It's about time our press exposes the stupidity of the comments in opposition to the stimulus package!

In an op-ed today, the WaPo's Steven Perlstein really lays into the economics-ignorant rantings coming out of Capitol Hill and their minions in the right-wing press who are out railing against President Obama's American Recovery & Reinvestment Plan. Last week, in an NPR news spot, I was really struck by the jaw-droppingly stupid comments about the part of the stimulus package that Obama wants to use to purchase hybrid vehicles for official use by our government workers. Listening to our basic economics-challenged legislators strut and crow that this is wasteful pork is almost unbearable.

Good gosh almighty. In all their legislative glory, they are unable to see how this would stimulate that part of the auto industry that needs to be stimulated right now. I can't think of a better way for our tax money to be used to set a new standard in auto purchases by US consumers, to jump-start greater research into the new technology that will get us off the oil that's contributing so greatly toward global climate change, and that will have a relatively immediate impact on reducing our overall consumption of foreign oil, a consumption that everyone knows fuels global jihadist terrorism.

Listening to these clowns and their economic proclamations reminds me of the first week I spent in Calculus 301 at the University of Florida 35 years ago, before the drop/add process weeded out the dozen or so students who really weren't up to the level of math discussion, and who insisted that the problem was with the instructor's inability to set the lectures at their level of comprehension, rather than at the level that was needed to move forward with the course.

Not only does this op-ed do a good job outlining their specious arguments, it's entertaining to boot. And it goes a long way towards making all of us realize what a difficult task lies ahead for President Obama, the task of overcoming the ignorance of those elected to national office by constituents raised and nurtured on right-wing teevee and radio.

Let's all say a prayer for President O, to give him the strength and patience to deal with these numbskulls without making them look like total idiots.