Insert a Trite Metaphor for a Corral #109

Posted on August 7, 2011 in Roundup

A despot doesn’t fear eloquent writers preaching freedom–he fears a drunken poet who may crack a joke that will take hold. — E. B. White

No AAA for Effort. The final news about what S&P will rate U.S. bonds is still waiting on its number crunchers to correct their accounting error that the Obama administration found late on Friday. (S&P seems to be off by a couple of trillion dollars.) In the meantime, we have another financial crisis brought on by the Republicans. As usual, a paucity of responses dominates the discussion on the anti-Obama side. Their primary talking point is the solo, monolithic “blame it all on Obama”.

The S&P report explaining the decision to lower the rating on U.S. bonds is clear: the problem is our lack of revenue coupled with the late proclivity of our Congress towards “brinksmanship”. Extrapolating from this enables us to level the finger at the party whose philosophy encompasses both of those: Republican ((Blue Dog Democrats have done their share on the revenue side, but the theatrics belong exclusively to the Tea Party-driven GOP)) .

Nonetheless, Obama-bashers of both sides obstinately get the story wrong. One of the most creative and wrong was that of a cowboy-hatted Tea Bagger who told me “read the damn document”. I did. And it said what I said it said, Mister.

Of course, this was never meant for me. It was meant for his fellow Tea Baggers and those who will never read the document for themselves. It suggests esoteric knowledge that absolves the Tea Party of all the wreckage they have caused in the last few months. Denial is the Tea Party way: ’tis better for these rabbits to call themselves coyotes so that maybe, just maybe, they will not be eaten by the wolves who back them.

• After the Debt Ceiling Debacle — Look at all the stories that went unnoticed while the Tea Party was trying to crash the nation.
• Did Obama Cave — Did the Pope convert to Satanism?
• Al Gore and Keith Olbermann Send A Wave of Terror Through Fox News — Is it time for an American Spring?
• Seven types of troll: a spotter’s guide — The stupidest for me are the Obama-bashing “progressives”, but they aren’t mentioned here.
• Five Scriptures You Won’t Hear at Rick Perry’s Event
• Life Hacking: How to sleep anywhere, anytime — The principles here seem sound.
• Is Land — This wonderful balloon is now adrift. Curse the clods who cut its anchor.
• Breeding Crops With Deeper Roots Could ‘Slash CO2 Levels’ — Those in my circle who dislike genetic engineering reject this approach, but I think it is worth thinking about.
• Northern Humans Had Bigger Brains, to Cope With the Low Light Levels, Study Finds — Big brains make you see better, not make you smarter than Africans.
• Blame Game: Sleepier College Students Are More Likely to Blame Others and Plan Revenge — I see this playing out all the time on Twitter. I am at my worst when I don’t sleep. Others?