Krugman's Tender Hillary Trap

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It might actually be worth the price of admission to Paul Krugman's column this morning to observe the amusing manner in which the New York Times columnist wriggles around in a trap of his own making regarding Hillary's vote to authorize the Iraq war. On the one hand, he wants her to apologize for it, and so must criticize her for not doing so. On the other, he hastens to make the limits of his criticism perfectly clear. He's not lumping her in with those awful, intransigent Republicans. Certainly not. Krugman wouldn't want to damage the presumptive Dem candidate . . . nor bring down The Wrath of the Clinton upon his hoary head.

And so Krugman spends most of his column, the ostensible purpose of which is to lament Hillary's inflexibility, lambasting Republicans for their unbending nature, all the while being careful to observe that Hillary is, well, perhaps a teeny bit like them -- but not too much, mind you!

• President Bush and VP Cheney are "pathologically incapable of owning up to mistakes."
• "Karl Rove turned refusal to admit error into a political principle."
• "George Bush . . . suffer[s] from an infallibility complex."
• "Dick Cheney is a 'megalomaniac.'"
• "Senator John McCain . . . appears to share the Bush administration’s habit of rewriting history to preserve an appearance of infallibility."
• "As for Rudy Giuliani, there are so many examples of his inability to accept criticism that it’s hard to choose."

But when it comes to Hillary, well:

• "She’s smart and sensible."
• "She’s at worst a triangulator, not a megalomaniac."
• And while the country is fed-up "with arrogant politicians who can do no wrong," Krugman wants to be sure you understand that "I don’t think she falls in that category."

Heaven forbid!

Rather than holding Hillary responsible for her failure to say I'm sorry, Krugman blames "her campaign." Right. We all know how shy and suggestible Hands-off Hillary is. And what is the sin "her campaign" committed? Following "Karl Rove’s playbook, which says that you should never, ever admit to a mistake." Yes, poor Hillary was led astray by an evil Republican.

According to the Krugman, "that playbook has led them into a political trap." He should know.

Aside: Why shouldn't Hillary apologize? After all, she said she wasn't going to be like Tammy Wynette, not Brenda Lee.

Mark was in Iraq in November. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net