Radio host Herman Cain was a popular presenter at the Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Defending the American Dream Summit on October 3, 2009. Cain began his speech by quoting the entire second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence—without a teleprompter, much to the audience’s delight.
Cain focused his presentation on the idea of conversion: in a world with so many liberals, Cain argued, conservatives need to step up and “save the savable,” those liberals who have not yet lost the ability to see the light. “Don’t go after ‘em all,” Cain directed. Cain asserted that by following his simple “SIN” rule, anyone can discriminate between “savable” and “unsavable” liberals.
The “S” in “SIN” stands for “shifts the subject:” if you are discussing an issue with a liberal, and the liberal continually brings the argument back to George Bush, or otherwise changes the subject, “you know you’re off to a bad start,” Cain said.
“I” stands for “ignores the facts.” Cain used the common example of President Obama’s claims regarding the number of uninsured Americans. “‘There are nearly 50 million people in this country without health insurance,’” Cain credited President Obama with saying. “Now, the [U.S.] Census Bureau said there are 46 million people without health insurance, but [the liberals] have to round up,” Cain went on. “The last time the president gave a speech, he said around 30 million, and left out the illegals. If they keep going, they’ll eventually get to the real number [of uninsured Americans], which is 10 million,” Cain said.
“Liberals ignore the fact,” Cain said, “but you shouldn’t give up on them just from that…there’s one last thing that they will do, and if they do this one, you know you’re dealing with the unsavable. ‘N:’ they name-call. I have been involved with AFP from the beginning, I have been involved with TEA Parties all over the country, and I have found out that I am an Astroturf, un-American, warmongering crazy—and a racist,” Cain, an African-American, said. He guaranteed that you can use his “SIN” formula to distinguish the unsavable liberals every time.
Cain concluded his speech by describing something he had learned as a mathematician and a physicist in college. According to the laws of physics, Cain said, a bumblebee should not be able to fly. Of course, bumblebees do fly—but the laws of physics say bumblebees cannot.
“There’s only one reason that the bumblebee flies,” Cain said. “The bumblebee believes it can fly. Never, never, never give up on us taking back this country,” he said. “Never, never, never stop believing that we can take back our government.” Cain is the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza.
Allie Winegar Duzett is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.
