Man.
Paul Krugman passed off a beaut this week.
"...Now, I should have said that the American people behaved remarkably well in the weeks and months after 9/11: There was very little panic, and much more tolerance than one might have feared. Muslims weren’t lynched, and neither were dissenters, and that was something of which we can all be proud."
Smear sticky sauce on my face. I have a couple of problems with the assertions made; not the fact he's entitled to his opinion but for the love of God don't make it so easy for morons like me to pick on it!
Let's break it down. *Grabs ass*
"behaved remarkably well."
Gee, thanks Paul. Dunno what powers of observation he used to prove this a fact, but good on him for offering people a Scooby-snack. Didn't realize he was a professional behaviorist! A real B.F. Skinner, him!
"There was very little panic, and much more tolerance than one might have feared."
Welcome, welcome! Step right up and see here the one and only Paulpanicmeter! Step right up and be amazed!
He musta thought it was going to be one gigantic panic fest. Pitch forks, plastic forks, Big Slurpies and all.
"Than one might have feared."
Reminds me of the "Sex to save the friendship" line on Seinfeld.
So. Here's the thing, people who thought this to begin with were and are full of presumptuous shit. Yes, caca.
"Muslims weren’t lynched, and neither were dissenters, and that was something of which we can all be proud."
Does he really believe this would happen? I mean, like, seriously. He makes it sound as if lynching was a common practice in the USA.
*Careful treading the line warning follows:
Yet, though this evil practice did happen, it wasn't exactly enough to justify Krugman's fears.
The fact no Muslim lynchings were reported reveals, ironically, how exaggerated his original belief was.
Regarding dissenters, yeah, maybe free speech has been curtailed but for the love of Cheryl Ladd, America isn't exactly China or Cuba or Iran.
The European version of the Krugman clone still laments in shame the many pogroms against Jews throughout the centuries. "Yeah, but we Germans should hang our heads forever more for massacring Jews for the Black Plague in 1348!"
Anything resembling the Kristillnacht after 9/11 was not a foregone conclusion.
It's like arguing with an incoherent sock puppet who happens to read history. I apologize. Not even a sock, however dirty, would explore a kind of "Blacks were lynched once upon a time, ergo Muslims will be lynched because history repeats itself and this is the pattern in American culture" logic - or lack thereof.
Good grief, Paul. Proud of something that likely never was going to happen? Good fucking grief.
***
It hurts when you presume all sorts of bad, illiberal things will happen after a devastating event and nothing does. It must be frustratingly annoying, furthermore, to constantly have your prognostication talents be negated.
That negation, of course, is never your fault but of the widespread ignorance that stalks everyone around you.
Other than that, it was in poor taste for him to write this on 9/11 as families grieved. I mean, liberals with a conscience should know better, right?
So much for "civil discourse."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Mysterious and anonymous comments as well as those laced with cyanide and ad hominen attacks will be deleted. Thank you for your attention, chumps.