self-congratulatory

• “We suspect that, for most people, the difference between “self-congratulatory idealism” and admirable idealism comes down to this: If the idealism is about something that is safely in the past or safely far away and has nothing to do with me, it's admirable, or at least harmless; if it does have something to do with me and my behavior, then it must be judgmental and self-congratulatory.”

  Philocrites: This week at uuworld.org: Heroes' dilemma.

• “But the more Mr. Rogen injects the story with needed energy, the more he makes Kyle's reflexive glibness seems like his own glib, self-congratulatory shtick, and the closer he comes to wearing out his welcome by dominating the movie.”

  The Wall Street Journal: '50/50': Cheerful Illness Tale, With Relapses

• “The Imperialists Are Still Alive! avoids the pitfalls of taking itself too seriously in that particular alternative, self-congratulatory way, instead making fun of those that do.”

  The Huffington Post: Fatima Bhutto: HuffPost Review: The Imperialists Are Still Alive!

• “By way of Cakeadelic, whose humility burns with the intensity of a thousand self-congratulatory suns:”

  You Looking at Me?: Batman Cake [Geeky Cake]

• “In a self-congratulatory “EXCLUSIVE,” the Washington Times reports that a letter from the United States Commission on Civil Rights “says some little-noticed provisions in the House health care bill are racially discriminatory, and it intends to ask President Obama and Congress to rewrite sections that factor in race when awarding billions in contracts, scholarships and grants,” but this “exclusive” buries the lede.”

  Wonk Room » Bush Holdovers At Civil Rights Commission Attack Health Reform

• “Just get over yourself Rees and enjoy the win, not pontificate over your self-congratulatory observations.”

  The Guardian: Wales v England: five things we learned from Six Nations 2011 opener

• “The political naivete of precisely the most preening self-congratulatory “realists” never ceases to astound me.”

  Matthew Yglesias » Defections from the Left

• “Indeed, the seductive and self-congratulatory narrative of our troops as selfless liberators and the finest freedom fighters around actually helps blind us to our violent methods in far-off lands, even as it distances us from the human costs of our imperial policies.”

  The Huffington Post: William Astore: Freedom Fighters for a Fading Empire: What It Means When We Say We Have the World's Finest Fighting Force

• “The final words the audience hears as the credits for Five Weddings and a Felony start to roll are a self-congratulatory "And, oh yeah, I finally finished my film!”

  The Huffington Post: George Heymont: Invasion of the Narcissists

• “So, having to sit next to members of the opposition clearly made members of the majority a little self-conscious about those self-congratulatory and pandering bursts of applause whenever the incumbent explains how deeply he loves apple pie and motherhood.”

  The Guardian: The state of the union: Obama's appeasement strategy | Michael Tomasky

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