Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Ezra Klein Plumbs The Depths of Stupidity

I never bother much with the nonsense of Ezra Klein, a lefty blogger who works for the Washington Post or thereabouts. I've seen him give other conservatives fits, but to me he's nothing more than a kid who has a way with fancy prose, but much less skill in the realm of logical, coherent thought.

Sounds like a certain president I know....

Anyway, I note a post by Ezra today in the WaPo only because it so typifies the liberal way of thinking in a way so few other pieces really can. I'll reprint it here, in full:

Annie Lowrey catches something unexpected: The arrested subject of last weekend’s Times Square bomb plot is a homeowner in the midst of foreclosure. Here's MSNBC:

[Faisal Shahzad] defaulted on a $200,000 mortgage on his Connecticut home and the Shelton property is now in foreclosure, according to court records. The foreclosure records show Faisal Shahzad took out the mortgage in 2004, and that he co-owned the home with a woman named Huma Mian. Chase Home Finance LLC sued Shahzad, 30, in September to force the foreclosure. The case is pending in Milford Superior Court.

This guy is like string theory for the media: He brings together the seemingly incompatible stories that drove the past decade. That said, you of course don't want to speculate on why someone "really" did something. The hearts of men are opaque, and motives are complex. But it's a reminder that foreclosures generate an enormous amount of misery and anxiety and depression that can tip people into all sorts of dangerous behaviors that don't make headlines but do ruin lives. And for all that we've done to save the financial sector, we've not done nearly enough to help struggling homeowners.

The hearts of men are opaque??? Let's see, son - he's a Muslim who hated Bush and the Iraq war, who trained in Pakistan and tried to kill hundreds of innocent civilians as revenge for Predator drone strikes in Pakistan. What the f*ck is opaque about that, kid?

The problem for Klein is threefold: Repeated attacks by Muslims on American civilians undermines their theory that if we only made nice to them, the Islamists would love us. Secondly, since Shahzad has pointedly referred to the Predator drone strikes, the Kleins fear that liberal's ultimate anti-war argument can now be used against them: Fighting terrorists creates more terrorists. In this case, it is specifically Obama's war strategy that almost killed hundreds of New Yorkers last week.

Finally, Klein, like most of the Left, had already decided that the bomber had to be a teabagging, right-wing nut. After all, didn't Obama and Clinton and the New York Times all declare that the Tea Party's unthinkable desire to oppose Obama was virtually sedition and was fated to lead to violence? This was the proof that the better thinkers were once again correct!

Actually, it was proof that our elite was once again incorrect about the world around us. But when Ezra Klein and the Left decide the reality they live in just won't conform to their preconceived notions, rather than re-examine their thought processes, they seek to change reality.

The Ft. Hood shooter wasn't a crazy jihadi, he suffered from PTSD despite never serving in combat. 9/11 had to be an inside job, or perpetuated by the Israelis. And the almost-bombing of Times Square had nothing to do with the Muslim suspect's confession that it was all about the Predators, it had to be something else. Like...home foreclosures! Yeah, that's the ticket!

But it seems as if Klein's readers are a bit smarter than he is. A sample of the commentary:

Oh please. I'm sure if i'm plotting a bombing and intending to flee the country, paying my bills would be the top of my to do list.
besides, wasn't he in pakistan for a few months? Guess he forgot to sign up for his bank's auto-bill pay feature.

Was the guy a Muslim? Because, unless I've missed something, that tends to be the common factor in recent terrorist plots. Not home foreclosures.

The, I'm in foreclosure so I'll go blow something up theory? Where are all the terrorists (homegrown or otherwise) before this? This is your weakest argument ever.
I'm thinking Nevada or Michigan would have been hit harder than Times Square because there are many more foreclosures there. but hmmm. no.


I wonder, Ezra, do you think the radicals of oh, a certain community, hate you any less for co-cooking up this unsolicited defense on their behalf? I bet ya do, don't ya? Nope-you appear as stupid to them as you do everyone else that read this comedy piece.
Stay tuned for Ezra's next piece on why bees sting people!


...But for him [Ezra] to suggest that American taxpayers should be covering the mortgages of terrorists to keep them happy is shameful.
Are you certain this article was not meant for theonion.com
?


OK Ezra, I've wasted just enough virtual ink on your inanity. Shame on the WaPost for giving a child a place to spew such silliness.

Actually, I have heard more coherent arguments from an eight-year old on why they should have another cookie before bedtime.....

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