Super economist Paul Krugman had some real zingers in his column for the New York Times today. Here are a few of the highlights.
Talking about how many conservatives reacted to Chicago losing its bid for the 2016 Olympic Games…
the episode illustrated an essential truth about the state of American politics: at this point, the guiding principle of one of our nation’s two great political parties is spite pure and simple. If Republicans think something might be good for the president, they’re against it — whether or not it’s good for America.
Krugman goes on to say…
How did one of our great political parties become so ruthless, so willing to embrace scorched-earth tactics even if so doing undermines the ability of any future administration to govern?
The key point is that ever since the Reagan years, the Republican Party has been dominated by radicals — ideologues and/or apparatchiks who, at a fundamental level, do not accept anyone else’s right to govern.
Paul Krugman is my fucking hero. (link to his blog / column)
-N
on Oct 5th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
That’s real scary – even – or maybe especially – for someone on the other side of the border!
on Oct 7th, 2009 at 9:02 am
Neil, while I don’t disagree with the assessment, I think it’s absurd to think that it’s one sided. If Bush had said the sky was blue, an army of Dems would have formed to protest the obvious oppression against pink sunrises, orange sunsets, deep purple evenings, and grey winters. He’d have been ridiculed on night shows as having said that the sky can *only* be blue, and the highest trending twitter hashtag, #skyfail, would be dedicated to ridiculing Bush’s obvious ignorance and sky racism. “Bush Lied, the Sky Cried” would become a new rallying cry.
Vitriol, deserved or not, against the sitting president is nothing new. There are two problems exacerbating our political climate. The first is a news network that profits on creating conflict. Inflaming emotions captures viewers. The second is the anonymity of the web, which erodes the normal civility most of us display in person.