An Unraveling Mind (re: Paul Krugman)

Opinion Journal/WSJ ^ | 10-21-03 | James Taranto

[veronica]

We'd have said no, but then we read - today's column.

Krugman weighs in on last week's anti-Jewish tirade by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia, and the results boggle the mind.

Most of it is criticism directed at other Muslims, clerics in particular. Mr. Mahathir castigates "interpreters of Islam who taught that acquisition of knowledge by Muslims meant only the study of Islamic theology." Thanks to these interpreters, "the study of science, medicine, etc. was discouraged. Intellectually the Muslims began to regress." A lot of the speech sounds as if it had been written by Bernard Lewis, author of "What Went Wrong," the best-selling book about the Islamic decline.

[veronica]

FYI.

[Grampa Dave]

Bumping the latest look at Krugman hatred/lies/mantras for president Bush.

[.cnI redruM]

Oh that's right, Krugman teaches economics.

[Grampa Dave]

Here is another look at the insanity of the lunatic, Krugman.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1005259/posts?page=1

excerpts:

Let me illustrate these points with a prominent columnist. As most readers of TCS know, Paul Krugman writes a semiweekly column for The New York Times. I know little about Krugman except that he is an economist. I have been reading his columns (online) for about a year. At first I thought he was a run-of-the-mill liberal critic of a conservative administration. There is nothing whatsoever wrong with that. Indeed, such criticism (loyal opposition) is vital to our democracy. Politics at its best is about policy and principle: about collective goals and constraints on their pursuit. Reasonable, well-informed, well-meaning people can and should disagree about such things. But as the weeks and months went by, I began to detect a certain meanness and unfairness, even a touch of pathology, in Krugman's columns. I now think that he hates President Bush.



The signs of Krugman's hatred are there for all to see. First, he is obsessed. Nearly every column for the past year has been about the Bush administration, and often about the president personally. I assume that Krugman has free rein as far as column topics go (just as I do at TCS), so why he focuses almost exclusively on President Bush requires explanation. Hatred explains it. Second, I have never seen Krugman make a favorable comment, even grudgingly, about President Bush. Someone might say that there is nothing favorable to be said, but that is disingenuous. Nobody is perfectly bad (omnimalevolent) and nobody performs only evil deeds (omnimaleficence). Krugman could prove me wrong by writing an occasional favorable column about the president or his administration. I will not hold my breath waiting for it.

[Timesink]

Schadenfreude

This is the New York Times Schadenfreude Ping List. Freepmail me to be added or dropped.

Please, somebody teach me how to think!

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[Steve_Seattle]

Another who NEVER writes anything but anti-Bush columns is Molly Ivins. Moreover, she's written two anti-Bush BOOKS. Yet, in total denial, she asserted in a recent column that she doesn't hate Bush. No, she doesn't hate him, she just mocks him, says he's stupid and a liar, a venal, corrupt man whose policies have the sole purpose of further enriching his already-rich, corrupt corporate tycoons, a man who wants to destroy the environment, kill blacks, and throw grandma in a snowbank.

[Grampa Dave]

Molly Poison Ivy is a rat camp follower who had worn out hundreds of sets of knee pads over the decades.

She is absolutely in the same cesspool as Krugman and Dowd.

What a waste of air she has been for decades.

[BillF]

Enjoy! Taranto scores on the hapless and mismatched Krugman:

"Somewhere in Pakistan," Krugman concludes, "Osama bin Laden must be enjoying this." Bin Laden is a sadistic man indeed if he takes pleasure in watching Krugman's unraveling.