"Why are you concerned about deficits by Obama, when you didn't complain during Bush when he [insert a variety of the meme strains here]."
I find it most amusing in its audacity, as well as its frequency in the commentosphere.
It is not without irony.
The irony of the remark is that "where we were" wasn't in the voting booth supporting John McCain, which is why their guy got in in the first place!
Conservatives were so angry about the shift to the middle of the taxation road that many conservatives stayed home in 2008, ceding the election to Obama by default. They also stayed home, rather than elect Republican-In-Name-Only/GOP Congressional candidates, which is also why the Democrats have a majority in Congress.
Now one could argue that it wasn't the best approach, given that Obama's deficits are exponentially greater than that of Bush's (in only the first few months of Obama's presidency) or anyone else in recorded history, but the reality is that the GOP candidate lost, partly because conservatives didn't think him fiscally (or otherwise) conservative enough. Conservatives were angry enough to stay home.
We were screaming all during the Bush years, and during the Clinton years, and the Bush years before that. In fact, conservatives have been screaming about deficits for decades. It's what we do.
We need a new law to handle this meme. I don't mean a real law. I mean something along the lines of Godwin's Law (where someone in a comment thread automatically loses the debate when they call their opponent Hitler).
With online information sources such as Wikipedia, it is quite easy for a new term like this to gain traction and documentation.
I propose that we call this new law "Klein's Law" after the infamous Ezra Klein, who manages the JournoList listserv where some of this type of spin originates.
Following on with the Godwin Law rule, anyone who suggests that conservatives were unconcerned or did not scream loudly about deficits in the past loses the debate. (I'd suggest that we have them also receive 30 lashes for lying, but that's just me.)
Other naming suggestions are welcome. I would name it after myself, but "Herself's Law" is just silly, and frankly, it would not be the type of notoriety I would welcome, even anonymously.
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