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."
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- "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—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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Heh, Hillary Triangulates; Krugman pretzelizes.
February 19, 2007 - 08:03 ET by acaiguanaHeh, Hillary Triangulates; Krugman pretzelizes.
Her campaign is at fault. Like the SUV is the culprit. Never the driver.
ACA
...
Hillary Clinton says: "I want to take those profits."
Must be tough to be a natio
February 19, 2007 - 08:12 ET by dervishMust be tough to be a national Democratic candidate these days. Poor Hill has to jump through the hoops to get the nomination from the left wing, yet not do or say anything that will come back to haunt her in the general election. That's only going to work under the cover of the MSM, but I'm sure they'll do their part.
Another liberal gobbildygook
February 19, 2007 - 08:23 ET by HumanEventsAnother liberal gobbildygook piece that, though it's frustrating, generates so much belly laughs that the blood pressure actually decreases instead of going up! So thanks for the healthy boost, Mr. KRUDman!
Hillary is not a megalomaniac? HAHAHAHAHA!
Ms. Vast Right Wing Conspiracy against my husband is not "an arrogant politician who can do no wrong"? HAHAHAHAHA!
And it's Bush and Cheney who are pathologically incapable of owning up to mistakes? And Guiliani has so many examples of inability to accept criticism? HAHAHAHAHA! again you are describing the Clintons and their incessant "guilty of no wrongdoing" claims! (And Bush and Cheney remaining firm on the danger of withdrawing from Iraq is failing to own up to mistakes? They have even repeatedly said they welcome the ideas of the New Congress and everything is on the table. But Hillary flip flops and then says Bush misled her! HAHAHAHAHA boy she really owns up to her mistakes!)
Oh me oh my, when liberal Dems assert the very thing that describes themselves to a tee it's too side-splittingly funny! Like when the Great Stainmaker said, "People hadn't ought to say they are going to do something, and then fail to do so." HAHAHAHAHA!
not my husband
February 19, 2007 - 08:37 ET by foolnomore"my goodness",,this will only become great theater !
Tricked by Her Own
February 19, 2007 - 09:58 ET by ecnirPNot only is she being tricked by President Bush, Republicans, vast right-wing conspiracy, Kim Jong Il, and President Clinton, now she's even being tricked by her own campaign. When she gets into the Oval Office, that red phone's going to be ringing off the hook with crank callers. We'll be on DefCon "Boo!!" for four years.
Where did Krugman find enough
February 19, 2007 - 10:02 ET by ucWhere did Krugman find enough real material to justify his positions on Hillary?
Has she ever built anything she can call her own? How many years has it been since she didn't rule her life (private life-stay with Bill life) by opinion polls? Why did she flee the south? Has she now studied the constitution well enough maybe to beable to save her Husband as she wasn't while President? Not the opinion polls on interpretation - actually thinking? So Reagan was the first Actor elected President >> How is Hillary not shaping up to hurt feminism by being a female just "puppet" candidate? Some "catch 22" >> Bill doesn't want to be seen as wanting the White House back, yet needs to get the White House back to become the "Benevolent Dictator" the 80th Congress so wisely to prevent with an amendment. What has Hillary actually ever stood for longer than one quarter/polling period? Other than "standing by her man." Nothing against a qualified and unencumbered woman running for President.
i hope he is well paid. he
February 19, 2007 - 10:32 ET by buddyci hope he is well paid. he has lost what little integrity he had.
clinton says "jump paul" and he says "how high".
President Bush and VP Cheney
February 19, 2007 - 11:29 ET by Dave HighOkay, somebody help me with this. Which one, if any, of the above statements isn’t true? I certainly can’t find one.
Regards, Dave High
“When I voted to support this war, I knew it was probably going to be long and hard and tough, and those that voted for it and thought that somehow it was going to be some kind of an easy task, then I am sorry they were mistaken.” John McCain, January. 2007
“I believe the operation will be relatively short and I believe that the success will be fairly easy.” John McCain, September, 2002
Oops.
Dave - how can anyone prove
February 19, 2007 - 11:50 ET by Dee BunkDave - how can anyone prove any of these statements untrue? These statements could be said about anyone and be true to some people. They especially could be easily said about Hillary - every single one. Just subsitute Hillary's name for Bush, Cheney, McCain or Giuliani and they are all true - so I guess that makes her worse than all of them.
"pathologically incapabl
February 19, 2007 - 14:44 ET by TruthMonger...actually my thoughts exactly about the scum Democrats and MSM regarding the entire war on terror...
Dave, the fact is that you
February 19, 2007 - 11:53 ET by motherbeltDave, you can say that "in your opinion" all of these statements are true, and that's all. They are all subjective judgments.
Where does Krugman prove th
February 19, 2007 - 12:28 ET by JDWWhere does Krugman prove they are?
Mayor G: 'This job is so difficult that you've got to have humility about it and you have to understand how to look at the past not in a way in which you cast blame, but you learn from it.'
Which 'mistakes' do the dems learn from?
Why waste time rebuking these fools?
JDW
Wounded skier. Corrections have been causing time-outs so mistakes will be made.
New pro-adoption dems, what about replacing abortions?
High, Dave.You need to re-edu
February 19, 2007 - 20:44 ET by Del DolemonteHigh, Dave.
You need to re-educate yourself, and do a little bit of reading at the great website known as the "Krugman Truth Squad". You'd be surprised to find out that Krugs, in fact, worked as an advisor for the evil ENRON!
http://www.nationalreview.com/nrof_luskin/nrof_luskin-archive.asp
As for Dick Cheney, a certain Democratic politician named Lyndon Johnson climbed into bed with Halliburton 5 years before Dick was even born. And Bill Clinton gave Halliburton no-bid contracts during the war that *he* started without UN permission as well.
Did someone say Hillary fell into a 'trap'? HT MightyMouth.
February 19, 2007 - 12:55 ET by acaiguanaDid someone say Hillary fell into a 'trap'? HT MightyMouth.
<Edit, sorry, last link didn't work>
:-)
ACA
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Hillary Clinton says: "I want to take those profits."
Great analysis, Mark F.Good p
February 19, 2007 - 14:17 ET by dahliatraversGreat analysis, Mark F.
Good place to also say that I am happy to have found NewsBusters.
Thanks, Dahlia, glad you en
February 19, 2007 - 14:46 ET by Mark FinkelsteinThanks, Dahlia, glad you enjoyed it. We're happy you found NewsBusters, too!
Wow, I thought the krug was a
February 19, 2007 - 19:31 ET by ckc1227Wow, I thought the krug was an economist. Turns out he is a psychiatrist. This would, however, explain many of his flawed views on economics.
Dear UN and Al Gore,
If you don't drop this global warming crap, we will invade your countries, kill your leaders, and convert you to Christianity.
Hillary
February 19, 2007 - 22:03 ET by pbthinkerIt seems to me I remember Hillary, during her speech before the vote, saying how she'd done her own research and came to her own conclusions. How does this add up to being mislead? Who mislead her? She claims it was Bush, but she did her own research, which one would assume matched the information she was receiving from the administration. If it wasn't the same, why would she vote for the war? If it was the same how could she be mislead? Has anyone bothered to ask her about this?
It's easy, PB. "She vo
February 19, 2007 - 22:32 ET by dahliatraversIt's easy, PB. "She voted for the war before she voted against it."
The old chimpster must be one
February 21, 2007 - 20:39 ET by MikeBThe old chimpster must be one silver-tongued devil. Hillary is the smartest woman in the world, she did her own research, she consulted with a lot of people in the intelligence community and other politicos, and Bush still managed to fool her into voting for the war. Hey, babe, anyone as gullible as you have admitted to being has no business whatsoever running a lemonade stand, much less the greatest country on the planet.
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan
Sad thing isn't it
February 21, 2007 - 21:00 ET by SportPoliticsSad thing isn't it. I've seen one republican on FoxNews, Hoekstra, tell how all the dems in congress could have accessed all the intel they wanted to, and have trotted over to the CIA and talked with analysts and everything else, it was all open for the asking, and six unnamed ( unnamed due to the rules) congresspeople did.
The libs have no excuse, but every stupid moron with BDS buys the lie they're telling.
Democrat policy: "Keep 'em dumb so we can lie a lot"
I think it's a shame for the entire nation.
I sure hope some jerkoff lib gets impeachment started over it. I want these lying sacks of crap exposed for what they are.