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The Spectacle Blog
Yet another liberal whiner has taken time out from his busy schedule destroying the Constitution and wrecking America to condescend about the recent tea party protests.
This time it’s Democratic strategist Robert Shrum who for reasons only he knows, finds it necessary to beat up the Americans who protested President Obama’s massive expansion of federal spending. Shrum, of course, is the cursed adviser who has helped Democrats lose the White House eight times, including John Kerry’s run in 2004.
Conservatives are the real kooks Shrum argues in The Week, echoing the theme of the dubious DHS report last week that found that all conservatives, libertarians, and returning veterans are potential terrorists:
In 1964, historian Richard Hofstadter described “the paranoid style” as a periodic recurrence in American national life, characterized by “the use of paranoid modes of expressions by more or less normal people … heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy.”
Teagate, the overhyped, underattended events of last week, closely tracks this taxonomy.
What were the protests supposedly about? Taxes and government spending. But in fact, the president’s economic program has already cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans-and state and local tax increases would be far steeper without the protestors’ other target, the Obama stimulus package, which provides recession-fighting funds to state and local governments.
Incoherent as a program, Teagate was relatively insubstantial as a protest. The usual suspects-from Fox News to Karl Rove-dutifully, at times desperately, hyped it as an outpouring of public dissatisfaction. A writer for the right-wing Manhattan Institute managed to see “the tidal wave of the future” in the tea leaves. But truth confounds belief. Nate Silver, the master of political statistics who predicted the 2008 election results almost precisely, compiled a crowd count from “reasonably nonpartisan and credible sources.” He calculated a total of just over 300,000 protestors at hundreds of sites. […]
Shrum, who has managed to pull out a few wins in non-presidential races, also poisons the minds of young people as a senior fellow at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.
What motivates this anger among liberals, who ought to be ecstatic that they control Congress and the White House?
Byron York of the Washington Examiner wonders why so many on the left are “so apparently troubled by a virtually powerless opposition[.]”
His source, a psychiatrist, put the anger down to narcissism:
I asked William Anderson, a friend who is a political conservative, a medical doctor, and a lecturer in psychiatry at Harvard. “They are angry, but I think they are also scared, and I think it’s because they have a sense that their triumph is a precarious one,” Anderson told me. Democrats won in 2008 in some part because of the cycles of American politics; Republicans were exhausted and it was the other party’s turn. Now, having won, they are unsure of how long victory will last.
“They see that they have a very small window of opportunity to do all the things they want,” Anderson continued. “They see the window of opportunity as small because they know in their deepest hearts that the vast majority of the American people wouldn’t go for all of the things they want to do.” So they are frantic to do as much as possible before the opposition coalesces. And the tea parties might be the beginning of that coalescence.
Then there is the question of self-image. Watching Garofalo and Olbermann discuss the tea parties, it was impossible to avoid the sense that they saw themselves as two good people talking about many bad people. “One of the things about narcissism is that it looks like people who are just proud of themselves and smug, but in fact narcissism is a very brittle and unstable state,” Anderson told me. “People who are deeply invested in narcissism spend an awful lot of energy trying to maintain the illusion they have of themselves as being powerful and good, and they are exquisitely sensitive to anything that might prick that balloon.”
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More Blog Posts by Matthew Vadum
http://spectator.org/blog/2009/04/21/now-bob-shrum-whines-about-the
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Pingback| 4.21.09 @ 12:40PM
Now Bob Shrum Whines About the Tea Parties | But As For Me links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Tom Paine| 4.21.09 @ 1:24PM
What? No mention of Nazis? Aren't the people who criticize Fox News really brownshirts waiting to defeat all opposition to their new cult leader by any means necessary? What about the concentration camps Democrats are establishing out west for people like you who dare criticize the government? Where are the jack booted thugs coming to kick in your doors and confiscate your guns? When arrive the Lords of Obama for prima nocte, to defile your virgin daughters? Bob Shrum criticized Fox News? Aren't there more dire threats to America and its way of life coming from the Constitution-shredding Democrats?
Bill Bailey| 4.21.09 @ 1:55PM
You are an a**hole, Tommy boy. Keep on trollin'.
Jay| 4.21.09 @ 2:05PM
I think this Tom Paine guy might be an extreme right wing Nazi terrorist or whatever the insult of the week is ,don't you?
Bill Bailey| 4.21.09 @ 2:15PM
Tom certainly does seem to be OBSESSED with Nazis doesn't he?
Angel| 4.21.09 @ 2:45PM
TP/Jeremiah has low self-esteem like his fellow fascist liberals Garofalo and Olbermann. A little therapy wouldn't hurt, TP/Jeremiah.
Smitty| 4.21.09 @ 2:48PM
It must be tiring to be angry 24/7.
BlueRider| 4.21.09 @ 3:05PM
Libs just can't fanthom opposition to their Annointed One, their Messiah who they blindly follow as sheeple, even as lemmings ...as Obambi leads the country off a cliff.
Be afraid, libs...be very afraid.
Bob| 4.21.09 @ 3:30PM
Tom
Take a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Then sit back and watch, if all is as you suggest in all your many posts you have nothing to worry about. The opposition will fizzle in its own insignificance. Your Lord and Messiah will rule in full splendor and all your dreams will come true...
If, on the other hand as I believe, you are wrong there is nothing you can do to stop the tidal wave of backlash coming in response to the monumental over reach the...
You will need all your strength to hold yourself together...
Oh and you may want to check with your doctor about increasing your meds.. you are getting a little shrill.
Peace and love dude
Thomas| 4.21.09 @ 4:25PM
Be nice to Tom. He has a well founded fear that if the "bitter clingers" get too desperate and fed up, they just might change things. The the term, "the peasants are revolting" will be a statement of fact, rather than a description of how this nation's leaders feel about the rest of the country.
Tom Paine| 4.21.09 @ 5:29PM
I'm amused by the responses to my post (and lack of responses to Vadum's).
What makes any of you think I wrote in anger or hyperventilating anxiety? What makes any of you think I regard Obama as my "Lord and master"?
My point was simply that extremist rhetoric is its own worst enemy.
People like Vadum have been frothing about Obama as "nazi," "fascist," or "totalitarian" for weeks.
If that's the case, how then do you return to the work-a-day business of political criticism?
How do you confine yourself to posting on a blog? If Obama is a socialist dictator, why are you not joining a militia and conspiring to overthrow the government, rather than making impotent protests online?
The Greeks posited democracy as a system based upon friendship: friends disagree, but remain friends. If you posit Obama as an "enemy," a fascist, or illegal alien -- or whatever -- it's rhetorically an act of secession, a leaving behind of the friendly disagreements that occupy those of us still living in a democracy.
But I thank Thomas. You should be kind to me.
Old Texican| 4.21.09 @ 6:06PM
Tom Paine,
we are fellow Americans who are deeply saddened that many of us failed to show up at the polls last November to prevent the biggest liar of our day to wander into the Presidency. 2010 will end this madness and Obama and his crowd know it. That is why they are burning political capital as if there is no tomorrow.
Tom Paine| 4.21.09 @ 6:21PM
Old Texican --
I'm glad to hear from a fellow American. Do you have any evidence that Obama is not just a run-of-the-mill politician, who stretches the truth for political convenience, like every other politician?
Why call him "the biggest liar of our day"? I just don't see any evidence for that. But if you have some, I'd certainly be open to seeing it.
Smitty| 4.21.09 @ 6:28PM
Obama is most certainly not a run-of-the-mill politician--on the contrary, he's an extremist.
Jim| 4.21.09 @ 7:04PM
Tom Paine,
I too wondered where Obama's nazis were,when the camps would be built , when the confiscation of guns would take place and when our daugthers would be given to his islamic thugs as whores.
I then remembered that MSNBC and CNN had already answered the question.
" He's only been in office 90 days, give him a chance".
Old Texican| 4.21.09 @ 7:08PM
Tom
Please, simply read his (Bill Ayers ghost-written) book. This guy has NO written footprint...anywhere! Student...no records. Lawschool Review President...no records. Umpteen years lectures as a professor...no written records.
OOPS!
Tom Paine| 4.21.09 @ 7:14PM
Jim --
I repeat my earlier point.
If you honestly believe that Obama is some kind of fascist dictator, then you are a coward and traitor for confining your response to posting online.
If you honestly believe he is an enemy of America, it is your duty to take up arms against the government. How can you just sit there, if this is what you believe? How could you think President Bush anything but a turn-coat for sitting down with Obama in the White House, and being so gracious during the transition?
How could you let down your country in this way? Hundreds of thousands of men gave their lives defeating fascism in Europe, but you won't sally forth to confront here at home?
I think all of this is the cackling of crows my friend. Every time the GOP loses, they turn to extremist, violent rhetoric for a while. They did it in the 50s, the did it in the 60s with the Berchers. They're doing it now. But it's marginalizing them. If you want to be the party of angry white Southern males, be my guest. It's a free country.
Tom Paine| 4.21.09 @ 7:17PM
Old Texican --
I'm not sure where you're getting your information.
First, do you have any evidence that Ayer's ghost wrote Obama's book?
Who told you that there are no school records for Obama?
That's just ridiculous. Again -- I invite you to share any evidence you have to substantiate your claims. But until then, I'm afraid I'm due back on planet Earth now. Best wishes, amigo.
Angel| 4.21.09 @ 7:24PM
TP: Give us the link, so we can read Obama's records, too. Thanks.
Jo| 4.21.09 @ 7:25PM
Yes, the links, please.
Smitty| 4.21.09 @ 7:28PM
TP/Jeremiah--not so fast--where's the link? Fascist liberal troll wimps out again.
Old Texican| 4.21.09 @ 7:28PM
Tom
IF you had read his ghost-written book you would have read..."If you are black...you smile and make no sudden moves". This would-be fascist dictator is smoooooooth. Heh! just not smooth enough.
Bye the way, why should WE take up arms to protect your skinny, (fat?) hiney? Uh, read that question again.
Nevertheless, we HAVE taken up arms. The threat alone of 100 million snipers for freedom and personal liberty must just send a "thrill" down each communist 's legs. (smile)
Tom Paine| 4.21.09 @ 8:25PM
The link?
Are you people out of your minds? I'm no secretary.
How can I prove to you the U.S. landed men on the moon in 1969?
How can I prove George W. Bush is not a serial killer or a dope fiend or a homosexual prostitute?
If you think Obama lied about attending Harvard, where he was president of the law review, and you think he lied about teaching at the University of Chicago for 12 years, let's see some evidence.
Your paranoia is absurd. It's absolutely comic.
As for you, Old Texican. I think it's time to consider going back on the meds.
JG | 4.21.09 @ 8:40PM
I believe Obama is a Harvard graduate, that he is a legal American citizen, and that he is not a muslim.
That being said, the point made in the post is accurate. Liberals are narcissists and Obama is a prime example. I haven't seen a more arrogant, self-aggrandazing politician, yet empty and devoid of any common sense.
His narcissism is evident everywhere---from the speech in Germany last summer, to the fake Greek columns, the seal of the non-existent "office" of the president-elect, and on and on and on. Why do you think Michelle didnt accompany him on his recent trip. He saw the attention that Michelle got in Europe and was having none of it in South America.
That being said, as narcisstic as liberals are, they are empty souls. Hugging tightly to that pillow of a socail utopia that does not exist.
They are pathetic.
Tom Paine| 4.21.09 @ 9:54PM
JG --
I don't agree with much of what you say. I'll agree, however, that the "fake Greek columns" were appalling. I almost refused to vote for him because of that atrocious and stupid stage-craft.
As to your speculations about why Michelle Obama didn't accompany him to S. America ... come on, man. That's a pretty lame surmise.
What I don't understand is why you can't just resolve that Obama and his supporters are your political opponents and leave it at that. Make your arguments, use evidence, be reasonable.
I am glad to see you accept what 95% of the public also accepts, that Obama is an American citizen, a Christian, and not a Muslim. We're making progress around here. I can feel it.
Smitty| 4.21.09 @ 10:12PM
C'mon, TP, you said that Obama's records were verifiable. Can't prove it, huh? Liar. So, it's true: Obama was not born in the USA, he's a Muslim who rode the affirmative action train all the way through law school, and had stinky grades to boot. Must be true, since you can't disprove it.
Thomas| 4.22.09 @ 11:17AM
Actually, I find it very disturbing when a public official, in fact the most powerful single public official in the United States of American not only refuses to make public some thing as innocuous as his full birth certificate and college transcripts, but fights so terribly hard to prevent anyone from getting access. I do not know what these records contain. But, I think that it is in the interests of the nation to release these documents. I also find it intriguing, in an era when classified government documents from the Pentagon, the CIA, the Department of State and the White House are routinely "leaked" to the media on a near daily basis, that these documents have not been "leaked". Where is Deep Throat when you need him.
Publius| 4.27.09 @ 4:12PM
Fascinating thread. Though I'm a regular Spectator reader and voted GOP in all 6 presidential elections I've been old enough for, I find the conspiratorial air here (Obama's a Muslim, born outside the US, blah blah blah) to be exactly what's dragging my party down into permanent minority status. How about a few good ideas, boys? Instead of obsessively demonizing Obama? Talk about narcissism--if the president doesn't look like you, & grow up where you did, must be a threat to the Republic.
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