When reading the ravings of Steve Benen, one should be prepared for certain level of irony at the off. However, when coming from one of the most insufferable leftists rating on the sphere today, the following statement of Benen’s brings incredulity to a new level.
. Conceit is nearly always unseemly, but it takes a smug fool with misplaced arrogance to be truly offensive.
Ladies and gentlemen are must tell you in all candor: My irony meter just had an accident.
Thing is, he keeps going from there.
The Weekly Standard‘s Fred Barnes devotes his latest column to bashing President Obama’s economic policies. That, in and of itself, is unremarkable. Barnes is a Bush/Cheney Republican, and Obama isn’t. They’re bound to see economic policy differently.
What’s striking, though, is how Barnes presents his argument. Instead of simply making the case against the administration’s policies, he feels comfortable arguing that Obama is “an economic illiterate,” the “Know-Nothing-in-Chief,” and a leader lacking “even a sketchy grasp of economics.” This from a shameless conservative hack who has never demonstrated any proficiency in any area of public policy.
Given the effects on the economy that Obama has had…. not only in precisely the wrong direction, but in precisely the opposite direction from the one he predicted, (our economy is still in free fall, and unemployment is still going up when it’s already at a level well above the unemployment we were promised by Mr. Obama and company ) it appears that the kinder of the two conclusions that could be drawn about Mr. Obama and his economic prowess is that he is a complete economic illiterate . The only other conclusion that one could draw is he knows exactly what he’s doing and he is thereby damaging our economy intentionally. Somehow, I don’t think that’s the argument that Benen would prefer.
Benen complains about a lack of economic acumen on the part of Fred Barnes. Yet, Benen comes up with incredibly stupid lines like this :
..there’s no evidence tax increases on the very wealthy have ever stunted economic growth.
Anyone, and I mean anyone coming up with a line like that is obviously at a kindergarten level of economics or below. Else, they’re so blinded by politics that they don’t really care about the economics of the thing. Either one of those could explain Benen’s factless knee jerk support for PrezBO.
If there is anybody inserting himself into this conversation that is an embarrassment, it is Benen. One can only wonder what color this guy is on Benen’s world… but perhaps on the other hand there are some things that are better left unknown.
