Dog Bites Economist
In case you haven’t noticed, my buddy Paul Krugman kicked over the Conservative anthill on 9/11. I haven’t bothered to read any of the words the hurt dogs are yelping about. I just plugged “Krugman” into Google and hit the news button. The first one up:
Rumsfeld cancels NYT subscription over ‘repugnant’ Krugman column
”“After reading Krugman’s repugnant piece on 9/11, I canceled my subscription to the New York Times this AM,” Rumsfeld’s office tweeted this morning.”
Let’s get distracted for a moment. First, it wasn’t a column. It was a blog. Krugman writes a column for The New York Times twice a week. Read by millions. He also writes a blog, virtually everyday. Read by (I suspect) somewhat fewer people. I doubt if one of them is Don Rumsfeld. Just as I seriously doubt if Don Rumsfeld “tweets”. I have no doubt his “office” does. But enough about the “snowflake” king. You can read about him on your own.
All you have to do is read Krugman’s blog for yourself and you can see the nuance that the publication above edits out. This charade has nothing to do with 9/11 and everything to do with the fact that Paul Krugman is one of the most effective critics of America’s rabid right wing. Never mind that he criticizes Obama, the European financial policy makers and basically any other “VSP” in the world that doesn’t make sense. (If you don’t read Krugman enough to know what a VSP is -- you don’t read Krugman enough.)
The right wing pack is just doing what it does. It’s no more news than “dog bites man”.
P.S. Okay, I find I have to explain the “hurt dog yelps first” reference. I thought it was a widely-used old saying. I guess not. When you have a crowd clamoring that they’re injured, it’s the one that “yelps first” that was really injured. The other noisemakers are just part of the pack and afraid they’ll get hurt too.
If Rumsfeld is the first “dog that yelped”, he’s the one stung by Krugman’s criticism.
Don Brown
September 12, 2011
Comments
That article^H^H^H^H^H^H^H posting was, as journalism goes, garbage.
I'm no neocon, nor a Bush supporter, nor even a Republican. Just a critical thinker.
A braver man might have submitted a rebuttal, especially since he was an insider.
Then again, maybe that's precisely why he won't.
Keep up the good work, Don.
Without knowing your background...
There's a huge difference between a blog and a column. I've written both. The biggest difference being an editor. (As far as "unsubstantiated", see today's blog.)
I understand that you (and others) might not share my opinion of Krugman -- and that there is a lot of "gray" between agree and disagree. I found the blog post accurate -- and courageous.
Don Brown