Be Afraid, Be Very... Never Mind, You Already Are

Bitterly clinging to his pop psychology, First Sociologist Barack Obama regales a Democratic fundraising event with his latest insight into the minds of the Great Unwashed:

WEST NEWTON, Mass. - President Barack Obama said Americans' "fear and frustration" is to blame for an intense midterm election cycle that threatens to derail the Democratic agenda.

"Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time is because we're hardwired not to always think clearly when we're scared,” Obama said Saturday evening in remarks at a small Democratic fundraiser Saturday evening. “And the country's scared.”

Obama told the several dozen donors that he was offering them his “view from the Oval Office.” He faulted the economic downturn for Americans’ inability to “think clearly” and said the burden is on Democrats “to break through the fear and the frustration people are feeling.”

Uh huh. As an example, Obama explained that Only a person gripped by fear and unable to think clearly could have believed in "shovel-ready" projects.  Or he could have.

I have no doubt the electorate is more disciplined on his home planet Vulcan.  Still, I wonder whether telling us we are a nation of cowards for worrying about our jobs will be a winning message.  But let's not overlook the real progress here- now Obama's critics are scared rather than racist or stupid.  There's hope for us! And change!

Speaking of which, left unanswered (and probably unasked) - are people hard-wired to think clearly while euphoric about the possibility of hope and change?  I'd hate to think Obama ran an emotionally manipulative campaign what seems like two eons ago.

And is there some reason to think that people were not scared back in the fall of 2008 when Fannie and Freddie were being nationalized, Lehman and AIG were failing, and TARP was being whooped through Congress?

Whatev.  America's many - the scared, the timorous - will give Obama something to think clearly about on November 2.  I am sure the prospect does not scare the few, the fearless, the clear thinking Democrats.

LOW BLOW: Only a person gripped by fear and unable to think clearly could have believed in "shovel-ready" projects.  Or that Obamacare would bend the healthcare cost curve, or that we could keep our insurance if we liked it, or... oh, gotta go flee in terror, I heard a door squeak and a window bang...

WE HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR BUT... Forget it - we have a lot to fear while Obama is driving the Washington Clown Car.

I MEANT TO SAY JUST THAT:  "The trauma is Obama!".  Or maybe, the trauma is no-drama Obama. 

KEYWORDS:  Obama, smug, condescending.

Comments

[Pops]

The guy is in full panic mode. One wonders how ridiculous he's going to get by election day.

If the Republicans take control, they should start by giving Obama a taste of his own medicine. The first meeting should include a clear statement by the Republicans, WE WON. And WE WON on substance, we ran against your program and the voters picked us over you. You ran on hopey changey and never spelled out your government run everything agenda.

The Republicans should also do the same as the President did, once they have passed their legislation, then sit down with him to hear his 'concerns' the same as he did to them.

[Cecil Turner]

There's hope for us! And change!

Nice riff. His transparent contempt for political opponents (and self-unawareness thereof) is the main event here, and you showcased it beautifully.

Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time is because we're hardwired not to always think clearly when we're scared” [. . .]

Aside from the truly annoying split infinitive, this statement fairly begs for a retort. Does he really think the ongoing 10-percent unemployment rate is a figment of GOP imagination? Or that his response to the issue has been faultless, and the naysaying is just spin?

Allow me to proffer a counter-hypothesis:

Not being terribly concerned about the actual economic downturn, Dem deep thinkers like Rahm Emanuel decided to use the "crisis" to implement their dream list of socialist programs and funnel "stimulus" cash to their political cronies, trusting in the natural resilience of the robust US economy and cyclical nature of the downturn to mask the effects of their inherently anti-business policies.

Is that statement any more falsifiable than the psychobabble pablum coming from the White House? If not, which side does "science and argument" come down on?

[George Ditter]

Wow " facts and science and argument does (sic) not seem to be winning." Oh well, what's a little noun/verb agreement among friends even when we are talking about the most brilliant orator since Daniel Webster. Some of wonder what the facts are, like that the first fruits of Obamacare are in line with what its critics predicted? Or the science in the fact that empicial tests of single payer healthcare have been run in lots of other countries without achieveing even good results let alone utopian ones? Of course the President's idea of an argument is set forth in that immortal line "Shut up!" she explained.

[Captain Hate]

Oh well, what's a little noun/verb agreement among friends even when we are talking about the most brilliant orator since Daniel Webster.

You beat me to the punch; I had to read it twice to make sure it wasn't as stunningly ignorant as it initially appeared. Or was he in his "street dialect" mode where the "g"s get clipped off the ends of words and being grammatically illiterate is just keepin' it real.

[Deitel]

Good read indeed!

[Jane]

we're hardwired not to always think clearly when we're scared

Where does he get this stuff? If we are scared it is because an idiot is ruining the country. We are thinking pretty clearly about that.

[Pops]

Interviewer: Mr. President, why do you think the public has rejected your legislative agenda.

Obama: Well, I made a huge mistake on this I must admit. I never realized how stupid and backward the public is...I honestly thought they were intelligent people willing to listen. That was my biggest mistake, I forgot the old Democrat rule, the people are stupid and can't run their own lives , how could I have expected them to understand complex issues like taxing and spending?

It really just goes to show why they need intelligent, elites to run things, because left to their own smarts, they would screw everything up.

I am convinced more then ever the government needs even more control over the stupid public, their rejection of me is proof of that very fact.

[bgates]

See, this is just what I was saying last night. It's not that conservatives are truly opposed to improving America. The problem is that they lack a certain quality of mind which can be achieved only through many years of education. The President uses the words "fact" and "science". He's probably used each of those words hundreds of times in speeches. No sufficiently well-educated person could disagree with someone who uses such terms so consistently. If we embrace the program of Universal Human Development to Understand Humanity, within a couple of generations it will be literally impossible for anyone to see how anybody could ever have disagreed with what the President is saying here.

[Dr. Obama's diagnosis is way off. Fear the prescription.]

'facts, and science, and argument does not seem to be winning'. I've asked Chris Mooney when he is going to write 'The Democrats' War on Science'.
===================

[Extraneus]

I like that little "science" jab at the anti-warmists.

Obama is a thin-skinned fraud, being unmasked a little more each and every day.

If the country is in fear of anything, it's Democrats - especially, him. But at least we know he's not going to internalize the November elections, and will go with the "Americans had a hissy fit" fantasy instead. That bodes well for kicking his ass out of the White House in 2012.

[Cecil Turner]

No sufficiently well-educated person could disagree with someone who uses such terms so consistently.

I think you might've hit it a little hard right there, but . . .

[George Ditter]

As a matter of fact, I may have gotten the quote wrong “'Are you lost, daddy?' I asked tenderly. 'Shut up,' he explained.”
- Ring Lardner (1885-1933) from The Young Immigrunts On the other hand, most of us will probably bitterly cling to the use of "'Shut up.' She explained."

[Janet...off the couch & sportin Tea Party chic]

now Obama's critics are scared rather than racist or stupid.

I love that line TM.
I wrote down this question by a poster named bookpublishers back in April on a thread about the Tea Party - "What's it today BTW? Are we ignorant, violent, redneck militiamen, or rich, white men?"
All they have is name calling. The libs really are like children.

[pagar]

“facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day ”

The Democrats are on the wrong side of every argument. Facts mean absolutely nothing to them. Every bit of science they back has been proven to be the greatest scam ever. Yet they still have supporters. Why? How could any American support them?

I read at Pajamas Media this morning that there are still 123 seats that are safe for the Democrats this year. LUN-- That figure should terrify every thinking American. What on earth are the voters in those districts thinking?

[JB]

"But at least we know he's not going to internalize the November elections, and will go with the "Americans had a hissy fit" fantasy instead."

You know who's going to internalize them?

McCaskill, Nelson, Nelson, Conrad et al.

Methinks Barry is not going to have a fun two years.

[Gmax]

You know Obama is right. Absolutely.

The level of fear and therefore unclear thinking was at it highest right after Lehman fell and money went into Banks to prevent failures. Right about November 2008 actually. And we can see the product of this unclear thinking now. Now that we can think clearly, lets fix it NOW.

[Rick Ballard]

I guess Michelle's vodoun approved rhubarb dances aren't driving away the evil spirits as promised. The President needs to issue an edict that all WH employees wear lab coats every day in order to provide the cloak of scientism necessary to calm a population behaving like a bunch of kulaks prior to the institution of the Ukrainian famine.

[Gmax]

OH Yeah 7 - 2 TM. 4 innings is starting to look like the standard for Yank starters. Cliff Lee up next. Just ponder for a moment when Vlad slips into gear, and you can not walk Hamilton 4 times in one game without huge consequences!

Its Time.

[Joan of Argghh!]

And the ecstatic faintings at Obama events are to be considered a trustworthy indicator of clear thinking?

[narciso]

Behind the gloss, Obama is that term of MichAel Dukakis, we were spared back in '88, right down to the arugula fetish. The subprime
crisis was the attempt to 'enbiggen' the S& L
embroglio, the ACLU liberalism, the yen for industrial planning, typified by the 'competence' tag, and the Massachussett's miracle. back then, the issue was Central America, one of his signature moves was to declare Guatemala a terrorist state, and support the Palestinians

[A Conservative Teacher]

He's as much an expert in psychology as he is in constitutional law. Whoever gave this guy a degree should be ashemed of themselves. Next thing we know he's going to be giving us history lessons or something!

[BobDenver]

There are, I believe, 22 Democratic Senators who must defend their seats in 2012, and A LOT of them will be internalizing these election results. They will be ripe for moving to the right. With bold Congressional Republican leadership oh who am I kidding.

[Captain Hate]

O/T: Clare McAsskill is really being tooled by Chris Wallace on FNS for lying out her fat caboose. Meanwhile Squish Cornyn is trying to jump on this momentum train knowing full well a primary challenge is in his future.

[Clarice]

He is a thin-skinned, ill-educated fraud. Halloween's right around the corner and then --BOO- the midterms. We'll see about fear then.

I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky that he's not forcing us to hear him explain how legal interpretation should be like quantum physics.

In any event, event this thread heading and the wonderful posts by Cecil and bgates and the rest, this seems like slim pickings, indeed:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/10/clarices_pieces_bang_the_drum.html>Bang the Drum Loudly

[Gmax]

Cornyn is no squish, and I dont see any serious primary challenge to him that is not a Debbie Medina Ron Paul inspired truther exercise. Of course sitting inside the Lone Star state I might not have the obvious advantages that you do from your armchair. I will stick to the Texas Rangers kicking Aroid and his team around the diamond!

[Anna]

Rick Ballard @8.57AM:

Lab coats are not going to calm kulaks down.
If marxism were a science they (marxists) would first experiment on mice.

[Captain Hate]

Question for Ballard, Mel, OL and the other posters who have more insight into how de gubiment calculates economic numbers: When Toonces drones endlessly about how much tax cuts on gazillionaires cost the feds, does he look at percentages of increased revenues as if they'd exist under higher tax rates as if they're revenue neutral. I'm not going to question if he's that stupid, but do he and the MFM think we are?

[Danube of Thought]

Minus 15 at Raz today.

[centralcal]

Another good Pieces, Clarice. I think quite a few folks have been banging some drums already (ala the Tea Party).

[Captain Hate]

Cornyn is no squish

Really? How do you explain his multiple "No we're not gonna repeal Obamacare" and subsequent backtracks and the treatment of Murcowflop? If you like him then fine, he's your Senator and WTF do I know about what his constituents think. But if you're asking for me to be happy about him as the face of a party on the chat shows, that ain't happening.

[Old Lurker]

Cap'n, the short answer as you know is those numbers are always "static" in that they assume we will never alter our econnomic activity in response to changes in tax rates. Obviously stupid.

The thing that galls me the most every time I hear that terminolgy is how easily it passes that "not taxing" is a "cost" to government. Amazing how little pushback there is to the "all income belongs to the state except for the portion earners are allowed by the state to keep".

[Danube of Thought]

"And the country's scared.”

Fear is the next phase after "malaise."

[Janet...off the couch & sportin Tea Party chic]

One way the Dems could calm my "fear & frustration" would be to show me with their own money & lives, that they believe their own crap.
If "...at a certain point you've made enough money.", and 250,000 appears to be the magic amount, and inheritance money should go to the government.....then I want to see every Democrat donate his/her every penny over 250,000 to the government. Not to their favorite charity, but to the government. No inheritance, no trusts, no property, no nothing over 250,000.
Their lifestyles should also reflect their beliefs...no SUVs or airplane rides, no oil based products of any kind in their lives. They shouldn't smoke or use any tobacco product...or go anyplace that allows any smoking. They should only eat "healthy" foods as defined by...um...someone, anyone but themselves. No salt, no sodas...they should NEVER use plastic bags.
Anyway, they have the ability to calm me down if they would show me they really believe what they are saying.

[Rick Ballard]

CH,

BOzo is quoting from model results fabricated (from whole cloth) by the same folks whose results appeared in the [in]famous Romer-Bernstein Porkulus chart showing unemployment never exceeding 8%.

It's all part of the very scientistic ACME Static Economic Planning Program that proceeds from the basic assumption that a person with the wit to accumulate a fortune will not move an inch when standing on the sidewalk next to a 10 story building and noticing a piano being shoved off the parapet directly above.

[Clarice]

And I suppose you find fault with the ACME, program, Rick, you fear-filled , unscientific clinger.

[MarkO]

HJNTS (He's just not that smart)

And, he's a liar.

[Army of Davids]

A Democrat (Patty Murray) talking point for ObamaCare. "You can't be denied coverage"

Be skeptical of this claim.

Remember Joe Leiberman "the Senator from Aetna" had the bill by the balls in the Senate.

[boris]

"ACME Static Economic Planning Program that proceeds from the basic assumption ..."

The static model is less wrong than any other model based on their worldview would be and they probably know that.

Any model that worked better would violate basic assumptions of their worldview and validate arguments used by conservatives.

On the "up" side, policies based on the static model do motivate people to manage their assets in ways less beneficial to the economy, which makes the rich easier to demonize. So the result is a needier more dependent public vs the evil rich. Win win.

[Clarice]

Besides, it's easier to slice up pies that aren't growing

[Captain Hate]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm not sure what bothers me most: That the economic sooper geniuses in the MFM like Paulie Peanuts don't hammer him into submission when he does that (like, with most of the talking points that are simplistic enough for the Indonesian Imbecile to grasp, accuracy or validity notwithstanding, is continual) or that the Vichy Repubs don't do the same. Although since maybe I'm not playing fair with the latter, maybe they're saying that and the message isn't being reported by the MFM.

[Old Lurker]

The Vichy Repubs don't do it because a)many are just as stupid as the dems, and b)it serves their vision of the state just as much as the progs. It is quite compassionate, you see.

Viva la Tea Party.

[MarkO]

Well crafted piece, Clarice.

[Jay]

Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning

Huh?

There isn't a single policy this air head has supported or enacted that is based in fact or science.

Not one.

[Clarice]

Thanks,CC and MarkO.

[Pagar]

"He is a thin-skinned, ill-educated fraud."

IMO, and as is pointed out at the New Zeal site, Omama is educated. It's just that most of his education came from pure 100% committed Communists. In fact, because we have never seen his education records, it is posssible that he got almost no education that wasn't from 100% committed Communists.

"Kurt Stand languishes in prison, a convicted traitor to his country. However he still remains committed to “changing America”.

Which is exactly the same thing Obama is committed to.

"In June 2008 Kurt Stand wrote an essay in prison entitled “Supporting Barack Obama: A Prison-Eye View of the Presidential Campaign“:

"It will be up to those who want genuine social justice to build movements that give him the possibility of pushing further; finding out then whether he will or won’t remembering that the key will not be him but us (us defined as those who worked for his election, for social justice activists, the left) and what we do, how we organize."

Read the above paragraph again, after you realize that it was written by a man who is in jail for espionage against the United States of America.

Obama and those who believe in him are indeed scary.

"On 23 Oct 1998, he and wife Squillacote were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage, attempted espionage, and illegally obtaining national defense documents. On 22 Jan 1999, a US District Judge sentenced Squillacote to 21 years and 10 months in prison and Stand to a sentence of 17 years and six months."

[Rick Ballard]

CH,

Both parties have an "institutional interest" in maintaining the fiction that static analysis has validity. Both parties insist that the CBO engage in rituals which cloak their "reports" with economic scientism in furtherance of political sophism.

If that were not true, then Congress would insist that past CBO "projections" used to justify Leviathan's appetite be continuously reviewed so that actual error bands for their BS could be established. Illusion maintenance is truly bipartisan.

Ask the CO2 Monster when he comes to collect your Air Tax.

[AdamInCalifornia]

On "facts and science"...

Economics is a science.

Systems pension crisis, Fannie & Freddie, "Stimulus" fails, public schools failing under the weight of union intransigence.

Need one say more?

[Captain Hate]

Good points Rick; the rot is deep and not easily rooted out.

[squaredance]

Obama has always mangled language like this; this stuff should come as no shocker.

It is perhaps asking too much for pristine grammar at political rallies in what are obviously intended as off the cuff public remarks, particularity Democrat "tent shows" such as this one. What should shock, but not surprise, is the content of the political speech. This is not the mere mumbling of a narcissistic politician to his captive dupes: this is a rote regurgitation of some of the most dimwitted bromides, memes, evasions, rationalizations, agi-prop and shibboleths of the most juvenile and fishy-eyed segments of the Hard Left. It is in equal measure inanity, cynicism and intellectual cowardice. He most clearly believes every bit of this nonsense, and one senses that if anything he is actually holding back fearing, as it were, the reaction should somehow the broader electorate actually catch on the real meaning of the drivel he spouts.

Though not outright molesting the English language, both GWB and his father were known to bruise it a mite in off the cuff remarks. It is dishonest for us to hold otherwise. Again, the difference is the content. GWB and his father made perfect sense and had considered their thought appropriately to their role and the circumstance. They did not shout mindless blather, disrespect our intelligence, appeal to our baser selves or attempt to dispirit us. They spoke as Presidents to the American people.

What should alarm are not Obama's sophomoric psychobabble and Sunday-supplement Bromides; What should Alarm are:

1. The use of language as a sort of irrational and magical political incantation divorced not only from "fact and science and argument" but divorced from any decent and honorable conception of the polity of this nation. It bespeaks of an hideous and pernicious contempt for the Republic and its Peoples.

2. The fact that a good portion of the citizenry enthusiastically believes all this dreck too and are actually manipulated by these "incantations".

and

3. A great many of them are in power in our core institutions, inducing our political ones, and there pursue their designs on the nation with all alacrity, guile and haste.

So it was with Hitler, his faction and his times; So it was with Mao, his faction and his times. So it is with us.

It is chilling. "Fearful"? Youbetcha.

(BTW, if you want to hear extemporaneous political speech where clear and deep thinking is spoken in wondrously precise English I would suggest you listen to Dick Cheney speak.)

[Old Lurker]

Got that right.

Would ne nice to use a real dynamic model.

And nicer to see a Govt budget that actually foots to "Change in Debt to Outsiders"

[Diggs]

We are hardwired to not think clearly when we are in love. It's the basis for Obama's election victory in 2008.
Unlike what he thinks, we are hardwired to think most clearly when we are scared. It's the main tenet of evolution, and it's called "survival of the fittest". It has never been called "survival of the most unclear thinking".
What a moron we have for a Commander in Chief. And what a bunch of morons we have listening to our Moron in Chief.

[steve in SoCal]

This is nothing but a big smoke-screen. It's an effort to change the subject each week, while hoping that a 1/2 point here, a point there cumulatively over the course of 4 weeks pulls a few dems who are behind into at least contention and hopefully a win. It allows Obama to be the "combatitive campaigner" and then after the election to be the benevolent post racial president again.

Second, this lays the predicate that it wasn't Obama's policies but rather a convergence of several perfect storm scenarios that caused the on-coming tsunami. The economy slow growth, "foriegn money," bankers/lenders/companies sitting on wads of cash, the tea party, etc., was the cause of the dem debacle. "What could we do?" will be the reply from the admin. These are the roughest times since., . . well, since we came into office and we just can't turn things around in 2 years.

Third, helps Obama. The admin will say "see, we went out there and railed agianst Chamber of Commerce, the bitter - clingers, the foriegn money, banks, etc., and what did it get us?" We got thumped. Now, if our collegues had gone out there and ran on Obamacare, bailouts, cap-n-tax, stimulus, we would have something to talk about instead of constant defending of attacks from our opponents. Basically, we got creamed doing it one way (and not being able to prove the negative) we should have done it the other way. You don't think there's hell to be paid by Pelosi for those who distanced themselves from her?

Finally, Obama is what I have called our "essay president." He doesn't have a firm answer for many questions because he's unprepared. Kinda like the questions in school when you didn't know the answer, you rambled on in your writing of the answer hoping that it would either come to you as you wrote or at least you'd get just enough of the answer here and there that the prof would say, "he just didn't know how to express it concisely, but he got parts of it and I'm going to give him partial credit."

Listen to his answers sometime, that's all he's really doing. A bit from here or a bit from there to get yourself to say "well, I hadn't thought about that angle, and he touched upon something I had heard before and part of what he said I agree with and another part I don't so he's basically got 3 of 4 for 75% and. . . tada . . a C" Barack Obama - The Essay President. Trying to make himself sound smarter than he is, day by day.

[Extraneus]

Yes, I particularly liked this week's "Pieces," Clarice. Good humored, well reasoned, and right between the eyes, just like a mean girl should aim.

[MarkO]

In now blaming fear for the failure of his ideas to take hold in America, Obama continues to slide down his silly rationalization scale like the clueless sophomore he is. First, he knew better. Then, he just didn’t explain it correctly (because if he had, everyone would have loved his policies). Next, because he didn’t like the idea that he could have failed, he realized the public was just too stupid to understand the joy of his ideas. In this phase, Biden augmented the charge by wild claims of rampant stupidity in the country. Now, still working on what feels best to him ( I explained it perfectly, the public is stupid) he is tying the stupidity to fear. If the country were not afraid, it would understand the magnificence of Obama and his policies and rebuff the infidel Republicans. Of course, there are always unclean spirits and tribal loyalties that complicate everything. Only God knows what that riff was about. Nor, can we discount how Biden had to reassure us that Obama’s brain was big. Really big. No, awfully big. Totally big. Because, you see, he is just smarter than all of us.

You can see what hard work it is to avoid the truth. The country is simply rejecting his policies.

[squaredance]

Er...ah...human beings are not "hard wired" for fear. They are intellectual beings created in the image of God. Some species of animals are, notably such as sheep and cattle.

[Rick Ballard]

OL,

I'd settle for identification of the bills which constitute "Bush Tax Cuts" and presentation of the CBO "analysis" of expected revenue losses matched against actual revenues received as a start. With those numbers we might be able to begin to assess the absurdity of BOzo's hallucinations.

We're not going to get to dynamic analysis until the absurdity of static analysis is fully revealed.

I ain't holding my breath.

[caro]

Clarice,I just can't wait to bang that drum. Good one!

[squaredance]

inducing = including

[I can't take much more between the eyes.]

Whoa, rookies showing off Mr. October skills. I particularly like Diggs' Dig.
==================

[squaredance]

Well, it sounds like you have taken a real pounding up there.

[Ears Wide Shut]

Every time he opens his mouth, it's the damn Jimmy Carter malaise speech. I wish he'd leave the sociology to the sociologists, partly because he's no good at it and partly because it's just annoying. Maybe it's not fear that is interfering with my thinking... maybe it's that nagging drone coming from the White House. It's driving me mad in more ways than one.

[Jane]

We are hardwired to not think clearly when we are in love. It's the basis for Obama's election victory in 2008.
Unlike what he thinks, we are hardwired to think most clearly when we are scared

That certainly bears repeating.

[Tom Maguire]

OH Yeah 7 - 2 TM. 4 innings is starting to look like the standard for Yank starters. Cliff Lee up next. Just ponder for a moment when Vlad slips into gear, and you can not walk Hamilton 4 times in one game without huge consequences!

Vlad won't be able to get on base because Andrus will have stolen all of them. Would Elvis please leave the building (and leave something behind?)

Oh, well - whenever I see a talented young player I console myself with the thought that he is simply a Yankee-in-waiting.

I should add that I had never seen a guy score from second on a clean groundout to first until Andrus did it to Tampa Bay. When Vlad did almost the same thing a few innings later (he scored from second on a near-miss double play) I switched from nervous to Really Nervous about this matchup.

[Jane]

Very nice Clarice. It is a joy to read you every Sunday morning.

(and every other day too)

[The Grey Man]

Funny. Millions of American combat veterans over our history have managed to make correct decisions while in great fear of losing thier lives in the next 60 seconds, but we can't be trusted to vote correctly because the economy is a bit off? Methinks this President DOES inhale.

[The Grey Man]

Sorry. "their". Bad finger on iPhone.

[Sue]

Tom,

Josh Hamilton, before he hurt his ribs, scored from 2nd on an infield hit. We have antlers for a reason. ::grin::

Oh, well - whenever I see a talented young player I console myself with the thought that he is simply a Yankee-in-waiting.

Ouch.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

Contrast:

--we're hardwired not to always think clearly when we're scared--

with:

--The only thing we have to fear is fear itself--

and it's clear not all liberal demagogues are created equal.
Let's hope this latter day one with his tone deaf incompetence is as large a failure at imposing statism as FDR was a success.

[Sue]

Hamilton raised his major league-best batting average to .358 and demonstrated his speed in the first when he scored from second on an infield single.

Back in August against Oakland.

[Clarice]

Thanks, Caro and Jane. Guess I'll leave a note at the health teacher's desk that I was in error when I said you were preggers.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

Be careful Sue.
TM is just trying to do his small part with the "we haven't got a chance" strategy.
Never trust a Yankee.

[Sue]

Ig,

You're telling me that?

In August, The Yankees came back and did the same thing they did in the 1st game. I don't trust the Yankees. And did I mention I hate them?

[Gmax]

he is simply a Yankee-in-waiting.

Might be a a small problem with that one too. No longer are we hostage to the fact that Tom Hicks mortgaged the Rangers to go buy the Hooligans of England, Liverpool FC!

You might want to google Energy Transfer Parters and see who is really running the Rangers these days. Mr. Davis has BIllIONS, and the Rangers TV contract has been upsized and renewed, so the 5th biggest market ( and a growing one Harrumph) will not be a poor sister in the talent war in the near future.

So four innings of Petitte and then you got AJ Burnett. Sleep well, or hope Vlad does not wake.

[Winston O'Boogie]

Toonces!!!

The best one word description I have heard for this fraud occupant of the White House.

It made my day.

[glasater]

...his tone deaf incompetence is as large a failure at imposing statism as FDR was a success.

FDR or the elitist left couldn't get the unions of the day to hate America as Obama has whipped up SEIU to hate our country. In that he may be a success.

[JKB]

"...because we're hardwired not to always think clearly when we're scared,”

Yes, being hardwired to panic out of fear would obviously be the winning evolutionary strategy.

Let me offer a different hypothesis: Fear increases awareness and focus. It also causes the dismissal of bogus ideas, concentrating instead on those with the highest chance of success. We're hardwired to focus clearly when we're scared because those who did otherwise got eaten.

[Ann]

I have added a culinary dish to our traditional Sunday brunch and it's Clarice's Pieces. My husband loves it, Clarice.

What fun! Thanks.

[Thingumbobesquire]

I do believe that there is now overwhelming evidence that Obama should be promptly impeached as Commander in Chief on a Section Eight.

[BJM]

@Gmax

Look westward.

Last week Brown raised more money from the same Hollywood donor base than Obama.

[Pagar]

"we're hardwired not to always think clearly when we're scared--"

Here is a lady who apparently was able to think clearly in a situation that must have been very scary.

"Irene Sendler, a candidate for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, is credited with saving 2500 Polish Jews from the Holocaust.

She was not awarded one, because it went to Al Gore, whose claim to fame was the slide show that showed how he was going to rip off trillions from the American public with his global warming scam.

Since 2007 the standards have gone even farther down hill to the point where Obama was awarded one because someone thought that he might do something good in the future. Even through his past gave no indication that he would ever do any good for anyone, except himself.

A woman risks her live every time she smuggled out one child at a time (for 2500 times)from under neath the noses of the Nazis cannot be awarded a Nobel prize, while Obama can.

The world has gone insane.

[Captain Hate]

Gmax, I hope your guys can keep Cliff.

[Threadkiller]

--"...because we're hardwired not to always think clearly when we're scared,”--

The prez must be scared everytime he is off prompter.

[Clarice]

It is an appalling glimpse at the mindlessness of the Norwegians who run that thing now,pagar.

[Clarice]

Thanks, Ann, but you may want to hold today's MO pics until well after you've eaten.

[Danube of Thought]

You guys are too young to remember Enos "Country" Slaughter.

[Captain Hate]

Not me DoT.

[Danube of Thought]

OK, I won't keep you guessing: he scored the winning run from first base on a single in game seven of the 1946 World Series.

[SteveP]

It's schadenfreudelicious to see Teh Won in a panic. I'm counting the days until he's found on the floor of the Oval Office, curled up in fetal position sucking his thumb; or alternatively, and just as enjoyable, a complete nervous meltdown complete with a crying jag during a press conference live on TV.

[sbw]

Politics is a game for these people, until they lose. Then they get angry and blame others. Then they give themselves permission for more unprincipled play. A vicious cycle.

There is no meltdown. Just ample reason for therapy.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Squish Cornyn

Dude, I don't know what you're on, but you need to cut down.

[MarkO]

Enos "Country" Slaughter

Later played for the Yankees.

Coach of the Duke baseball team.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Er...ah...human beings are not "hard wired" for fear.

Explain that to babies shown an apparent high drop.

[JM Hanes]

Old Lurker:

Amazing how little pushback there is to the "all income belongs to the state except for the portion earners are allowed by the state to keep".

We've left that conventional liberal wisdom in the dust! It's now allowing the rich to feed at the government trough, thus starving the needy of their fair share. It's the underserving high end earners, in particular, who are forcing us ever deeper into debt by demanding $700B pay offs in money which the state must borrow (from foreigners!). I thought fanning through a pile of Chinese currency in the stealing-democracy ad was a nice touch, didn't you?

Welcome to Obamanomics 101! The financial parody is especially rich when actual subsidies are reinvented as "investments." Recipients and their lobbyists are stakeholders. Federal regulation is partnering. Equity, ownership, leverage take on New! Improved! Orwellian meaning.

[Mark Turner]

That's it Obama! Blame the American People! That worked well for Carter didn't it?

[Rick Ballard]

"The country is simply rejecting his policies."

That's true - how should the Republicans play the rejection politically? Cantor and Cornryn are signaling a "let's not put repeal to the vote" approach at the moment, using the probable veto as a rationale. I understand the argument but I'd like to see the repeal and the veto play out rather than hope that the Supremes will press the pillow down and resolve the issue.

HCR is a nice, stout club with which to belabor BOzo and I believe the Reps will lose muscle tone if they don't exercise regularly by swinging vigorously. The Reps can alternate with other unpopular BOzo policy initiatives but they'll build good strength, stamina and flexibility by swinging the HCR club on a regular basis.

[PD]

It's a bit irritating to be lectured on how the electorate is scared by a man whose rhetoric is based entirely on scaring the electorate about the evil things the Republicans will do if they gain power.

[Carol Herman]

Obama always spouts the image he sees in his mirror. When he says "he sees fear," you bet. He's also shaking in his boots. But his telepromters have been steadied.

Kudos to all the good points.

The narcissist is a liar. Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid's political careers are being flushed down the drain. So, when the toilet flushes, the bamster fears. (Doesn't surprise me that he got spooked.) Doesn't surprise me, either, that he projects his mirror image onto his words, too.

Malaise wasn't the best word for Jimmy Carter to pick. And, now, just like a Monty Pyton sketch,carter and his "elders" have arrived in gaza, to smooch.

[Jane]

It's schadenfreudelicious

Love that phrase!

[Janet...off the couch & sportin Tea Party chic]

Sean Bielat TODAY!
Bielat-Barney Debate #5 @ 5:00 pm at Lasell College, 1844 Commonwealth
Avenue Newton MA--This event is open to the public. Please stop by
early for our "stand-out"!

This is from Bielat's FB feed. I hope somebody tapes it. I've really enjoyed following the debates.

[richard mcenroe]

Obama will take exactly two lessons from the midterms:

1. The American People Failed Him.
2. COngress failed him.

"The American People Have Failed Me and They Do Not Deserve to Live." -- Hey, guys, what word did I change in there?