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01/30/2004 Archived Entry: "Krugman: 'No Apologies'"
Krugman: 'No Apologies'
It's been a while since I posted Krugman. This one's good.
In any case, the point is that a grave mistake was made, and America's credibility has been badly damaged — and nobody is being held accountable. But that's standard operating procedure. As far as I can tell, nobody in the Bush administration has ever paid a price for being wrong. Instead, people are severely punished for telling inconvenient truths. And administration officials have consistently sought to freeze out, undermine or intimidate anyone who might try to check up on their performance.Let's look at three examples. First is the Valerie Plame affair. When someone in the administration revealed that Ms. Plame was an undercover C.I.A. operative, one probable purpose was to intimidate intelligence professionals. And whatever becomes of the Justice Department investigation, the White House has been notably uninterested in finding the culprit. ("We have let the earthmovers roll in over this one," a senior White House official told The Financial Times.)
Then there's the stonewalling about 9/11. First the administration tried, in defiance of all historical precedents, to prevent any independent inquiry. Then it tried to appoint Henry Kissinger, of all people, to head the investigative panel. Then it obstructed the commission, denying it access to crucial documents and testimony. Now, thanks to all the delays and impediments, the panel's head says it can't deliver its report by the original May 11 deadline — and the administration is trying to prevent a time extension.
Finally, an important story that has largely evaded public attention: the effort to prevent oversight of Iraq spending. Government agencies normally have independent, strictly nonpartisan inspectors general, with broad powers to investigate questionable spending. But the new inspector general's office in Iraq operates under unique rules that greatly limit both its powers and its independence.
And the independence of the Pentagon's own inspector general's office is also in question. Last September, in a move that should have caused shock waves, the administration appointed L. Jean Lewis as the office's chief of staff. Ms. Lewis played a central role in the Whitewater witch hunt (seven years, $70 million, no evidence of Clinton wrongdoing); nobody could call her nonpartisan. So when Mr. Bush's defenders demand hard proof of profiteering in Iraq — as opposed to extensive circumstantial evidence — bear in mind that the administration has systematically undermined the power and independence of institutions that might have provided that proof.
[...]
These people politicize everything, from military planning to scientific assessments. If you're with them, you pay no penalty for being wrong. If you don't tell them what they want to hear, you're an enemy, and being right is no excuse.
Still, the big story isn't about Mr. Bush; it's about what's happening to America. Other presidents would have liked to bully the C.I.A., stonewall investigations and give huge contracts to their friends without oversight. They knew, however, that they couldn't. What has gone wrong with our country that allows this president to get away with such things?
Replies: 8 people speak up
What has gone wrong is easy to explain. We have a media with concentrated ownership that write and report stories that seem only to benefit their own interest. We have large amounts of people in this country that either don't care or under what all this means in their daily lives. I have had close friends actually get angry with me, not because I claim I state a political view but because they claim everyone in Washington is the same and they just don't want to hear it. As Krugman excellently states, this President IS different because he gets away with and expects no dissent. And when you watch CSPAN, and you hear call after call saying "They support President Bush no matter what", well duh, they could have saved that. The 3 examples Krugman brings up that these deeply troubled people are uneducated but aware enough and angry enough to show up and vote for Bush and Republicans " ... no matter what".
Posted by gammarock @ 01/30/2004 05:04 AM NY
Good point, Gammarock. I usually turn off CSPAN when the call-in segment begins. The comments from the "Support Pres. Bush" contingent depress me greatly. Their unquestioned, unthinking support of Bush (on everything) is not unlike the unplugged brain stems of fundamentals Christians.
There's no reasoning or compromising with these political zombies. I gave up a long time ago.
Good thread, Blah3.
Posted by Metropolitan99 @ 01/30/2004 08:08 AM NY
gammarock and Metro, good posts.
My own feeling is that many of the CSPAN calls are set-ups, and don't reflect popular opinion so much as they are attempts to make it appear that blindly following Bush is the right thing to do. The fact that these people don't really have anything to say -- they just repeat the tired old slogans -- indicates they aren't on the level, but are trying to spread propaganda.
Certainly there's a hardcore of fanatics -- really brownshirts in a way -- who will do anything to silence opposition, but they are a tiny minority with an exceptionally loud voice. Their strategy is to shout down everyone else. They watch Fox, and take their clues from it.
The majority of Americans seem to be waking up -- slowly. Let's hope they do before it's too late.
Posted by Karlsfini @ 01/30/2004 08:45 AM NY
gammarock and Metro, good posts.
My own feeling is that many of the CSPAN calls are set-ups, and don't reflect popular opinion so much as they are attempts to make it appear that blindly following Bush is the right thing to do. The fact that these people don't really have anything to say -- they just repeat the tired old slogans -- indicates they aren't on the level, but are trying to spread propaganda.
Certainly there's a hardcore of fanatics -- really brownshirts in a way -- who will do anything to silence opposition, but they are a tiny minority with an exceptionally loud voice. Their strategy is to shout down everyone else. They watch Fox, and take their clues from it.
The majority of Americans seem to be waking up -- slowly. Let's hope they do before it's too late.
Posted by Karlsfini @ 01/30/2004 08:46 AM NY
Sorry for the double post. The first timed-out, so I sent it again.
Posted by Karlsfini @ 01/30/2004 08:47 AM NY
This Fri AM, I was listening to Scott Ritter and a female Republican actually called in and said she was not going to vote for Bush and real Republicans need to stop carrying Bush's water. I also found this link after I posted and went home from work. It is really good. So good, I link to it twice and I hate to repeat myself. http://www.americanassembler.com/
Posted by gammarock @ 01/30/2004 09:10 AM NY
Gammarock, thanks for that link.
Posted by Metropolitan99 @ 01/30/2004 06:55 PM NY
No problem. Over to the left (literally) are EXCELLENT links but I would steer anyone to moose-and-squirrel. From that site, I found this one and many others. I wish I could read them all.
Posted by gammarock @ 01/30/2004 08:36 PM NY
