October 5, 2009

By PAUL KRUGMAN

There was what President Obama likes to call a teachable moment last week, when the International Olympic Committee rejected Chicago’s bid to be host of the 2016 Summer Games.

“Cheers erupted” at the headquarters of the conservative Weekly Standard, according to a blog post by a member of the magazine’s staff, with the headline “Obama loses! Obama loses!” Rush Limbaugh declared himself “gleeful.” “World Rejects Obama,” gloated the Drudge Report. And so on.

So what did we learn from this moment? For one thing, we learned that the modern conservative movement, which dominates the modern Republican Party, has the emotional maturity of a bratty 13-year-old.

But more important, the episode illustrated an essential truth about the state of American politics: at this point, the guiding principle of one of our nation’s two great political parties is spite pure and simple. If Republicans think something might be good for the president, they’re against it — whether or not it’s good for America.

To be sure, while celebrating America’s rebuff by the Olympic Committee was puerile, it didn’t do any real harm. But the same principle of spite has determined Republican positions on more serious matters, with potentially serious consequences — in particular, in the debate over health care reform.

Now, it’s understandable that many Republicans oppose Democratic plans to extend insurance coverage — just as most Democrats opposed President Bush’s attempt to convert Social Security into a sort of giant 401(k). The two parties do, after all, have different philosophies about the appropriate role of government.

But the tactics of the two parties have been different. In 2005, when Democrats campaigned against Social Security privatization, their arguments were consistent with their underlying ideology: they argued that replacing guaranteed benefits with private accounts would expose retirees to too much risk.

The Republican campaign against health care reform, by contrast, has shown no such consistency. For the main G.O.P. line of attack is the claim — based mainly on lies about death panels and so on — that reform will undermine Medicare. And this line of attack is utterly at odds both with the party’s traditions and with what conservatives claim to believe.

Think about just how bizarre it is for Republicans to position themselves as the defenders of unrestricted Medicare spending. First of all, the modern G.O.P. considers itself the party of Ronald Reagan — and Reagan was a fierce opponent of Medicare’s creation, warning that it would destroy American freedom. (Honest.) In the 1990s, Newt Gingrich tried to force drastic cuts in Medicare financing. And in recent years, Republicans have repeatedly decried the growth in entitlement spending — growth that is largely driven by rising health care costs.

But the Obama administration’s plan to expand coverage relies in part on savings from Medicare. And since the G.O.P. opposes anything that might be good for Mr. Obama, it has become the passionate defender of ineffective medical procedures and overpayments to insurance companies.

How did one of our great political parties become so ruthless, so willing to embrace scorched-earth tactics even if so doing undermines the ability of any future administration to govern?

The key point is that ever since the Reagan years, the Republican Party has been dominated by radicals — ideologues and/or apparatchiks who, at a fundamental level, do not accept anyone else’s right to govern.

Anyone surprised by the venomous, over-the-top opposition to Mr. Obama must have forgotten the Clinton years. Remember when Rush Limbaugh suggested that Hillary Clinton was a party to murder? When Newt Gingrich shut down the federal government in an attempt to bully Bill Clinton into accepting those Medicare cuts? And let’s not even talk about the impeachment saga.

The only difference now is that the G.O.P. is in a weaker position, having lost control not just of Congress but, to a large extent, of the terms of debate. The public no longer buys conservative ideology the way it used to; the old attacks on Big Government and paeans to the magic of the marketplace have lost their resonance. Yet conservatives retain their belief that they, and only they, should govern.

The result has been a cynical, ends-justify-the-means approach. Hastening the day when the rightful governing party returns to power is all that matters, so the G.O.P. will seize any club at hand with which to beat the current administration.

It’s an ugly picture. But it’s the truth. And it’s a truth anyone trying to find solutions to America’s real problems has to understand.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

"So what did we learn from this moment? For one thing, we learned that the modern conservative movement, which dominates the modern Republican Party, has the emotional maturity of a bratty 13-year-old."


I guess Keith Olberman, Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz, Al Franken et al don't qualify eh?

And the opponents of healthcare reform are not only Republicans, the Democrats are fighting themselves. And the fact you say things are "lies" is incorrect. If you read the House bill you would know this. Or maybe you do.

__________________
MB-less

They both suck, I hate both parties.

We need statesmen, not politicians like these morons.


They cheered? So what? That just proves again how messed up the Republican party is. Our country was snubed the last thing they should be doing is cheering.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Yeah, the democrats really showed leadership with their loving respect for Geo. Bush.

__________________
1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

In this case, it wasn't just Obama's loss or rejection, in fact it was US's loss so there is absolutely nothing to cheer on.

__________________
99 Gurkha with OM616 IDI turbo

2015 Gurkha with OM616 DI turbo

2014 Rexton W with OM612 VGT

The many failures of Bush were criticized and lamented.
They were never cheered.
Only a traitor would do that.

Neither was there a call for coup.........which is truly scary.


http://thecrossedpond.com/2009/09/30/newsmax-column-calls-for-military-coup-against-obama/

There is no such thing as civilized coup, it will be the same as its in China or other parts of the world. Total autocracy.

__________________
99 Gurkha with OM616 IDI turbo

2015 Gurkha with OM616 DI turbo

2014 Rexton W with OM612 VGT

Three GOP senators are currently visiting Honduras, which recently experienced a coup.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g1qDJ1ut67qbN7-YejwzOV5BNqKwD9B567HO0

Thats celestial visit, the Gods decreed that coup, now they go to see if everything is Hunky Dory.

__________________
99 Gurkha with OM616 IDI turbo

2015 Gurkha with OM616 DI turbo

2014 Rexton W with OM612 VGT

Krugman is an ass, who regularly spews the sort of tripe mentioned here. another reason the NYT is going bankrupt

Can you see the absurdity of the comparison? Bush pushed non-stop for all out war with a country that was a quagmire for the British, a country intractably wrought with ethnic hatreds. When wars go wrong, they bring down empires. Or short of that, leave a legacy of years of bitterness and recrimination, a la Vietnam. Bush showed disturbing signs of wanting to either out-do hid Daddy in Iraq or avenge his attempted assassination at Saddam's behest. That combined with his endless tough guy pose, acting as though restraint and contemplation were weaknesses was just a little maddening to those of us who were anticipating a $2 to $3 trillion dollar blunder.

By contrast, Obama was presumptuous enough to hope that his general popularity and status as Chicago native son (close enough) might win the Olympics for Chicago, and the US at large. The downside of Obama's failed attempt? Lost face? Oh buddies, I think O can withstand not being asked to dance first or second at the ball.

Bush was a spectator at the Beijing Olympics for FOUR DAYS. This with two wars going on and economy heading toward skids. But B. Hussein O. squandered 16 hours on this idle folly and is roundly lambasted?!?!

The US is still the big guy in the world, even with B. Hussein Obama at the helm, and people still consider that maybe the US bulls its way into getting what it wants. Rio has the coolest harbor with hilltop statue in the world, and sounds like it would be more sexy than a trip to Chicago, quite frankly, and with a latitude closer to the equator than San Diego. Not sure how good the weather is there in Aug and Sept, Rio's last month of winter and first of spring.

I think BHO actually lucked out. Every possible burp in the smooth flow of an Olympics in Chicago in '16, every story that any former constituent of BHO might be profiting in the presenting of a Chicago Olympics would have been trumpeted and exploited to the hilt. Would have been "Obama's Olympics."

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Unfortunately, you are wrong.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

You forgot the GIRLS of Rio, dint choo?

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Me? No, I had them in mind:

I know I want to go there someday.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Limbaugh took more than enough rope to hang himself with this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c-W7IUkKDY

Joe Scarborough showed that clip and said something like, 'Middle America, where elections are won or lost, looks at a clip like that and thinks "Republicans have gone off the deep end." I wish I could find the clip of that combo. Scarborough practically delivered a "have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" kind of moment, had that sort of vibe of grave disbelief, so incredulous he was at the mighty Limbaugh.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K