April 17, 2014

Obama says the Republican Party, on Obamacare, "has gone through the stages of grief — anger and denial and all that stuff."

I transcribed that from the press conference that's going on right now. He's answering a question about whether there could be some legislative amendments to the Affordable Care Act, to deal with some flaws, and he's saying that nothing can be done until Republicans change their attitude. They need to get through their "stages of grief" "stuff." Why the Kübler-Ross model? It's that meme that the Republicans are dying! They need to deal with their death, eh?!

Well, the first stage, which Obama put second of the 2 stages he bothered to enumerate before resorting to "all that stuff," is denial, and of course, the Republicans are going to deny that they are dying. As for anger, that's stage 2, and why shouldn't a political party get angry over its setbacks and want to fight for what it believes? Obviously, in life, when we are actually dying, getting angry is a stage, because anger isn't going to conquer death. But this is politics, not dying, and plainly the fire will rage on.

The stages Obama failed to enumerate are: 3. bargaining, 4. depression, and 5. acceptance. Maybe he didn't want to say bargaining, because he doesn't want his party to have to bargain with the other side. He just wants the GOP to get over it. The analogy to dying is, once again, terrible. Because in the stages of death scenario, the dying person seeks to avert death by somehow finding a way to make a deal, perhaps with God. Obama doesn't want to talk about deal-making. He wants the Republicans to give up and die already.

As for depression, I guess he's hoping the GOP will reach that point, but that's unlikely in this election year, and clearly he knows it. Ditto acceptance. But let's not talk about "all that stuff."

By the way, the Kübler-Ross model isn't too scientific. And to tell someone who's angry and unaccepting of a political situation that they should go away until they've accepted what is being done to them sounds to me like taunting and bullying. There's absolutely no reason why they should back down because some of their emotions correspond to Kübler-Ross's (bogus) stages. You're saying if someone doesn't believe that a political cause is dying or feels angry at the idea that it's dying, all you need to do is wait out the process, because bargaining and depression need to occur and then you win because finally there will be acceptance. Infuriating nonsense! It only intensifies and justifies the anger. Your opponents aren't just going through a "stage," and you sound inert and supercilious talking about them that way.

90 comments:

Roughcoat said...

What a jerk. He needs a good thrashing.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

There's a big element of denial in saying nothing can be done until Republicans change their attitude in a political environment where Republicans are likely to win the next Congressional election.

Democrats look to spend the next 7 months bargaining with the American people, quite possibly followed by 24 months of depression.

trumpetdaddy said...

This was "buck up the wavering troops" rhetoric from Obama. The bravado was necessary but is ultimately futile.

No Democrat in any kind of a competitive race is running on Obamacare. He's just hoping they don't defect and vote with the Republicans over the next 8 months just to try to save their own skins.

Nonapod said...

Good lord, I can't wait until January 2017 when we will no longer be subjected to lectures full of condescension, outright lies and equivocations, and passive aggressive insults from our pedantic pedagogue president

FleetUSA said...

He likes to be a bully - it is the Chicago way.

Michael said...

Love the way our president sees us all as Americans and honors our tradition of governing by the two party system. Like most Democrats he seems to have a great deal of respect for the ideas and suggestions of his opposition and does everything he can to figure out ways to bring us together.

An appalling man, really. Quite amazing that this is what we deserve.

Wince said...

Those comments really have to make you wonder what new mendacity Obama has up his sleeve.

jimbino said...

Kübler-Ross and Bruno Bettelheim are two of my least favorite U of C profs.

Richard Dolan said...

"Infuriating nonsense!"

An apt summary of Obama's policies as well as his rhetoric. Between Meade and Althouse, only one has been consistently right about The One.

Steve M. Galbraith said...

He really does like to play this game now. He's baiting the opposition, hoping for a backlash to use.

For someone who reportedly hates to play the political game, he sure does play it a lot.

Cynical man in a cynical profession.

Michael K said...

The grief counseling will be needed for a long time.

It is quite possible that the ACA is shaping up as the greatest act of fiscal irresponsibility ever committed by federal legislators. Nothing immediately comes to mind as comparable to it. Certainly no tax legislation is, because tax rates rise and fall frequently, such that one Congress’s tax cut can be (and often is) undone by a later tax increase. The same is true for legislation affecting appropriated spending programs. But the ACA is a commitment to permanently subsidize comprehensive health insurance for millions who could not otherwise afford it, which the federal government has no viable plan to finance. Moreover, experience shows that it is very difficult to scale back such spending once large numbers of Americans have been made dependent on it.

Even my medical students are joking about it.

Æthelflæd said...

Yes, he's an appalling man. He is roght unfortunately, that we are probably stuck with this mess forever.

Barry Dauphin said...

Death is a fact of nature. The ACA was an act of Congress. It can be undone.

Death can't be undone unless Ray Kurzweil is right.

Skeptical Voter said...

Ah supercilious
That attitude on the part of Obama
Makes me bilious.

Larry J said...

Nonapod said...
Good lord, I can't wait until January 2017 when we will no longer be subjected to lectures full of condescension, outright lies and equivocations, and passive aggressive insults from our pedantic pedagogue president.


Unfortunately, I predict that not only will he be the worst president ever, he'll be the worst ex-president ever. His ego is too large to simply go away and he doesn't have the class of the Bushes to not comment on his successor. That, and the Press will likely go to him like a junkie goes to his pusher for another fix.

Fandor said...

Good grief! Now let's start working to elect Republicans in 2014 and 2016 and get rid of this Frankenstein Monster, once and for all. Remember, we have to destroy Obamacare before we figure out how to replace it (or not).

garage mahal said...

I have dear conservative friends and I don't want to see them hurting over this.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

Once again people are bending over backwards to "figure out" what Obama means. Its not that difficult. He just isn't that bright.

He's bullshitting. He knows there is something about denial and grief and he can think of only two stages. So everything else is just all that other stuff.

Dont fall for the nonsense. Call it for what it is. Up your game Althouse!

Unknown said...

Classic Ann. Republicans have made it clear, over and over and over and over, that they won't bargain on ACA -- repeal is their only alternative. Who in his right mind would agree to "bargain" with that, or would think that such a negotiation would have any chance of going anywhere. Republicans wrote their own epitaph on this one, and now they are going to have to live . . . er, die . . . with it.

n.n said...

While Republicans need to take steps, Democrats need to make leaps. Obama is in denial of why his party enjoys democratic leverage, and the fundamental corruption they have willingly and intentionally sponsored in order to realize their rise to power. They only deserve a presumption to positive progress as a matter of necessity, not goodwill.

Unknown said...

PS - Dems all over the country are running on Obamacare, and the polling numbers are getting better all the time. The botched website rollout is history, 12 Million people are insured who weren't last year thanks to ACA provisions and the Medicaid expansion, the worst of the horror stores are being debunked left and right, the vast majority of folks are unaffeceted by it, and the ones who are getting the least out of it are people living in States with Republican governors and legislatures who are determined to sabotage it and deny medical insurance to those in their states that genuinely need or want it. I hope they are proud of themselves for preventing the uninsured from getting coverage, which is shameful. And the irony is that they are letting the blue states get all of that expanded Medicaid funding while they get nothing, and state income taxes and property taxes go up.

PB said...

Obama keeps selling. I'm not buying.

If he was so sure of his success he wouldn't have to keep trying to convince people.

Unknown said...

According to polls, the American people are in several combined stages: grief, anger, disbelief and disgust - that includes Democrats.

But, we know that every one of those democrats would vote for him again in a heartbeat.

The Godfather said...

Death is a fact of nature, and we all must face it, for ourselves and for our loved ones. It is ultimately futile to deny it, to bargain about it, and so forth.

Obamacare is not a fact of nature: It is a creation of our political system. It can be changed -- and in fact Obama has already changed it repeatedly through executive action. Unlike death (with whom we have an appointment in Samarra), there is nothing inevitable about it.

This reminds me of O's equation of his nomination to stopping the rise of the seas. I really do worry about this young man: He doesn't seem to be wrapped too tight.

F said...

Of course its taunting. That's what Obama does best. Remember "I won"? In other news, something like 80% of Americans polled believe Obama lies about important stuff. How's that for a legacy?

paminwi said...

"Taunting and bullying". Does this President know any other way? I think not.

Big Mike said...

One question is whether or not he's the one going through denial.

To me the problem is that mere passage of the (badly misnamed!) Affordable Care Act was taken to be the defining accomplishment of the Obama administration. But with a 60-40 edge in the Senate (treating Lieberman and Sanders as Democrats since they caucus with the Democrats) and a 255-178 edge in the House, I submit that the Democrats could have passed just about anything.

But passing legislation is not enough all by itself. The complex bill called for a lot of regulations to be written wisely by the executive branch, to help those who needed it while not hurting those who already had insurance. No only has this not occurred, but the President seems to be taking the position that it doesn't have to occur.

I could go on a rant about the worthlessness of Democrats who think that the right response to any situation is to pass some legislation, pat themselves on the back, and walk off without ever looking back. But I'll save that rant for another time.

Carol said...

Yeah it's just more snark, a big putdown, all in the game. But there is something very ominous about passing a huge new entitlement. Republicans were similarly appalled and enraged and depressed over the New Deal. Geez the bitterness was still palpable in the 60s among the old. Back then I thought they were just mean, but that was a major inflection point for the US.

It's going to take a lot to undo the damage now.

kcom said...

Nothing new here. He's always been a dick.

And learning to be a better man in office has eluded him, too.

MaxedOutMama said...

Okay, it's stupid, but these are party applause lines and he needs them. Because a lot of people are having trouble getting ACA care, as opposed to insurance policies, and so the official story has to be set in stone. It's all about the bubble.

Farmer said...

And to tell someone who's angry and unaccepting of a political situation that they should go away until they've accepted what is being done to them sounds to me like taunting and bullying. There's absolutely no reason why they should back down because some of their emotions correspond to Kübler-Ross's (bogus) stages. You're saying if someone doesn't believe that a political cause is dying or feels angry at the idea that its dying, all you need to do is wait out the process, because bargaining and depression need to occur and then you win because finally there will be acceptance. Infuriating nonsense! It only intensifies and justifies the anger. Your opponents aren't just going through a "stage," and you sound inert and supercilious talking about them that way.

Unless you're talking about gay marriage, of course.

Like it or not, it's inevitable! Don't be on the wrong side of history! Better accept it or you will look SO LAME! You won't be allowed to sit at the cool kids' table!

Paco Wové said...

It seems to be a common theme among Democrats lately that 'governing' consists of either 'getting your way without compromise' or 'throwing up your hands and doing nothing'.

tim maguire said...

Obama is a pretty pathetic excuse for a president, he's a pretty pathetic excuse for an adult. I blame the educational system. They have failed utterly to instill a sense of civic duty in the American people. A mature nation would not have elected him.

Mr. D said...

And to tell someone who's angry and unaccepting of a political situation that they should go away until they've accepted what is being done to them sounds to me like taunting and bullying.

That's how he rolls.

Fen said...

I read a funny article that reminded us of all the "little bitch games" Obama played with Putin his first visit. Treating him like doorman, being passive-aggressive through body language, etc.

Obama's cheerleaders were all "oh he showed him who's boss!" You got served!":

A dominant Obama meets Putin at G20

Putin knows when he is in the presence of a real world leader.

President Barack Obama was intent on getting the upper hand as he greeted Russia’s Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit on Thursday, according to body language experts who watched the frosty exchange.

From a jacket-buttoning pause to a hard-pumping handshake, Obama displayed tell-tale signs of dominance blah blah


http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2014/04/16/complete-fiasco/#more-36095

Now Putin is making a mockery of Obama on the world stage, in ways that express TRUE dominance, not some metrosexual fronting.

Expect the same from the GOP at midterms.

David said...

Contempt for those who disagree with you is a stage that children and adolescents go through.

Lnelson said...

Obama is only doing what a politician does after he rises to the top of the most corrupt political machine in America without making waves. He is Chicago authentic.

The biggest institutional failure in America today is a Washington press corps that is totally and shamelessly in the bag for one political party.
History will not be kind to those sycophants.

Lnelson said...

Obama is only doing what a politician does after he rises to the top of the most corrupt political machine in America without making waves. He is Chicago authentic.

The biggest institutional failure in America today is a Washington press corps that is totally and shamelessly in the bag for one political party.
History will not be kind to those sycophants.

richardsson said...

Ha. ha. He wishes, he hopes, he squirms, he projects, he lies, he passes the buck, he laughs in that hollow, tinny voice that falsifies. As in the song MacArthur Park, they all got together and baked this Obamacare cake and then they left it out in the rain. (hat tip, Dave Barry)

richardsson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alex said...

Typical Obamathugology.

Marty Keller said...

More lying by the Projector-in-Chief. Ho-hum.

rhhardin said...

We didn't deserve it.

The women voted him in.

pst314 said...

"And to tell someone who's angry and unaccepting of a political situation that they should go away until they've accepted what is being done to them sounds to me like taunting and bullying."

And you voted for this leftist monster.

Some of us could see what he was from the beginning, but you, in your ivory tower, with your advanced degrees, could not.

"One has to belong to the intelligentsia to believe things like that: no ordinary man could be such a fool."
--George Orwell

Jim at said...

Biggest horses ass to ever hold the office. And it's not even close.

Diogenes of Sinope said...

A hate filled sociopath. Many of his supporters share his hatreds.

Michael K said...

" Republicans wrote their own epitaph on this one, and now they are going to have to live . . . er, die . . . with it."

Actually, the solution is to make it "optional." Then it will become in reality what it is virtually; Medicaid for all. Except that nobody but those with no option, will choose it.

For the rest of us the GOP can write a bill establishing catastrophic insurance and reenacting Medical HSAs. Then Democrats can brag about Obamacare for the poor.

Win/win.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I really hope the next president is a mute. I am sick of hearing our presidents blather on and on day after day on every f-ing topic imaginable even when they don't know crap about the topic. The press is to blame of course- they cover every word these guys utter [and I am including GW, Clinton and the current dunce].

garage mahal said...

Time for some medicine -- boys. You lost; and spectacularly. The easy part was getting people to sign up. The opposite of what you thought would happen. Doh!

Anonymous said...

In the meantime, another kooky Republican conspiracy theory about the Obama Administration is proven true.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/yet-another-crazy-conservative-conspiracy-theory-proven-correct/

LilyBart said...


If I'm grieving - I'm grieving for my stolen freedom.

And its NOT over.

Michael K said...

garage mahal said...
"Time for some medicine -- boys. You lost; and spectacularly. The easy part was getting people to sign up. The opposite of what you thought would happen. Doh!"

Actually, garage, this is exactly what I thought would happen. I didn't anticipate the incompetence of the web site. What will happen next is the catastrophe of cost that will unravel over the next year or two.

Democrats don't do math. I'm sure you dn;t read my link. Why should you when your own links don;t agree with your arguments ?

As I wrote previously, the ACA stood to add approximately $340 billion to federal deficits over its first ten years, assuming its provisions were all fully enforced. This is still misunderstood by those unfamiliar with federal budget processes, but can be explained as follows: the ACA unambiguously adds to federal deficits in that it authorizes more additional spending than it generates in additional tax revenues. However, Congressional scorekeeping rules direct CBO to assume that some of these spending increases would have happened anyway, although this additional spending would have required substantial changes in law and departures from historical practice. CBO is always explicit that its scores reflect Congress’s scorekeeping rules rather than the operations of actual law, but not everyone reads or understands these explanations..

Gahrie said...

Unfortunately, I predict that not only will he be the worst president ever, he'll be the worst ex-president ever

Edging out Carter in second place.

Fen said...

Its amusing to watch Garage do victory laps over obviously fake numbers.

Like crowing about unemployment rate stats that have been rigged by adding "jobs save" to the tally.

You have to wonder, is he trolling you? Or is he really this stupid?

George M. Spencer said...

He's clearly got some deeply twisted mind game experts working for him.

Hope he's doing an equally swell job on the Russians and Chinese.

LL said...

President Douche McBag

Big Mike said...

You have to wonder, is he trolling you? Or is he really this stupid?

Why couldn't he be both?

RecChief said...

This reminds me of those global warming/global weirding/ CAGW/ climate Change cultists declaring that "the science is settled!!!!!!11!!!"

Kirby Olson said...

The only reason we have to have this trillion-dollar job-killer is that Obama's no-good mother didn't take out insurance for herself. She was too busy schlepping through jungles eyeing up quilts like some sort of latter-day Quilty. She should have been home with her son, as should the jerk dad, but he already had another wife, and other kids. Obamacare is an attempt to right the huge mess of Bam's disgusting origins.

What a loser.

Titus said...

The ACA is not going anywhere. No repeal, nothing, it's done. Too many takers are on the program now. You can call 500,000 more votes on it but it really doesn't matter.

Move on pubes.

Fight for something else.

Sending troops to Ukraine? Yea, that's the ticket.

Defunding NPR for the zillionith time?

Some horrible abortion law where republican men can look at your vas deverans and uterine wall? Super!


Perhaps gay getting married...that is a winning proposition!

Paul said...

Give 'em time boys..

After the mid-term elections there may very well be a Obamacare rollback.

Obama will be a lame duck, both houses in Republican hands, and some very scared Democrats waiting for 2016 elections.

All Obama is good at is talk. He didn't write Obamacare, or even give any input.

Give it time.

Illuninati said...

Obama and other lefties are gloating because they know that they have hurt many thousands of people with Obamacare - and this makes them happy because they think folks who have been hurt are enemies of the people. In the mimetic process cohesion of a society is achieved by shared hatred directed against an innocent scapegoat. Tyrants of all kinds know this principle instinctively. Communists and other leftists have taken the scapegoat principle to an entirely new level. For the American leftists they can not set up gulags yet but they will soon have their death panels up and running.

Henry said...

The important thing isn't the answer. It's the question. It's the qualifier for the question, to be exact:

"...to deal with some flaws."

Flaws? What kind of attitude is that, lapdog?


n.n said...

Illuninati:

They already have their death clinics, which abort/murder around 1 million human lives annually. There is no evidence that a death panel will upset their moral compass. After all, a human life, according to their pro-choice and diversity standards, is interchangeable and disposable. I wonder if Dodos also volunteered to be subjects in evolutionary dysfunction.

Anyway, their tactics which denigrate individual dignity, and devalue human life, suggest that they are not acting out of good will for all people; but, out of necessity to mitigate instability in their districts, and with a predisposition to marginalize competing interests through monopoly formation.

That said, there exist structural disparities, especially in high density Democrat districts, which the Left's 1% and rich are unwilling to exclusively subsidize. This is why they need a national platform to capture and redistribute private capital. As well as the leverage afforded by sovereign wealth creation in order to devalue capital and labor, and manage trillion dollar deficits.

Therein lies the prize. The answer to why Republicans fare better in local and state elections, and suffer setbacks in national elections. In a national setting, they need to address structural disparities, which may exist through no fault of their own, and often do no affect their constituents. This is an especially acute issue in high density population centers, where the Democrats reign through popular deception and outright fraud.

Finally, while life is a choice, abortion is simply murder.

somefeller said...

Obamacare was the third step in the continuing upward evolution of American society in modern times, the first two steps being the New Deal and the Great Society. I look forward to the fourth step. But for now, we dance!

Anonymous said...

I don't know why we need to bother with legislative amendments when HHS can just write its own waivers or regulations to deal with the political headache of the day.

One problem with Democratic politicians and policymakers these days is that they appear incapable of either admitting mistakes or acknowledging that their opponents might have legitimate points; the President is a good case in point here.

The President's reaction is what should be expected from anyone so convinced of their own self-righteousness. Obamacare is and always will be a success to him and the Democrats, no matter what the outcomes in reality actually are. In this, it will be like so many other government programs - a good intention that carries on indefinitely because good intentions are not to be questioned to see if they actually work.

Unlike most other government programs, however, I suspect Obamacare will fail. The great weakness of Obamacare is that it makes people directly pay for it. Even if someone's premium is completely subsidized by the feds, unless the government also picks up the tab of the deductible, people will still be getting bills for medical care - and if they're low info voters with a high deductible, they're not likely to be pleased to see that their insurance is paying ZERO and they're expected to pay whatever the contract rate is for their doctor's visit, medication, or procedure, up to the amount of the deductible. That's the kind of betrayal that can undermine the program among the masses, when it turns out the free lunch that was sold as free lunch is only free to those who don't eat.

gk1 said...

Maybe he is acting more like a rodeo clown to distract people from culling his red-state senators this fall? I don't think even he believes his bullshit about voter i.d, immigration or the success of Obamacare.

Illuninati said...

n.n. the death panels are not a bug but a feature of Obamacare. We have known for some time that Medicare is rapidly reaching insolvency.

As long as there was freedom in the medical care for most people it was difficult for lefties to institute what they thought were the necessary cost cutting measures in Medicare - rationing of care with death panels. Now things are looking up for the lefties. Since the government is in control of all healthcare expenditures, the lefties can make the argument for denial of care for the older folks through a zero sum argument in which money spent on the elderly means less care for younger people. In other words rationing will happen so it is better to let the elderly die and spend the money on younger people. The fact that the older people are mostly white while the younger people are mostly brown will make the argument even easier for the lefties since they can use racial jealousy as well as economic arguments to justify rationing care to the elderly.

the wolf said...

It's a law. It can be undone. And Obama has set the precedent that it can be ignored by the fiat of the president. When that happens we'll see some real denial from the leftist fascists.

Douglas B. Levene said...

You should read Major Garett's piece about how Obama's strategy is to troll his opponents. http://www.nationaljournal.com/all-powers/the-pen-phone-and-stray-voltage-20140416. Dickerson in Slate follows up,http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/04/barack_obama_trolls_the_gop_the_president_intentionally_baited_republicans.html, writing that Obama deliberately courts controversy, often by lying, in order to motivate the base.

BillyTalley said...

A meta mega death panel of the One.

George M. Spencer said...

Here is Douglas's article link above on Presidential trolling....

Key quotes: "“Stray voltage,” the term Obama strategist David Plouffe used to describe this approach, is also a great buzzword that makes it look like you’ve got a theory for what might otherwise look like chaos. But this twist is a new, higher order of deception: creating the controversy for the purposes of milking it....

"Even if Ruth Marcus labels the effort “revolting demagoguery,” it doesn't matter. In fact, equal-pay stories that create more controversy cycles about stories rooted in equal pay are just more opportunities for people to hear the words equal pay. See that? Equal pay....

“It rewards not those who are right, but those—like the White House press office—who can make their arguments most loudly, most frequently, most obstinately, and with the best backdrop."

Oceania is always at war.

Rusty said...

somefeller said...
Obamacare was the third step in the continuing upward evolution of American society in modern times, the first two steps being the New Deal and the Great Society. I look forward to the fourth step. But for now, we dance!


The complete evisceration of the productive class?

Curious George said...

We'll see about all this grief, anger and denial come November, when Democrats litter the landscape like baby harp seals after the hunt.

Rusty said...

Curious George said...
We'll see about all this grief, anger and denial come November, when Democrats litter the landscape like baby harp seals after the hunt.

Baby seals are too valuable to leave on the ice. Democrats on the other hand.......

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Rusty said...
The complete evisceration of the productive class?


The productive class are primarily liberals. They are the creative ones who produce world-class ideas and products that allow us to compete on the world stage.

Big Mike said...

As long as there was freedom in the medical care for most people it was difficult for lefties to institute what they thought were the necessary cost cutting measures in Medicare - rationing of care with death panels. Now things are looking up for the lefties. Since the government is in control of all healthcare expenditures, the lefties can make the argument for denial of care for the older folks through a zero sum argument in which money spent on the elderly means less care for younger people. In other words rationing will happen so it is better to let the elderly die and spend the money on younger people.

@Illuninati Yup. Sarah Palin saw that almost instantly. So did I. But the thing that I find most worrisome is that the current administration finds it convenient to use the IRS against its political enemies; what if they decide to make registration as a Republican a parameter in their calculations as to who gets treatment and who does not?

Of course, it could be the case in the future that the medical decisions will fall under a Republican administration.

How old did you say you were, garage?

somefeller said...

The productive class are primarily liberals. They are the creative ones who produce world-class ideas and products that allow us to compete on the world stage.

Don't tell Rusty that. His lunch box is a creator of jobs and culture of the highest caliber!

test said...

The productive class are primarily liberals.

That's a laugh. In fact liberals are underrepresented in the productive class because so many think it beneath them to be a part of it.

While the right and center work to produce the left works to influence how much of others' production they deserve. Just as medieval aristocracy felt.

Rusty said...

AReasonableMan said...
Rusty said...
The complete evisceration of the productive class?

The productive class are primarily liberals. They are the creative ones who produce world-class ideas and products that allow us to compete on the world stage.



And then outsource jobs?

Rusty said...

And ARM
I'm talking about people who make 'things.'

Let's do a thought experiment.

Reverse engineer your toothbrush. Start with the bristles and work back to raw materials. how many processes and materials are involved?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Marshal said...
That's a laugh.


Over the last century, on the world stage, the US has dominated in science, entertainment and manufacturing. Liberals are strongly over-represented in the first two areas. In recent years we have largely ceded our dominance in manufacturing to other countries. Without liberals we would be fucked when it comes to export industries and international competition.

Car dealers are primarily Republican.

Fen said...

It's a law. It can be undone. And Obama has set the precedent that it can be ignored by the fiat of the president. When that happens we'll see some real denial from the leftist fascists.

Jan 20th, 2016

"With this Executive Order, I now grant Universal Waivers for the ACA to every American."

Rusty said...


Car dealers are primarily Republican.

Too difficult for you?

test said...

Liberals are strongly over-represented in [science].

I suppose in ARMs understanding conservatives believe in young-earth theory and therefore aren't in the sciences. But in fact this is false. The non-left is greatly overrepresented in science, mostly because leftists prefer political activism to things that require effort. It's much easier to specialize in Womens Studies pseudo-science or become an Inequality Activist than master both Theoretical Physics and engineering.

It's fairly easy to understand the relative prospects also. The right outnumbers the left in America. As ARM admits the entertainment industry is dominated by the left, as are media, academia, law, and the entire Government-NGO complex. If the left dominates production as well where are the people on the right? Also, note what those industries have in common. Most of them are efforts to determine where production is spent rahter than efforts to produce things.

But don't take liberal disdain for production from me, listen to Michelle Obama who said "Don’t go into corporate America". Instead become a community liason for a publicy funded hospital making 8 times the median income. There are plenty of ways to ensure your success on the backs of others without dirtying yourself with production.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

While it is unintentionally funny having a lawyer lecture anyone on 'production', you are completely wrong - 52% of scientists call themselves liberals compared to 20% of the general public.

Creative people are generally liberal and creative people make the world go around. So, one more time, three cheers for all the creative liberals who keep America strong.

Big Mike said...

52% of scientists call themselves liberals

And 100% of those scientists whose experiments turn out to be non-reproducible.

Big Mike said...

Getting back to Barack Obama, the quote that Althouse is posting about is vintage stuff. For Obama "negotiating" translates into "here's what I want, now give it to me." When he doesn't get it, he gets petty and vindictive, which excites garage and Unreasonable Man, but doesn't move anything forward. He's a joke in everywhere outside the United States.

Recovering Lutheran said...

Imagine if a football team scored the winning touchdown and the losing team was doing a celebratory dance in the endzone.

That's Obama and his supporters on the issue of ObamaCare: they have lost, yet they want to spike the ball.

bbkingfish said...

In this case, superciliousness is appropriate.