You Ungrateful Slugs

President Obama yesterday told Democrats that the Tea Party protestors should be saying "thank you!" rather than protesting his policies.

The statement, outrageous in any case, is a sign of a troubling tendency on behalf of the President.

If he really believes what he said, he's out of touch with reality. Higher taxes, more regulation, an orgy of spending, a lurch to the left -- and an pronounced refusal to respond to the clear wishes of the majority of Americans -- are not generally embraced with gratitude by normal people. Could the President have confused himself with a benevolent despot, someone who does whatever he wants and then waits for the plaudits from a sycophantic public?

In the alternative, if he's baiting his political adversaries, then he's acting in a way that's distinctly unpresidential. Can you imagine George W. Bush -- or any previous president -- making such an assertion? Maybe he's trying to incite his opponents to a display of emotion that will discredit them. At any rate, such low-grade trash-talking is unworthy of his office. In case he doesn't remember, he's supposed to be President of all the people -- not just of those who agree with him.