Via Big Baby DougJ at Balloon Juice — Dave Weigel comments on yesterday’s rightie hysteria over Paul Krugman’s 9/11 remarks. Noting that Donald Rumfeld was so angry he canceled his NY Times subscription, Weigel said,
On a day when everyone else was flashing back to 9/11/2001, I was flashing back to the days and months later, when criticism of the Bush administration returned, and the practioners of it became, briefly, Emmanuel Goldsteins. Remember Susan Sontag? Remember the Dixie Chicks? Remember the campaign to “revoke the Oscar” from Michael Moore? There hasn’t been much criticism of the substance of Krugman’s remarks; denying that 9/11 and counterterrorism strategy became “wedge issues” is denying a few years of political history. The criticism is of Krugman for expressing it. He brushes the criticism right off.
“I’m not saying anything in that post that I wasn’t saying back in 2002, when people like him were riding high,” says Krugman. “And isn’t Rumsfeld ‘sweep everything up, related and not’ the poster child for 9/11 exploitation?”
If you’ve forgotten the “sweep everything up” reference, there’s a refresher here.
“There hasn’t been much criticism of the substance of Krugman’s remarks …. The criticism is of Krugman for expressing it.” So typical.
I avoided most of the 9-11 hype / hysteria this weekend. I wonder did any of the media do a story on how fighting the “war on terror” has bankrupted our country, that OBL won the war, we are bankrupt after all, that was part of his strategy!
There was nothing wrong, or offensive, about Krugman’s remarks– unless you, like Rumsfeld, have blood on your hands. Out, out damn spot!
I think you can largely judge the correctness of an argument by the size and intensity of the rightie backlash. Generally, the bigger the backlash, the more likely that what you’re saying is correct. By vilifying Krugman, the wingnuts are confirming that what he said is true. Similarly, the fact that Al Gore has been turned into an ogre by the righties after releasing “An Inconvenient Truth” is nearly certain proof that global warming is a real threat.
Since I don’t live in America and thus have a lot of non-American friends. Some of them are trying to make sense out of American politics, and know English well enough to read the American news media, but they’re confused by the arguing and can’t decide who is telling the truth. To them, I sometimes suggest that they read rushlimbaugh.com and figure that the truth on ANY issue is basically the opposite of whatever Rush says.
The wingnutosphere is like a weather vane that always points in the wrong direction.
“The wingnutosphere is like a weather vane that always points in the wrong direction.”
More like a mighty, fetid wind, dragging all the rest of us along, unwilling.
My state senate just sent a second (as in supernumerary) anti-gay marriage bill (more precisely, an amendment) to the House. The Gov, does not get a chance to veto, due to some loophole in the state constitution. With all the economic misery in the nation, clearly, the most important agenda item was to ram through this “no-public-comment-period” statement about their Christian hatred of this particular minority.
Oh– and btw they’ve also been working on re-segregating the schools by race.
We should have let them all secede during the Civil War, after getting the slaves safely across the Mason-Dixon line in the dead of night.
One of the “known knowns” is that Donald Rumsfeld actively exploited 9/11, and viciously attacked loyal Americans for disagreeing with his criminal war-mongering.
He can pretend his little fee-fee’s got hurt by bad old Prof. Krugman, but we know he’s just trying to distract people from the truth of Krugman’s statement. But we know where the truth is – it’s “east, west, south and north somewhat”.
The more I think about it, the more surprised I am by Rumsfeld’s reaction. After all, he of all people should know that “freedom is untidy” and that “stuff happens.” Still, I guess for a man of Rumsfeld’s position, reading what Krugman wrote was pure “enhanced interrogation”.
But we know where the truth is – it’s “east, west, south and north somewhatâ€.
Classic Rumsfeld… always certain.
Boy, who knew all of these swaggering tough guys and gals were actually thin-skinned weeping diva’s, who throw shrieking conniption hissy fits when bad reviews comes in?
I think Maria Callas had thicker skin than Georgie, Dicky, Rummy, Condi, and the rest of “The Gang that Couldn’t Think Straight.”
Ok Diva’s, pick yourselves up off that fainting couch, sit down behind that computer, and get back to writing fiction – you know, your autobiographies.
Yeah, “Shutupyoucan’tsaythat!” is a typical response, and never ever appropriate. Even complete raving loons like Malkin or whatsisname, DD (Elmer Fudd) can say what they please, and the appropriate response is to refute their nonsense point by point. (Although they don’t often make points, as such; just empty accusations and threats.)
And hey, Natalie Maines was just ahead of the curve by a few years. No crime in that.
Invasion of Iraq was the most evil calculation in American history. With Bush’s numbers falling, with binLaden’s whereabouts unknown, Bush needed a ‘proper’ war, a number raiser, an evil doer – not to mention all the soon-to-be available oil. Of course it had to be launched in March because that’s the best month, according to Madison Avenue, to launch a new product. (However, according to a WH insider at the time, the final decision to launch was when George said, “Do it. He tried to kill my daddy.”)
And who can forget Wolfy telling us that the war would be completely paid for by the proceeds from the captured Iraqi oil fields – this guy was so brilliant in all matters financial that he went on to become head of the World Bank?
I’ve always believed that Bush’s motivation for attacking Iraq was to secure Iraq’s oil supply for American corporations and secondly – punishment for Saddam for trying to kill his daddy and mocking him with that lobby floor-mural gimmick in that swanky Baghdad hotel.
Cheney had always regretted that daddy-Bush didn’t finish the job 10 years earlier so he saw 911 as an opportunity to fulfill his long-time fantasy of crushing Saddam once and for all, at taxpayers expense of course because “Raygun proved that deficits don’t matter”.
I have an RV trailer that sits on top of the cliff on the north shore of Lake Erie at a place called Clearville Park in the municipality called Chatham-Kent. Every day around 4:00 PM a USA Homeland Security predator drone flies over top of my trailer looking for terrorists -in Canadian air space I might add although that shouldn’t be surprising because Canada is also consumed by neocons – see Keystone pipeline on how right-wing extremists are destroying a livable climate for our grand kids. Is it the “War ON Terror or the War OF Terror”?