I know this story is a month old, but I wanted to hit it for a second. I'm always amazed by conservatives' behavior when it comes to their feelings about the poor in this country. Here's K-Lo from the NRO:

Robert Rector has been pointing out for longer than I can remember that America has the wealthiest poor people in the world. And here seems to be a photo illustrating that: Michelle Obama was at a homeless shelter. While distributing lunch, one of the men she was serving lunch to took a picture of her on his cell phone.

I don't envy this man's situation, whatever it is, and don't mean to make light of it. But we are a blessed people when our poor have cell phones.

She has no idea in what context this photo was taken or why this person has a cell phone, but she is just amazed that poor people are running around, eating our food, driving Cadillacs and making calls on cell phones. Wouldn't you like to see her penniless and on her own for 180 days to see what would happen? Andrew Malcolm is an Internet friend of mine, but I see he has the same opinion.

Searching for something (anything) to bitch about when it comes to the Obama's, Andrew Malcolm seizes on Michelle Obama serving food at a homeless shelter in order to point out that some filthy homeless person is taking a picture of the First Lady with a cellphone. Blissfully unaware of cheap disposable cellphones that can be purchased anywhere, Malcolm wonders where the disgusting parasitic poor have their phone bills delivered. Later Malcolm will review older pictures from the last Republican Depression That FDR Was Responsible For and wonder why all the poor guys begging for bread were wearing such spiffy suits and nice hats.

Looking at how they relate to the poor in this country I'm coming to understand that it's not a political position that they hold, but more of a psychological disorder/ Since Jung and Freud are not around, I'll give it a diagnosis from the DSM IV:

"Greed Transference"

I think it can be traced to their early childhood experiences. K-Lo is playing in her sandbox with a new Barbie Doll and another kid wants to touch it and hold it for a minute, but she clutches it tightly to her body and yells: "Mine!" It's a reflexive action triggered from their past, and in K-Lo's experience she's afraid that the poor kid with no shoes will steal her little dollie even though she has 127 brand new ones stacked in her closet -- unopened. It continues on well through Erikson's eight stages of Psychosocial development and results in writings, rantings and beliefs by the wingnut punditry class that are demonstrated by their incessant screams of "Socialism" on my TV.