Wave Bye-Bye To Democracy!
Paul Krugman writes of the dire straits democracy is in in this country, and I don't think he's crying wolf:
Democratic societies have a hard time dealing with extremists in their midst. The desire to show respect for other people's beliefs all too easily turns into denial: nobody wants to talk about the threat posed by those whose beliefs include contempt for democracy itself.We can see this failing clearly in other countries. In the Netherlands, for example, a culture of tolerance led the nation to ignore the growing influence of Islamic extremists until they turned murderous.
But it's also true of the United States, where dangerous extremists belong to the majority religion and the majority ethnic group, and wield great political influence.
...Everyone knows about the attempt to circumvent the courts through "Terri's law." But there has been little national exposure for a Miami Herald report that Jeb Bush sent state law enforcement agents to seize Terri Schiavo from the hospice - a plan called off when local police said they would enforce the judge's order that she remain there.
And the future seems all too likely to bring more intimidation in the name of God and more political intervention that undermines the rule of law.
Click on the link and read the whole piece.
Remember, Krugman many tens and perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars from Enron for services that never happened. He's probably not as concerned about the flow of events as he wants you to be.
Crid at March 30, 2005 8:24 AM
"Krugman made many tens and perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars from Enron for services that never happened."
Despite the suspicious fudginess of "many tens and perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars," I am very much interested in getting more information on this juicy Krugman morsel. Links? Please help Lena starve her hero-worshipping tendencies. (I dig Krugman, especially as a speaker.)
Lena at March 30, 2005 8:44 AM
> suspicious fudginess of "many
> tens and perhaps hundreds of
> thousands of dollars,"...
Me too. He never copped cleanly.
Wiki is my first stop nowadays, and I've configure Google go there by default. It's been likened to a public toilet, in that you're at the mercy of whoever was in there last. But for general purposes and outlines at an 8th-grade level, it can't be beat. It was wonderfully helpful last week when time came to care about Schiavo.
Also, Sully flopped on this like a cheap suit. The mutual bitchslapping went on for weeks, but here's a good place to start. (The NYT item is presumably available only through LAPL etc at this point).
MOre if you want it, but I think Krugman's a prototypical NYT annoyance.
Crid at March 30, 2005 9:14 AM
Ah, here's a quintessential
example.
http://www.instapundit.com/archives/004813.php
Cridland at March 30, 2005 9:33 AM
Thank you, Crid. I will dutifully do my homework and check in again later. Gotta get some real work done before then though!
But first, I want to note Dr Krugman's naivete in expecting the American Medical Association to act in the name of professional integrity (rather than financial self-interest).
Lena-doodle-doo at March 30, 2005 9:41 AM
The Instapundit piece isn’t about Krugman and Enron, but rather the contradictions of being an upper-middle class kinda guy with left tendencies. I learned to live with that contradiction long time ago (like after the first 4-5 years of slogging away in the workforce).
The Andrew “Muscle Buns” Sullivan link lead to today’s Daily Dish, with nothing about Krugman there. (But I found a link to a hilarious piece about Sontag. I love difficult women!)
I didn’t have a library card number to use at the LAPL site.
My Cridster, why have you forsaken me?
Lena-doodle-doo at April 1, 2005 7:28 AM
I highly recommend this piece on Sontag (I surfed to it through El Site de Los Muscle Buns).
HILARIOUS!!!! A tidbit:
"Sontag was wearing her trademark intellectual-diva outfit: voluminous black top and black silky slacks, accessorised with a number of exotic, billowy scarves. These she constantly adjusted or flung back imperiously over one shoulder, stopping now and then to puff on a cigarette or expel a series of phlegmy coughs. (The famous Sontag ‘look’ always put me in mind of the stage direction in Blithe Spirit: ‘Enter Madame Arcati, wearing barbaric jewellery.’) Somewhat incongruously, she had completed her ensemble with a pair of pristine, startlingly white tennis shoes. These made her feet seem comically huge, like Bugs Bunny’s. I half-expected her to bounce several feet up and down in the air whenever she took a step, like one of those people who have shoes made of ‘Flubber’ in the old Fred McMurray movie."
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n06/print/cast01_.html
Lena-doodle-doo at April 1, 2005 7:55 AM
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