President Obama, in his own words, speaking at a town hall meeting in Missouri, April 29, his 100th day in office:

"When you see, you know, those of you who are watching certain news channels on which I'm not very popular, and you see folks waving tea bags around, let me just remind them that I am happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care costs down over the long term, how we're going to stabilize social security."

"Claire [McCaskill] and I are working diligently to do basically a thorough audit of federal spending."

"But let's not play games and pretend that the reason is because of the Recovery Act, because that's just a fraction of the overall problem that we've got."

Anyone still seriously arguing that Obama is not arrogant, often thin-skinned and sometimes even petty? Really? With a straight face? Please remind me not to buy a used car from you, then. And I don't want to buy that bridge in Brooklyn, either, so fugeddaboutit.
 
"...those of you who are watching certain news channels on which I'm not very popular..."
Do you mean those which report on what you're doing, rather than just what you're saying, Mr. President? Those which question your actions sometimes, rather than just slavishly hanging on your every word? Those news channels? Gee, don't be so thin-skinned. Actually, I'm surprised to hear you say "news channels," plural. I thought there was really only one - Fox News. But, okay, maybe there's more than just one, at least occasionally.

"...and you see folks waving tea bags around..."
Those "folks waving tea bags around" were Americans, Mr. President - hundreds of thousands of them, in a truly grassroots movement, from all political persuasions, from all across the country, angry at our government (their government), the Congress (their Congress) and your White House (their White House) and protesting to be heard - and the best you can do is refer to them dismissively, almost derisively? Why, you would think you were just another arrogant American, being dismissive and derisive about the Europeans again.

"...let me just remind them that I am happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care costs down over the long term, how we're going to stabilize social security."
So, by implication, their protests were not serious but you will be glad to have a serious conversation with them about what you want to talk about. No, Mr. President, you don't always get to choose what you want to have serious conversations about with the American people. Sometimes they choose. And if you choose not to listen, then you will lose in the long run

"Claire [McCaskill] (U.S. Democratic Senator since January 2007 and former Missouri State Auditor) and I are working diligently to do basically a thorough audit of federal spending."
Oh? And how is that going for you so far? I mean, aside from one of your cabinet-level departments suddenly "discovering" that it could save millions of taxpayer dollars just by ordering office supplies in bulk (duh!), by you "saving" American taxpayers $100 million (about .002 percent of your budget), and also about $17 billion, mainly by cutting Department of Defense spending on about 120 programs, during a time of war being fought on two fronts, while your pork-laden, so-called stimulus package, your even more porky budget and your set-asides for future projects (health care reform) for which you don't even have a plan to implement yet are sending deficit spending into the trillions of dollars which our children and even our grandchildren will have trouble paying off. Please let me know when you and "Claire" come up with some real savings, some real contraction of runaway government spending. Then, I'll give you some credit. But, don't expect any from me just based on what you say you're doing or going to do. Seeing is believing.

"But let's not play games and pretend that the reason is because of the Recovery Act, because that's just a fraction of the overall problem that we've got."
Well, finally, Mr. President, you and I agree on something. But, first, you're wrong to imply that the TEA Party protesters were "playing games." They were not. They were serious and angry at their government for not listening to them. You had people protesting who had never protested before in their lives, about anything, and taking time off from work to do it - and you had them by the hundreds of thousands. However, what you're right about is that their protests weren't just about your so-called Recovery Act, and they weren't "pretending" that it was. They were angry about much more than just that, although that was one thing which many Americans think you and your Democratic Congress pushed through without proper input or consideration.

Oh, and we agree on something else, too. "..the Recovery Act, because that's just a fraction of the overall problem that we've got." Yes, Mr. President, your Recovery Act is just a fraction of the overall problem we've got. Some of us know that. Some of us who know that were among the TEA party protesters, and will be again on July 4th. You and the Democratic Congress have done much more than just that to try and move this country to the left, to take over businesses in order to "save" them, to redistribute the wealth of this country from those who earn it to those whose votes you can buy with it, and to deficit-spend more than any of what little may remain into creating multi-generational debt. Yes, Mr. President, some of us know your so-called Recovery Act was only the beginning. But we also know that, hopefully, your "beginning" may be short-lived. After all, 2010 and 2012 are coming, thank goodness - and probably not any too soon, either.