When a parent gives in to a child's temper tantrum in just makes the tantrums worse.

[Odin2005]

The same applies to giving in to the Teabaggers' temper tantrums.

[pnwmom]

1. A child doesn't have the ability to destroy the country's economy.

And a child can be restrained by a parent.

I don't see this analogy applying very well.

[saras]

13. A child can easily destroy the parents' "economy" by burning the house down

And the teabaggers could be restrained by law. The list of laws they are breaking in regard to elections is absurdly long and expanding daily. Were Obama to use all the powers Bush left to him, he could restrain them - in Gitmo if need be - without difficulty. He is the commander in chief of the armed forces, Bush gave him the power to use them inside the United States, and there is no real threat of a military coup.

It's "don't want to", not "can't".

[pnwmom]

18. We couldn't put them all in jail, no. The Republican-led House has

just as much authority as the Democratic-led Senate. There's no getting around that fact, and it's certainly not by putting the majority of Rethugs in jail.

[ejpoeta]

14. It actually does in an analogous way.

When a kid doesn't get what they want they start by maybe screaming. It works well in public places because mortified parents usually end up giving in to the parents. I saw it many times when I worked at the grocery store. The kid would scream and throw their fit through the whole store and then they'd get to the register and the parent would give them candy or something else to get them to quiet down. When they were almost out the door!! This is almost worse than giving in right away because the kid now knows that if they keep it up it will eventually pay off.

Now the thing here is that these kids expand this beyond wanting a toy. I want to watch tv! I want that toy! No, suzie is playing with it. I want it, NOW! And they are given it because of the fear of them having a tantrum. They have now taken the control in the family. I see kids like this. Do they explode the economy? No. But the same thing that gets you that kid whose parents are afraid to get him upset because he might act up so they give him whatever he wants is what has gotten us this temper tantrum tea party which sure was wanting to just default. Not raise the debt ceiling.

[pnwmom]

17. But the fundamental difference is that as a parent you can control your child.

You are not equals in authority.

We have two Houses in Congress and they have equal authority. One happens to be run by the two-year olds, but that doesn't mean we can control them like a parent would do.

[TheCowsCameHome]

15. The one the GOP has spawned does

[Cerridwen]

2. Shhhhhhhh.

Rope a dope.

Multi-dimensional chess...or poker...or

"Chill the Fuck Out; I got this!"

[SpartanDem]

3. Fine where you ok killing the global ecomony?

Because that's one hell of tantrum

[Cerridwen]

4. Death by a thousand cuts is sooo much better.

Don't you think?

[SpartanDem]

6. Not really both of them suck

the default just sucks a little less

[Cerridwen]

7. And makes it possible for "everyone" to play along as though "we" have

a say.

How nice is that? /sarcasm

[Odin2005]

5. All Obama had to do was threaten to have Geithner start making money to pay off our debts.

That would send the Wall Street parasites into a panic and they would BEG for mercy.

[TheWraith]

9. There's a word for that. It's called inflation.

And it's what the Weimar Republic did back in the '20s to pay off their war reparations. Ever see a photo of someone with a wheelbarrow full of bills going to a store to buy a loaf of bread? That's from the Weimar Republic.

[Odin2005]

11. Not if it only last for a few days until the Pukes are scared into a deal.

[TheWraith]

12. And again, the criticism is based on the assumption that the Tea Party will act rationally.

And that if they see that something bad will happen as a result of their ideology, they'll back down. Seriously folks, :wtf:

[wtmusic]

8. Nonsense. You think corporatists would have allowed that to happen?

Plain and simple: Obama chickened out.

As I've maintained from the start, Obama is not a leader. He's a follower.

[Kaleva]

10. They sure are having a temper tantrum now.

[seabeyond]

16. but the american people are the parents, not obama. nt