Written By : John Hawkins

Ever notice that the mainstream media only accuses the public of acting like “spoiled brats” or of “throwing a temper tantrum” when liberals get tossed out of office? For example, did you hear anyone in the MSM complaining about the public being angry, irrational, and childish when they voted Republicans out of office in 2006 or 2008? Of course, not.

Yet, here’s Eugene Robinson getting an early start on a meme you are going to see over and over and over again between now and the end of the year,

The spoiled-brat American electorate

According to polls, Americans are in a mood to hold their breath until they turn blue. Voters appear to be so fed up with the Democrats that they’re ready to toss them out in favor of the Republicans — for whom, according to those same polls, the nation has even greater contempt. This isn’t an “electoral wave,” it’s a temper tantrum.

…In the punditry business, it’s considered bad form to question the essential wisdom of the American people. But at this point, it’s impossible to ignore the obvious: The American people are acting like a bunch of spoiled brats.

…The nation demands the impossible: quick, painless solutions to long-term, structural problems. While they’re running for office, politicians of both parties encourage this kind of magical thinking. When they get into office, they’re forced to try to explain that things aren’t quite so simple — that restructuring our economy, renewing the nation’s increasingly rickety infrastructure, reforming an unsustainable system of entitlements, redefining America’s position in the world and all the other massive challenges that face the country are going to require years of effort. But the American people don’t want to hear any of this. They want somebody to make it all better. Now.

Now certainly, I would agree that the American people want it all: They want painless, free solutions to their problems — that have no negative consequences. But, if we’re honest, isn’t that what all of us want in our hearts, even if intellectually, we know it’s not possible?

Yet, here’s the key thing that the “American People Are Acting Like A Bunch Of Spoiled Brats” crowd misses (and, yes, there are a few of them on the Right, too, even though most of them are on the Left),

The nation demands the impossible: quick, painless solutions to long-term, structural problems. While they’re running for office, politicians of both parties encourage this kind of magical thinking. When they get into office, they’re forced to try to explain that things aren’t quite so simple — that restructuring our economy, renewing the nation’s increasingly rickety infrastructure, reforming an unsustainable system of entitlements, redefining America’s position in the world and all the other massive challenges that face the country are going to require years of effort. But the American people don’t want to hear any of this. They want somebody to make it all better. Now.

So, let me get this straight: Politicians lie to the American people to get elected and we’re supposed to conclude that the public is full of “spoiled brats” because they get angry when they find out they’ve been misled? You’re SUPPOSED to get angry when people lie to you. You’re SUPPOSED to throw politicians out of office for lying. Do people like Robinson think the American people should thank the sociopaths in Congress for misrepresenting what they wanted to do?

Here’s an old fashioned idea: How about we demand that politicians in both parties tell the truth about what they want to do instead of accusing the public of having a “temper tantrum” because they reacted negatively to policies they never voted for in the first place?

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