Krugman Also Gets It
But then again, he usually does:
Back in April, there was a huge fuss over an internal report by the Department of Homeland Security warning that current conditions resemble those in the early 1990s — a time marked by an upsurge of right-wing extremism that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing.
Conservatives were outraged. The chairman of the Republican National Committee denounced the report as an attempt to “segment out conservatives in this country who have a different philosophy or view from this administration” and label them as terrorists.
But with the murder of Dr. George Tiller by an anti-abortion fanatic, closely followed by a shooting by a white supremacist at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the analysis looks prescient.
There is, however, one important thing that the D.H.S. report didn’t say: Today, as in the early years of the Clinton administration but to an even greater extent, right-wing extremism is being systematically fed by the conservative media and political establishment.
…snip…
Credit where credit is due. Some figures in the conservative media have refused to go along with the big hate — people like Fox’s Shepard Smith and Catherine Herridge, who debunked the attacks on that Homeland Security report two months ago. But this doesn’t change the broad picture, which is that supposedly respectable news organizations and political figures are giving aid and comfort to dangerous extremism.
What will the consequences be? Nobody knows, of course, although the analysts at Homeland Security fretted that things may turn out even worse than in the 1990s — that thanks, in part, to the election of an African-American president, “the threat posed by lone wolves and small terrorist cells is more pronounced than in past years.”
And that’s a threat to take seriously. Yes, the worst terrorist attack in our history was perpetrated by a foreign conspiracy. But the second worst, the Oklahoma City bombing, was perpetrated by an all-American lunatic. Politicians and media organizations wind up such people at their, and our, peril.
As always, read the whole thing.
I suppose the muslim who murdered one soldier and wounded another at an recruiting center was a right-wing extremist too? Oh, maybe you didn’t hear about that one, considering the MSM almost completely ignored it.
…and no chance that he was egged on to murder this soldier by the constant and egregious attacks from the left against our troops in Iraq for the past 6 years. And now Pelosi & the ACLU want to release more prison abuse photos so even more of our troops’ lives will be endangered. Where was that in the homeland security report?
The PHOTOS are not what endanger out troops! Its the TORTURE they show! Holy fuck at least petend to have some decency.
Would you like to point to specific instances of the mainstream American left making public calls for murdering U.S. soldiers, or even passively endorsing or justifying the theoretical violence against American soldiers?
Again, I stress – the mainstream American left. This is where your example must come from. I dunno. Jon Stewart, Paul Krugman, Keith Olberman. These types of mofos.
/Vegas odds on bob’s response: 70/30 – topic change to some bullshit abort murdering babies via abortion/crickets.
Actually, I’m sort of curious what these “egregious attacks from the left against our troops in Iraq” are. Nevermind endorsement of killing military personel. (By the way, isn’t that pretty much definitionally not terrorism?)
Up for a friendly wager, Dan?
$100 bucks says that’s how he perceives calls to withdraw from Iraq – consistent and egregious attacks against our troops.
Aren’t wagers supposed to involve the two parties having different expectations?
I’ll bet you a couple pints at The Chip Shop that he side-tracks to abortion before explaining the “attacks” on troops in any form.
Dude! You know the Chip Shop?! I love that place! I didn’t know you were in Brooklyn.
The three of us should organize a Lean Left New York get-together.
I moved to about a 10min walk from there as of a year ago. I don’t normally do beer, but for them I make an exception.
I love this…
Back in April, there was a huge fuss over an internal report by the Department of Homeland Security warning that current conditions resemble those in the early 1990s — a time marked by an upsurge of right-wing extremism that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing.
You know, it wasn’t just “back in April” it was exactly on April 15. And it wasn’t just any April 15, but the exact day of first-time massive non-partisan peaceful grassroots protest against crazy government spending. And the government report was exactly timed to give the lapdog media something else, something sensational to talk about so they could gloss over or grossly distort the grassroots protest. And “current conditions” must mean a Democrat in the White House.
So Homeland Security thinks that “the return of a few disgruntled war veterans could swell the ranks of white-power militias”. That people who want lower taxes, strong borders and smaller government are “rightwing extremists”. I’m guessing the fact that Janet Napolitano apologized over the report carries little weight with Krugman.
What I really see here is not proof of rise of scary “rightwing extremists” in the murder of one doctor by one crazy, but perhaps one government agency that wants to show the new boss how much of a toady they can be by redefining “extremists” as “anyone I disagree with”.
At least it wasn’t as bad as when the BATF wanted to impress the previous Democrat in the White House…