For the record, how to deal with "optimal"

[cthulu2016]

Anyone who feigns outrage that Obama agreed with Jon Stewart's phrasing that the deaths of four Americans is "not optimal" is easily countered.

This calls for the deadpan treatment.

"So you're saying it IS optimal?"

Watch them sputter.

If they persist, explain the meaning of the word optimal, like you're helping spare them some embarrassment.

"You may be misunderstanding the word. Optimal means good, and not optimal means bad. The deaths of Americans is a bad thing... that why it is not optimal."

Watch them turn red, and explode.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

1. Perfect.

[Tx4obama]

2. Christmas is coming up ...

A gift suggestion for Republican family members: A dictionary

[MrModerate]

3. Well, not exactly . . .

Optimal means "best." Not-optimal means "not best." Not the same thing and it sounds quite dismissive. It's fine for Stewart to say it — ironically — but hyperpartisan nitwits and provocateurs don't get irony.

Hence their knickers are in a twist.

The upside is that with their knickers in a twist, they're less likely to reproduce, which might give one hope for future generations.

[cthulu2016]

6. Its a tactic, not a proposed dictionary entry

There is a wide range of *correct* RW responses to feigned ignorance of the linguistic nuance, but all of them sound petty and ridiculous.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

4. Good one.

[Chiyo-chichi]

5. I don't think there's anything to deal with.

He was echoing Jon Stewart. I imagine those who feign outrage will pretend that it was the president's word choice. I think their idea (if there is one) is that the use of "optimal" rather than something like "tragic" made him seem uncaring. But he was echoing the word Stewart had just used. And we know that he's not uncaring.