Paul Krugman has a shameful column today, shameful even by Krugman standards.
Is it just me, or are the 9/11 commemorations oddly subdued?
Actually, I don’t think it’s me, and it’s not really that odd.
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 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.
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?
The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it…
Of course, if the commemorations were not “subdued” Krugman would be saying the same thing, except using the “oddly not subdued” commemorations as proof. It doesn’t matter what the facts are, it’s Krugman’s world view in which conservatives and Republican always are the culprits, which is the problem. Tellingly, the last sentence in Krugman’s post is “I’m not going to allow comments on this post, for obvious reasons.”
Don’t think this is just Krugman. It’s the way they really feel about 9/11, as expressed in this post by a blogger I quoted over a year ago, 9/11 Was “Right-Wing Christmas”:
Really, Mr. President, don’t you know that right-wingers love 9/11, and hold it sacred? It’s their favorite day of the year, their favorite day in living history; every year, 9/11 fills them with the unsurpassable bliss of self-righteousness. It’s a day that provided so many grievance points to them (and, as far as they’re concerned, to them alone, although those of us who, y’know, lived where the attacks took place might beg to differ) that they know they can’t possibly ever run out.
Right-wingers love 9/11 because it’s a day when they felt they became extraordinarily virtuous just for slathering their homes with flags, their vehicles with “Terrorist Hunting License” bumper stickers, their homepages with sentimental video of property destruction in a city they otherwise despise. They use 9/11 to justify hatred of Muslims, liberals — even Mexicans.
That’s how they feel, so in a sense I’m glad Krugman gave voice to it on this day. They can’t stand the fact that the attacks on 9/11 proved that their world view was wrong, and every mention of 9/11 is like a thorn in their political sides.
Meanwhile, the rest of us will continue to remember 9/11 in an “oddly subdued” manner.
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Is Krugman arguing that we should celebrate 9/11?
For Krugman, another 9/11 would be a way to stimulate the economy.
“The Conscience of a Liberal”. That’s way too scary and dark a place for me to venture.
Krugman is a despicable excuse for a human being. Smug and a coward. Note he would not allow comments on his brave spewing.
Krugman is a smug coward. I think I’m undecided on his humanity. While he qualifies on the “to err is human” so is the humility to see when you are dead wrong and decide to change direction. Krugman just doubles down on stupid, over and over and over.
And for Krugman’s edification, Obama has reinstated 9/11 as National Grandparent’s Day or National Day of Service – rather than National Remembrance of 9/11 Day. Is there any doubt Obama means to destroy everything we stand for? T.E.A. November 2012 – God help us get through the next year and God Bless the U.S.A.
From the Zip…….
http://weaselzippers.us/2011/09/10/obama-commemorates-911-anniversary-by-packaging-meals/
If the President wants to do something constructive on 9/11, grab a shovel and help build the memorial. That is the one shovel ready job that needs help. But then again, that might offend his sensibilities. Maybe he should just go back to Martha’s Vineyard. Things were so quite for those 10 days.
Here is a blog articule on the “day of service.”
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/24/obamas-plan-to-desecrate-911
“A coalition including the unsavory left-wing pressure group Color of Change and about 60 far-left, environmentalist, labor, and corporate shakedown groups participated in the call. Groups on the call included: ACORN, AFL-CIO, Apollo Alliance, Community Action Partnership, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, 80 Million Strong for Young American Jobs, Friends of the Earth, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Mobilize.org, National Black Police Association, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, National Council of Negro Women, National Wildlife Federation, RainbowPUSH Coalition, Urban League, and Young Democrats of America.
Color of Change is the extremist racial grievance group that isn’t happy that TV’s Glenn Beck did several news packages on Van Jones…
With the help of the Obama administration, the coalition is launching a public relations campaign under the radar of the mainstream media — which remains almost uniformly terrified of criticizing the nation’s first black president — to try to change 9/11 from a day of reflection and remembrance to a day of activism, food banks, and community gardens.”
What about the NYT for printing it?
[…] Professor Jacobson writes he is glad Krugman voiced his distasteful refrain, one no doubt echoed in the halls of the White House: I’m glad Krugman gave voice to it on this day. They can’t stand the fact that the attacks on 9/11 proved that their world view was wrong, and every mention of 9/11 is like a thorn in their political sides. […]
Krugman is a phony, but he’s right about the neocons.
Gateway Pundit says NYT has pulled the article.
A measure of how far things have gone. Ten years after Pearl Harbor, after the war was over and the Cold War was well under way, how many people would have looked back and felt contempt for the people who were horrified by the sneak attack that murdered so many? And if they did feel that way, how many would have thought it in any way socially acceptable to say so?
Gateway Pundit reported the story was pulled, but I am not sure that is true.
Looks to me like it is the gatewaypundit link that is down. Like Michelle Malkin’s site.
Nope.
Here it is still, in all of its “glory”. (Via Drudge)
Silly me. I don’t remember crying about people forced to jump to their deaths on Christmas, I don’t remember Christmas being about the still unbearable sorrow of walls of flyers seeking missing loved ones. Nor, when I imagine being a passenger on one of those planes, do I equate that with getting your kid his first bike.
Bush Derangement Syndrome, and its more recent mutations, is truly a terrible thing. I’m beginning to think it is incurable, and that it eats away at the brain, coating it in tar and decay the same way cigarettes affect lungs.
Only one group of people rejoiced on that day. And they drool in anticipation of their next success. Made easier by people like Mr. stupid-beyond-belief Krugman and his fellow travelers.
Even though this worldview is so predictable, it still can shock you at times.
When 9/11 occurred, I had just gone back to school. When my first class started that day it had been less than an hour or two since the towers collapsed.
The professor entered the room, strode to the front of the class, and announced,
“Well … Bush got his war.”
May I ask what school that was? As you say, it is shocking to encounter that mindset, even though it is all too clear that it exists; just reflecting on the disaster in DC over the last 32 months reveals that mindset so well.
But, personally, I would love to know what school had a professor who said this. If you feel you wish to reveal it. I personally want to keep my son and daughter from every darkening the doorways of that “fair” institution.
Thanks.
We remember. We will never forget.
Hi DINOrightMarie,
That was at Cal State, Northridge, one of the 23 campuses of the California State University system. Nah, you don’t want your kids going there. It’s not bad for working adults, though. I had just finished a master’s in landscape architecture and thought of getting a master’s in geography (landscape architecture at a large scale is pretty much applied geography).
Northridge has the biggest and best geography program in the Cal State system, but when I started working in downtown L.A., I transferred to Cal State L.A., which is only a five-minute drive from my office. Same attitude from the professors there. I was shocked when I met with the head of the department … his office door was covered with anti-conservative, anti-Republican, etc., bumper stickers.
I attended UCLA as an undergrad … same bias there.
America’s universities today are full of blame-America-first lefty professors.
On 9/11 University of New Mexico Professor Richard Berthold told his Western Civilization class “Anyone who can bomb the Pentagon has my vote.” He later apologized but was banned from teaching freshmen for a year and subjected to other penalties.
“Bush got his war”? Ironic that this professor would make such a comment. At the time of 9/11, I seem to recall a criticism of Bush was that he was ignorant of, and uninterested in, global issues. Indeed I remember him being regarded, even by his own party, as something of an isolationist. So the idea that he was spoiling for a war strikes me as odd. (maybe the intervening 10 years has messed with my memory?)
I have a hard time imagining any other president doing anything different with respect to Afghanistan. I can’t imagine a President Gore, or Clinton, doing anything much different to what Bush did in Afghanistan. And if he was so eager for a war, why did he wait a month to carry it out? If he was so unilateralist, why wait for NATO (mainly the Brits initially) to invade Afghanistan? The US could have started the war in Afghanistan on its own, on Sept. 12th, and would have had a reasonable case for doing so.
Iraq is a slightly different story. I too thought the invasion of Iraq by ground troops was a blunder, by the way. I thought there were other ways to limit Saddam’s ability to do harm but that’s another argument.
The ferret faced little weasel couldn’t take one day off from trying to divide the country and split us apart.
If he doesn’t want to honor those innocents whose lives were taken, the first responder heroes who tried in vain to save them, and the thousands of our military and their families who have been asked to make the ultimate sacrifice, then why can’t he just be quiet for one day?
He’s made a career out of spinning tragedy into a political opportunity. He’s done it with 9/11, the housing and financial crisis, Katrina, etc. Most recently he did it when Gabriel Giffords was shot and many others were killed by a lunatic gunman. Now this.
His obsession with wanting to spin tragedy into political opportunity is unhealthy. I will never understand how this pathetic little man’s mind works. It must be diseased.
Were we supposed to have a party?
Today is a day of remembrance, not a celebration.
Krugman’s comments are an indication of the nature of one of the problems we face; which is, a lot of people in positions to influence our country really don’t like our country. Krugman (by the way, did you know he is a former “Enron adviser”?)is among those who earn well, live well and eat well but really wish they could live among a better sort of people.
This isn’t just shameful, it is evil. Is there anyone on the left who envisions a united and proud America? What is the point of voicing such sentiments on the 10th anniversary of such a tragedy?
I just hope that it is yet another sign that the left has lost hope and are now swinging for the fences to hit a 20-run homer in their last at-bat like Obama’s speech last Thursday. These are the kinds of statements made by desperate men who are about to lose power and are preparing to take the fight underground.
[…] this is the most idiotic thing that anyone has said about the occasion, but it’s rivaled by Paul Krugman’s vileness, who (as Professor Jacobson notes) does us the favor of giving voice to what the loony left is […]
Planet Krugman is a sad and scary place.
[…] see over at Legalinssurection, Professor Jacobson, found Krugman’s latest tip of his tinfoil hat as repulsive as […]
Here krugman, the grandson of Jewish immigrants, this should make you a bit happier on this day of remembering pain, sorrow and death in the U.S.A.”
Have the feelings of these people changed views in the ten years following? NOPE! The bonus is, you have a head start on the beard thingy. Suggestion krugman, convert to islam.
Here’s a clip of Dennis Miller getting into it with 9/11 Truther Jesse Ventura.
It’s frightening how stupid an adult man can be. And to think he was a governor …
http://dennismillerradio.com/b/Worst-Of-Highlight:-Jesse-Ventura/900200355288038551.html
Worse than that,he was a Navy Seal.
No, he was a member of Underwater Demolition Team 12. He was a frogman, not a SEAL. The UDTs were merged with the SEALs in 1983, eight years after Ventura left the navy.
or one too many blows to the head during his rasslin’ career..?
[…] GWB became a war President and protector of the USA overnight in a split second. As stated at Legal Insurrection, what a stark contrast that Krugman provides as he kicks and screams like a child who does not get […]
I saw a link on Drudge to Krugman’s piece and came here immediately, confident that Professor Jacobson and the commenters would be saying the right things. I’m not disappointed.
ehhh, EJ Dionne of the Washington Post has a bookend piece.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/09/08/september_11_and_a_new_birth_of_freedom_111246-comments.html
Apparently he believes that there is something wrong with the choice to “take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them.”
I was there, reading The Washington Post every day after 9/11, because I’ve read my local newspaper every day since elementary school. I watched both parties in the run-up to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I was listening to what our politicians said, both before and after both of those key decisions.
And I watched the Democratic party at the national level participate in a decision to go to war, and then suddenly become vicious, inaccurate critics of that war. It later came out that they had decided to “ride the Iraq war to the White House.” I watched some politicians, like Sen. John Kerry, twist themselves into rhetorical pretzels over it. I saw another politician, Sen. Joe Lieberman, get thrown out of the party for respectfully but firmly failing to toe the party line. Funny thing, it turned out that his constituents appreciated him, even if the new party bosses did not.
Our country is not weaker, but the Democratic Party at the national level is weak, divided, and less certain of itself, because the decision to put party interest ahead of the interests of our nation has led to a cascade of bad, bad choices. The Democratic Party at the national level has separated itself from a fairly large group of its principled adherents, so that what’s left is less ethical and less competent than the previous Democratic administration.
Former Enron adviser Krugman’s supposed area of expertise is in economics. I rank his opinions regarding 9/11 (or any other area outside economics, for that matter) to be equivalent to that of, say, a Kardashian.
IOW, worthless.
“Supposed” is right. His repeated claims that “destruction of wealth is good for the economy” (aka the Broken Window Fallacy) demonstrates that he’s not too swift on economic matters, either.
[…] his part, William Jacobson seems to think that Krugman’s thinking is typical of many on the left: Don’t think this […]
Krugman is such a coward.
That “right wing Christmas” post was pretty despicable. more so when you realize it isn’t the first time you have heard it and that this is actually what they believe.
You really can’t fix stupid.
Words cannot describe my disgust. As blogger John Hayward (aka Dr. Zero) said in his Tweet, “This is it, NYT. Decision point. You endorse Krugman’s filth and cowardice if he still works there on Monday.”
He wrote a good response at Human Events on this leftist elite idiot’s diarrhea of the lefts’ “conscience.”
Thank you, Professor, for bringing reason to our ears and eyes.
[…] even for Former Enron advisor Paul Krugman. Sep.11, 2011 in General https://legalinsurrection.com/2011/09/im-glad-krugman-gave-voice-to-it-on-this-day/ If you don't share this – the terrorists […]
America on 9/11 says it is ashamed of Paul Krugman
BTW anyone else catch that Obama issued a proclamation that 9/11 is National Grandparents’ Day?
As I AM a grandparent, I’m appalled. WTF that the Left is trying to deflect 9/11 into some sort of lame 70’s peacenik song.
Obama didn’t decide today would be Grandparent’s Day. It’s a proclomation recognizing today is Grandparent’s Day.
Grandparents Day has been around since the 70s. President Carter officially made it the 1st Sunday after Labor Day. This year Obama could have easily moved it to another day, or just skipped it altogether. All us grandparents would understand and agree.
This proclamation was stupid and insensitive — traits that unfortunately flow like a mighty roaring river through this administration.
The determined day was created by an act of Congress, and all presidents are required to issue a proclamation by it. Obama couldn’t move it without breaking the law; he doesn’t have the authority. Surely you aren’t advocating that the president ignore law and do as he wishes?
The Obama administration has ignored so many more important laws — setting aside a proclamation for a day or two would be nothing.
oh for crimeny’s sake … like Obama couldn’t have rung up Reed and Boehner and cobbled together moving GP day to another Sunday this year
Obama has no problem unilaterally trying to schedule speaking before a joint session of Congress on close-to-non-existent notice .. but a proclamation issued three days BEFORE 9/11? Oh no, we can’t change THAT!!
linky
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/09/presidential-proclamation-national-grandparents-day
Educate yourself, Darleen.
GFY, “khan”.
Make that twice as Crawford typed, khan. muslim or just can’t spell?
hey khan, develop some principles.
I read this man’s entire column, and was literally shaking with rage. I consider myself a moderate/centerist independent-former-democrat voter. I did not support Bush’s decision to go into Iraq, but that being said, I unequivocally support our brave military, the personnel, and every man and woman who signed up to defend this country after 9/11 — and before as well.
After reading Krugman pschyotic rant, NYT has one decision, either keep this man on your payroll, meaning you endorse his mental disease, or fire him. I say this as 15+ year subcriber to the NYT (I cancelled my subscription in 2008).
This is now the voice of the left, and I say this as a former lefty, there are no sane voices left on the democrats side, Krugman, Maxine Waters, that CBC member (i forget his name) who said vile things about Tea Party “wanting blacks hung from trees”, this is the voice of the left and the democrats; unfiltered, out in the open.
These are the extremists, in this independent’s humble opinion. These are the very far left who are never challenged, it is the media itself.
9/11 was and is an attack on America, it will not be a community day as much as Mr. Obama wants to deem it, it was a day when evil murdered innocents, and by evil it was islamic fundamentalists. It will not be whitewashed by the left, as much as they will try. There are still millions of sane americans left in this country. This will be a day that will not be forgotten, the victims will not be forgotten, the heroes will not be forgotten, and the what really happened will not be forgotten.
As for Krugman, there are institutions that study creatures like him, I suggest to the NYT, if they have morality or sense left, to send Mr. Krugman to one of these institutions, he clearly needs a lot of mental help.
He’s not allowing comments because he’s knows exactly what they’d be, and the last they’d be is supporting his delusion that “the nation” shares his twisted worldview.
We should look upon Krugman’s hateful words as a precious gift.
Have you ever gotten the feeling that Obama goes to great lengths to craft his words to conceal what he is actually thinking? This is because Obama, and many other Democratic leaders, think exactly like Krugman. They, however, unlike Krugman, employ hypocritical decency in order not to inflame people with their utter contempt for anything but uber-liberal doctrine.
We should be immensely thankful for Krugman because he is taking what all the other Democratic leaders are actually thinking and putting it into words we can all easily understand.
As was mentioned above, after the elections of 2008, when the Democrats had complete control of both houses of Congress and the Whitehouse, they were able to take their utopian liberal dreams and put them into place though laws and policies unencumbered by any conservative (bipartisan) interference. They had the perfect opportunity to follow Krugman’s advice to the letter. Yet, in doing so they created the worst economic conditions this nation has ever suffered since its founding. The moral of the story should be clear – extreme liberals have no business governing America because their philosophy is born of hate and resentment for people of accomplishment.
The NYT has given us a great gift in publishing this man’s thoughts. He not only speaks for many Democratic leaders, he truly represents many in New York City, the epicenter of uber liberal thought.
BTW – Under Krugman’s logic, when “fake heroes” like Clinton and Gore made speeches after Columbine, they too were just cashing in on the tragedy, is that right? Did he say that at the time?
…or fake presidents, like Obama…
[…] tend to agree with William A. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection: That’s how they feel, so in a sense I’m glad Krugman gave voice to it on this day. They […]
I thought Krugnut’s blog was called “The Con Science of a Liberal”.
Leftists have always been this way. Kipling wrote this in 1930:
[…] Or as Prof. William Jacobson of the Legal Insurrection blog writes, “That’s how they feel, so in a sense I’m glad Krugman gave voice to it on this […]
Google must’ve read the column and been persuaded. After all the flack it’s taken for the what’s what of graphic celebrations of multiculti “holidays”, it ignored this entirely. Unlike both Yahoo and, especially, Bing.
“I’m not going to allow comments on this post, for obvious reasons.”
And we all know what the obvious reason is — that dissent is only patriotic if it echoes the words of America’s enemies and is directed against a conservative.
I wonder how many people do not apply to Princeton because of Krugman’s writings.
Unfortunately, probably none.
I’m more worried about the people who have applied to Princeton because of Krugman. Those are the ones who will cause us trouble in the future…
To list the number of left-wing lunatics that have simply fallen off the edge of the rational would probably fill up the internet. Krugman may not even be among the worst 100 of the worst.
At what point do these people become so irrational as to be qualified as mentally unstable? How many of them are well past that point?
I think Krugman is disintegrating, some of his hinges have lost screws, or, he’s got some other issue. A drinker? My husband, a political scientist, remarked a number of times today how offensive his comments were. Unfortunately, I stopped my NYT subsription 2 years ago, or today would be the day.
in early 2008 I read a vicious article on Hillary Clinton in the NYT. The overwhelming ferocity of the 1100 (they stopped them then ) comments led me to never read that thing again & never want to go to where those horrible people went or ever sight their opinions.
But Krugman followed me everywhere . On a “Big Ideas’ forum he declared that MaoTse did a great thing in the cultural revolution by (along with a few mistakes ) destroyed the traditional society & thus allowed China of today to emerge. . It was not his idea but that of fellow debator & Krugman then indulgently proceeded to write this down whilst still on stage & on camera.
I believe Krugman is more of a nihilist who wants to scorch America & israel of values & practices he finds old fashioned , more dangerous than just useless, & restrictions on a new & better society.
All from the pulpit of his wife’s inherited money & Maryland mansion .
In Jewish history how common is the Trojan horse analogy? He reminds me of a moneyed privileged Trotskyite . The Russians have a complex view of Jews but one which understands this & is the bases of the alternate programs./we love you thing.
[…] (Will “te atrocity” become a lasting Krugman meme?) Anyway, don’t be angry. Just be glad Krugman illustrated exactly what lies behind the have-you-no-decency schtick he sometimes affects. […]
Right-wingers love 9/11 because it’s a day when they felt they became extraordinarily virtuous just for slathering their homes with flags[.]
The thing liberals hate the most is political dissent. The second thing they hate the most is the American flag.
What perplexes me is why the NY Times continues to support points of view like Krugman’s? Are they doing it because they are duty-bound to give the leftist (mentally disturbed?) mindset a platform on which they can be viewed by all? Purely from an economics point of view, I would think the business side of the house would for purposes of survival want him out the door: I canceled my Times subscription back in 1991 but there must be many more current subscribers that wonder why they are supporting the paper. Maybe this is one of the “obvious reasons” why Krugman disallowed comments on his blog post: he doesn’t want his employer to know how clueless he and his paper come across to us folks out here in America!
Krugman is an old-fashioned Soviet commissar whose writing and “thinking,” if you can call it that, is hopelessly stained with hypocrisy and self-serving special pleading for his one and only interest in life—the advancement of a third-rate economic nag and pseudo-pundit to become a first-class pain in the tush. His so-called Nobel in economics was as well-earned as that of O’Bozo and, before that Yasser Arafat. were for advancing peace.
The Upper West Side neighborhood where he is popular represents the values of true Americans as much as those “habitants” of the 16th Arrondissement in Paris. He loves Paris and France because, like himself, it is hopelessly overrated and siuperficial.
[…] Iraq Retired General Takes Early Lead In Guatemala’s Presidential Election BLOGS & STUFF Legal Insurrection: I’m Glad Krugman Gave Voice To It On This Day Big Government: PPP Poll Shows Turner Up 47-41 In NY-9 As Obama Drives Pro-Israel Dems To GOP Jihad […]
9-11 isn’t our Christmas, it’s our Khartoum. It’s just a good thing we didn’t have Gladstone (Jimmy Carter, Al Gore) for president.
NYT: All the news that’s s*** to print.
First piece of evidence: Paul Krugman