Mr President, quit wasting your breath with these clowns, you are only giving them validation when they should be ignored for the lunatics they are.

Number one, we inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit ... that wasn't me

That crazy Obama, always attacking Bush by accurately pointing out that the problems we're facing started before he took office. If he was really post-partisan he'd passively accept blame for all the problems Bush created.

Anticipated headline at foxnews.com:

Democrat President attacks patriotic American tax protesters; accuses them of "playing games."

Steve Benen wrote: "David Weigel raises a good point: 'This struck me not as an attack on protesters ... but an attack on Fox News, its pundits, and its Republican guests.'"

Actually, I don't see how Obama's comment is an "attack" at all. He refers to the so-called "tea bag protests" and says that he is "happy to have a serious conversation" about the long term budget issues that they supposedly are concerned about. How is that an "attack"?

Of course that won't stop the corporate-sponsored, so-called "conservative" media machine -- a.k.a. "Fox News, its pundits and its Republican guests" -- that created the phony-baloney tea-bag "protests" from screeching to their Ditto-Head audience that Obama's comment is an "attack" against the "protesters".

And then the Ditto-Heads will be programmed with a new corporate-sponsored, scripted, focus-group-tested, teleprompted grievance to "protest" about.

Fyi, over at RedState, they are hailing this speech as a wingnut victory because Obama has (allegedly) been made "self-concious."

Mr President, quit wasting your breath with these clowns, you are only giving them validation when they should be ignored for the lunatics they are.

Some day, someone will finally attempt to explain how this validation system actually works as applied to us mocking idiots, and then I will laugh my ass off when they realize that it's completely bogus. Look, it's only validation if we take them seriously. But if we're laughing at them and dismiss them as idiots, it only helps. Ignoring them entirely, on the other hand, risks allowing them to speak unanswered and relinquishes a big part of the debate to them; making it seem as if we're afraid of them.

When it comes to idiocy, laughter is the best medicine.

It's amazing how quickly the right wing and Bush dead enders have swallowed hook line and sinker the criticisms of Obama perpetuated by beltway PR firms and think tanks and their propoganda arms on radio and tv. I'm not talking about tea baggers or Palin zombies but actually sentient human beings that consider themselves educated on the issues. They are mostly white, upper middle class males who spend most of their hours in a cubicle. Talking to these people recently and observing their comments they've completely fallen for the drudge echo chamber b.s. and they've convinced themselves they should be outraged by Obama and his policies. The peole I've talked to actually think McCain would have been a better president and was just a guy trying to do the right thing who got screwed over by the celebrity Democrat and the MSM.

I'm afraid only a behavioral scientist could parse the reasons why. It's beyond cognitive dissonance and more like the shame of having voted and supported Bush in lock step year after year to wake up and have to question your decisions. Instead of taking a look at your failed heroes they've brushed Bush aside in some Stalinist mental jujitsu and found it's much easier to ramp up the outrage over "porkulus" and "spending like a drunken sailor".

God help us if we suffer another terrorist attack. Benen and liberal bloggers miscalculated by mocking and ridiculing these people and not adressing their grievances head on with facts and figures.

Maybe you're right Biobrain, it does seem to reinforce the idea of "elitist liberals" mocking ordinary people. Despite the fact that they are not ordinary but rather privileged by birth, class, and ethnicity. They'll never see it though. Maybe mockery is the best antidote. I would think being reasonable is but progressives and liberals have gotten steamrolled in the past by trying to be reasonable and stick to the facts.

It's why Kerry lost I suppose.

Maybe Benen is right to continually mock them. It gets old and feels dirty though.

Some day, someone will finally attempt to explain how this validation system actually works as applied to us mocking idiots, and then I will laugh my ass off when they realize that it's completely bogus. Look, it's only validation if we take them seriously.
Posted by: Doctor Biobrain
------------
See the thing is, there is a whole world I would know little about, like the Fox News world, but since half the stories I read here involve them, it's really hard to ignore.

For example, the post before this one. Who the hell is Byron York, but today I should care because it's a post on a site I read regularly. How many people linked to his post, that to me is validation from someone who should have went unnoticed.

When the president does it, it's way worse. I think you are confusing validation of nobodies, with ignoring world leaders, not the same.

"adressing their grievances head on with facts and figures."

mother of god, grinning cat, have you not been paying attention?

their grievances are that the president of the united states is a democrat and the house and senate are controlled by the democratic party.

republics (sic) are not interested in "facts."

a prominent example is their refusal to accept the november 2008 (and 2006) election results.

nor do they accept "figures." if they did, their solutions to the economic crisis -- and every other issue -- would include something other than "moar tax cuts."

if you have a solution to the problem of their willful ignorance, i'm sure we would all love to hear it.

Since I'm killing time at work I went to redstate and found this comment in response to Obama's talk of teabags;

"Symptoms are:
Uncontrolled ego.
Narcissist world view.
Inability to admit to making mistakes.
Limited intellect, inability to comprehend alternate viewpoints."

It's clear they've taken everything about Bush and their support for him and Republicans for the last 8 to 15 years and are projecting it onto Obama. It's incredible to observe this. The scary thing is I know people personally who are doing this. It's very sad to observe. They went apeshit marching off a cliff after Bush and are now in midflight ready to splat or already have and they can't admit to having blindly put one foot in front of the other.

It's a crash course in human nature.

God help us if we suffer another terrorist attack. Benen and liberal bloggers miscalculated by mocking and ridiculing these people and not adressing their grievances head on with facts and figures.
Posted by: grinning cat on April 29, 2009 at 4:57 PM | PERMALINK*************************************

Actually, the Bush/Cheney terrorist recruiting tools of a) pre-emptively and illegally invading and occupying an Arab/Muslim country while killing tens of thousands by gunning down and dropping DU bombs on innocents, and b) brutally torturing Muslims and Arabs who were mere suspects jailed on dubious grounds; THESE are the prime motivating factors for future terrorists. No wait, they are willing to kill themselves by blowing themselves into smithereens because "they hate our freedom". Right. C'mon. Get Real. Bush/Cheney/Rove/Rumsfeld/Ashcroft = War criminals. Future blood is on THEIR hands for exponentially exacerbating mistrust and contempt towards the U.S. by peoples of the ME.

nor do they accept "figures." if they did, their solutions to the economic crisis -- and every other issue -- would include something other than "moar tax cuts."

By not accepting "figures", they were able to create an alternative budget devoid of numbers. That was actually quite an accomplishment.

"I am happy to have a serious conversation about [...] how we're going to stabilize Social Security..."

Is everyone so used to this that it just slides past unnoticed anymore?

I wish someone would ask Obama, "Mr. President, in recent remarks, you talked of a need to 'stabilize Social Security'. Sir, WTF are you talking about? In what way is it unstable? In what time frame? Are you talking about cutting benefits? Increasing or eliminating the payroll cap? Or is this just one of those things that people say to show that they're 'tough'?"

"I am happy to have a serious conversation about [...] how we're going to stabilize Social Security..."

I don't spend much time freaking out about Obama talking about Social Security. I'm pretty sure that he knows that's the easy part of the list.

Arnold is precisely the sort of white, lower middle-class, Republican-leaning suburban community susceptible to the siren song of the wealthy teabaggers. Obama is taking the fight directly to the white working class, and for that I applaud him today.

Maybe Benen is right to continually mock them. It gets old and feels dirty though.

To paraphrase Woody Allen, it only feels dirty if you're doing it right. Movement conservatism is dangerous, which is why the movement's ideas are so worthy of derision. Do it often, do it loud.

For example, the post before this one. Who the hell is Byron York, but today I should care because it's a post on a site I read regularly. How many people linked to his post, that to me is validation from someone who should have went unnoticed.

ScottW, you and I have very different meanings for the word "validation." I suppose we should thank school bullies for validating nerds with scorn and mockery. God forbid the dorks be ignored.

And just so you know, I've known of Byron York for many years and find it slightly odd that you've never heard of him. He was already famous before Carpetbagger wrote that post.

Actually, shouldn't Obama say he inherited a certain debt, not deficit? The deficit is the current shortfall between spending and receipts, which I'd think is owned by a current administration.

We all inherited debt. But, the current government did indeed inherit a deficit since the last budget we're currently using was a Bush budget.

It's not like it matters a lot though. It's not likely to get paid off any time soon.

What *is* important is to get back onto a sound path to economic sanity.

First off, a few FACTS for you posters out there who are so in love with Obama that your common sense has left you. Obama has constantly said taht Bush lowered taxes on the rich when in fact he raised taxes on the wealthy, they now pay most of the taxes in this country, which menas they have their money taken form them by the government before they can invest it, or build thigs like hospitals, schools, etc. Do you realize that the rich built this country. They built companies, banks, hospitals, factories, etc. that provide jobs. there are a few greedy ones who have screwed the peopel but most have done wonders in this country. they have a limited supply of money, and if the rest of us don't pay our fair share, then we are in trouble. TANSTAAFL -there ain't no such thing as a free lunch. When peopel think they are having thier taxes cuts but spending goes sky high, we will pay later with inflation, high unemployment, devalued dollar. The deficit is being increased in a few years by twice what Bush did in 8. How are we going to pay for that?

Mr. Obama, I agree when you say that we no longer can operate under the old financial system where loans were taken to pay off loans, etc. But please explain how your excess spending is any different. You are spending money that we have to borrow. We are borrowing to pay our interest. Explain how spensing hundreds of thousands of dollars to fly to Missouri and back is fiscially responsible in these hard times. Have you not heard of technology. the same thing could have been done by you staying in Washington and doing it with technology. You could have the same rigged questions asked there and your pre-programmed answers given back home and saved us a lot of money. until you stop your ongoing campaign and wasting billions trying to convince us that you care I will not believe you really do care. And your attack on the tea parties shows a lack of maturity that is scary in a president. By the way, FOX reported at the tea parties, not organized them, that is a proven FACT you bloggers chose to ignore.

Do you realize that the rich built this country.

Gee, Bruce. I didn't realize that. Wow, I guess we all owe them a real debt of gratitude. I mean, we're just a bunch of worthless punks who should be grateful that the benevolent rich folks gave us jobs, when they clearly didn't need our help at all. I mean, they built this country. The rest of us slack-jawed yokels just sat around scratching our nuts and waiting for hand-outs.

Yes, sir. The rich people did it all on their own and the least we should do is to allow them to keep bigger and bigger piles of money for their troubles. And allow their children to keep bigger piles and their children's children. And we should probably build temples in their honor to thank them for all they did for us. After all, we did nothing and our parents and grandparents did nothing. The rich people did it all. All hail the rich people! They built this country. And all we do is leech off of it. Now I feel like a real scumbag. Thanks for putting me in my place.