John Moltz

Krugman

This Isn't America

Krugman starts off by taking a look at our world standing.

Last week an opinion piece in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz about the killing of Sheik Ahmed Yassin said, "This isn't America; the government did not invent intelligence material nor exaggerate the description of the threat to justify their attack."

Ouch! And that's Israel.

Krugman's main thrust, though, is the administration's smear tactics against anyone who goes over the wall.

Some journalists seem, finally, to have caught on. Last week an Associated Press news analysis noted that such personal attacks were "standard operating procedure" for this administration and cited "a behind-the-scenes campaign to discredit Richard Foster," the Medicare actuary who revealed how the administration had deceived Congress about the cost of its prescription drug bill.

But other journalists apparently remain ready to be used. On CNN, Wolf Blitzer told his viewers that unnamed officials were saying that Mr. Clarke "wants to make a few bucks, and that [in] his own personal life, they're also suggesting that there are some weird aspects in his life as well."

Nice. "Unnamed officials say Clarke likes little boys." That's such bullshit. You don't let people speak on the condition of anonymity if they're just doing it to get in a free punch. Blitzer's a hack.

And here's a chilling ending for you.

John Dean, of Watergate fame, says, "I've been watching all the elements fall into place for two possible political catastrophes, one that will take the air out of the Bush-Cheney balloon and the other, far more disquieting, that will take the air out of democracy."