Creator Of Dilbert Responds To Critics [Ben]

The creator of Dilbert, Scott Adams, endorsed Romney last week. You can read the endorsement here.

An excerpt:

So while I don't agree with Romney's positions on most topics, I'm endorsing him for president starting today. I think we need to set a minimum standard for presidential behavior, and jailing American citizens for political gain simply has to be a firing offense no matter how awesome you might be in other ways.

Please note the updates to that post. They are hilarious. He takes down just about everyone that links to the story for taking his endorsement completely out of context. He also gets some good jabs in at the Daily Kos, Gawker, Politico, and Mediaite.

Scott decided to write a follow up post to address some of the criticisms he was receiving. You can read that entire entry here. As with the first one, I highly recommend you read the entire thing. Don't depend on me for context. Although, I'd like to excerpt two gems from this post.

First, Scott's very practical when it comes to politicians and what they need to do to get elected.

Romney knows that the electorate is full of idiots and he needs to be a gigantic liar to win their votes. I totally get that. The funniest part is his budget plan that he promises to describe in detail after he gets elected. Dumb people see this as "He has an awesome fiscal plan!" Democrats see it as "He's a liar with no plan!" I see it as "You know I'm a brilliant and experienced turnaround guy. I know how to do this sort of thing. And if I give details now it just paints a target on my back. So chill."

Second, Scott addresses critics who claim he's only endorsing Romney to enrich himself.

So no, I don't see a scenario in which someday I am flying my diamond-encrusted helicopter over the rioting masses of starvation-crazed ex-middle-classers and thinking to myself that things worked out well for me. I don't see the option of living the good life at the expense of the 99%. That's not even a thing. I stopped working to satisfy my personal cravings years ago. Everything I produce and everything I earn these days is for the benefit of others. So I don't mind higher taxes on the rich if it makes sense for the country. With the exception of M.C. Hammer, the rich get richer no matter what the tax rates are. I'm afraid that won't change regardless of who gets elected.

Ace mentioned this phenomenon the other day. That centrist, libertarians, democrats and people who aren't right leaning political hacks are openly pointing out that Obama isn't doing a very good job. Each group has their own reasons, in Scott's case it has to do with the unpresidential* actions of Barack Obama arresting quasi-legal marijuana users for political gain.

I write quasi-legal because in some states marijuana use for medical reasons is legal. Obviously this contradicts federal law, but Scott rightly points out that Obama's sudden decision to enforce those laws is political given that the resources of the federal government are limited. Obama could easily let this slide and is choosing not to do so for some political reason. Scott points out that Obama hasn't given a reason, so it is fair to assume it is for political gain.

Be sure to read both his posts for yourself.

*Probably not a word.

posted by Open Blogger at 01:04 PM

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