House of Eratosthenes

If the plan were good, you would expect its proponents to be staking their arguments on its merits. Instead, they are turning this into a debate about the plan’s opponents. A telling video clip of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.) on MSNBC’s “Hardball” has been making the rounds:

So all of this is a diversion by the people who want to, frankly, hurt President Obama. You’ve heard the Republican senator Jim DeMint say it: Let’s make this “Obama’s Waterloo,” let’s break him. That’s what this is about.

And by the way, I saw some of the clips of people storming these town hall meetings. The last time I saw well-dressed people doing this was when Al Gore asked me to go down to Florida when they were recounting the ballots, and I was confronted with the same type of people. They were there screaming and yelling, “Go back to California,” “Get out of here,” and all the rest of it–until I finally looked at them and I said, “You know what? Your hero Ronald Reagan is from California. You should show a little respect.” And then they quieted down.

So this is just all organized. Just go up on the Web site, Chris. You in the media have to take a look at what’s going on here. This is all planned. It’s to hurt our president, and it’s to change the Congress.

Most of the ensuing criticism has centered on Boxer’s weird fashion commentary. This may reflect no more than a regional difference: Californians tend to be more casual in their sartorial standards than regular people. Still, it’s a head-scratcher why Boxer would think it is to her opponents’ discredit that they are “well-dressed”–i.e., that they look respectable.

This golden-stater says — hey waitaminnit. Don’t go looking to me for an explanation about what my aging-hippie-girl senator was raving about. In fact, if DeMint is looking for a way to hit back, if you’re ever in conversation with the gentleman from South Carolina Mr. Taranto, you might recommend to him that the campaign commercials be made to directly address this strange culture war we have raging under the surface. Who deserves attention? People who request it respectfully, dressing like they have something important to say that’s of interest to more people than just themselves? Or the folks with whom Boxer apparently feels more of a kindred spirit, the assholes who block bridges with bicycles during rush hour? She seems to live in a world in which you don’t deserve attention until & unless you dress down. This is an apt illustration of the decision that was made last November, to put the kids in charge of the dinner menu, what’s on teevee, bedtime, et cetera. Remind the voters again, please. Boxer looks like she’s ready to help you remind everyone what she & hers are all about.

Taranto continues…

But what caught our attention was the plaint that ObamaCare opponents want “to hurt the president.” It reminds us of those hilarious “Leave Britney alone!” videos that were the rage on YouTube a couple of years back. How exactly does Boxer expect this to persuade anyone to support the legislation? Just imagine the thought process: I don’t want higher taxes and government rationing of medical care. But doggone it, I’m for it anyway, because I don’t want to hurt the president!
:
So, let’s review the arguments:

• Republicans are bad, they lost the last election, and they have partisan motives for wanting to stop ObamaCare.

• People who are angry about this are crackpots who display swastikas and other invidious symbols. Also, their anger is insincere, and they are shills of the RNC. They wear nice clothes, and this is not to their credit.

• Some of the arguments against ObamaCare are false, according to Obama.

• If ObamaCare is defeated, Obama would be hurt.

Is there any argument for ObamaCare? In all the material we reviewed for this item, only this, from the Obama email:

Every day we don’t act, Americans watch their premiums rise three times faster than wages, small businesses and families are pushed towards bankruptcy, and 14,000 people lose their coverage entirely. The cost of inaction is simply too much for the people of this nation to bear.

In other words, the “crisis” is so urgent that any thoughtful deliberation would entail intolerable delay. This is the same old argument that has already failed.

If this is the best the president can do, he deserves to lose resoundingly. If that hurts him, there’s always aspirin.

If I wanted to motivate large numbers of people to make wrong decisions on a regular basis, I would take this list of ways to make such a thing happen and start fleshing it out.

I’d demand people support my dumb ideas, for any number of conceivable reasons that had nothing to do with the content of the ideas. Prove you’re not a racist. Don’t hurt that guy. So-and-so might get mad at you if you oppose my dumb idea. We’ll have riots…

I’d end up behaving exactly the way the democrats really do behave. All the time. It seems to always be a question of “here’s today’s reason why you should do this…and notice I’m not discussing what’s going to happen if it goes through, I want to talk about everything else.” I miss the days when the bullshit was of a different grade, one that pretended to be concerned about what was going to happen to us. “Don’t let Reagan stockpile more nukular weapons, he’ll get everyone blown up” comes to mind. What happened to that?

To repeat: Is there any argument for ObamaCare?

Yeah, the “well dressed” comment was a real head scratcher for me. WTF?
- philmon | 08/11/2009 @ 07:23
“Is there any argument for ObamaCare?”

It seems to be: Pres. Obama wants it, he won, he’s the president, you lost, shut up you Right Wing Extremists going all Timothy McVeigh with your swastikas being paid by the big insurance companies…YOU RACISTS!!!

Oh, and 32% of the population is in favor of it so…there ya’ go.

Next question!!!
- tim | 08/11/2009 @ 08:23
I, for one, am sick and tired of being called a racist for opposing big government, for wanting to defend myself against my enemies even if they happen to be of another race, for opposing policies that are inherently racist by definition — and of course, the most ironic — for being “white”.
- philmon | 08/11/2009 @ 09:45
Whoa, that’s an awesome tee shirt slogan right there.

“I am SICK of being called a RACIST for opposing big government..”

With a you-know-what-symbol put in place of the “o” in “government.” That one would stay current for years, and would be a worthy souvenir for generations thereafter.
- mkfreeberg | 08/11/2009 @ 10:04
From the Progessive Dictionary:

Racist: /ray’ sist/ 1. n White person arguing against a liberal on any subject. 2. adj Any argument a white person puts forward that any liberal disagrees with. 3. adj white or caucasian.

Mysoginist: /mis ah’ jin ust/ 1. n Male.

That second one inspired by a recent post over at Cassy’s place.

I smell a new series of posts coming on. You can all join in, of course.
- philmon | 08/11/2009 @ 10:19
You’ll be glad to know I got astro-turfed last evening via a phone call from a “pollster” who wouldn’t tell me the name of his organization, and then started waffling about “we’re just trying to get the feelings of people in your age group” immediately after I declined to give him any personal data. The first question was “Are you going to be 65 in 2010?” to which I responded “Why yes, I am. How did you know?”

“Mumble, mumble…. What is your birthdate?”

I’d rather not say. What is this survey about, exactly?

“Well, the computer won’t let me go on unless you answer each question.”

This would seem to be about the current debate on Nationalized Healthcare. Is that the case?

“Uh, well, uh, we’re just trying to determine the needs of people in your age group regarding healthcare. The computer won’t let me answer any questions unless you follow the script.”

I’ve always paid for my own, and I think the government should stay out of it.

“Uh, well, uh, we’re just trying to determine the needs of people in your age group regarding healthcare.”

This sounds like something financed by George Soros.

“Uh, well, uh, I gotta go now. The computer….”
- rob | 08/11/2009 @ 10:29
I read THE solution to this brouhaha last evening… I think it was at The Jawa Report… Get everyone in that 32% demographic to sign up… and PAY FOR, in its entirety… gub’mint healthcare and leave the rest of us alone. There ya go: problem solved.
- bpenni | 08/11/2009 @ 10:42
Ugh, we already have free, single-payer healthcare. All you have to do to get it is JOIN THE MILITARY. And I’ve been there, and it sucks.

No, thank you.
- Jason | 08/11/2009 @ 14:11
This is all planned. It’s to hurt our president, and it’s to change the Congress. – B Boxer

You’re damn right it is, lady. It’s called being “the loyal opposition.” We want you clowns out of power because we think you’re bad for the country. Simple, really.
- cylarz | 08/11/2009 @ 23:34
[…] outfit. High-end menswear, worn properly, that meant you were bad. Call it the “Barbara Boxer Decade.” Just to eliminate any doubt, the necktie is white, he plans to blow up lots of […]
- House of Eratosthenes | 08/28/2009 @ 07:01

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Leave Barack Alone!Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Leave Barack Alone!
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009