Tire inflation and Republican stupidity

By Michael J.W. Stickings

With all due respect to my friends on the right -- and I have a few, if not many -- Republicans are an incredibly stupid and malevolent bunch of morons.

That may be stating the obvious -- okay, it is stating the obvious -- but what else are we to make of the coordinated attack on Obama for stating recently that energy can be saved by keeping tires inflated?

First, it's not like Obama's entire energy plan focuses on tire inflation. Second, Obama's right. (Have you ever tried to ride a bicycle on flat tires? Keeping tires inflated, whether car or bicycle or whatever, is simply the right thing to do.)

But, of course, this isn't about the facts, nor about a serious debate over energy policy -- Republicans as usual have the facts against them and long ago sold out to the oil industry -- it's about scoring cheap political points at the expense of the truth, a cornerstone tactic of Republican politics.

For more on this, see Steve Benen over at The Carpetbagger Report:

We are, quite obviously, in the midst of a very aggressive roll-out here. John McCain criticized the notion of well-inflated tires on Friday, and Newt Gingrich described Obama's remarks as "loony toons" during a Fox News interview. Yesterday morning on ABC, McCain said, "It seems to me the only thing [Obama] wants us to do is inflate tires" to improve gas mileage.

And over the weekend, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, still auditioning for the role of VP, took to using a tire gauge as a prop.

And the media, of course, are playing right along, reporting what the Republican Smear Machine is churning out without context or criticism, juxtaposing Obama's energy plan and Republican smears as if the latter were in any way worthy of the former, focusing on the politics rather than the policies, and, indeed, repeating the Republican talking points as if they were serious contributions to the discussion.

"There’s something deeply wrong with these people," Steve remarks. I'd say that's an understatement.

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Make sure to read Steve's excellent post in full for background and context.