At Human Events, Seton Motley takes note of one of the more tin eared, tone deaf remarks to hit the web in some time. On this occasion, it comes from Government Motors CEO Dan Akerson, in recent comments about the company’s future prospects, as well as its post bailout performance. To put this in context, it’s important to remember that, as recently as this month, the somewhat sunny estimates projecting that the American taxpayer would wind up holding the bag for $14.3B on GM’s rescue were downgraded to a projected loss of $23.6B. Seton is seeing a pattern.

We have for the last several months witnessed the federal government engage in the terribly shortsighted and inadequate debt ceiling and Super Committee budget debate. One tin-ear aspect of the warped focus throughout has been “How will this affect Wall Street?” Almost never has it been “How will this affect taxpayers?” In the end, it looks as if We the People will be force fed a deal that pleases Wall Street – and leaves the taxpayers on the hook for another $10 trillion… And we get the distinct impression that Akerson couldn’t care less.

Couldn’t care less? How so? Oh… like this.

”We are in the midst of transforming an iconic American company so 20 and 30 years from now (taxpayers) will look at this company and they’ll say, ‘Absolutely it was the right thing to do,’ ” Akerson said. ”And it shouldn’t be measured on did it sell for $43 or $53 (a share) or did they lose a couple billion dollars?”

Apparently, as Motley notes, “a couple billion” is now pretty much the same as 24. But hey… at least he knows enough to be grateful to his unwilling donors.

GM was saved, he said, because of the extreme generosity of Americans – a spirit that helped restore Europe and Japan after World War II and rebuilt cities such as New Orleans after natural disasters. ”We’re the most generous country, even in terrible times,” Akerson said.

Yes. We are indeed an amazingly generous people. And during this season of giving I’m sure you can all manage to feel better about yourselves because of it. The other sense one gets from reading these remarks, though, is that – in Mr. Akerson’s mind, anyway – that whole bailout thing is ancient history. Are you people seriously going to keep harping on it over and over like some group of deranged fishwives?

Besides, it’s not like it’s going to happen again or anything. Oh… wait.