Paul Krugman Is Very Shrill

As a fellow card-carrying member of the Ancient, Holy and High Hermeneutic Order of the Shrill, I mean that as a compliment:

There aren't many positive aspects to the looming possibility of a U.S. debt default. But there has been, I have to admit, an element of comic relief -- of the black-humor variety -- in the spectacle of so many people who have been in denial suddenly waking up and smelling the crazy.

A number of commentators seem shocked at how unreasonable Republicans are being. "Has the G.O.P. gone insane?" they ask.

Why, yes, it has. But this isn't something that just happened, it's the culmination of a process that has been going on for decades. Anyone surprised by the extremism and irresponsibility now on display either hasn't been paying attention, or has been deliberately turning a blind eye.

And may I say to those suddenly agonizing over the mental health of one of our two major parties: People like you bear some responsibility for that party's current state.

Admittedly, this is nothing Comrade Driftglass hasn't been preaching since he started. Still nice to see though.

Anyway, this also gives me an excuse to resurrect one of posts that Blogger EATED:

Mike the Mad Biologist: What Was Richard Cohen Thinking?: Richard Cohen's column is... mind boggling:

But if you told me, as some have been implying, that Bush is a racist or that he doesn't care about black people, I would not only say that you're wrong but add, "Not the George Bush I know." Of course, I don't know George Bush personally. But in his first presidential campaign, I traveled with him and tried, as he might say, to look into his heart. Conveniently enough, he sometimes wears it on his sleeve -- never more so, as I discovered, than when he talks about poor kids and racial and ethnic minorities. His feelings for them -- especially for poor kids -- are genuine. This is what I believed then and this -- his incompetent performance regarding Hurricane Katrina notwithstanding -- is what I believe now....

But Bush is not cut from that cloth. He is a contemporary Republican, a person of another generation who, you may have noticed, has a black woman as secretary of state and had a black man before her. Under him, the GOP began an outreach to black Americans, and unless the Democrats wake up it will ultimately succeed. As Karl Rove well knows, all he has to do is pick up a small percentage of the black vote and he ends the current 50-50 electoral split. Bush, who won an impressive 27 percent of the black vote in his reelection bid for Texas governor, could have been the man to do this.

Sounds pretty reasonable, until you start, erm, thinking. Nevermind the 'some of my best Cabinet members are black' crap, has Cohen forgotten what Bush did to win the Republican primary in South Carolina? For those keeping score at home, Bush and his sociopathic minions smeared John McCain by claiming that McCain's adopted Bangladeshi daughter was his illegitimate black child. Then, of course, Bush also made the mandatory Republican pit stop at segregationist Bob Jones University. I would be really interested in hearing a defense of race baiting in the pursuit of political power.

[crickets...silence...sun rises...sun sets]

There is none. The only reason Bush has not used race baiting is because he hasn't had to. Until Katrina, Bush could play the "if you're against repeal of the estate tax, you're for the terrorists" card. Rest assured, if it's politically expedient, he will play the race card.... It's not as if it would be out of character for him. Like all aristocrats who possess a strong sense of personal perogative, Bush will do whatever it takes to maintain power. Does that mean I think he constitutively hates black people? No, he's an equal opportunity sociopath.

Fun times, those were....