Krugman firing all barrels!!! "The Rambo Coalition"

[DeepModem Mom]

OP-ED COLUMNIST
The Rambo Coalition
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: August 24, 2004

....After 9/11, Mr. Bush had a choice: he could deal with real threats, or he could play Rambo. He chose Rambo. Not for him the difficult, frustrating task of tracking down elusive terrorists, or the unglamorous work of protecting ports and chemical plants from possible attack: he wanted a dramatic shootout with the bad guy. And if you asked why we were going after this particular bad guy, who hadn't attacked America and wasn't building nuclear weapons - or if you warned that real wars involve costs you never see in the movies - you were being unpatriotic.

As a domestic political strategy, Mr. Bush's posturing worked brilliantly. As a strategy against terrorism, it has played right into Al Qaeda's hands. Thirty years after Vietnam, American soldiers are again dying in a war that was sold on false pretenses and creates more enemies than it kills....

***

The young John Kerry spoke of leaders who sent others to their deaths because they wanted to seem tough, then "left all the casualties and retreated behind a pious shield of public rectitude." Fifteen months after George Bush strutted around in his flight suit, more and more Americans are echoing Gen. Anthony Zinni, who received a standing ovation from an audience of Marine and Navy officers when he talked about the debacle in Iraq and said of those who served in Vietnam: "We heard the garbage and the lies, and we saw the sacrifice. I ask you, is it happening again?"

Mr. Kerry also spoke of the moral cost of an ill-conceived war - of the atrocities soldiers find themselves committing when they can't tell friend from foe. Two words: Abu Ghraib.

Let's hope that this latest campaign of garbage and lies - initially financed by a Texas Republican close to Karl Rove, and running an ad featuring an "independent" veteran who turns out to have served on a Bush campaign committee - leads to a backlash against Mr. Bush. If it doesn't, here's the message we'll be sending to Americans who serve their country: If you tell the truth, your courage and sacrifice count for nothing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/24/opinion/24krugman.html

[trumad]

1. kick

[NMDemDist2]

2. kicked and nominated n/t

[HysteryDiagnosis]

4. Definitely a kick

and nominated.....

They protest... and they matter.

[Wright Patman]

3. It is "Al-CIAda"

and, of course, we are playing into the hands of the various intelligence communities behind them worldwide as they are the ones calling all the shots.

I am convinced that the military-industrial complex, frustrated after 12 to 15 years of not having the appearance of a formidable enemy with which to contend and off which to raise 'defense' budgets, created the 'war on terror' and will eventually bankrupt us all if not even Krugman can see through this charade.

[liberalmuse]

5. I LOVE KRUG!

He's done it again!

[wicket]

6. Krugman is my hero

He rocks!

[Shopaholic]

7. That was just fucking brilliant!

Time to send another e-mail to the man.

[wicket]

14. I shall email him too!

He rules :)

[DeepModem Mom]

8. E-MAIL: [e-mail]

[treepig]

9. why does mr. krugman hate america so much?

:freak:

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. Extraodinary claims demand extraordinary evidence

I don't think you can produce a shred of evidence for your preposterous claim.

[Trajan]

15. Why does Trajan hate america so much ? ...

GEEEZ ..... cmon ....

You couldn't 'get' the essential parody of that post ? ...

It reeks of sarcasm ..... get a grip ...

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. Bush's election timetable

Saddam had to be dealt with, one way or another, but not on Bush's timetable. Of course he hoped / expected things to be better advanced for him by now, but he was told what he wanted to hear, so he thought he could get it done in time.

[DemoTex]

11. I think Paul's been reading my mind.

All the credible evidence, from military records to the testimony of those who served with Mr. Kerry, confirms his wartime heroism. Why, then, are some veterans willing to join the smear campaign? Because they are angry about his later statements against the war. Yet making those statements was itself a heroic act - and what he said then rings truer than ever.

That's it! That's what I've been preaching! Thank you Paul Krugman!

[AmerDem]

13. Great Article!

Thanks for the post!:toast:

Krugman, as always tells it like it is!

[NightOwwl]

16. I love Paul Krugman

:loveya:

[The Magistrate]

17. Mr. Krugman, Ma'am, Is A National Treasure

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"