What happened after 9/11 — and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not — was deeply shameful. Te [sic] atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons.I am not exactly sure how Krugman sees it at as a potential "unifying event," but he is solid in recognizing some of the opportunists that used 9-11 to expand power and personal gain.
A lot of other people behaved badly. How many of our professional pundits — people who should have understood very well what was happening — took the easy way out, turning a blind eye to the corruption and lending their support to the hijacking of the atrocity?
Krugman's comments about 9-11 are the best I have seen in NYT.
Krugman can be very constructive when he dedicates his time to pointing out the atrocities and hypocrisies of the GOP, though I have heard his wife helps him out with the really snarky stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of the piece is to bash Republicans.
ReplyDeleteJust another variation on one of Krugman's favorite perversions, the broken window fallacy
ReplyDeleteIf you bash Republicans for the sake of bashing them, you are falling into the same old tired political game of Dems vs Repubs everyone is so tired of.
ReplyDeleteAnyone could go on and on about how the Clinton Administration set us up for 9/11. And the other side could rant on how far the Bush Administration took it with the Patriot Act, Iraq, etc.
For a blog that consistently bashes Krugman, how could you seriously agree with this guy on today of all days? He's bomb throwing on 9/11 and you AGREE with him? Nice job. The incompetence of BOTH PARTIES is still on display, even here on EPJ.
"The purpose of the piece is to bash Republicans. "
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
We all know if democrats were in white house he be praising their heroism. Krugman is the definition of a political hack.
I agree with SilverBully - For a blog that consistently bashes Krugman, how could you seriously agree with this guy on today of all days?
ReplyDeleteI am disappointed to learn that as smart as Robert Wenzel, he couldn't help but fall into the trap of "all non-libertarians must be bad guys and deserved to be bashed - regardless of by whom." (and in the process, some libertarians as well.)
@SilverBully & SheilaK: You disappointment is not justified. If Krugman says something that's right, then it is right. It shouldn't matter who said it. It takes greatness of mind to acknowledge that an 'enemy' has a point. So if anything, you should respect Wenzel for this post.
ReplyDeleteAside from the false paradigm of "REPUBLICAN" vs. "DEMOCRATS", this doodling by Krugman is some refreshing air for a mainstream political hack. That said, I wouldn't reinstate my NYT subscription because of it.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: Your argument is just like any liberals, Keynesians etc - e.g. we have sunk in trillions of dollars to save the economy, but the economy is still tanking, therefore, the stimulus must not be big enough - instead of the correct notion that: the stimulus is the wrong thing to do (that Krugman is a Democrat Hack).
ReplyDeleteYou mean we should give Krugmen credits where credit is due?Are you serious? This guy is a deranged pathological liar!
This is no "greatness of mind", my friend. This is unprincipled selectiveness! And this is exactly why it is so hard for Libertarianism to become one of the two major party - some of the spokesman for libertarianism either lack the credibility (in this example) or are too vulgar (as the young dudes in Youtube). Note: I am not saying that GOPers are principled either.They are merely "established".
@ SheilaK & Silver Bully:
ReplyDeleteFor all of Mr Wenzel's attacks on Krugman and others, he rarely resorts to Ad Hominem fallacies--he argues against ideas, not the person--which can't be said of either of you.
Don't forget: Truth is about IDEAS and if you dismiss all of a person's ideas because you disagree with some or most of that person's other ideas, you will be easily mislead by people with agendas that have nothing to do with Truth.