Curmudgeons

"Curmudgeon -- a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man." (Merriam-Webster).

Oddly, the late afternoon HuffingtonPost news page juxtaposed two of our highest placed public curmudgeons: Dick Cheney and Clarence Thomas.

The article about Cheney was a poll that asked people if they agreed with Cheney's statement: "actions Barack Obama has taken as president have increased the chances of a terrorist attack against the U.S."

Only 26% agreed, while 72% disagreed.

Of course, that won't carry any weight with our curmudgeon-in-chief. Once while he was VP, a reporter asked him about the fact that some huge number (like maybe 80%) said the country was headed in the wrong direction. He replied, "So what?" In the context, it seemed pretty clear that he meant that he didn't give a good g-damn what the people thought.

The second article was about Clarence Thomas speaking at a dinner sponsored by the Bill of Rights Institute. It seemed an odd occasion for him to declare his uneasiness with the whole concept of rights. He thinks there is too much emphasis on rights and not enough on responsibilities.

This is from an African-American man who probably has benefited from affirmative action as much as anyone in history, who denounces the very concept of affirmative action and would reverse those decisions if he could.

Bah, humbug to them both.

Ralph