Joseph Nigro: A Lesson In Cognitive Dissonance

First some excerpts of the cognitive:

Fox News - WASHINGTON - Unemployment is up. The stock market is down. Let's party.

The price tag for President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration gala is expected to break records, with some estimates reaching as high as $150 million.

Despite the bleak economy, however, Democrats who called on President George W. Bush to be frugal four years ago are issuing no such demands now that an inaugural weekend of rock concerts and star-studded parties has begun.

In 2005, Reps. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., and Jim McDermott, D-Wash., asked Bush to show a little less pomp and be a little more circumspect at his party.
 
The thinking was that, with the nation at war, excessive celebration was inappropriate. Four years later, the nation is still at war. Unemployment has risen sharply.

And Obama pressed Congress to release the second half of a $700 billion bailout package in hopes of rescuing a faltering banking industry.

And now, for you dissonance fans:

Obama's inauguration committee says it is mindful of the times and is not worried people will see the four days of festivities as excessive.

"That is probably not the way the country is going to be looking at it," said committee spokeswoman Linda Douglass.

"It is not a celebration of an election. It is a celebration of our common values."

Douglass said the campaign sought to keep costs down by having the same decorations at each of the 10 balls, eliminating floral arrangements and negotiating prices on food.

"Those at the Obama administration are trying to be reflective of the climate," McDermott's spokesman, Mike DeCeasar, said Saturday.

See kids, learning can be fun unless you’re a liberal.

And with a little bit of sympathy you can try to imagine the vibration inside the heads of these people struggling daily with realities conflicting with their own indefensible “personal truths”.

Not a pretty picture.

Our greatest fear, however, is Washington D.C. is going to be permeated with the smell of pee for the next three months, as unprecedented numbers of people spontaneously wet themselves at the first sight of “The One” they’ve been waiting for.

Perhaps Sheryl Crow will walk the crowd handing out single squares of toilet tissue before too many end up with their panties frozen to their butts.

And kids – Important safety tip – Do not stick your tongue on the Washington Monument.