Did Obama just make this up?

[TheSapient]

I would say that it's impossible to present evidence for my position other than, before the Iraq war there was none of this going on, then afterwards the turmoil in the region increased and then we got the Arab Spring....

It's not like i can point to a graph or anything, there's no way of measuring this....

Pardon my cutting in.

I don't find this argument to be persuasive. If the protesters in Tunisia were indeed inspired by democracy in Iraq, one would expect real, unambiguous evidence. Did the Tunisian organizers reference Iraq? Is their some sort of political philosophy trail where Tunisians discuss Iraq as an inspiration for their own ideas?

Sure, the fact that the war in Iraq makes it chronologically possible for it to be the trigger for the Arab Spring. But lots of things happened before the Arab Spring. Are all of them responsible for what happened in Tunisia? I got a dog in 2009. Now Egypt has a new government!

 

[Travis]

I think we can all agree that clearly Katy Perry was actually responsible for the Arab Spring.

 

[TheSapient]

But Caterpillar is responsible for Katy Perry.

 

[Tricky]

They aren't getting killed as currently are Syrians, as were Libyans, and as would be Iraqis if Hussein and his Baath Party cronies still controlled the armed forces.

Actually, they are. Maybe not at the same rate, but there are still frequent bombings and other terrorist-type attacks in Iraq. But yeah, it has quieted down a bit since the war started nine years ago. Maybe Syria and Libya will quiet down in nine years too. Meanwhile I hope they don't suffer the horrific toll that Iraq did.

 

[daenku32]

Two things, considering this is an old news item brought back up.

1) The Caterpillar-related business location in my state of Indiana is hiring people. I'm soon a EE but I'm not one of the old Cat employees. So I wouldn't count.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/en...n-purdue-research-park-create-jobs-2012-04-11

2) The news item is from early 2009, before he signed the stimulus bill. So it could be one of those "this is what he hope to accomplish with the bill" statements. Much the same as the talk about keeping unemployment below 8%. That the facts on the ground were still not clear, and were going to be much worse than thought; just ask anyone in '08 how bad the recession was going continue to become by summer '09 and you get a feeling how the great recession was vastly under-estimated (or over-estimated, depending the way to use "greatness" to describe a recession).

 

[Beerina]

So, what you are saying is that, despite the jeering that took place in this thread, Obama's prediction actually came true and within the term in which he made it?

Man, what a rookie mistake.

We jeer because the head of Caterpillar seemed to be downplaying the possible rehire. Presumably that statement by the head of Caterpillar was not a rookie making a mistake.

 

[Upchurch]

We jeer because the head of Caterpillar seemed to be downplaying the possible rehire.

You're not selling your case.

"seemed" means you were making an assumption based on a perception. An assumption, even if absolutely true, wouldn't have meant that Obama was wrong or had even made a mistake because the head of Caterpillar may have been downplaying the possible rehire for reasons unrelated to whether or not he thought Obama's plan might work (e.g. CYOA). The conclusion (mistake) does not logically follow from the assumption.

The intellectually honest response would be to give credit where credit is due. Obama came up with a plan, stuck his neck out, and made it happen to the benefit of all involved. Good on him.

 

[Puppycow]

We jeer because the head of Caterpillar seemed to be downplaying the possible rehire. Presumably that statement by the head of Caterpillar was not a rookie making a mistake.

I still think he told the president one thing in private because he was lobbying for the stimulus or for more of the stimulus money to be directed into the kinds of public works projects that benefit Caterpillar.

 

[Peephole]

They aren't getting killed as currently are Syrians, as were Libyans, and as would be Iraqis if Hussein and his Baath Party cronies still controlled the armed forces.

I guess those 35 or so dead Iraqis just tripped and fell on a bullet or something.