There's No Trick to It... It's Just a Simple Trick!

One of my very favorite Serious Conservative Commentator games is the one where they have their spite and eat it too. Some nut somewhere says something absurd; Serious Conservative Commenter acknowledges the nuttiness, because he is Very Serious; but because Serious Conservative Commenter is Conservative, he puffs forth a "but yet" and transubstantiates the nuttiness into a Telling Critique of Liberalism. Here is Father James Geraghty solemnly performing this everyday miracle:

Like Robert George, I was a little thrown when I saw President Obama giving a "shout-out" to somebody in the audience, moments before he discussed the Fort Hood shooting. Like Jonah, I'm not sure this is something worth making too much fuss about; Obama will do worse things during his presidency than make some off-key remarks right before offering his first comments on a national outrage.

But I'll note something mildly troubling about this, and it relates to something I've discussed with a few other righties lately. Back during the campaign, Joe Biden had said that Obama was going to be tested early in his presidency. Some might see the Iranian protests as his first test, or North Korea's increasingly regular missile launches, or the looming and seemingly ever-delayed decision on Afghanistan.Yet all of these events have seemed far away and fairly distant from the day-to-day life of average Americans.

Yesterday's horrific shooting, with the ever-rising number of dead and wounded, was one of the few days this year where you felt the need to get to a television and stay updated on a rapidly developing crisis. Inevitably, life will offer more of these moments, and next time it may be more than one individual with murder on their mind.

When the next crisis greets President Obama, I don't want him to drop the ball. Our friends on the left keep telling us about his great temperament, and feel certain he'll rise to the occasion in the face of hard calls, where time is of the essence, that would leave many men whimpering. I hope they're right.

But right now the early indicators are a bit ominous. We're two months past the request for more troops in Afghanistan, and still waiting for a decision. The next decision might be, "Mr. President, that unresponsive passenger jet is two minutes away from a heavily-populated area. But we can't confirm a hijacking, it might just be some unresponsive equipment. The National Guard pilots are awaiting your order to shoot it down."

It's not that big a deal, totally insignificant... BUT YET (abraca-pocus!) it is PROOF THAT OMIGOD OBAMA IS GOING TO LET THE TERRORISTS KILL US! SHRIEK!

Besides that, the Ft. Hood killings are not the first mass killings to take place in the US during the Obama presidency. Why, not a mile from where I sit right now, there was a mass killing. But this apparently did not constitute a "test," and neither did that bit of fun with the Somali pirates, and so forth, because this cute little idiotic gotcha didn't happen to occur to Geraghty at the time. Or, more likely, it did, and he's just recycling, but I can't be bothered to look it up. Suffice it to say that Obama is obviously -- OMIGOD HERE COMES A PLANEFUL OF TERRORISTS SHRIEK.

MORE. Oh the sins of Obama! From the American Thinker, the most hilariously misnamed publication in the entire history of everything:

When he finally got around to the purpose for his public appearance, he gave an uninspired and rambling dissertation on the tragedy.  Even then, he could not keep the topic focused on sympathy for the pain of others:

I want all of you to know that as Commander in Chief, that there's no greater honor, but no greater responsibility for me (emphasis his) than to make sure that the extraordinary men and women in uniform are properly cared for...

Poor soul, it's so saddening to know how this tragedy affects him. Listening to this address provides some insight into Obama's character and how he ranks his priorities.

There's that uppity black fellow again, talking about himself like he's the president of the United States or something. How gauche.

MAS! Let the douche rumpus start...

Comments

[RoninJin]

So, commenting on a random act of violence that has already occurred, thoughtfully deliberating on a long term commitment on a continuing occupation of a country, and responding to a sudden but ambiguous “Terrorist” event are all the same type of thing? What does his reaction or action on one thing tell you about the others? Nothing.

Gods, these people are stupid.

[HumboldtBlue]

We've been committing mass killings in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003. I guess they don't count though, it's just a bunch of brown people who worship the wrong god.

[How does it feel to look like candy?]

The cutely caustic casuistry of concerned cunts, as Safire might have said. That said, I also found it a little odd when Obama offered a "shout out." It didn't bug me, but it struck me as odd enough that I noticed, and thought "That's a little Carson Dalyesque, Mr. President."

[Davis]

So they are so stupid, or crazy, or dishonest to claim that taking responsibility for his duties as president is evidence of narcissism? American "Thinker" indeed.

[actor212]

There's that uppity black fellow again, talking about himself like he's the president of the United States or something. How gauche.

Thers, I've been a faithful reader of yours since...well, since we were somehow paired up in the Weblog awards two years ago.

I have never read a finer piece of skewering by you than this.

[flory]

Yesterday's horrific shooting, with the ever-rising number of dead and wounded, was one of the few days this year where you felt the need to get to a television and stay updated on a rapidly developing crisis.

Y'know....not really. I didn't actually find myself compelled to remain glued to the teevee listening to the same talking heads repeating the same not-really-news for hours on end.

I guess that makes me un-american or something.

Or maybe I have a real life?

[g]

Oh, right. The old, "He didn't behave badly as I thought he would, but because I think he could have, I believe its true."

[focus]

I just heard the news - your family is in the prayers of my family - peace

[Suzan]

Douchebags Galore!

Reads like a bad James Bondist plot doesn't it?

I have to agree with Davis.

Fine fine fine skewering.

Excellent political event dissection occurs here.

We could only wish that Safire had been this acute in his depiction of rightwingnuts (as your readers are):

The cutely caustic casuistry of concerned cunts, as Safire might have said.

Nuff said.

S

One of my very favorite Serious Conservative Commentator games is the one where they have their spite and eat it too. Some nut somewhere says something absurd; Serious Conservative Commenter acknowledges the nuttiness, because he is Very Serious; but because Serious Conservative Commenter is Conservative, he puffs forth a "but yet" and transubstantiates the nuttiness into a Telling Critique of Liberalism.

[StringonaStick]

Flory, I'm with you. Pretty much the last thing I do when there is a breaking story of this type is go stare at the TeeBee and watch the talking heads speculate their tiny little asses off; I can do that all by myself if I want to, and I don't need a guide or handholder, especially one with too-perfect hair.

I prefer written media for a reason - I can avoid being constantly assaulted by images chosen because they have the greatest visceral impact, and I can read as much actual information (rather than unfounded speculation) as I want. "If it bleeds, it leads" has done a great job of dumbing down public discourse and reducing it to lizard brain responses. We all know how well that works.

[Bitter Scribe]

What Stringonastick said. Plus, news sites have one important (to me) thing in common with newspapers: They're user-selective. You can choose what you want to read, as opposed to having to wait until Lou Dobbs is done hyperventilating because someone carried a Mexican flag down the street.

[Mr. Wonderful]

Concerned priest troll is concerned in a priestly manner.