Paul Krugman on the GOP's "stunning lack of grace"

[jefferson_dem]

May 6, 2011, 4:50 pm
Lack of Grace

For the most part I’m staying away from the whole Osama thing, in part just because the field is so crowded, but just to say the obvious: isn’t the GOP showing a stunning lack of grace in this whole affair?

It’s particularly striking if you remember the atmosphere from 2001 through until 2004 or so. Back then, any hint of criticism of Bush’s War on Terror, or even a failure to show sufficient enthusiasm for his leadership, led to accusations that you were unpatriotic and somehow warped by your partisanship.

Now Obama actually gets his man — and does it in what seems to have been a truly gutsy fashion — and all we get is carping.

I can’t actually say I’m surprised, but it’s still kind of amazing.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/06/lack-of-grace/?smid=tw-NytimesKrugman&seid=auto

[Booster]

1. If there's one thing the GOP truly lacks, it's grace.

[Sabriel]

2. I was going to say empathy or concern for humanity. n/t

[dotymed]

34. No Doubt about that.

If you go on tho the "Newsvine" forum on msn.com, and read their comments about this and anything that they "blame" President Obama for, it is obvious they are sociopaths.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

47. BULLIES ALWAYS...

[nichomachus]

8. They lack so many things

Compassion, ingelligence, patriotism, civility, humanity, spirituality -- shall I go on?

[Zambero]

14. Add-ons: objectivity, honesty, consistency, integrity, tolerance, fairness

And a conservation ethic would also be sorely lacking.

[Keith Bee]

28. And functional brain cells

[russspeakeasy]

32. One thing?

[JoePhilly]

3. Lack of decency is more like it.

[Yavin4]

4. To Repubs, Grace is just something you mutter before you eat a meal

any other definition of the word is completely foreign to them.

[speedoo]

5. Stunning? Not at all.

The GOP brought us 8 years of Bush/Cheney/etc. (and then tried to foist an idiot lake Palin on us)

Failure to stop 9/11.

Unnecessary Iraq War.

Incredible "who cares about Bin Laden" decisions.

Not stunning at all. Not even mildly surprising.

[Enthusiast]

20. Still,

we have to share a country with these people. Well, we are willing to share, they aren't.

[Jackpine Radical]

27. Damn, I miss Molly. I'd love to hear what she had to say right now.

[spooked911]

30. exactly-- they are all a bunch of f%$^ing assholes

truly maddening they have any credibility from anyone

[fishwax]

50. yep -- pretty much expected, and certainly par for the course

:puke:

[indepat]

6. That grace could ever flow from depravity is genuinely dichotomous and

oxymoronic. :patriot:

[Vicar In A Tutu]

7. They have no objectivity whatsoever.

I mean, if you want me to assess the last four GOP Presidents I'd say...

Ford - Damned by association, and did he ever really have the gravitas?

Reagan - He changed the status quo, whether that was for better or worse really depends on how much money you're raking in and how few scruples you have. However, some people INSIST that he changed it for the better despite having had their lives diminished substantially by his swirling cesspit of greed.

HW - This might be controversial, but I feel that if he'd somehow won the primary and been elected INSTEAD of Reagan, things might be a little bit better. The Bush family was a fairly liberal Republican one before HW threw whatever principals he had out of the window to join Reagan on the crazy train. Nonetheless, he still managed to do less damage than Reagan, and I suspect he'll be the last ever Republican President to offer an improvement - however miniscule - on his predecessor.

W - Fucking atrocious. But he won't be the worst.

But ask a right-winger to opine ANY Democratic President, you'll get a shitfull of brimstone in your face. If you didn't know better, you'd think that they were just ridiculous parodies of members of a civilised society rather than actual people. Incredible.

[bongbong]

11. Ford

Part of the reason he got the presidency was as a reward for playing along on the Warren Commission.

[vssmith]

23. Assess Eisenhower too

[Vicar In A Tutu]

29. I was only doing the last few, but...!

Eisenhower - a raging liberal by the standards of today's GOP. Could have handled the stench of McCarthyism better, but when the dust settles, it's very hard not to feel that the world would be a better place if the trajectory of the conservative movement were dictated by Eisnhower's reign than those of Reagan and Double U.

[vssmith]

48. I have a similar opinion--I also feel Ike was more liberal than most of our present day Dems

[Doctor_J]

9. The repukes are not even human any more

They're animals, and should be treated as such.

[aquart]

25. That is a vile idea for anyone in a democracy to hold.

And it also maligns innocent animals.

[bertman]

10. REC. nt.

[TomCADem]

12. REC! - We Really Need To Call Out The Stunning Corporate Media Double Standard

The Republicans spent eight years in which they could not utter a sentence without mentioning 9/11 and terrorism. Now, they are left to saying that President Obama should stay out of New York and not honor the Navy Seals or remember those who died ten years ago?

Amazing.

[Zambero]

13. Show a little sympathy

After all, these folks just lost their biggest and best issue -- "Democrats are weak on national defense". That issue is now dead and buried, and there's nothing handy to take it's place. Consequently, Republicans are now going through their 7 stages of grief. As far as which stage they're at I don't know, but boo-hoo, these poor souls are beside themselves!

:nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:

[Johnny2X2X]

41. Agreed

I used just that analogy several times this week. It is like watching them go through the stages of grief:

1. Denial- "He wasn't killed, I need to see a body."

2. Anger- "That Obama is taking all the credit, damn him!!!"

3. Bargaining- "Bush started the hunt, Obama just followed his lead, Bush should get the bulk of the credit."

4. Depression- "I can't believe this!, I'm just not going to read the internet anymore."

5. Acceptance- Not sure what this will look like, they haven't gotten there.

It's sad really, they are making up conspiracies left and right and are handling this like a bunch of spoiled children who just got kicked out of the sand box.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Presidentcokedupfratboy]

16. Great point

The GOP just can't tip it's hat and say the right thing.

[Jakes Progress]

17. Grace requires an inner moral core.

Look into the core of republicans (and many NeoDems) and you find no there there.

[PuffedMica]

18. Republicans = whiny little kids looking for undeserved recognition

The Republicans are acting like little kids trying to get the attention of adults for doing something insignificant.

[Enthusiast]

19. They are behaving like spoiled children.

And I mean that.

[aquart]

24. They ARE spoiled children.

Twisted little trust fund trash that they are. The cumulative amount of wealth in this bunch is simply alarming.

[The Wizard]

21. They are what they are

Simple minded reactionary bigots who have this underlying belief that they're better than others for being born on this soil and having white skin. They haven't done anything of significance for the good and are trying their best to drag normal people down to their level. When they start with the insanity I try to put a hand on their shoulder, take a short pause, and just say I'm sorry. It gives them something upon which to reflect, something that's been lacking in their make up since Reagan eliminated the Fairness Doctrine and unleashed hate radio to divide us.
Just mention any Democrat and they go into a tantrum.
Did you know that a Congressman in the minority caused the economic meltdown? Mention Barney Frank to a Repube and you'll get an earful of lies.
Just for laughs, sometimes I ask questions to induce a tantrum, hoping for them to totally lose all contact with reality. They really can be quite amusing if you let them.

[Enthusiast]

31. Plus one! Especially the Barney Frank thing.

He sure is one POWERFUL gay man -according to the nut jobs. The GOP has desperately tried to force this ridiculous little explanation for the economic meltdown on the American people. They are fully aware what happened when they were rightly tagged with the blame for the last great depression.

"Induce a tantrum" LOL! :rofl:

[SusanaMontana41]

44. Brilliant. And I love your tag line! e.o.m.

[LongTomH]

46. You should start a new thread with the questions you would ask conservatives!

It would be a great boon to those of us who have to argue with conservative relatives - and believe me, out here in the midwest, that means really, really way-out RWers!

[The Wizard]

49. Here's some

If tax cuts increase revenue as trickle down (voodoo) economics purports, would eliminating all taxes have the treasury over flowing?
Did Reagan raise taxes?
If Obama is a socialist why didn't he have the government take over the failed banks rather than bail them out?
Can you identify Sean Hannity's gay lover currently serving in Congress?
If you saw the pictures of Sarah Palin having intimate relations with Don King would it change your opinion of him?
When did you sign up to fight in the Iraq War, before or after there were no weapons of mass destruction?

[uponit7771]

51. This shoud be its on OP, I've been lookin for these for a second. I got a couple of mine like...

...isn't the military part of our government and I don't hate America's government ..that gets them goin sometimes but I think yours are better.

[jbeing]

22. Don't forget

the ability to feel shame. That's a biggie. Without that you have no moral compass, no empathy, no restraints or your words and deeds and...

You get the idea. Without shame, we cannot experience triumph, defeat, sadness or love.

Also, does anyone else feel that for all the Republican bullying and maneuvering, they seem to want to lose or undermine their own goals?

I'm not talking about how they project their feeling and action on "others," or try to project their images. What I mean, it's like no matter how much they push their conservative-country-killing ideas, there seems to be a built-in self-destruct component?

What do you think?

[osteenq]

26. If you're expecting...

...to get anything from assholes other than shit, then get used to disappointment.

[DFW]

33. "Amazing LACK of Grace........"

Someone should write the lyrics.

[Avant Guardian]

35. What they really lack is integrity

[Peacetrain]

36. TY Paul Krugman!! It is a complete lack of grace

[Bluenorthwest]

37. Not surprised, not amazed, I never bought the bipartisan bs

I never saw them as honest brokers needed at our table for their brilliant ideas. That was someone else's theory, that Republicans are good stuff, it was never my point of view, and I have remained suspicious of those who try to tell me it is a post partisan love-in world.

[Pisces]

38. Did they ever have grace?

[liberal N proud]

39. The GOP is a bunch or unpatriotic hypocrites

The comment from the bu$h years where any hint of criticism led to accusations of being unpatriotic. That is what stung the most during the bu$h regime years. Being called unpatriotic because I criticized the President while they are far worse than any criticism of bu$h ever was, most of it without any cause.

[demigoddess]

40. the GOP in a nutshell. Tyrants are very seldom gracious,

in defeat or in triumph, they are self centered and focused on the amount of power they have, not on anyone else's accomplishments.

[90-percent]

42. History

One benefit to killing Osama is all the recent history that we are all getting to review again. From our seats in 2011, it is so painfully obvious Bush and his minions were lying and knew they were lying as they spoke. People like Condi and Rummy are being interviewed and are facing questions that are so disrespectful it embarrasses me, and I'm an advocate of Nuremberg style war crimes tribunals for these creeps.

Questions along the lines of; "many consider you to be the worst Secretary of State since World War Two" "and why did you go into Iraq when you knew Saddam was not behind 9-11 and posed no threat"

Considering that the speech when talking to people at this level is so nuanced and coded, this is their version of; "Where you fucking assholes all dropping acid and pulling all nighters when you made these stupid and genocidal decisions?"

Col Lawrence Wilkerson has been all over MSNBC all week with his version of their history. The tight ship these war criminals all need to stay out of jail is starting to spring some holes. I don't think American appreciate going off to war for lies. And now we're all looking at Obama and saying: "Holy shit, so this is the results you can get if you have an adult in charge? WHO KNEW!"

-90% Jimmy

[forty6]

43. Short, sweet, and to the point! k+R n/t

[Plucketeer]

45. The GOP..... ALWAYS on the wrong side.

No wonder it comes naturally to them. They've never known anything else!