made a few good points here and there, but he's already gone the way of Santorum - off my list for President.

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OBPiper | Oct 11, 2011, 10:07 AM EDT

He was ripped by two black intellectuals on CNN yesterday. I call him "Cain't & Unable". He does make some good points but he's got to get treatment for his rabies.

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