It would seem that President Obama seems to have a bit of a problem with the concept of “cause and effect.” This is hardly surprising – the man is essentially a glorified political science major* – but it is, upon reflection, a bit awkward. Seeing as the man will still be president for about seven months, and thus technically responsible for the country in that time period, it’s probably best if the rest of us provide Barack Obama with some practical examples of the concept.

So, let us do so.

• Cause. “…Barack Obama wasn’t in a mood to hear them out. He stopped the conversation and offered a blunt reminder of the public’s reaction to such explanations. “Be careful how you make those statements, gentlemen. The public isn’t buying that.” “My administration,” the president added, “is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.”
• Cause. Healthcare Protestors Wield Pitchforks, Torches in CT.
• Cause. “President Barack Obama has now, unfortunately, embraced the anti-capitalist, anti-markets Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement as a way of continuing to occupy the Oval Office for another term.”
• Cause. “Now, just as there was in Teddy Roosevelt’s time, there is a certain crowd in Washington who, for the last few decades, have said, let’s respond to this economic challenge with the same old tune. “The market will take care of everything,” they tell us. If we just cut more regulations and cut more taxes – especially for the wealthy – our economy will grow stronger.”**
• Effect. “Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign and the super PAC supporting it are outraising Obama among financial-sector donors $37.1 million to $4.8 million.”

Funny how that works, huh? The President ran as a moderate, rules as a clueless radical, has let partisans scream class warfare rhetoric for years, and lectured a bunch of people about how to do their jobs… and now Obama’s probably wondering why Wall Street is abandoning him in favor of a candidate who actually understands the dialect of English that Wall Street actually speaks. Which probably makes no sense to Obama: after all, didn’t he warn them about the pitchforks.

:sigh: Political science majors. To paraphrase Tom Clancy: those guys think that they can change the world if they just wish hard enough.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*It takes real skill to find an academic field of study that English majors (Hi!) can legitimately look down upon, but poly sci and sociology somehow manage it.

**I know, I know: this is blatantly obvious to anybody who gets the elementary principle that regulations act as brake on economic activity. But Barack Obama doesn’t believe it’s true, which is what matters in this context.