Steven Chu: We Are A Nation Of "Teenagers"

Nah, those liberal elites are not too full of themselves and their Mensa membership cards. They love their fellow Americans - they really do! - but unfortunately, we're a bunch of willful adolescents who refuse to do what we are told, and must have strict guidelines and boundaries in order to live a life deemed as correct by the state.

Seriously:

When it comes to greenhouse-gas emissions, Energy Secretary Steven Chu sees Americans as unruly teenagers and the Administration as the parent that will have to teach them a few lessons.

Speaking on the sidelines of a smart grid conference in Washington, Dr. Chu said he didn’t think average folks had the know-how or will to to change their behavior enough to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

“The American public…just like your teenage kids, aren’t acting in a way that they should act,” Dr. Chu said. “The American public has to really understand in their core how important this issue is.”

Irritated at this second-rate genius yet, who can't wait to tell you how much smarter than you he is? Wait, here's more on how he expects the American people to roll over for a cap and trade bill, because, you know, there is no need for debate:

...Secretary Chu said he didn’t think that the public would throw the same political temper tantrum over climate legislation has has happened with the healthcare debate.

Asked if he expected a town-hall style pushback, Dr. Chu said he was optimistic the public would buy the administration’s arguments that energy efficiency and caps on greenhouse-gas emissions will spark an economic rebound.

“I don’t think so…maybe I’m optimistic, but there’s very little debate” that a new green energy economy will bring economic prosperity, Mr. Chu told reporters.

Somebody smack this college boy upside the head with a rolled-up newspaper, please. If he had a clue, he'd realize a large part of Barack Obama's problem is that nobody believes what he's selling anymore. After the debacle of the heath care debate, does Chu really think that an increasingly-skeptical public will buy into the global warming charade, complete with lectures from hypocrites like Al Gore, who use more carbon in a day than many of us will use in a lifetime? Does he really believe there will be "no debate" over how a huge tax increase will create new jobs, especially since such a thing has never actually happened in the history of the world so far?

Maybe Obama's prospects would be looking up a bit if he didn't surround himself strictly with out-of-touch academics who feel their degree entitles them to a respect and obedience they have never earned. A few "real people" in the administration would go a long way...but could you imagine Steven Chu being forced to listen to, and respect the opinion of, say, a mere "energy capitalist"?

He'd choke on his fois gras.....

UPDATE: The White House spin, as expected:

Energy Department spokesman Dan Leistikow added: “Secretary Chu was not comparing the public to teenagers. He was saying that we need to educate teenagers about ways to save energy.

Pul-eeeze....

UPDATE II: Via Hot Air, a look inside the liberal soul:

This is nothing more than a slightly more honest look at the attitude of the Left when it comes to governance. It’s all about paternalism and condescension, and the belief that a group of elites should be appointed to rule over the unwashed and unschooled masses for their own good. That has never been consonant with the American experience, which allows the individual to make his own choices and live with the consequences. Chu gives us a good look at the liberal soul, and most Americans will not like what they see...