Fear Strikes Out

This editorial from Paul Krugman underscores the difference in what Obama aspires to and what the GOP aspires:

Fear Strikes Out

Instead, I want you to consider the contrast: on one side, the closing argument was an appeal to our better angels, urging politicians to do what is right, even if it hurts their careers; on the other side, callous cynicism. Think about what it means to condemn health reform by comparing it to the Civil Rights Act. Who in modern America would say that L.B.J. did the wrong thing by pushing for racial equality? (Actually, we know who: the people at the Tea Party protest who hurled racial epithets at Democratic members of Congress on the eve of the vote.)

GOP, I hope you change your ways. The country needs you to step away from the paranoia and cynicism and step up to the bargaining table.

  • nobody

    The factions that comprise the American Left have positioned themselves as carriers of a principle and guardians of a kind of equality, and so won the support of well-meaning people believing in those ideas. They cannot sustain that support without sustaining that position — and this bill, with its myriad deals for this group and that constituency and the other bloc, and its abandonment of so many principles, tells the tale of what the Democrats are really about.

    I think you will, in time, regret your support for these people, and wish you had found a better vehicle to advance your hopes.

    • http://blurbomat.com blurb

      Given how the GOP calculated and lost on this issue, I think that the opposite is true. The GOP has tried to claim a moral high ground for most of my life. They have lost their way. Today is about how they will go forward. Liars or humble realists.

      The choice is not mine. It is yours.

      • nobody

        If you imagine I lie, well, the more fool you.

        • http://blurbomat.com blurb

          I don’t imagine you lie.

          • nobody

            Well, it is I that goes forward against this, and many, many people like me. So maybe you had better stop worrying about the GOP. They’re the least of your problems.

            • http://blurbomat.com blurb

              Are you saying you’re a Tea Party supporter?

            • Grover Dill

              This thread has taken a turn for the creepy.

            • nobody

              Tea Party? No.

              You’re going to have start thinking about things without such easy labels.

  • Grover Dill

    I think of myself as an independent, but I was disgusted at the GOP response to the health care crisis. None of the GOP seemed to dispute Obama’s basic premise: that doing nothing to fix health care would eventually bankrupt the country, which is why I found their stalling tactics over the last year so incomprehensible.

    I found myself thinking “Is the country in crisis or not? If not, then please explain in a sensible matter why all the economists are wrong. If it is, then get your ass to the table and help figure out how to fix it.” That the GOP would opt to do neither because of an anti-Obama political calculation is incredible to me.

    In hindsight, the role of the GOP during this episode wasn’t one of a legitimate, vibrant minority party, it was one of an anchor. I can’t imagine how Republicans can feel anything other than disgust for their representatives in Washington at the way this ended up playing out.

  • leftnose
    • http://blurbomat.com blurb

      And also sum up the lies. There are HUNDREDS of GOP amendments in the final bill. HUNDREDS.

  • http://www.blessourhearts.blogspot.com Ms. Moon

    Amen.

  • http://www.firerobin.com firerobin

    The GOP will only intensify their pathetic strategy of lies as we continue to November. I don’t know if I can take it for another 7 months.

  • http://bradstein.blogspot.com Papa Bradstein

    To the paranoia and the cynicism I would add the constant campaigning. Their obstruction policy is nothing other than their campaign plan for the next elections. Stop campaigning and start governing.

  • Lesley

    Scratch the plywood veneer of a teabagger and you find a Klansman. You don’t even have to scratch. These assholes actually chanted the N word at civil rights heroes who fought against racism in Selma in 1965.

    If Republicans continue to choose to support these assholes — and not only support, but identify with them, they are DONE.