Someone pointed me to Jim Pethokoukis’ twitter feed on the tax deal. At first I thought so what, some RedState commenter is writing dumb stuff about Congress on twitter? But this clown is actually the Money & Politics columnist and blogger for Reuters. Say what you will about the business and economics editor of the Atlantic but her twitter feed isn’t this dumb:
What is there to say here? Why are conservative columnists so often fanboys for their own crazy cause while liberal columnists are concern troll for theirs?
And why is someone this dumb given a column at a place that is also smart enough to give one to Felix Salmon?
Kryptik
Because liberal columnists for the most part approach their causes and their ideology as critics to refine them. Conservative columnists instead approach theirs like religion, immutable truths that only worth if held uncritically and faithfully to zealous levels.
Tax cuts cannot fail, they can only be failed. If tax cuts don’t magically fix the economy, it’s those damn lazy leeches on the bottom brackets sapping away your god-earned productivity.
different church-lady
I’m going to say this as many times as necessary: Twitter makes people stupid.
Kryptik
@different church-lady:
That’s not exactly fair.
Most of these folks were plenty damn stupid before Twitter.
Ash Can
Largely but not completely OT, it’s incumbent upon all of us to shout this from the rooftops, because the corporate media sure ain’t touching it:
U of Maryland study finds Fox “News” viewers are most misinformed, but MSNBC and PBS/NPR consumers can’t crow either.
different church-lady
@Kryptik: Fair enough: Twitter makes people stupider.
Alwhite
@different church-lady:
Mayhaps, but I think stupid people make twitter as the more likely explanation.
Smart people realize there is not much value in enlightening the world 140 characters at a time.
J
You missed the most ridiculous tweet, which I would love to hear this nitwit explain:
This fucktard wants to bang his head on his desk for 5 hours because Hoyer made the obvious point that SSE and Laffer Curve idiocies don’t work? Did this dipshit live through some alternate universe in which during the Glorious Bush Years of the Naughts we experienced magical and unprecedented growth thanks to Dear Leader’s enormous tax cuts?
Console
Pethokoukis is famous to me for his series of “Dude Where’s My Recession” posts make throughout 2008, all the way up until the bailout.
Kryptik
@Console:
So he’s a precious, precocious type of stupid then.
Alwhite
As for why conservative columnists tend to be fan boys I think the explanation is obvious.
In todays conservative movement the only explanation for continued support has to be blind faith. There is no evidence of any kind that a single one of their policies will actually improve the situation so you just have to cheer louder. Liberals are more in fear that they may never get a chance to correct the damage, therefore they concern troll.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@different church-lady:
How about: Twitter is the No Pest Strip of the internet, it attracts stupid like shit attracts flies.
Ok, it works better than a No Pest Strip though I do have to counter that flies are probably smarter than the people stuck on Twitter.
c u n d gulag
“And why is someone this dumb given a column at a place that is also smart enough to give one to Felix Salmon?”
SATSQ: Balance.
El Cid
The only clear memories I immediately have of quite coherent lines on the liberal-left were (a) the actual left in which there were well-organized leftist and labor groups (not typically aligning with actual Democratic party lines), and (b) Cold War / anti-leftist lines.
Neither of which were uniformly based in reality or good arguments, but, that’s at least my quick recall.
J
My first try at posting this didn’t work — comment has been awaiting moderation forever…so apologies if this winds up being a double-post:
You missed the most ridiculous tweet, which I would love to hear this nitwit explain:
RT @bccohan: Steny Hoyer just said that supply-side economics doesn’t work. Hang on while I bang my head on my desk for 5 hours. about 11 hours ago via TweetDeck
This moron wants to bang his head on his desk for 5 hours because Hoyer made the obvious point that SSE and Laffer Curve idiocies don’t work? Did this tool live through some alternate universe in which during the Glorious Bush Years of the Naughts we experienced magical and unprecedented growth thanks to Dear Leader’s enormous tax cuts?
MikeJ
Liberals believe people respond to rational arguments. Conservatives believe people respond to power. They view never admitting any problems as a sign of power.
Chris
@c u n d gulag:
I was thinking more along the lines of “make-up call” but that implies the possibility that they’re apologizing for Salmon (rather than the conservative dumbass).
In other SATSQ news: “Why are conservative columnists so often fanboys for their own crazy cause while liberal columnists are concern troll for theirs?”
Because what the media wants to pay for, they get people to write.
The Moar You Know
This is killing me. I’m watching my country commit slow suicide under a barrage of self-inflicted stupidity.
Punchy
I getz to pay les tacksays.
Zifnab
When the public option passes, fully funded and unrevokable, and gets a nice John Handcock from the President, you let me know and I’ll tell you where the party is at.
When we invade Alabama and Oklahoma and Mississippi with $10 billion / month in food, medicine, and infrastructure funding so they can turn their third world states into a bastions of the American progressivism and prosperty, I’ll paint the “Mission Accomplished” banner myself.
But in the last three months, it’s been winna-pa-loza for the Republican party. Liberals have just gotten an endless series of kicks to the head. Really easy to be an O-bot or a Loyal Bushie when your team is winning. It’s a lot harder when you keep getting handed shit sandwiches and told you have to like it.
Culture of Truth
And why is someone this dumb given a column at a place that is also smart enough to give one to Felix Salmon?
Balance
Brachiator
@different church-lady:
. And stupid makes people Twitter.
Zifnab
@The Moar You Know:
One day Walmart revenue is just going to tank, because people are so poor they can’t even afford to buy the cheapest crap from China. That day will be interesting to watch.
cleek
@Zifnab:
woo hoo!
Bulworth
The great Mike Barone? The global tax cut revolution? That’s some pretty serious hackery.
arguingwithsignposts
DougJ, you should check again, because McArgleBargle’s twitter feed is just. that. stupid. (susanoftexas link)
SenyorDave
Off topic, but I just had to post this. I thought at first I was reading it wrong, becasue it couldn’t be possible that the story is as bad as the first paragraph indicates.
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/dec/09/haley-pick-labor-hit-unions/
Here is the first sentence:
COLUMBIA — Gov.-elect Nikki Haley says her new Cabinet pick to run the state’s labor agency will lead efforts to fight unions, particularly at Boeing’s new North Charleston plant.
The governor intentionally picked an anti-labor lawyer, whoo makes her living fighting unions, to run the State Dept. of Labor.
I almost feel sorry for the people of SC, but they would probably elect a klansman as long as they were a Republican.
I can’t imagine ever living in a Bible Belt state.
Odie Hugh Manatee
There is a very thin possibility that one of these days a majority of Americans will figure out that congress writes the laws and the president signs them if he agrees with them. When that happens you can bet that the people will clean out both houses and replace them with competent men and women who will do the right thing and get our nation back on track.
Oh come on, quit laughing, you know there is still a chance that this could happen. Really! Stop laughing, I’m being serious here! You better be careful, if you keep laughing and choking like that you are going to have a stroke…
Hey! Help!! Someone call an ambulance!!
Omnes Omnibus
@Bulworth: I can only assume he is writing about this Mike Barone, not the conservahack.
mnpundit
Because liberals actually like to look at the merits of a position and form informed sincere opinions.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Zifnab:
That will never happen because once labor costs more in China than here WalMart will start employing Americans to make cheap crap to sell to the Chinese.
When that happens I am sure our standard of living here will go right up!
Bulworth
@Console: That’s so awesome. Give this guy his own teabag group and CNBC time slot.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@mnpundit:
Now that made me laugh! Are you thinking of touring or are you only playing here?
Bulworth
Didn’t FDR’s 90% marginal rate generate an economy that defeated Germany and Japan in WWII? Of course, since we aren’t fighting any wars or occupying any countries now maybe that comparison isn’t appropriate.
handy
@SenyorDave:
Those poor corporations needs someone in their corner to fight for them. After all, if it weren’t for Boeing, who would fly our planes? Those Euro commies at Airbus? Psshh.
Stillwater
@MikeJ: Liberals believe people respond to rational arguments. Conservatives believe people respond to power. They view never admitting any problems as a sign of power.
This. The liberal game is to tease out subtle yet important distinctions, arrive at a rational conclusion, and defend it from criticisms. The conservative game is to advocate action , repeat the relevant self-evident Conservative first-principle, then mock subtlety in reasoning.
Just Some Fuckhead
FYI, in our coming feudal system, I’m going to be a noble. Nobles don’t pay taxes.
Just something for you serfs to think about.
Cudlip Revolution
another idiot who is unable to learn from history. Is this Twitter feed indicative of some sort of learning disability?
ItAintEazy
@Ash Can:
Actually, they are using outdated “information” they found at FactCheck and Politifact in order to be fairandbalanced and prove that libruls can be just as misinformed as teabaggers. In fact, the information that liberals – ahem, excuse me, viewers/listeners of MSNBC and NPR – that the Chamber of Commerce received and spend foreign money in order to torpedo Democrats, is all too true.
jwb
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Always the optimist.
eemom
painfully well put.
And as for that Pethouwhatzis guy, it infuriates me that he’s not only Greek, he’s also Cretan (you can tell that from the “kis” suffix).
(yeah, yeah, a “cretin,” etc.)
Omnes Omnibus
@eemom: Don’t take our puns away.
Brian J
He’s probably not dumb, in the same way that McArdle isn’t dumb. (In contrast, someone like Palin is dumb.) He’s probably just fairly extreme in his opinions and less than willing to engage the other side than other people are.
But anyway, if it makes you feel any better, I don’t see anyone on the left usually linking to him the way they might link to Sullivan, Frum, or the Marginal Revolution guys. I could be missing something, of course, since I usually visit the same roster of bloggers, but I’m sure I visit a fairly standard set of people.
Nutella
What everyone who is not an idiot has learned from “the global tax cut revolution of the past 25 years” is that it was really, really stupid since it led to the economic disaster we’re in now. Along with the Irish, the Greeks, the Spaniards, etc.
burnspbesq
The world is full of sloppy thinking. On NPR this morning, I heard their Congressional correspondent talk about the failure of a Democratic amendment in the House that would have raised the estate tax on high-income individuals.
Arrgghh.
Downpuppy
@Brian J: He’s dumb. I just read a few of his columns & the stupid is going to take the rest of the day to wash out. Basically, he runs around yelling as loud as he can to try & keep anyone from thinking. No analysis, no math, no clue.
burnspbesq
Entirely on point:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/12/the-propaganda-channel.html
Stefan
To again quote the great Mike Barone, Americans are smart, but they’re even dumber than they are smart.
J.W. Hamner
When your cohort is homogeneous tribalism is a powerful thing.
the idler
……….Remember how the massive Clinton tax hikes destroyed the economy of the 90’s? In contrast, under the most pro-business president in history, GWB, private-sector employment soared after his tax cuts spurred entrepreneurs to invest, expand, and prosper……Then Barney Frank and ACORN tanked the economy….And who today can deny the roaring success of Ireland, the “Celtic Tiger,” who wisely became the “Dollar Store” corporate-tax haven of the developed world?…….Not to mention the booming flat-tax Baltic states…..
Conservative “journalism”? Reuters, like many media outlets, must have an affirmative-action program to mainstream into society the differently-abled members of its industry.
Hogan
@arguingwithsignposts:
Father Christmas, give us some money
We’ve got no time for silly toys
We’ll beat you up if you don’t hand it over
We want your bread so don’t make us annoyed
Give all the toys to the little rich boys
El Cid
@the idler: What? Did you forget how Jimmy Carter and the CRA make banks give out homes to black people who had no money and thus caused the subprime crisis? It’s in the Republicans’ Financial Crisis Commission report.
MattR
@Stefan: I prefer the George Carlin quote – Think about how stupid the average American is. Now realize that half the country is dumber than that.
WereBear
It’s not like anyone else is going to do it for them.
Omnes Omnibus
@MattR: FWIW this plays across all nationalities.
MattR
@Omnes Omnibus: By definition :)
John Bird
Like most people writing on markets and economics within the last twenty-five years, this autistic little goober believes that everything he says and does embeds him in a worldwide crusade of hard-luck Austrian economics (which all idiots believe to be the mainstream point of view) against creeping Marxism.
Note his invocations of 25 years of history, FDR, and Reagan, all non sequitur references that serve only to pad his polemic with a frantic attempt to demonstrate that he knows basic facts about history.
John Bird
I think it’s also worth pointing out about every five minutes that economics as a discipline is in a period of extreme crisis, for painfully apparent reasons.
the idler
@El Cid: Indeed Sir! Just look at what the CRA did to Iceland!
catclub
@the idler:
Carroll O’Conner sang ‘Those were the days’ about them.
catclub
@El Cid:
I think subprime was another forbidden word for the GOP members. To be replaced by ‘negroes only’.
Tax Analyst
@The Moar You Know:
But on the bright side I think you have to admit that we’re very good at it. No quick, painless and easy exit for us, uh uh, right now we’re up to our shoulders in thick, fetid quicksand and the Democrats, who had a steel tow-chain but couldn’t figure out how to use it, are now trying to pull us out with old, thin, stretched out rubber bands. Meanwhile the Republicans are waiting on the sidelines with endless wheelbarrows full of muckier, crudier quicksand insisting that if we just dump a few tons of it in it will trickle-down and firm up into a strong foundation.
After we’ve finally drowned or suffocated President Palin will declare a national holiday and the Republicans will have a big victory party. “Today we will celebrate The Stoopit. We will be serving Tea along with it. You can bring your own stoopit, but if you don’t have enough we will have enough to go around. Just stop by any congressional member or senator’s kiosk; they have plenty to spare. After the Tea and Stoopit we’ll play ‘Pin the blame on the Democrats’. “
Tax Analyst
@SenyorDave:
They might not be able to elect a klansman, but that’s OK. Their Governor can still appoint him to head the state’s Civil Rights Commission.
DougJ
@John Bird:
I agree. Just don’t tell burnesbq or whatever his name is.
ppcli
@eemom:
Well that explains it. All Cretans are liars. Epimenides said so, and he was a Cretan himself, so he would know.
different church-lady
@Odie Hugh Manatee: That’s a motivational poster waiting to happen!