NYT, Paul Krugman: The Great Revulsion

[DeepModem Mom]

The Great Revulsion
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: November 10, 2006

....Here’s what I wrote more than three years ago, in the introduction to my column collection “The Great Unraveling”: “I have a vision — maybe just a hope — of a great revulsion: a moment in which the American people look at what is happening, realize how their good will and patriotism have been abused, and put a stop to this drive to destroy much of what is best in our country.”

At the time, the right was still celebrating the illusion of victory in Iraq, and the bizarre Bush personality cult was still in full flower. But now the great revulsion has arrived.

Tuesday’s election was a truly stunning victory for the Democrats....I don’t expect or want a permanent Democratic lock on power. But I do hope and believe that this election marks the beginning of the end for the conservative movement that has taken over the Republican Party....(W)e may be seeing the downfall of movement conservatism — the potent alliance of wealthy individuals, corporate interests and the religious right that took shape in the 1960s and 1970s. This alliance may once have had something to do with ideas, but it has become mainly a corrupt political machine, and America will be a better place if that machine breaks down.

Why do I want to see movement conservatism crushed? Partly because the movement is fundamentally undemocratic; its leaders don’t accept the legitimacy of opposition....And the determination of the movement to hold on to power at any cost has poisoned our political culture. Just think about the campaign that just ended, with its coded racism, deceptive robo-calls, personal smears, homeless men bused in to hand out deceptive fliers, and more. Not to mention the constant implication that anyone who questions the Bush administration or its policies is very nearly a traitor.

When movement conservatism took it over, the Republican Party ceased to be the party of Dwight Eisenhower and became the party of Karl Rove....Two years ago, people were talking about permanent right-wing dominance of American politics. But since then the American people have gotten a clearer sense of what rule by movement conservatives means. They’ve seen the movement take us into an unnecessary war, and botch every aspect of that war. They’ve seen a great American city left to drown; they’ve seen corruption reach deep into our political process; they’ve seen the hypocrisy of those who lecture us on morality.

And they just said no.

http://select.nytimes.com/2006/11/10/opinion/10krugman.html?hp

[pnwmom]

1. k & r!

[Mad_Dem_X]

2. Excellent!

Proud to give this Rec #5!

[JNelson6563]

3. That was great!

Krugman has been a calm voice of reason and intellignet insights throughtout this long, national nightmare.

Julie

[Binka]

4. They Just Said No

Paul Krugman makes me proud to be an American. He has the right stuff!

[Balderdash]

5. Excellent!

k&r

[lizerdbits]

6. "reign of error"

Haha! I'll have to remember that.

[RobertDevereaux]

7. Such a great column! n/t

[Lancer]

8. One of his best ever. God bless him. n/t

[civildisoBDence]

9. Any movement whose most prominent spokesman is Rush Limbaugh can only be described as a

BOWEL MOVEMENT.

What an anal cyst he is. And what arrogance the neocons (whom I would carefully distinguish from more traditional conservatives) must have to think they can reshape the world in America's interests, and arrogate unto themselves all the resulting power, privilege, and wealth.

DUHbya has been unmasked, slowly but surely, as a self-absorbed would-be emperor...with no clothes.

Newsprism

[connecticut yankee]

15. I think Rush

has been somewhat chastened.

He's been very quiet the past few days -- although he said "the stock market hit a new high, oil prices have "dropped" to $2.08 a gallon, unemployment is at an all-time low and if any of those go South, you'll know who to blame."

He also said people are blaming him for the Repukes' losses, which makes him feel like a kingmaker.

But he's lost a lot of his arrogance.

Now I wish he'd get lost for good.


:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[Olney Blue]

10. Wonderful!

[liberalmike27]

11. Pretty Much

Sums it up.

The great awakening of 2006. Some of us knew it all along.

Do you wonder why people vote for the person instead of the Party? Truly, the thing that most determines what that person you vote for represents is what party with which they associate themselves. To me, anyone who associates themselves with the right-winger Republican Party is just a tool of wealth in America, while Democrats can still be tools, they do occasionally show a little compassion. I still dream of getting money out of politics, but money will keep that from happening.

[azmouse]

12. Thank God America woke up.

I hope it's not too late to undo all the damage the neo-cons did.

[jilln]

13. I disagree. Amerca has NOT awakened yet.

Many of these races were extremeley close, even when the Republican candidate was corrupt. In Florida, Katherine Harris still got a significant amount of votes, showing that a large part of the public is willing to vote for an insane cheating liar as long as they are Republican. A large percentage of the population is still mesmerized by the fear of terrorism, war-hungry and in denial about Bush's inadequecies (and that word is VERY diplomatic for what he has done).

Also, let's not forget that a large percentage of the Democrats in Congress helped pass the Patriot Act, then renew it, etc.

There is much work to be done.

[willing dwarf]

16. Ending racial and class hatred

The best and worst aspects of American culture (if you will) are completely intertwined. The pragmatic dedication to hard work and long history of embracing the challenges and possiblities of the present moment are some of the best things about America. But with that pragmatism there's a puritanical narrowism which above all, blames the victim and is suspicious of those who have not met with sucess in their lives.

The way I see it, the policies of the right wing create an economic underclass, and then encourages the economically challenged middle class to dispise and blame the poor and dispossed for being that way.

Finding ways to articulate and eliminate this dynamic which nourishes the roots of racial and class hatred would go a long way toward renewing the best of American culture.

[shantipriya]

19. America HAS NOT awakened

I agree.The Repugs have 197 Reps. That is close to 50% of the population. That is a very high %age to say that the public has awkened.I feel sad and angry that so many people believe in the Repug policies in this day and age.

[lutefisk]

14. We need a "great revulsion" for the corporate media, too

I feel a strong revulsion for how the corporate media is constructing the Democratic majority.

[tomreedtoon]

17. Warning! New York Times trolling effort!

Yes, supposedly it's "temporarily" free. Having failed to get many people to pay its exorbitant price for on-line access, the Grey Ghost has offered "one week of free access" courtesy of some big paid ads.

Sorry, but I'm not reading anything from those goniffs. If the column has any merit, it'll be posted for free elsewhere. I'll pay for Salon, but not for the few, rare, good columns from the New York Whore Times.

[acmavm]

18. Oh yes. Grover Norquist. Where is that S.O.B. if I might ask.

In the bathtub???????

[malaise]

20. Classic Krugman

The people aren't as dumb as Rove thought. Ah well I'm loving it:party: :toast: :bounce:

[twaddler01]

21. Thanks for waking up America! nt

[LeftCoast]

22. That conservative apparatus isn't going away so easily

I agree with a lot of what Krugman writes, but I seriously doubt that the apparatus is just going to *poof*.

[opihimoimoi]

23. Truth and Sanity has escaped and is in PARIS...sipping fine wine

[young_at_heart]

24. "The movement is fundamentally undemocratic"

Yes---that says quite a bit about these interlopers. They don't belong here!

[Swamp Rat]

25. k&r

[Vogon_Glory]

26. Krugman's Column, Grover's Quote, Happy Fantasy

After reading the full text of Paul Krugman's column, I'm entertaining happy fantasies of some selfless, patriotic American veterinarian stepping forward to do the job on Grover Norquist for the good of the Republic.

We could find out if his quote about farm animals and veterinarians was true with him. I'd like to see Norquist. calmed down and less rambunctious after a long spell of Democratic control of Congress and the White House.