"I resent that remark, Gov. Romney and you've insulted every single parent in America"

[louis c]

I was just watching the debate for a second time, and I didn't catch the opportunity that President Obama had to stick it to Mitt until I saw the replay.

When Mitt Romney explained his position on gun violence and gun control, he stated that single parents were to blame. Single parents are most likely to be in poverty, poverty breeds crime and violence; therefore Single parents are to blame.


My Obama response
"I resent that characterization, Gov. Romney. I am the son of a single Mother and I know how hard she had to work in order to provide for me and my sister. That's why we should try all the harder to provide day care and tax credits for single women, and single father's too. That's why we need a health care system for working families who may be earning less than a living wage. That's why we need to invest in public schools and provide Pell Grants. But you, Governor, to intimate that single parents, like my mother was, are responsible for the gun violence in America...(short pause) well, all I can say is that I find that disgusting."

[Johonny]

1. yet he opposes gay marriage

if single parents are the issue why does he prevent kids from having two parents just because their parents would be gay? Why are so many gun violence perpetrators from two family homes... what the * did it have to do with the question. Romney didn't lose the debate at the Libya moment. He sucked at answering directly questions by the audience all night. His answers were evasive, fantastical, mean and ill informed. He pissed off a lot of different people little by little all night.

1) lower taxes on average Americans interest and dividends (huh?)
2)binders of women (WTH?)
3)marriage as a form of gun control (WTF?)

It's hard to know when he made sense on any answer.

[Sheepshank]

2. I just showed this to a single mother in this office.

She recently got enough of a raise to get off of food stamps.

When she read this she cried. That someone running for President would dare categorize she and her children in this manner broker her heart. To read Obama's response gave her some relief. She is so flippin' mad at Romney right now, she is taking copies of this and shoing her daughter who will be voting for the first time this year. I don't think Romeny will be getting either one of their votes.

[louis c]

6. I hope you understand

that isn't Obama's response, it's mine, using the character of Obama.

I know how hard it is to respond in a split second to a comment. I didn't even catch it the first time through. On replay, I thought. "holy shit, I wish Barack had said this in reply to Romney".

hindsight is 20-20

And it's easy to Monday morning quarterback.

But you have to understand, you'll probably never meet a stronger supporter of President Obama than me.

When somebody insults him, I almost take it personally.

[Sheepshank]

22. Thanks for the clarification...I'll make this disclosure clear to her.

[JackN415]

3. good one n/t

[HockeyMom]

4. My Grandma was a WIDOW

who raised 2 kids all alone. Wonder what 9/11, Iraq/Afgan widows with children think of his insulting "single parent families"?

[desertduck]

5. Who says this kind of ridiculous nonsense...in public? In the spotlight... on a national level

...at a PRESIDENTIAL debate....and then insists in the same foul breath that he is for the 100% of america?? This doesn't speak just about romney. This speaks a great deal about the Republican party in general that they think this guy is electable IN ANY WAY. Hoe utterly embarassing. Lost, desperate, and completely out of touch w reality. I don't want to say that i hope for bad things to happen to them as a group, but i will say that i won't look away when karma bloodies them up.

[Zalatix]

18. Romney does. Because he knows the media won't give him hell for it.

The DU is the only place that is up in arms about what he said.

This should tell you something.

[desertduck]

21. This is why i have looooong given up on MSM & don't have tv @ home.

I Know the MSM is bought and owned by the right. It is blatantly clear for avery long time. But he should have some sense to know when he is walking outside of his house out of his comfort zone. the arrogance is intoxicting...

[yellowcanine]

7. That remark came out of left field. Obama cannot be held too accountable for failing to immediately

respond. I for one did not quite believe it at first. It is too absurd. Obama could not possibly have anticipated such an off the wall assertion.

[PD Turk]

9. It was so bizarre

So off topic, so rude and insulting, I don't think anybody would have had a snap response to it. He ain't right in the head you know

[Avalux]

8. Second time around is better.

I picked up on the subtleties, and watched body language more. Without sound is good too.

[RichGirl]

10. Columbine....

Two boys...each had two married, opposite sex, church going parents.

Virginia Tech...TWO parents.

Tim McVeigh...two Christian parents.

Guy who shot Gabby Gifford and killed people, including a little girl... had two parents.

Jeffery Dahlmer...two parents.

Single mothers may sometimes be poor, kids hungry which may lead to petty crimes for money. But the really psychotic, who commit mass murder for no reason....they tend to come from two parents.

[former-republican]

13. 2012

Memorial Day weekend in Chicago: Over a span of 72 hours, gunfire claims the lives of a dozen people.

Another 45 are shot and wounded.

During a single 90-minute stretch, 13 people are shot.

It is another in what’s become a steady stream of violent weekends in Chicago, casting the city into an unwanted national spotlight.

The figures are startling. Through the end of June, the number of murders in Chicago was up 37 percent over the same period last year, even as crime overall declined



http://www.suntimes.com/news/violence/13574486-505/chicago-under-fire-murders-rising-despite-decline-in-overall-crime.html





The President has a valid argument on this .

[former-republican]

11. He might have a valid argument because If I remember right

the President and Romney were talking about the shootings and violence in inner cites.



Obama responded similarly. "I think that one area we agree on is the importance of parents and the importance of schools, because I do believe that if our young people have opportunity, then they're less likely to engage in these kinds of violent acts," Obama said.

[louis c]

12. It's not as a result of single parents

It's a result of being poor. Over 50 % of marriages end in divorce. if single parents were the problem, why aren't there more killings in England, where divorce is just as prevalent?

Face facts, gun violence is a result of weak and unenforced gun laws.

[spooky3]

14. or in the Scandinavian countries, where many couples, even those with children, never marry?

[former-republican]

15. It's a combination of everything, also not that many people have guns in England

All these issues need to be addressed.

[louis c]

17. Bingo, now you have it figured out

See, it wasn't that hard, after all.

[former-republican]

19. You're silly

My point has been more than proved in this thread.

[louis c]

23. Silly?

Fewer guns = less gun violence.

That wasn't hard, was it?

There are just as many single parents in England and Canada, both English speaking countries with similar values and culture as America, yet both of those countries have vastly fewer incidents of gun violence than we do.

The biggest difference. more restrictive gun laws.

Facts are never silly.

[former-republican]

27. You're all over the place

Read your original post , please..

You were insulted by what Romney said about having a strong family unit that will be a positive for children and reduce gun crime and violence in young people.

Then Obama agrees with Romney's point that having a strong family unit (Parents, that means 2 ) in the home is a positive that will reduce gun crime and violence.

He said exactly what Romney said.

If you choose not to see or understand that , I can't help you.

You keep bringing up the England question on single parents and gun violence.
I agree with you that the reason gun violence is non existent there is because they have pretty much banned private ownership
of guns.

But watch the debate clip again. Both Romney and the President stray from the legal components on the gun control question the voter asked and talk about Root cause of gun violence.


I can't believe I'm arguing this point with you?

I can post clips of President Obama in interviews saying that young teen pregnancy , young male's not taking responsibilities for there babies is a root cause in poverty , violence , lack of pursuing education ..etc


You are mad at Romney but not Obama , it makes no sense..............

but both are correct and agreed backed up by all statistics of young teen single parent households where the child is more prone to drop out of school, join a gang , have a police record .

Obama has said the exact thing Romney said did during the debate in other interviews.

[louis c]

32. Do you have reading comprehension problems

The original post was about Mitt Romney's response to gun violence and his blaming it on single parent households.

Obama should have taken that as an insult, having been raised by a single mother (you knew that, right?). He should have used anger in his response to such an idiotic notion.

The questioner was asking about AK 47's and the multiple killings, like the one at the theater in Colorado. Oh, by the way, that shooter had two parents all of his life.

Go ahead, reread the post. You'll get it.

I know you were a "former Republican", but I get the felling that you haven't fully recovered form that ailment.

You have to work on it a little more and you'll get there.

[former-republican]

34. Right and you were upset about it

"the original post was about Mitt Romney's response to gun violence and his blaming it on single parent households"









Both the President and Romney agreed on what was said.

In fact Obama agreed after Romney stated about having Parents at home on the gun and violence question.
He said I agree with what Governor Romney said

skip to 6:50

[former-republican]

16. It's not bullshit

http://www.fatherhood.org/media/consequences-of-father-absence-statistics

[ecstatic]

26. The topic was mass murders and how access to AKA 47s contributes

[former-republican]

30. Yes...... it was by the undecided voter but both Romney and the President dove into

the philosophical reasons of gun violence and violence in general in inner cities.
Obama brought up inner cities in fact.

Both agreed on strong family units , Mom and Dad



Prisons are filled with inmates from single parent house holds.

That's just the way it is.

[ecstatic]

36. Obama didn't say "mom and dad"

or anything about two parent households, although he did make an unclear statement agreeing about parental involvement.

But moving past that, let's face it: This nation is moving away from the marriage model. People are going to have to figure out a new solution because less and less families look like they did in the 50s.

[former-republican]

20. watch and learn

[louis c]

24. I know you are a former Republican

and I know you haven't been at DU too long.

But you have to learn the difference between fact and opinion.

That part is very, very important.

[former-republican]

29. Seriously

It is a fact that in young teen single parent house holds .
The child is more likely to grow up in poverty him or her self when older.

Fact , the male child is more likely to have a police record
Fact , males are more likely to spend time in prison

Fact , the child is more likely to drop out of school.

Fact , if female the child is more likely to also become a teen mom her self .

I'm sure you have read all the statistics on this by every government study, private studies , you name it.

This is not opinions these are facts backed up by hard numbers.

So tell me why would you call them opinions?

As Bill Clinton said.......math doesn't lie

[louis c]

31. Here's my point, former Republican

Opinion:
I know that it is more difficult on a single parent to raise children in America. That wasn't the point. No shittin' that kids born of a single parent have a more difficult time in our society. It's economic. One salary can't raise children, and a single working parent has little or no time for child rearing. I didn't need you to tell me that. That's why those of us who have been Democrats all of our lives support things like child tax credits, medicaid, increased funding for private schools, head start, school lunch programs, after school programs, child care, free tuition for retraining at Community Colleges and public subsidies for housing. And we want to get that money to pay for these programs by cutting defense spending, not getting involved in nation building abroad and having the very wealthy pay their fair share. What else do we do? Make divorce illegal? The same Republicans that want to restrict or eliminate birth control and overturn Roe V. Wade want to complain about too many children are born of single mothers and describe these programs as needless spending. As a former Republican, you must remember those positions that your former party believes in.

Fact:
But this thread wasn't about how we help single mothers. This thread is about gun violence and how idiotic Mitt Romney was in blaming that violence on single mothers.

Fact:
There is the same percentage of single mothers in Canada and Great Briton as there are in America, but the gun violence is far less there than what what it is here. The difference isn't that England and Canada have more two parent households, because they don't, it's that those two countries restrict the sale and possession of guns. And, by the way, they have no less freedom than we have as a result of those restrictions, just less murders.

Opinion based on facts:
Here's the simple answer, proven by similar countries who have similar problems.

RESTRICT THE SALE AND POSSESSION OF GUNS.

[former-republican]

33. They meaning the President and Romney turned the question into that.

Fact:
But this thread wasn't about how we help single mothers. This thread is about gun violence and how idiotic Mitt Romney was in blaming that violence on single mothers






It became a philosophical answer after a specific legal question was answered by both.
Obama said he would sign an AWB and Romney said he wouldn't.

They both agreed on the philosophical reasons of gun violence and violence in general in inner cities.

[louis c]

35. Don't you get the meaning of the post

It's what I wanted Obama to say, not what he said.

By the way, he did say in the debate that there was no need for assault weapons and Mitt continued with the NRA babble. You must remember that babble and obfuscation when you were living in the dark.

Again, you have poor reading comprehension skills.

But you're forgiven, since your are still a recovering Republican.

You'll get there. It takes time, but we're patient here.

[ecstatic]

25. I agree. It was a disgusting moment

President Obama did an EXCELLENT job, but I'm an extreme partisan so obviously I think there was room for more digs. I would have liked to see him attack when Romney disparaged single parents, and also when Romney talked his crap about 25 years of business experience. "How did that work out for MA? They were 47th in job creation under your rule!" However, LO had a guest on who said that it's very difficult for Pres. Obama to twist the knife like that, he is a really nice person and it takes considerable effort to throw those types of punches. I understand, I'm like that too. I never want to hurt people's feelings and/or embarrass them.

[L0oniX]

28. "poverty breeds crime" LMFAO ...yea tell that to Wall Street! Fuggin idiot!