...opinion-making elites jointly embraced and are now delivering the same message about the public rage triggered this week by the AIG bonus scandal: This scandal is insignificant. It's just a distraction. And, most important of all, public anger is unhelpful and must be contained or, failing that, ignored.

Whatever the "opinion-making elites" believe, believe the opposite, and do the opposite of whatever they think you should be doing.

Nah, I personally prefer a boxing glove at the end of a scissor-hinge.

(h/t to Don Martin)

We could call it "Honking". You send "honks" or "honkers". And if they ignore it, a small mallet pops out of the side of whatever device they're using and gives them a rap upside the haid.

What do you think?

-- Pedinska

Well, I hate to inform you, whoever you are, but you are clearly an asshole.

The press is an embarrassment. They're not throwing softballs, they're thowing spitballs.

I agree with you on one point, however... The media SHOULD be adversarial, but they are not.

They are just being STOOPID.

Some of us understand the difference.

The most painful thing about watching these press conferences is watching a President of vast intellect wasting his time fielding questions from a bunch of imbeciles.

Now, back under your rock!

BETTER TROLLS, PLEASE!

I hate to inform you, but the media are under no obligation to play nice with Obama...not now, or ever...you and Obama's other fans may want the press to throw softballs and cowtow, like they did with Bush, but clearly that is not going to be the scenario any longer at any press conferences. The media's role SHOULD be adversarial with the President and elected officials...they are NOT Obama's friends, and should never treat him as such...

-- jerzee735

Arrogant

Anyone smarter than Brightstar 2

One should be as open-minded as possible, but not to the point where one's brains fall out.

http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/rhetoricprintall.php

Enjoy!

...that creationism, religion, etc, should not be taught in public schools.

Why not? A course on philosophy, comparative religions, or theology would be a perfectly sensible venue for such study.

I believe you really meant to say that religious topics (of which I.D. clearly is) should not be taught in a Science classroom.

Believe it or not, it is an important distinction, and one risks giving unintended ammunition to the other side when suggesting the former.

Really?

How about some examples- or did you just pull that out of your ass?

Science is not about setting "facts" in stone. That is the exact opposite of science, and yet it has been the modus operandi of the so-called "scientific community" for decades. No wonder the world is falling apart. Maybe this is the start of a recovery.

-- mtgradwell

...it seems that wherever there are large groups of people who don't believe in Evolution there is little evidence that it even occurrs.

Well, welcome to Faux America, The Entertainment State.

EVERYTHING you see around you in mass culture is fake. Take my favorite target, for example... the plague of "Casual Dining" restaurants, making the outskirts of every town and city resemble nothing so much as a Hollywood backlot?

Maybe I'm just weird, but I notice these things, and I am offended by them. The menu at Outback steakhouse reads like an offering of Happy Meals for adults. Do we really think that the Olive Garden has a little old Italian Grandma at the kitchen's helm?

Americans love their fakery, sanitized for their protection... the "Experience" if you will. All sizzle, no steak. Substance is for eggheads. Normal people can't be bothered with Substance.

We are the most marketed-to people in the world, and we can't get enough of it.

Beck is just another symptom of a uniquely American mass-psychosis. Why is anybody surprised by this?

It scares me that people look at this guy and can't tell he is fake. That "tears for America" routine alone should have gotten people to wake up. Maybe we really are headed for an Idiocracy.

-- fightthetheocracy!

It is easy to understand the Becks of the world and why they are propped up in front of the cameras and microphones as soon as you understand their place in the National Propoganda Apparatus:

By being intentionally outrageous and foolish, they make the other slightly more subdued, but no less dangerous, propagandists seem reasonable by comparison. A clever way to push the slant of public discourse ever right-ward.

It is a very old trick.

Yes, Beck is a buffoon, but a dangerous buffoon (he wouldn't be the first). We should not underestimate him nor his ignorant and armed fans.

-- DurianJoe

Thank you for that, inspector-

I have been saying for years that the propoganda methods employed by the right in this country seem to be taken from the BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) playbook.

I had plenty of first-hand, utterly brain-scrambling experience with this, so I know from whence I speak.

For the un-acquainted (you don't know how lucky you are) please read up on personality disorders (BPD, especially). If for no other reason than to help inure yourself from this kind of nonsense in the public arena, as well as to better understand and avoid "difficult people."

And as a pre-emptive rebuttal to anyone who accuses me of arm-chair psychology- an actual diagnosis of BPD is of little importance to its victim. What is important is to recognize specific behaviors (e.g. "gaslighting") and how they violate your personal space and autonomy. We "Nons" look to see if "it walks like a duck." That's all anyone needs to know.

@CronenBurgerMeister:

Just think, if Reagan hadn't cut off funding for community mental health centers this guy could be getting the treatment he so desperately needs.

Him and so many others. It's like they're gaslighting America.

-- Inspector Lee