Whenever Hitler wanted to stir up the mob, he'd bash the Jews. At first, fearing to appear biased, cowardly politicians, intellectuals, the press, and other even-handed champions of "civil discourse" didn't utter a peep. Soon, enough, they were fearing for their very own lives. Feels like the good old days in Nazi Germany right here in the good old fascist USA, doesn't it?
29
Incivility there is and regrettable as it is it is not the equivalent of the leaking poison that the extreme Right has set loose of late. Death, said Thomas Merton, is an elegant teacher if we allow it to teach, to teach us that our lives are bound together, inextricably. Let the voice of our brothers’ and sisters’ blood “crying out from the ground” (Gn 4) move us to something other than contempt and hated for one another. Then we will be learning fr tragedy not multiplying it.
4
Donald trump is a genius of manipulation. This demagogue has convinced millions of people to defend him no matter how severely he violates our laws, mores, etc. it’s astounding how many seemingly intelligent people defend him with the most pathetic false equivalencies you’ve ever heard.
These same people have already decided there is nothing negative the NYT or anyone for that matter can say about trump that they will believe. Even facts will be dismissed. Even the justice department will blamed as being partisan if they attempt to charge him with something. The genius in chief has made sure he’s discredited every source of power that could tarnish his source of power.
Vote like your life depended on it. They’re in the rule or ruin phase and we won’t get out of it without immense bloodshed. Sorry to say.
21
Thank you, Paul Krugman for telling it like it is!!!! Bothsidesism from pundits and the media has been so maddening that I am barely able to read or watch anything political. I’m a pre-baby boomer and have lived through many political ups and downs, but have never felt as hopeless and frightened about our country as I do now. I just can’t thank you enough for your connection to reality and your ability to express it so clearly!
25
If Paul Krugman's ability to correctly forecast economic conditions is any indicator of his ability to correctly analyze political conditions, then his comments aren't worth the paper they are written on.
4
As far as I know, Trump only makes statements unsupported by any evidence. Perhaps some things he says might be supported by reality and fact, though that would be rare. But on the rare occasions when a reporter asks him to support his glittering generalities with examples that prove his claims, he has never once offered any data. He says, " I don't want to talk about that now", evading getting caught lying. He was not called out when he said the Bible was his favorite book. He could not give a specific quote, it was obvious. He was not pressed. Now there are thousands of hate filled lies, much more heinous than lying about the Bible.
He did it with Leslie Stahl on 60 Minutes not long ago, and I have never seen him once support any thing he says.
I agree with other readers who would like to see the press call him out and ask for proof. I suspect that reporters would never be called on again if they did that, or banned from briefings. But what good does it do to ask questions of Trump or Sara Huckabee Sanders when they simply state an outrageous lie with no evidence at all, or refuse to answer?
Ever since Trump began his run with the birther lies, he has been given a media platform to lie without proof, spread conspiracy theories of hate, and is never pinned down.
Thousands of years of outrageous lies attacking one minority group or another. Nothing new, sadly.
13
In the run-up to the midterms, Mr Trump has considerably amped-up his rhetoric a few notches. His two main memes have been 1) "invaders who are criminals, public-assistance seekers, and disease-carriers" that are a "threat to national security." Be afraid! Call out the army! and 2) "the press is the enemy of the people. Only I tell the truth."
Not much positive message here.
Trumpism, defined by it's hateful rhetoric, will hopefully see a sound repudiation next Tuesday.
6
I suppose one could be concerned about thousands of migrants from Central America "storming" our border. But, as PK would say, "here's the thing": Central America is a mess in large measure because of U.S. foreign policy forced upon those nations south of Mexico and north of Panama.
Our country as been involved in removing and replacing elected leaders, and non-elected strongmen and despots around the world. Central America can be seen as a canary in the proverbial mineshaft.
Thus this "wave" of immigrants is a reflection of America's failed policies in the region. Granting amnesty is only the right thing to do.
10
I totally agree with this opinion piece and more people need to stand up and point out the truth this article so clearly and logically lays out. Thank you Krugman and NYTimes!
8
In case you don't think the far-right - that would be the Republican Party - is really anti-Semitic, because after all they never denounce Jews, well, think again: "Soros" is the new word for Jew. It's got that dog-whistle sound that calls out anti-Semites without actually using the J or K words. But the cause and the effect are the same: anti-Semitism and murder. And now we've got its cheerleader in the White House.
Thank you once again, Trump voters! And here I thought only REAL Americans were allowed to vote. Talk about voter fraud - there were 60 million fraudulent votes cast in 2016.
15
In my previous comment I should have said that Obama used an executive ORDER to grant amnesty to Dreamers, and now, according to USA Today, Trump is promising to use an executive order to end birthright citizenship.
Of course, Trump's action if carried out will be challenged by the courts and he has little chance of winning. But the fact remains that Obama used executive orders to circumvent Congress, presumably because Congress is deadlocked on immigration, as it is on numerous other issues.
Government is supposed to discuss issues like immigration rationally, without calling members of the other party racists or bigots.
You don't like discussing issues? Then government starts to fail working. And at some point, people begin to vote for autocracy.
We need to tone down the rhetoric. I know that Trump is unwilling to do that. But Democrats don't need to follow his lead. In fact, extremist rhetoric by Democrats may have contributed to the rise of Trump.
1
Clearly didn’t read the article. Bothsideism and false equivalency and just plane lies. Obama didn’t grant citizenship to dreamers. It was the start of a process that trump killed. Regardless, equating Obama’s decision to right a wrong is completely different from removing a right established in the sacrosanct constitution.
21
Thank you for the link to your interview with Nancy Pelosi.
Informative and very, very interesting. Watching is an hour well spent.
2
It's been clear that Republicans have decided on, as Lincoln said, a "rule or ruin" strategy; the Caucus Room meeting, the debt limit standoff, the flat refusal to allow Democrats to make appointments (Garland). To confuse the public and the news media, Operation Gaslight has been in full swing: Newt Gingrich accused Democrats of "rule or ruin" over the Kavanaugh hearings https://twitter.com/newtgingrich/status/1046728702585901062 , Trump cries "fake news" and now they accuse Democrats of being divisive. The mainstream news is failing catastrophically.
9
In Ireland, we also have a variety of the species of bothsiders called sneaking regarders for the IRA/Sinn Fein and Loyalist Unionist terrorists.
Last weekend, we elected an intellectual social democrat poet as our president, but 23% of electors voted for a US tax paying TV celebrity demagogue, with no good answers to hard problems, like those who feel the mainstream does not address, or speak to their concerns.
Democracy is a fragile flower as we know. Ireland's triumph for respect and tolerance with rationality, should not be extolled, but pondered upon. We cannot guarantee its traction to good effect, sadly.
7
"Trump supporters try to kill his critics? Well, some Trump opponents have yelled at politicians in restaurants!"
Cute, but not true, Paul.
Actually, even Dem centrists like me, who yearn for the days of Scoop Jackson and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, do not care about Leftists yelling at politicians in restaurants.
We are actually more concerned with a Keith Ellison as the elected vice-chair of the DNC. Keith is a current (former) follower of one of the nation's most vicious anti-Semites, the Rev. Louis Farrakhan, but you won't read about that here.
Farrakhan, and soul mates like Al Sharpton, are responsible for actual Jewish deaths. See, for example, Freedy's fire in Harlem, or deaths of Jews linked to the rhetoric of Farrakhan. Tamika Mallory of Black Lives Matter loves Farrakhan, too , but you won't read about it here.
You also don't mention that Jewish college students are not currently being harassed and intimidated by Neo-Nazis, but by Leftists in the guise of "anti-Zionists," like BDS boycotters of Israel (also Germany in the 30s) and terrorist supporters like Linda Sarsour and SJP. All "progressives" as they define themselves.
So when Jews die from Leftists tolerated by the Dem party, we must speak out, even if that makes Professor Krugman uncomfortable.
3
Paul rightly writes, "In America 2018, whataboutism is the last refuge of scoundrels, and bothsidesism is the last refuge of cowards."
However, Paul as George Washington warned after the American colonies had escaped from the overt oppression of a singular and nearly global Empire:
"political parties may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”
Today, the signal, singular, and seminal danger of this Disguised Global Capitalist Empire, which at least since the outcome of the Second World War of Empires was clearly foreseen in 1944, has been planning and methodically executing the development of dual Vichy parties, which could be employed to culminate in the "Quiet American" success of the last 10 "least worst voting cycles'" (since the 1980 installation of Reagan) --- and which 'bothsidesism' has now culminated in keeping the American people (as Washington warned) focused on the totally vacuous "issues" of the 'rougher-talking' neocon 'R' Vichy Party vs. the 'smoother-lying' neoliberal-con 'D' Vichy Party, while (to paraphrase Fitzgerald's "Gatsby") "the dark fields of the Empire rolled on under the night".
We are 'divided' to fighting about Parties, and ignoring EMPIRE.
2
I agree that hate is on the ballot next week.
Hate for the scapegoat of all time, Donald Trump, who is now responsible for every social and political ill you can name.
Hate for all those "old white guys" filed in one huge category by skin color.
Hate for the "basket of deplorables."
Hate for the Democrat shenanigans set up to sink Mr. Kavanaugh and pronounce him "guilty" without evidence. Hatred of men in general who are now automatically not to be believed (esp.. white guys) in any sexual assault case.
Hate for the unscrupulous outing-against-her-will of Kavanaugh's accuser.
Hate and disregard for the American citizen who will bear the brunt of a full scale "invasion" (what it is) of people flouting our laws. ( Is this what our ancestors did?)
Also, Trump did not call neo-Nazis "very fine people." He, naively or precipitously, saw a group of protestors that day and did not know that some of them were "Nazis" and tried to quell the situation before the fact. (He is crude but not stupid)
Most of us, even those of us who are Trump-aware, "got that", know that he "misspoke"--and that he is not a Nazi sympathizer .
Next week the American voices of sanity will be heard.
2
Paul: It’s bad enough that the media really has no choice but to identify and discuss the disturbed, asocial and hateful individuals who commit or attempt to commit murder in the name of hate, and thereby give them the public attention they crave. Now you want to go even further by claiming that the 2018 mid-term elections are all about them? Forget it. Just as we must not let terrorists change the way we live, we must not permit the hateful monsters among us to control the national political narrative.
3
MAGABomber is an apt meme. It ties homicidal nihilism to that cynical slogan. Keep it.
3
It looks like the good men and women are going to win big this time. Urgent: "Fanfare for the common man". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKgk6G0lekQ
Well, Paul, hate is up. But obviously you're cooking the numbers that show who the haters might be.
You can pretend, obfuscate, and spin all you want, but you own the Antifa rioting mobs, the people throwing both bullets and rocks through Republican center windows, shooting Republican congressmen, and the escalating numbers of political "hate crimes" as per FBI stats.
You're often wrong, but never unsure.
2
How does Paul "Endless-Recession-If-Trump-Is-Elected" Krugman get an editorial in any newspaper anymore?
4
Got to agree, hate is on the ballot. Its hate mongers like Krugman that are fueling all the hate and murders in this country. Relentlessly telling people that don't agree with him that they are racist and ignorant. Find a mirror Krugman and maybe its time the Times ran some comics and then you could read POGO "we have met the enemy and he is us"
3
Here we are bickering in the weeds while the people who actually control things, the 1%, the oligarchs, the financial class, laugh at us from from their position of power. Trump may be their current tool but this has been building for a while. If only we the people could get past our differences on social matters and realize that we all (rural, urban, black, white, christian and non, gay, emigrant, and the rest of the 99%) all should be working together to restore power to ordinary people and strip it from the financial elites. There is the common ground that will restore greatness to America and allow us to thrive as never before.
6
Would be great if NYT Editorial staff would lay off the both sides business and heed your observations and advice. Courage and strength -- these are not ordinary times.
7
What I'd like to know is, How did Donald know so early in his campaign -- January 2016 -- that he could shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and his people would stick with him?
I can't believe he was prescient. Or sophisticated. Or a great political theorist.
So how did he know? Was he aware of the "help" he had, even then?
2
Although I voted for Bernie in the primaries I had friends who parroted some of the worst lies about Hillary that one would hear on Fox News. And some voted for Stein in the general election. Unfortunately a need for "purity" isn't the monopoly of one party
2
Hate was on the ballot in November 2016, but it was wearing a Halloween costume, and not enough people recognized it.
Is there anyone in the country with less self awareness than Krugman? (Actually, there are many. The man is a pristine example of the projection and ignorance of garden variety progressives.) There is no such thing as a good faith disagreement with the guy. Any and all who pursue or advocate policy prescriptions that don't match his are declared evil, racist, misogynist, etc, and then he declares that the other side is actively, deliberately spreading hatred and fomenting violence. Look in the mirror, Paulie boy; do a bit of self reflection.
6
What about the demand side of the illegal immigration supply -demand dynamic? Wouldn't thorough payroll audits of agribusinesses, construction companies, etc. be more effective and far cheaper than a stupid wall? Somebody's paying these people, obviously, and no doubt paying them below minimum or prevailing wage and no doubt under abusive working conditions. Exceedingly profitable.
We haven't heard a word about this from Fox, Trump etc.
1
In recent days, the Liberal concern for truth, facts, and aversion to rush to judgment (traits which while admirable come with a certain amount of inherent disadvantage in the short term) have insisted on equivocating. In reading your statement regarding a straight line between Fox News and Tree of Life massacre, Professor Krugman I felt an urgent need to thank you for not equivocating. For speaking the reality of the situation from your perception plainly and concisely.
4
It seems to me that whenever people blame both sides with "whataboutisms" and false equivalencies, no one is held accountable because if everyone is to blame, no one takes the blame.
5
It's time for the press to stand up and say "It's a lie" when Trump continues to tell lies with every breath. Stop beating around the bush saying they are untruths or some other polite language, they are LIES. We need to operate in a fact based reality. Hate is on the ballot next week, vote to end it.
4
if HRC had been elected we would not be seeing this level of hate and violence in the country. its clear that trump is the well spring from which this flood of hate and violence flows.
8
Thank you Paul for affirming that you see your coming election as a referendum on hate that is exactly as so many of us see it.
In the next week I hope to see an op-ed that tells the truth about this huge stupendous unbelievable economy.
Here in Quebec where the taxes are high and the social safety net is the strongest in North America our economic boom has outstripped our imagination. We just had an election which started off as a debate about immigration. Quebec has its own immigration department and the diversification of our population seemed a good center point with which to begin the political debate. The debate started off with every mayor, every municipal council, every Chambre de Commerce, every CEO and every investor urging that immigration should be increased as our record number of new startups and all our businesses needed people to come to Quebec and stay and become citizens. We need our anchor babies to anchor their families here in Quebec where almost all our businesses are hiring.
The hugely successful American economy has your markets valued where they were in January and most economic prognostication see the 4th quarter bringing you annual GDP growth to the lowest in 7 years. That is what is called winning in Trump's America.
3
I am a white American woman. My age is 65 years old. I am here to tell everyone who thinks that all white, Christian Americans support Trump that they are simply wrong. Many of us are just as repelled by Trump and that includes many life long Republicans.
Opposition to Trump and his fascist, Hitler-style
brand of brain washing, inciting violence, sexism, racism and ignoring anything like the brutal murder of a Saudi journalist is clearly rooted in his one desire: money is king. America has lost the moral high ground under Trump and the rest of the World knows that too.
Vote this criminal out of office along with every Republican candidate because they have proven they tow Trump’s line come Hell or High Water.
15
No. The DNC Politburo's open-borders cultural Marxist Grand Collective is on the ballot.
5
@Alicye's Restaurant
Satire needs to be marked with /s.
3
@sammy
Too much Sovietized mass-media? Ever read Marcuse? Heard "Gold Standard" open-borders Hillary recently?
2
@Alice's Restaurant
I lived in a country with a "Sovietized mass-media" -- and you have no idea what you're talking about.
2
New Paradigm observers think not party but wealth and power organize as parties to drive divisions/slash freedoms/lie and kill--the form (party) is less important the structural content (policy).
These observers see the recent tragic deaths and threats as part of a broad, violent wave raising since the night club shootings in Orlando, followed by mass shootings at a concert, at a school, at shopping centers, shootings of civilians and police, ambushes, even attacks on churches.
It is chilling that a Holocaust survivor died in Pittsburgh, at the age of 95.
The common feature is the killers are white males, armed with AR-15 style assault weapons, all legal if memory holds. Is the weapon itself an icon of freedom or death? Is it a fetish of violence or the virtue of safety? Does its freedom of ownership embed those who want to commit spectacular crimes?
The debate rages as we wait for someone (white, male) to exit the shadows again bearing arms, AR 15 style. Shouldn't we now declare the ownership of these weapons a threat to public safety? Can we afford the emotional and material costs of its constant, unpredictable presence in the wrong hands? How does a killer owning legal arsenals of AR-15s, the country witnessing their repeated use over and over, make the country safer?
Make our grief count. End the carnage. We lost nothing by banning a weapon so thousands yet unknown can live—stop death as a scattered statistic that encourages gun ownership to end to its threats.
9
@Walter Rhett
It's also chilling that a few days before the Pittsburgh shooting, a white supremacist spouting racist invective shot two unarmed Black people in a parking lot in Kentucky. Our country is under attack from within.
Where's the national outrage over that?
3
Bothside-ism is only one angle of the cowardice seen during the last few years. Another major component of the holding of tongues has been practiced by the press (though for good reason). Though I held my nose while voting for Hilary Clinton, I must admit she was the only major figure I've seen so far who had the guts to put the blame for this administration where it surely belongs: on the voters who voted for Trump. When she called a certain portion of Trump voters "deplorables," she took a huge risk, but she was dead on target. If I sellout my country to get an abortion law overturned, it's about the same as If I pimp my daughter because the family's short on cash (which by the way, happens around the world far more often than people would feel comfortable knowing). There were many suitable Conservative candidates who ran for President in 2016, all of whom would've probably appointed very conservative SC justices to the court. Donald Trump was picked to run because his racism, misogyny, and arrogance were appealing to the voters who voted for him. I heard very few people say they held their noses and voted for Trump. His main constituency consists of white men who sense the strength of their whiteness and maleness slipping away, and Trump has pledged to bring that strength and standing back to them. And there were enough self-hating women to put him over the top. It's been 2 years, so there aren't any more excuses for voting Republican; they must like what they see.
4
Democrats need to tell the American People that after the election they will hold a live and public caucus of House and Senate. They must agree on goals that they want to achieve 2019.
Elect the Leadership team and get to work!
Failing to take back the House by the democrats will embolden Trump to continue on his march to become America's first dictator. The GOP is terrified of Trump's rabid base and of his vicious twitter feed so he now controls the GOP. Having a 5 to 4 Supreme Court to protect him and a soon to be lackey Attorney General Trump will control most levers of power in our country. Installing a new sec of defense pliant to Trump will allow him to use the military for political purposes . Trump is already doing that by sending the military to repel poor tired frightened women and children coming here to do jobs our Americans will not do. When a dictator takes over many folks are surprised but when they get rounded up in the middle of the night its too late. Family members in dictatorships are brought into the government and their sons like Don Junior are installed as future Dear Leader no wonder Trump loves Kim his role model.
3
"All of these hate crimes seem clearly linked..." let me stop you right there, Paul. They can "seem" to be linked, or they can "clearly" be linked. It's nonsensical write that they "seem clearly," so I anticipate that any anything else you have to say here will likewise be nonsense... ... ...and I am right! Although, full disclosure, I knew that would be the case from the title (and the byline). I already voted, and Hate was not on my ballot. Probably not on yours either.
4
In 1980 nobody had heard of Donald Trump but when Ronald Reagan went to Philadelphia, Mississippi we knew he didn't go there to honour the memory of three martyrs. Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were lynched by the good people of Mississippi because they believed in an America where all were created equal. Donald Trump saw the train coming and hopped on board.
5
@Memphrie et Moi
In 1980, most everybody here in New York City had heard of Donald Trump, which is why we tried to warn the rest of America about him in 2016.
5
Some dem policies and approaches are wrong and incompetent at times, no doubt.
The problem is tump and the repubs are a thousand times worse, a 1000x more toxic.
If you want perfection you'll have to find another planet to live on. If you at least want to try to make this one a little better for average people, vote democrat.
It's clear the GOP will do nothing but lie, enrich the aristocracy, fuel further hatreds and destroy people & the environment in the process.
The media also needs to headline every tump lie with the words... "he lies again". And here are the facts.
The rest of us better go to the polls or who knows...our national experiment may totally implode if it hasn't already.
2
I'm so glad Paul Krugman has a forum here. He is the clearest thinker I know. Now if people can just pay attention, if just for a minute.
7
Twitter should ban Trump from their platform, when he's clearly violating their TOS and his rants are inciting some of his deranged followers to mail bombs to people.
4
Dr. Krugman and others need to start making the correct economic argument that our society is actually going to need not only the people coming in at the border, but many more, for jobs caring for our aging population and building our future infrastructure in the coming decades. We've seen what happens (in Japan and to some extent Western Europe) when immigration in an under-reproductive society is artificially-curtailed - decades of recession. Let's get out of the hysteria and look rationally at the long-term, here.
1
A lot of smart and talented people get sucked in by whataboutism and bothsideism. In the media, Dr. Krugman is the best and most frequent analyst of these intellectually bereft and politically harmful practices. I'm still annoyed at majority media analysis of the 2016 election, wherein Hillary was criticized for not trying hard enough to appeal to types of people who ended up voting for Trump. How does a politician engage the likes of the MAGA Bomber, short of telling them who to blame (besides themselves) for their misery? Trump's approach isn't to help such people, but to weaponize them. If we can help such people, great. But we need to stop letting them screw things up for the rest of us.
5
Krugman scores a bullseye here. This is not new, but the intensity and depth of it is. I'm 60, a native NYer, Ivy-educated and Jewish. Outside of NYC and over many years, it has been repeatedly been made very clear to me that me and my kind are not "white". One the most frequently used invectives in those screeds refers in the most crude terms possible to the American Jew's embrace of civil rights for blacks. I'm numb to it to by now, dismiss these guys are morons, and try to go about my life. But recently, a smart educated business associates from the heartland directly accused me, as a Jew, of promoting the "Negrofication" of America. What the heck does that even mean? How does a clever guy even get that in his head and not puke? We are in a different place right now, and I do not like it one damn bit.
9
The left has, for a long time, advocated doing away with "shaming;" even when it is well deserved. This is one of the consequences of that position. We have a president who has lived a life without shame. We have a GOP that supports him with shame. If ever anybody deserved to be shamed, it is this man who, before the 11 victims in Pittsburgh were even buried, had the gall to portray himself as a "victim" of media attacks. Probity must be restored. If that includes calling out shameful behavior by elected leaders, good! Hate is on the ballot and we should, in the names of civility, truth, science and morality, defeat it.
3
I suggest that everyone who is on FB cancel your accounts, unless your livelihood depends on it, if you running a business etc...
I watched yesterday PBS Frontline Documentary "Facebook Dilemma" and I couldn't believe how many lies and cover up was going on on this platform, they were unapologetically lying to all of us, since they new about Russian meddling since 2014. But again the mighty $$$$$ won the day and we got trump.
Dump FB if you can, our democracy depends on this. You can watch part one and two tonight.
Mark Zuckerberg actually had a panic attack during the interview.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/facebook-dilemma/
5
Who's afraid of the Big Bad Leftists? You're afraid of saying anything that might offend anyone to your left. All you could muster for Bernie Sanders was some whispered doubts about his mathematics. You don't see anything frightening coming from the Left, just as your rightist equivalents didn't perceive xenophobia's steady ascent until Trump showed up.
And it isn't centrists who claim a false equivalence but rather the Far Left, as evidenced by their "Clinton and Trump are the same" claims during 2016. Who else speaks this way? -- far rightists, displaying, once again, the circular nature of politics.
The very nobility of leftist aims leads them to see all who stand in their way as enemies of humanity, more or less. After all, who can possibly oppose these terrific things we offer? ... Why is intent more important than outcome? If someone seeks to help the rich but actually produces a situation better than his opponent, who seeks to help everyone, isn't result more important than intention?
Why lead people on by telling them, over and over, how great Scandinavia is, when it should be obvious that what our country can learn from those is close to zilch? Despite what you say, we shouldn't omit what the progenitors of many leftists ideas did. https://quillette.com/2018/10/06/dont-get-fooled-again-the-continuing-necessity-of-anti-communism/
The existing GOP, that nimiety of trash, must be subjugated -- but liberals should be willing to combat their left flank.
1
"In America 2018, whataboutism is the last refuge of scoundrels, and bothsidesism is the last refuge of cowards."
Dr. Krugman has my respect for being willing to say this in a publication that too often gives in to bothsideism. Despite Supreme Court precedent, despite the plain text of the Fourteenth Amendment, there is a NYT article right now that actually says "it's not clear" whether Trump could limit birthright citizenship with an executive order. In these times, objective journalism has to be more than running a few quotes from opposing sides then splitting the difference with a shrug.
3
Yes, "whataboutism" and "bothsidesism" is the plague of the current era, that has grown wildly due to the GOP and fellow travelers. It could be said that Deavers, Atwater, Rove, and Cheney had major rolls in pushing these "isims" forward but these are a part of the political world in the USA. In the not too distant past the Stom Therman's 1948 Dixiecrats is a point to begin, Brown in 1954,and LBJ in the 1964 & 1965 legislation on Civil Rights, the New Society, etc. On the other side one may speak of the white citizen councils, the Burch Society, Wallace, Goldwater, the religious right etc.
Success in the midterm elections is limiting your opponents, and it now appears the GOP with or without Trump have hills too high climb absent a Comey, a foreign power or local officals altering votes en mass as in Gore v Bush 2000.
In the current time issues of the past 70 years do not ring loudly as in a flag of the past were no longer sold by a noted big box supplier, it's removal and in South Carolina and other areas removable of simliar symbols. In essence the GOP/Trump combo is running backwards grasping for tommorow, stupid in on too many ballets.
The reason hate crimes persist is because we've never taken seriously the violence and terror perpetuated against black citizens. Each new European immigrant group picked up the mantle of hate; it was the admission into whiteness.
We were all fine as long as black bodies bore the brunt of mistreatment, lynchings, and hatred. Groups that thought they were safely ensconced in whiteness are increasingly targeted under the trump regime. Now, everyone is listening.
3
I noticed something about the murders in Pittsburg on Saturday. The victims were all old people. I noticed something else, which was that "Israel" dropped some bombs on Gaza that day in retaliation for a rocket attack which was in response to the murder of a young Palestinian near the border. Now, murder is murder, there is no question, and if you read about the Zionist treatment of Palestinians from the start in 1948, you find that it has been constant in its depravity. The majority of the Palestinians are young people. But this senseless idea of trying to compensate wrongs with wrongs is in effect the ne plus ultra of both absurdity and immorality. This is not two-sided. Trump, who strongly supports the Zionist State, is a hate-monger. Why anyone would support such a person and his party is really beyond comprehension. There are no possible benefits for this type of behavior, just as there are no possible benefits for the types of behavior alluded to above. Cooperation is something which is badly needed on a world-wide basis--it may have gone by the boards, so to speak. Reason may have more than begun to slide into obsolescence; that is unfortunate.
1
The most insidious "both sides do it " came from Vice president Pence who tried to balance the Pittsburgh murders with the observation that it was a supposed supporter of Bernie Sanders that shot up the Republican softball game last spring. You might not agree with Bernie on much if anything, but he was passionate about conducting a campaign around genuine issues and engaging the public peacefully. Sure, Bernie framed issues as he saw them, but by modern standards of electioneering, his campaign was a model of civic responsibility and genuine civility. And he is a decent and compassionate man, something Trump is not and will never be.
5
@Bob Burke
I thought that Donald Trump's false equivalency between tiki-torch marching neo-Nazis and those protesting against them was pretty insidious.
2
@Bob Burke Not only that, but Bernie denounced the acftions of his supporter, as did Democrats for this one isolated incident of madness where nobody was killed. We are still waiting for Trump to denounce the actions of both white nationalists who heard his dog whistles at his rallies. To equate the madness one isolated example of a leftist with the murder of 11 Jews in Pittsburgh, 2 African Americans in Kentucky, and the systematic mailing of 15 pipe bombs to individuals that Trump and his supporters constantly attack, is monstruous and a glaring example of a false equivalency.
3
Today I watched a replay of Fareed Zakaria's show on youtube. In it he said that there has been a dramatic rise in anti-Semitism in America and cited "increasingly nasty political rhetoric on both sides of the aisle." I have not heard much nasty rhetoric from dems...what is he talking about? (I have generally found him to be fair and measured.)
He did trace back nasty political rhetoric to Newt Gingrich and his urging repubs to use vitriol in speaking about democratic opponents.
1
I disagree with Krugman. I think it is legitimate for Americans, particularly poor Americans, to be concerned about the caravan from Honduras, of people hoping to gain entry to the US.
Yes, Trump is a terrible spokesperson. Yes, the idea that George Soros might be involved in the caravan is ludicrous.
But it is also the case that politicians of both parties are not handling well the more mundane problems that should concern them. People are falling through the cracks and not getting health care. The number of homeless seems to be rising. People are struggling to make ends meet as living standards seem to be falling in spite of a soaring stock market.
These might be consequences of population growth driven by illegal immigration over the long term. (Since 1986 the US population has grown by 86 million.)
Congress has been ineffective. So Obama extended amnesty to Dreamers via executive amnesty. Is it any surprise that according to a report in USA Today, Trump is claiming he will end birthright citizenship via executive amnesty?
On immigration, there is no discussion of middle policies.
Both sides ignore the constitution. And although Krugman assures his readers that it is only the Republicans who are given to hate, Fox News and the pulpits of America's churches provide the opposite message.
The NY Times has become too partisan. Many people have stopped believing it. Without believable news media a democracy cannot function.
43
@Jake Wagner You're blaming immigrants (and equating all population growth with illegal immigrants) while failing to address tax, spending and corporate policies that are obliterating the middle class. What about the destruction of unions, those organizations that helped insure workers received a fair shake? Do those actions not bear any responsibility for the destruction of the social safety net? The wealth gap is climbing not because immigrants are taking a slice of the pie, but the .1% are sucking up the wealth.
Immigrants are only being used as a decoy to distract people like you from this reality. This divide and conquer strategy is working quite well for the GOP.
121
@Jake Wagner
Where I live in central WA, hispanics are a high percentage of the population and unemployment is low and has been for years. Population has been growing strongly here uninterrupted for decades and so has economic opportunity. Immigrants are not just workers, they're also customers and businessmen. Immigration is a big part of our economic success.
102
@Jake Wagner, can you please name even one qualified worker you know who lost their job just because the employer preferred to hire an undocumented immigrant? I’ve asked several acquaintances who share your concern, and none of them could name anyone. Instead of the enormous expense of transporting and housing thousands of troops to wait at the border for several weeks, wouldn’t it be more economically and ethically sensible to hire and train more personnel to process the refuge applicants and to increase staffing in the courts so that these cases get resolved one way or the other more quickly?
91
While everything you write in the article may be true, I believe it is, it won't help solve the problem. Outrage will change no minds, no matter how justified. The only answer, in my opinion, is to quietly vote them out. Let us hope we have the votes, and that the Russians don't change the results.
3
Whataboutism and bothsidism are weapons to defend hate. The other weapon Trump uses often is distractionism, such as no citizenship by birth to illegl immigrants to draw attention back to caravan and away from Pittsburgh massacre and pipe bombs. Politics reduced to raising the money and say what people want to hear and get elected. Bernie Sanders took a stand and stood on it throughout the campaign, but he did not get media coverage because in what he says there is no ‘news’. The media has to equal exposure so that people remember what he was saying on the day of voting. The amplification of Trumps tantrums by media as in echo chamber is drowning the voices of fairness, tolerance and decency.
3
Republicans might consider this from The Merchant of Venice:
"The villainy you teach me I will execute—and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction."
1
For the first time in a long time I completely agree, there is no equivalence between the Republicans and anyone else. The truly bad always claim the merely good are hypocrites because they are not perfect. And the Republicans are truly bad.
On a side note, is it just me or does it seem like CNN and the Trump organization are playing different ends of the same con?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/jeff-zuckers-singular-role-in-promoting-donald-trumps-rise/2016/10/02/7c3d4366-865b-11e6-a3ef-f35afb41797f_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6ac6c487f7ef
1
I find these comments so striking.
I see conservatives offering a lot of "What about ...?" misdirection attacks.
To be clear, there is no precedent for the behavior of Donald Trump in either party. I am an independent. I voted for George H.W. Bush and I was proud to have him as my president. I would have been proud to have Mitt Romney as my president though I did not vote for him.
Many Republicans acknowledge that Trump is not good for this country. One can only help that many others will engage in a little introspection regarding the GOP and its dramatic departure from long-held core beliefs under Trump and ask, "Have we changed and if so, where is it we are headed?"
I was surprised to see a reference to Farrakahn. As if non-Republicans view him as some sort of founding father equivalent. Farrakahn promoted hate. I certainly did not support him. However, to suggest that the head of a fringe, minority group is equivalent to the President of the United States is nothing short of bizarre.
And that is the real problem isn't it?
Sorry, I for one am not going to give some cowardly nod toward "both sides do it" argument when false equivalency is one of the greatest defenses Trump has. It is true that both sides need to revert to traditional standards of civil discourse. However, the distant that the parties have to go to get to civility is very different.
2
Look Krugman, this was a great opinion piece and I applaud you for not pulling any punches, except one. I was livid when you praised Nancy, in your last column. Come on, really? It is great you two are buddies and gee I have friends who I like very much who are in denial too, I kinda get nauseous if I think too much about it.
Nancy used and let the Dreamers down. She says we are not ready for Medicare for all, she degraded the progressives who are the only hope for us all that I can see. She and her party abandoned the working class 40 years ago. She takes legal bribes and you know it. She dances with the elite. The workers' party left the workers and this is why we have Trump.
I could never listen to Hillary during the elections, why? because even she did not believe her precious talking points. It was so clear she and the Democrats did not give a rat's behind about the middle and lower classes. And they thought they could get away with it too. Hubris and dark money did them and us in. And no I did not vote for Trump. I am a New Yorker and knew what a con artist, or perhaps con craftsman he was.
Nancy needs to go and you know it. Just like the Republican party needs to be completely outed and made to own their crimes against humanity and this nation. And yes of course I do agree that the sins of the Democrats are much, much less than the ultimate traitors to this nation, Trump and the Republican Party
3
A picture is worth a 1000 words....................
but the words under this picture tell it like it is......
All of this coming together jazz makes me scratch my head.
It's pure Pythagorus folks ......"Things equal to the same thing
are equal to each other"........If you support a racist, his language,
his provable lies......then, Pythagorus would say you are
a racist, a liar and an enabler of the violence we are forced to live with, now on almost a daily basis.. Sorry, no room for those
so-called Americans at my Thanksgiving table.
What will you 'mesmerized' TV Reality Show fans all think when the tax cuts for the "middle class"expire....yes they are intended
to expire......while "Big Daddy's stay the same?...when the market falls with a resounding thud (oops) and your stocks take a hit? (see Dow Jones)....when China
finds other sources for their produce needs...and farmers are standing in unharvested fields.....oops again.....
We may run out of oil, but we will never run out "marks" to be played.
There are always "marks" ready to be played......always
Pull your history books down from the shelf...dust them off
and look up Germany 1933......pour yourself a stiff drink and then
start reading from the beginning......then check out this photo again after you read the first 1000 words......
At some point you will have to forget the idea that your ethnicity
guarantees your safety.
2
74% of deaths from violent extremists come from the right wing. This is a fact. You are much more likely to be killed by a violent right winger than an Islamic radical. More than 7 out of 10 deaths!!!
Just think about that for a moment.
https://www.politifact.com/california/article/2017/aug/31/who-carries-out-more-terror-attacks-us-soil-right-/
Now, go out and vote!
4
The more nuanced argument that Paul should have made is that the normalisation of extremism on the right which is much more a right wing phenomenon than leftwing one (Trump, Infowars, Q, FOX) is feeding and enhancing extremism on the left.
To all those commenters below either piling in to defend the right by vilifying the left or pillorying the right with glee:
Your country's social fabric is coming apart at the seams....Russia is enjoying helping make this happen. When are you going to see that as the big problem- not defending your tribe? Will you do it when it is too late and the US' decline becomes inevitable? Or will you be a true patriot and move back to civility and the centre and bring others back with you?
1
This is the first time that America has had a fascist administration. With respect, that isn't meant as hyperbole - I'm trying to be accurate.
Fascism has no reasonable discourse, nor is there a diplomatic solution.
Fascism cannot survive without support from the aggrieved - the politics of fascism is appealing to those who are envious of the others, for whatever reason.
MAGA supporters have the perspective of being passed by, or they are no longer the majority, or more importantly, no one speaks for them, they are too disconnected from the debauched elite.
America's empire is decaying, and like all empires, it will unravel in a harsh series of events - this is Act 1. Next? Get ready for regions of American not to 'accept' the election results.
In the meantime, the one element that is putting a wrench in the fascist works is that there are SO MANY GUNS in the hands of the aggrieved. Fascist regimes do not like well armed citizens, so here is a wrinkle for the new fascism of this century. Maybe this will work in their favor, you know, calling out all the MAGA masses to rebel with force, actually, with this Mensa administration, that probably appeals to them - they are really weak on steps 2 and 3 of any plan.
Mix the NRA, GOP, Fox, and the plethora of screaming social media platforms and .....well, not good.
Just for fun, VP Mike Bormann is now consoling us with Rabbi's who believe Jesus is the Messiah. You can't write this stuff.
3
I am more frustrated every time I open the NYT and listen to another hyper-partisan commentator spitting out more reasons that they think republicans are evil. I have held my views that borders matter, our flag matters and that killing babies is bad long before Donald Trump was President. The fact that people like Multimillionaire Krugman do not understand why I respect a rule of law is not surprising. He represents the elite who will not be happy until we are all in serfdom with the global elites the only happy ones. Paul ,please understand that your retoric is as harmful as the President's. You Paul started calling us Republicans Evil when Bush was President. I think you have lost the right to comment on what is occuring in this country, other than to apoligize for your part in the mayhem.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-paul-krugman-made-donald-trump-possible
3
@ALFREDO: You do know that "global elites" is dog whistle for "Jews", right? If not, please educate yourself about what Democrats actually stand for, such as accessible health care and education, infrastructure projects and maintaining social security, medicare and medicaid, for starters. And they are as much about preventing abortion as anyone, by means of easy access to birth control and sex education. They're also against making it easy to kill small children and students in their schools. If Trump gets his way, we'll all soon be serfs to the foreign oligarchs he's doing monkey business with and do Putin's bidding, and be afraid to go to any public event just in case we might get shot.
5
The Trumpublicans could still prevail next week. They back their guy no matter what. And the mainstream news networks are culpable for this possibility. They continue to let Trump suck all the oxygen out of the room. They chase everything he says and does.
What happened in Pittsburgh is atrocious, but why isn't anyone interviewing Obama or Biden or the Clintons, the pipebomber's intended targets? You would think they have something valuable to tell the public. But no. To watch the mainstream news, it's as if the fact that top Democrats were targeted for assassination last week is suddenly forgotten; like it never happened.
And let's not forget how many African Americans got shot while President Obama was in the White House. The irony there, however, is inescapable. The victims were killed because bigots were rabidly reacting to the fact that a black man was elected President, but the hate emanated from the same rightwing source. Whether or not Trump is stoking it, the bigotry was already there. It never went away. And it unfortunately continues unabated in 21st Century America. Some "post-racial" world we live in.
3
Forget about economic policy, geopolitcs, or taxes. According to Paul Krugman you are to vote according to whether right-wing nuts or left-wing nuts have killed more people that week. By Krugman logic, the Republicans will therefore deserve to win in a ladslide if some left-wing terrorist goes on an epic killing spree before the election.
And don't try arguing with Krugman's twisted logic. He's like a Freudian analyst - if you disagree with him it's just a manifestation of your own "resistance" which just proves he's right and that there is something wrong with you. Except he refers to such disagreement as "Whataboutism" and "false equivalency."
When someone tells you straight-up that you are not allowed to disagree, you know everything else he says is not to be trusted.
The fact is Paul Krugman is a sorry excuse for a pundit. He is allegedly smart but his only rhetorical device is to attack the motives and intelligence of everyone he disagrees with. If I were to use his level of vitriol the Times would refuse to publish it as in violation of its rule against "incivility."
So I say vote on the substantive issues, not because Krugman tells to hate the other side because they are supposedly more hateful.
2
A vote for a Republican candidate in 2018,
is a vote for the KKK, White Supremacists, violence, and sexual assaults.
Sorry, but there is no middle ground.
9
Most Germans in 1930's and 1940's didn't want to participate in extermination of Jews and other "undesirables". In fact, their hearts were not into that kind of "stuff". They condoned the Holocaust mostly through their silence and apathy, ie, by not protesting. They were more focused on protecting the future of their children and grandchildren. How can anyone blame them for loving their progeny too much, right? They loved Hitler's clear messages and clear, seemingly obvious solutions to what ailed Germany, about what threatened the "Fatherland", and by extension the people (Volk) directly. "Motherland" was not authoritarian enough, so Hitler used the patriarchal term.
GOP has been unintentionally borrowing the script from Hitler to win the hearts and minds of vast swathes of American people who are fearful of the brown, the red, the black, the yellow skins. Many of these scared Americans live in metropolises, that happen to be the melting pots of races and religions, because of the culture, the economic opportunities, good school system, and welfare systems in place. They vote Republican, for the party that stands against the very recipe that created these societies, which are so desirable to the scared Americans. These scared Americans, some of who had suffered for generations from persecution by the totalitarian regimes in Europe, are now silent, apathetic, and even actively supportive, of the current authoritarian US president and his party. History will be a final judge.
2
A referendum on hate it is. It's not the Useful Idiot or no Pence but the various angry mobs who salute them with clicking heels and hateful cheers in unison who worry me. Blind to reality and truth these maggots find their customized rationalizations in the Bible and far right talk radio and Fox "news." Mortal combat it has become for the survival of democracy threatened by a theocracy (Pence) and an established plutocracy and kleptocracy.
1
I used to wonder how Hitler rose to power and how the Nazi atrocities could occur. Why did Hitler have so many adoring fans? Why did the German people accept Hitler's invasions of other countries? Why did they abide Nazi atrocities, even against fellow Germans? It just didn't make sense that so many people would go along, many enthusiastically, with so much blatant immorality.
Now I understand, thanks to Trump's many enthusiastic supporters, who have been swayed by Trump's fearmongering. Like Hitler, Trump lacks empathy and appears to have no capacity for feeling shame. For Trump it's all about winning. The truth doesn't matter to him and it didn't matter to Hitler either. Effective propaganda doesn't need to be true.
Trump seems to actually prefer lies, deceptions and embellishment over the truth. As he told Lesley Stahl, "You know why I do it [attack the mainstream media and use the phrase 'fake news']? I do it to discredit you all and demean you all so that when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you." Trump, like Hitler, is a nationalist demagogue who uses fear to manipulate people.
5
The birthright citizenship debate fascinates me. I was educated to understand that no one becomes a citizen at birth. NO One. According to our constitution, so I thought, a person becomes a citizen at age 21(now made by law to be 18...though some argue this law is unconstitutional, the age of citizenship can only be changed by amendment)...... And one becomes a citizen at 18 by either having been born in the US and accepted by legal means or having been naturalized. Children born to people in the USA under a student visa, a work visa, a tourist visa, or any other type of visa are NOT automatically citizens at 18(21). That provision of the 14th Amendment applied only to children born to recently freed slaves. But we have all been indoctrinated to ignore the rights of black americans....prefering to allow immigrants to step all over the black americans rights. It is no coincidence that JimCrow Laws showed up in the NORTH as well as the South at exactly the same time as most folks White immigrant forbearers showed up at Ellis Island.
1
I feel like we're losing the ability to have a centrist viewpoint. It shouldn't be a choice between:
a) having de facto open borders, with anyone claiming asylum being granted to the ability to disappear into our country (and have US citizen children), and
b) being a nazi state.
We should be able to control our borders and determine what immigration is in our own best interests, and simultaneously work towards fostering a healthy society forged in the American Melting Pot.
Is that so impossible?
49
@Jon
As Paul well said, it's not about the topics, it's the way in which the conversations about these topics are being conducted...
9
@Jon What a perfect example of Krugman is talking about. You are presenting a false dilemma.
The vast majority of asylum applicants are actually turned back at the border. Even those who present creditable claims do not "disappear into our country" because, believe it or not, most are actually trying to do it the right way. I know attorneys who work in immigration law. Their asylum applicant clients show up to court regularly even years after their application has been in limbo. Most of these people don't want to live in the shadows.
50
@Jon
It's certainly not impossible because there isn't a single prominent Democratic candidate advocating for "having de facto open borders, with anyone claiming asylum being granted to the ability to disappear into our country (and have US citizen children)." Therefore your options are false.
In fact, the Obama administration was doing exactly what you suggest: "control our borders and determine what immigration is in our own best interests." How do we know that? Undocumented immigration is (and was prior to Trump's election) at an all time low -- below net zero:
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-06-26/what-immigration-crisis-the-u-s-isn-t-being-swamped
42
it's steadily becoming more apparent how toxic trump is. we have to get a grip on this before it destroys the country.
3
Both siderism is another word for failing to have moral compass. Some things are just wrong or evil. Recognizing what is wrong and calling it out is the moral thing to do. Failing to do so is a moral failure.
4
Under Reagan the FCC eliminated the Fairness Doctrine policy in 1987 ..paving the way for Fox Hate Propaganda. Under Bush the Roberts majority ruled in favor of Citizens United paving the way for the Kochs and the corporate owners of the Republican Party. The Roberts majority also gutted the Voting Rights Act pavinfg the way for massive voter suppression along side computerized GOP gerrymandering.
We now have in place a perfect storm of factors that allows the Republicans who represent a minority in America to spread hatred and fear and control the electoral process at the same time: Ergo Birther Trump.
The Republican Party has lost its way in our two-party system. Throw them all out!! Only a massive voter uprising in 2018 can restore decency and democracy.
3
One favorite piece the right likes to pick at is the supposed "Bernie Sanders shooter"- last I checked in with Bernie he wasn't, has never encouraged anyone who supports him to go beat up, shoot up (or blow up) others who don't support him. The GOP sits by and does nothing when Trump is implicitly and clearly encouraging people in his backwards base to physically attack his opponents. If we don't vote next Tuesday like our lives literally depend on it I'm afraid America will not survive Trump.
3
The only book Trump reads is the dictator's Handbook.
Rule One: Use fear and hatred and lies to stir up a dedicated band of uninformed supporters"
That is Trump's primary strategy and it is now therefore the strategy of the Republican Party. We must remove them from power for the sake of the future for our children and grandchildren. Remember Germany and Austria of the 1930's. Get out the vote..Don't let it continue to happen here!
2
We live in a la la land where the truth or as close as we can get to it is secondary to the freedom of lying.
Much of humanity bought into the balm of religious belief as a relief from the oppression of men who decided the world was theirs to take until someone stopped them and to this point no one has.
We here need to vote and while we are at it consider the fact women have a better chance of righting wrongs than men.
Vote November 6th and vote women.
1
I fear very strongly that we are at the end of our power. It's over and why Trump won this battle is beyond me. Are we really so stupid we fall for Trumps words? Are we really so weak we can't stand up to him. So it seems.
There are a few days let to get out and vote. Vote to save our country. With Republicans in power we are lost - completely lost. They are opening up a bag that they cannot control. None of us can - including Trump. He has no idea how to calm people when things get out of hand. Even he cannot control his base who are badly informed and believe whatever they want. This has happened in other countries and is happening to us right now.
2
I didn't see the Bernie Sanders supporter who shot the Republicans at softball. Republicans always point to that one as though it exonerates Trump. Unfortunately for them, Sanders NEVER reveled in violence, NEVER proclaimed his love of a guy who committed violence, and NEVER said he would pay legal expenses for rally-goers who rough up journalists or protesters. The point is that Trump and his minions in Congress encourage violence among his followers. That is our complaint.
4
Ilya Shlyakhter writes: "t is dishonest to write this column with no mention of the shooting of Republican congressmen by a Bernie Sanders supporter. True, Sanders hasn’t called for body-slamming journalists or beating up protesters, and hasn’t mused about “2nd Amendment people” stopping Hillary if she’s elected. Still, the shooting is clearly relevant, and to not mention it is wrong."
I could not disagree more. The Sanders supporter did not react to a call of violence from Sanders, but to a call of violence from Trump and his supporters. The reasons the Sanders supporter shot at Republicans, and the Trump supporters shot at Jews and Blacks and sent pipe bombs to Democrats may have been opposite, but they all stem from the hatred and flames stoked by Trump. The Sanders supporter shot because he felt threatened by Trump's words, the Trump supporters shot because they felt emboldened. Violence begets violence. As Paul Krugman stated: Bothsideism is the last refuge of cowards. Don't fall for it.
5
Shocked like the old line from Casablanca, but not really by Mr. Krugman's commentary. He talks about "whataboutism" and "bothsideism"while he practices it in the same column.
He cites "neo-Nazis - whom Trump calls 'very fine people' is a gross exaggeration and misrepresentation of what was said. It is a lie often repeated by Mr. Krugman and his liberal allies.
Again, with "Killing black people is an old American tradition, but it is experiencing a revival in the Trump era." Really? Mr. Krugman is embarrassing himself with his overstatement that he accuses President Trump of.
How can anyone take this man seriously as he demonstrates the same faults that he accuses others of.
3
Dear Alice,
Yes, our country has always been filled with riots and racism, but this is the first time in American history when it has been promoted by a PRESIDENT! We are far from moving toward a tolerant and progressive society when we are led by a power crazed liar who enjoys encouraging his followers to begin a civil war. As Trump enters the swamp, beware of your jobs, social security and savings!
4
@elinor white
Nope, first time was when Washington ordered his generals to eradicate the lice, kill the nits, the Mohawks need to be erased. That was the first time. It was with us from the beginning.
1
Bravo Mr. Krugman!! The Democrats have NOT sold their souls in order to win at any cost, but Trump and his the GOP Trumpster lapdogs have. They have been lying and telling anyone who would listen that they are for protecting preexisting conditions--liars, every one of them! They cannot be trusted because they are telling lies that are actually false equivalencies. So the real story here is that the GOP Trumpsters lie (after all, a "false equivalency" is just one more big, fat whopping lie!!) all the time, just as much as their constantly lying leader
5
The notion that some cabal of Jews orchestrated the "caravan" of migrants is especially laughable. Given the timing, why on earth would they have handed such a talking point to their enemies right before the election?
I must admit, however, that the opposite conspiracy theory did creep into my thoughts; that someone must have organized all these thousands of people to take off en masse. It serves the purposes of the party that cheats at everything.
2
@Jomo the caravans happen this time every year. the summer is cooling off and people start moving north, andthey gather together for security. like the wagon trains, coming west in the 1840's here.
2
There's "bothsideism" and then there's "nosideism".
I filled out my vote by mail Oregon ballot yesterday and will be mailing it in shortly. I basically looked at the issues and voted for the candidates whom I agreed with on the issues. I didn't vote for a single republican.
There's more than enough voters to elect democrats across the board if democrats were able to convince them that they will act responsibly on stuff like climate change, immigration, regulations, health care, tax regimes.
When Obama prioritized health care on day one of his administration, the media soon tired and said he should drop it and concentrate on the economy. But Obama pushed on. Today the one issue that is killing republicans is health care and listening to them cawing about 'pre-existing' conditions makes me sick to my stomach.
Trump is a man for, if not of and by, the swamp. He has made 2 Supreme Court appointment. Both went to Georgetown Preparatory school, a crucible of swamp creatures if any ever existed. What were the odds? That seems to have all been lost in the emotional fury that overtook the confirmation hearing for Judge Kavanaugh. Dems have to decide which master they wish to serve: Do they wish to swim in the swamp with Trump or side with the people?
They can start with my cable bill. Whatever happened to 'net neutrality'?
5
If half of my fellow citizens don't see the danger growing in our government and society when it is so apparent to me and the other half, what can I do about it? If they see it, but support it or excuse it, what can I do about it? If the midterm elections do not render a clear judgment for sanity and fundamental American values, what then? There never was a guarantee that our form of government would always endure or that the values of our society would always be upheld. We have ample proof in history that nothing good, and nothing bad, lasts forever. The bottom line is raw power and violence, as it always has been in the affairs of nations. Our country was born from violence, expanded with violence, and preserved with violence. Unless we all make the commitment to non-violence, to compromise, to sanity, and to the values that hold us together as a society, the default to violence is always possible.
2
Senator John Cornyn of Texas is one of Oath-breaker McConnell's Merry Men who stole the Garland nomination. They knew the potency of their creation, a referendum on Roe v. Wade to assure a Republican President.
After their abomination won, Congressional Democrats would not close the dirty deal to impose Gorsuch. From the floor of the US Senate, Hypocrite Cornyn accused them of "weaponizing" the vote.
John Cornyn tweets this lie about his road show's favorite target (Nancy Pelosi) because it's red meat to his voters. John Cornyn goes so low as to formulate her words into a blazen statement of disregard for victims and families.
None of this will ever be forgotten. The number of Republican voters who Cornyn believes are "fine" with demonizing an elected official with a false and dangerous, attack-tweet - are not as many as he may suppose.
5
For once I agree, hate is on the ballot!!
VOTE RED!!
Walk AWAY from a government centered life!!
4
@juan
It's no coincidence that the person who sent several pipe bombs to Americans across the country also lived in Florida.
5
@juan Yeah! Walk away from your Social Security benefits! Walk away from your Medicaire! Walk away from any and all social safety nets, because the wealthiest have pulled the wool over your eyes and benefit through vague notions of trickle-down! Walk away from environmental protections -- who needs 'em, anyway! Walk away, walk away, walk away!
Vote BLUE. Because the GOP has no compassionate plan for our society -- and it is a SOCIETY, like it or not, and governing is necessary -- And the POTUS* and GOP enablers are undermining the very fabric of our union through lies, distortion, and corruption.
8
If I want to avoid whataboutists and bothsiders, I have to stop reading the NYT. And definitely not the comments.
2
Okay then, hate will triumph.
1
And the winner of all this fear mongering is...Vladimir Putin. He is watching all of this discord, just waiting for the outbreak of (un)civil war (2.0), at which point he will invade and take over this country (next, the world).
"Thank you, Chump, let Vlad take it from here..."
Vote Blue as if your life depends on it, because it does!
5
"Killing black people is an old American tradition..."
WHAT?????
Celebrating the 4th of July is an old American "tradition."
Having turkey for Thanksgiving may be an American "tradition" in SOME households.
Killing black people has been an abhorrent act of a small number of persons in the overall history of our country, but certainly not an act that can in any way be considered an American tradition.
Never have I been more disappointed in the comments of a person I have considered a trusted source of information.
Dr. Krugman, I thought you were more culturally competent than this.
4
@pjames look at the people executed over the last century
4
@pjames
No offense. But it seems you need to do a bit more research of American History.
I suggest you start with the Chapter on Slavery -- and then continue on to the Chapter on Lynching.
7
"This conspiracy theory is ... what our own neo-Nazis ... were talking about ... when they chanted, 'Jews will not replace us.' "
The whataboutists, the bothsidesers, and the plausibledeniers are pretty much just endorsing Trump and his neo-Nazis, and welcoming them into the Trump Republican party. This story explains a great deal. There are code words that Trump is using which his neo-Nazis understand. I, for one, did not recognize the significance of these words. These words are why the racists believe he is racist and the anti-Semites believe he is anti-Semitic. For instance, when Trump slyly implies to his rally crowds that somebody is behind the caravan, he is suggesting that American Jews are bringing in brown people in order to replace whites. When Trump uses the term "globalist" he is referring to a mythical cabal of rich Jews that control the world. When Trump says immigrant, these folks invariably hear brown person and not, for instance, Melania. To be sure, the whataboutists are indeed scoundrels, the bothsidesers are indeed cowards, and the plausibledeniers are indeed immoral opportunists of bottomless bad faith. But they are all also even worse than that. Everybody who does not stand up and speak out in opposition to these appalling ideas is an accessory to these crimes against humanity.
Thanks, Paul--
6
Amen.
4
I wonder if there is going to be an incident at the border where a regular GI (i.e., a non-white supremacist) shoots an innocent migrant. Possible claims - "I was just following orders." "I panicked, I'm sorry, I feel real bad." "It was an accident, I didn't mean to shoot, my gun just went off." "We were told to scare them away, I was aiming over his head."
Imagine the guilt this GI would feel the rest of his life. Would it be the same as that of the German people for many decades after WWII? Their leader, Adolf Hitler, told them that Jews were at fault for everything that was wrong with anything, first in their country, then in the rest of Europe. He perfected the oratory of hate. But for the fact that Trump doesn't read, you would think that he had studied Mein Kampf. I fear that unless the obvious parallel is taken to heart by the American people, our democracy will go the way of the Reichstag/Bundestag.
1
@George Warren Steele: According to his first wife, Trump had a book with Hitler's speeches on his night stand. Apparently he did read...
1
@Anna Thx, good to know.
Another parallel - Hitler blamed the communists for the burning of the Reichstag; Trump, the media for the bombs, etc.
1
Here are some of the words used in the comments to describe Trump supporters:
Willfully obtuse
Brainwashed
Racist
Absurd
Stupid
Cowards
But the hate only comes from Republicans, right?
29
Yes right. These are descriptive words not hateful.
87
@Didi - Just calling it like it is . . . and I could add more than a few to that list.
47
@Didi
There is enough hate to go around, yet we expect our leaders to move us to better things, than to divide us with fear and lies. I hate it when trump lies. I hate it when he attacks private citizens from his perch at the top. I don't hate him, but his actions are sure hateful. Which comes first? His hateful actions, or my abhorrence of them?
47
This is not a test. This is a call to arms.
Trump is a clear and present danger.
He has to be shut down.
The first step is to vote out ALL the republicans that look the other way and let Trump get away with it all because they're getting what they want. They are shameless.
We must arm ourselves with ballots that target his reprehensible accomplices... all of them.
It's very simple- if a politician is not vocally and actively against Trump and his obscene agenda, then they are against us all. They are unAmerican.
Donald Trump is a anti-semite. He is a racist. He is a serial liar. He is a traitor to our nation. Donald Trump is a criminal.
Let's shut him down. Let's throw him out.
Vote for those that will oppose him, impeach him and convict him.
STOP DONALD TRUMP - VOTE!
5
How cute---and disingenuous--Mr. Krugman. A picture showing Trump supporters simulating a Nazi salute.
Let's review just some of the Left's hatred--Madonna realting that she'd like to blow up the White House; Kathy Griffin and Trump's bloody head; the Scalise shooting; Robert DeNiro relating that he would like to punch Trump in the face; Johnny Depp and the John Wilkes Booth fantasy.
It goes on and on and on......
3
@FredO: All those left wing celebs wouldn't have said the things they said and done the things they did if it wasn't because of Trumps calls to violence. Violence begets violence, and if Trump thinks he only riles up his supporters, he should think again. Not that I agree with violent words like blowing up the WH our shooting at Republican pols - I strongly condemn those words and actions, but Trump creates the climate in which extremists feel either emboldened to act violently, or threatened enough to react violently, and we should call him out on it.
3
@FredO just as it goes on and on with trump. why don't you see these are the same problem?
In the wee hours of the morning of November 7, I called my mother from another state with a simple comment that shook her to the very core of her being (and mine). I’m said to her at 4 am, “Donald Trump is our new president.” She didn’t believe me at first.
As a survivor in Nazi occupied Poland, she pointed out many similarities between Trump and Hitler. Both trying to control the masses, loss of freedom of speech and bigotry. And the use of military to get rid of the “unwanted.” It gets worse every day. Paul Krugman is right per usual. This election is all about hate. Why didn’t Trump personally call the targets of the MAGAbomber? Because I believe he secretly wishes the bombs hit their targets. If the bombs were sent to Republicans, his Twitter arm would have carpal tunnel.
My mother said if freedom of the press goes, America is doomed. Trump can’t get rid of the 1st Amendment, but by continually saying things such as “fake new,” “the enemy of the people “ and “witch hunts,” people will believe it. And they have. They believe a con artist before the bastion of mostly unbiased news.
Case in point: he still has done nothing to Saudi Arabia for the heinous murder of a Washington Post columnist. We can only hope that enough people vote blue next week. We need checks and balances to prevent Trump from turning into a dictator.
257
@Elizabeth - I think the only two regrets Trump has about the MAGAbomber are that the bombs didn't detonate and kill their intended targets, and that the coverage of this whackjob alt-right Trump-loving sociopath hurt Trump's own image. Other than that, I'm sure he is pretty happy with the guy. I wouldn't be surprised if he has talked about a presidential pardon with his attorneys.
19
@Elizabeth
Well said--
10
@Elizabeth
At least you didn't use the usual cliche of trying to explain Trump to your three-year-old. On the other hand, you lose originality points for the usual "Trump is Hitler" conclusion.
2
Really good summary of the baleful double phenomena of “whataboutism” and “bothsidesism.” Make sure your colleague David Brooks reads it!
3
I look at the lead picture to this essay and see the grainy images of a Hitler rally in Nazi Germany.
Last week I saw a man at polls wearing a MAGA cap and recoiled in disgust and revulsion. Seventy years ago he might have been wearing a swastika.
Trump has said he’s on the ballot next week. Which means that even he knows hate is on the ballot.
Repudiate this man, and those wearing their MAGA caps. He, and they, have trashed our country.
6
You can always trust an intellectual to hide their own anger under a lot of catchphrases. Paul Krugman is an expert at this.
2
Spot. On.
2
The only false flag operation here is Trump, a corrupt pathological liar falsely claiming to be president of the entire United States when in reality he is president of an ignorant and bigoted rabble that represent less than half our populace. Hate is indeed on the ballot and we should vote it out next week with a resounding NO!
2
What is going on in the photo?
1
@Kay Johnson
It's called a rally-- and we've seen the same before in Nürnberg.
1
@Kay Johnson
maybe someone could comment who is not stating the obvious about "it's a rally" but the salute stuff.
1
@Kay Johnson
Google Nürnberg (in English: NUREMBERG) Party Rally -- you'll quickly see the connection.
I did...and not only because my family is German.
2
Yes, hate is on the ballot, and Trump is the main instigator of infusing fear of the 'other', and blaming the press for his own willful stupidity (of which he is so well endowed with). The recent spat of outright violence and carnage, and the false claim that a Latino caravan is filled with criminals, is an ignominy only a malevolent loud-mouth Trump is able to concoct. But the whole republican party being complicit with this ugly American in-chief? Unheard of...and an outrage to American morals (if any).
1
Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hanitty and their ilk are the evil progeny of the demon seed spread by...wait for it... Richard Milhaus Nixon, himself a disgraced former President of the United States.
2
Anybody of color living in America knows racism never went away ever, always been racist, just more open to people who denied it
2
Trump supports reject and disavow all connections to White Supremisists will the Democrats do the same to Antifa, Black lives matter and Radical Socialists. Don’t think so.
If you and the left are against hate, then find me someone in the left who has criticized Antifa when they beat up Rs.
3
Trump and his Nationalist buddies study the Civil War and the rise of Hitler in Europe. It's a blueprint for their immediate future. So the worst is yet to come. Speaking of bothsideism, NYT practices it of necessity. To remain credible all sides of a story must be considered. Of course. But NYT's penchant for avoiding extreme opinions (like this one) i.e. by preferring only moderate outrage in these letters to the editor to print does stifle dissent. Just saying.
2
Mr. Krugman,
Every person deserves to be judged on their own merits and actions alone. Not only do you constantly associate only the worst actions of fringe idiots on the right with the whole of conservatism and the Republican Party as a whole, you encourage your readers to reject the idea that doing so is wrong. Your entire approach to the civil discourse revolves around taking complicated issues and complicated people, and denying them their basic humanity to paint them as pure evil whenever they disagree with your personal politics.
You correctly point out when idiot pundits on the right like Sean Hannity do this. Decent liberals don't deserve to be painted with the same brush as Antifa, or the numerous racial nationalist groups that dominate that hide in the dark corners of the identity politics wing of the Democratic Party.
But associating me, my family, and my entire subculture with white nationalists and haters is every bit as destructive to our ability to function as a nation.
Respectfully, leaders like yourself in the civil discourse are the biggest problem we have in this country. You, sir, are a hypocrite. You are every bit as bad as Limbaugh about dividing reasonable people against one another with intolerance, misrepresentations and bigotry. You are what George Washington warned us against when he spoke of the Spirit of Party in his farewell address as our first POTUS.
The best thing America can do ight now, is stop listening to people like you.
4
@Chris
You write: "But associating me, my family, and my entire subculture with white nationalists and haters is every bit as destructive to our ability to function as a nation."
Can you point out exactly where in this column Dr. Krugman has done that?
3
@Chris Winter, the entire premise of the article is to associate the worst actions of idiots on the fringe with the right as whole, and with Trump in particular.
This isnt about "both sides" or "whataboutism". This is about the fact that neither "side" represents the garbage that comes from the radical fringe. Arguing over whose fringe is worse is an exercise in futility that represents the real "whataboutism" in our politics today. "Your side can't be good because what about X crazy person that did Y stupid thing because they conflated talking points as justification for violence". It's stupid. Get over it.
But Professor Krugman, you are still writing for The New York Times, which is partial to bothsidism. Maybe it's time to ditch this outlet.
There is no middle of the road anymore. A Southern politician once said the only thing in the middle of the road is a double yellow line and dead armadillos (or was it 'possums?)
Face it, folks: there is NOTHING that will outrage the far, far right, that 3% that has 50% of the guns. Nothing. The worse the massacre and crime, the crazier the false flags and conspiracy theories. And they are not just touted by Breitbart and InfoWars, but by Fox pundits watched by tens of millions, and the entire Republican party. So when Lou Dobbs and Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham and Judge Jeanine vehemently espouse blatantly false excuses and justifications, and bad, old "Protocols" falsehoods about a world-wide Jewish conspiracy, and the President parrots it, it is no longer excessive to compare him and what's happening now to the rise of Hitler.
Yes, Hitler. Like Trump, he didn't create the vicious, violent movement that led to gangs attacking opponents in the streets (German Communists battled the SA in street riots), and individual Jews being targeted, he rode an existing wave. Backed by a propaganda "press", both have spewed hateful lies, challenging truth even as a concept.
Voters attacked at the polls or blocked from voting? Votes tampered with? Nothing new there.
And an "acceptable" violence against a scapegoat "other".
The worst is, it's not just here. As in the 1920's and '30's it's rising everywhere in the world as democracies commit suicide and elect dictators.
2
I have a confession to make. I don't believe in hate speech or hate crimes, and I believe Americans made a serious mistake when they backed away from freedom of speech and freedom of the press by denoting certain speech as hate.
The assertions of Trump that the caravan from Honduras might be a conspiracy funded by George Soros are of course ridiculous.
But people in the heartland are not afraid of a Jewish conspiracy. They are afraid of declining living standards. They are afraid of not affording health care on their Obamacare plans. People in the heartland are dying of opioid overdoses but also suicides.
Since 1986, when the last Immigration Reform Bill was passed, US population has grown by 86 million, mostly due to immigration. Americans who fall through the cracks of our health care system wait in line behind Spanish-speaking families with numerous children in the ER. Will nobody listen to their pleas?
The migrant caravan from Honduras forces those who are honest to confront the serious nature of global overpopulation.
China had the right idea with its one child policy. But this policy has been characterized as repugnant by Democrats.
Perhaps the Chinese were right.
Perhaps we cannot save the 1.2 billion Africans, whose population is projected to double by 2050, with immigration to the US.
Perhaps we need a rational discussion of the full magnitude of the problem.
Perhaps America's poor have a RIGHT to protest against continued illegal immigration.
6
"The fact is that one side of the political spectrum is peddling hatred, while the other isn’t. "
The only one peddling hate is Paul Krugman. He wants you to "hate" all Trump supporters no matter what their reason for support is.
He claims one entire side of the political spectrum is "peddling hatred" meaning 50% of the country. So, according to Paul, 160 million good, hard working Americans are "peddling hatred." Shame on people like Krugman.
3
@Jerome
I don't see supporters of the Democratic party and left massacring people unlike the ever growing far right- so both sides are not equal.
3
@Jerome
It's clear from that wording that Dr. Krugman is talking about politicians. And there he has a point. With a few exceptions, GOP politicians sit silent when Trump calls Democrats "evil", says the media constantly assail him with "fake news," calls the press "the enemy of the people." A good many of them echo his claims -- as this column points out.
They are fostering hatred and fear in order to retain their grip on power.
Is this how you think a democracy should work?
4
This piece is exhibit A for the moral bankruptcy of the NYT and the ills that dominate our current political climate. To be fair, the NYT is not alone. The other side of the same coin is FOX and its partners. But, just read this quote from Mr. Krugman and think about it: "The fact is that one side of the political spectrum is peddling hatred, while the other isn't." A perfect summation of the idiocy of both sides and their scorched earth approach.
3
The horrifying violence and hatred of the past week are absolutely revolting and leave us shaken and scared. Step by step DJT is setting America on a collision course of fact and fiction. Each of these events suggests a code. No one should think they are merely random encounters. DJT has been entangled in an obscene dance with racial hatred from the very first moments he appeared --and the speed with which these events took place--speaks against the possibility of random chance.
Warning: there is worse to come. DJT will do anything to increase tension and fear. It is astonishing that so many in the U.S. will support the man, it is shocking that anyone would actively encourage the depravity of what he is doing.
Elections are less than one week away. VOTE
3
Did Krugman forget about the Bernie supporter that shot up a bunch of Representatives? Trump is responsible for recent acts of violence, but both sides have encouraged the division that makes people take the next step. If acknowledging this makes be a "bothsideist" then so be it. Right and wrong is not split along party lines, but rather along the hearts of every person.
Krugman said that those of us who value mercy, understanding, and civility are cowards that deserve shame. That kind of thinking is destructive. Even if you believe that such shaming is morally superior and just, you'll never find the utopia you long for through such actions.
Trump is destroying society through shaming, division, self-righteousness, and a philosophy that believes any opposition is an evil plague that needs to wiped off the face of the Earth. While the rest of the NYT community tries to heal us from this destruction and stand strong against Trump's injustices, Krugman seems intent on adopting Trump's tactics for himself. Before 2016, I used to enjoy Krugman's insights. But now...
Now I am convinced Krugman is the Donald Trump of the New York Times.
2
@Craig e- The huge difference is that Bernie never, ever demonized Republicans by name or singled out Steve Scalise or any of the other Republicans as "enemies." In fact, when protesters showed up at a Bernie rally and the crowd began murmuring about them, Bernie shut them down and said everyone was welcome.
It's no coincidence that the people who received pipe bombs were people Trump repeatedly demonized, by name, as his enemies and the enemies of the country.
6
And Democrats could propose legislation countering the "Citizens United" ruling. This would give the Republicans an opportunity to reign in the power of Soros' Billions.
2
Just last week on the PBS NewsHour program, Judy Woodruff, in order to get a response from an interviewee, stated both Democrats and Republicans were engaged in negative, violent rhetoric when in fact, they are not. It is cowardice and failure of duty to report the facts when commentators lack the backbone to call out the lies and the violent rhetoric of the GOP (especially Trump), and report the incidents in the true numbers they occur. I agree wholeheartedly with you Dr, Krugman. It's as if the press is favoring GOP candidates. Where is the mainstream media in responding to Trumps "fake media" assertions. Make him give just one example. He cannot.
2
Hate IS on the ballot and as a observer I thought I understood the dynamic going on in your country, but clearly I do not. My looming fear is shifting from what we are witnessing in the US to worry it could happen here in Canada. There is hate everywhere in this world, we know that, but to purposely STOKE it as a blood sport to gain political power is truly frightening.
Trump is gaining ground by undermining every good thing the Democrats want and is successfully demonizing them at every turn, on every one of their policies. When healthcare becomes something you rage against you have people who are blinded by party loyalty.
Imagine the fear, coupled with courage to take your family and walk out of your country to save them. There is desperation in every step as they walk toward something better than what they have left behind. They have been dehumanized and called “the caravan” by your president. He has no moral centre and apparently neither does half your country. Now, it's all down to timing, Trump needs them at your border on November 5th to
seal the deal for Republicans to show up at the polls in droves.
2
The cowardice and false equivalency pushed by too many on the left and middle is the reasons that I no longer can stomach "Meet the Press," chaired by "Both Sides Chuck."
Done.
2
@Mark Stephenson Coach Stephenson?
Mr. Krugman left out the main culprit in the election of the Reality Show Con Artist - “educated” progressives who saw “no difference” between him and someone President Obama said was the most qualified person to run for office.
Republicans know US Elections are binary choices so they vote for the party even when the candidates stated interests don’t align with their beliefs. That is why evangelists voted for a non-Christ like candidate and free trade Republicans voted for a protectionist. They know you have to WIN elections in order to govern.
“Educated” progressives decided Al Gore wasn’t as strong on the environment so they voted for Ralph Nader in 2000. They also found it satisfying pulling the lever for Johnson and Stein in 2016
“Educated” progressives are looking for unicorns, that “perfect” candidate where none exists, and if they don’t find it, they “hold their nose” or “sit it out” or register a “protest” vote. If they aren’t “motivated” to vote, they take their ball and go home.
Republicans know there are elections EVERY year, not every FOUR years and that is “motivation” enough to go out and vote.
Till “educated” progressives get politically smart, we will continue to lose statehouses, governorships, the House, the Senate, the Presidency and now the Supreme Court for at least two generations and the planet will be plundered, abortion rights restricted and freedom of speech curtailed.
And frankly we will deserve it.
4
If I had the 'forked tongue' of a republican politician, PLUS his and her 'abilities' to hate in the extreme, I'd 'call for' the heads of all who are 'at odds' with Mr. Krugman's perfectly accurate words.
To shirk all blame on the left is such a dishonest exercise it’s hard to believe you can write this with a straight face. Did a leftist not try and kill republican house members last year? Did a radical anti police attack not kill several policemen in Dallas last year? Everyone needs to take a look in the mirror and stop denying their own warts.
25
@David
Did left wing political figures encourage those things? Trump has encouraged violence. Anyone who says different is lying to themselves.
66
@David as pointed out in another comment Bernie was not inciting violence or promoting intolerance actually the opposite. The difference is that our President is inciting this division not trying to heal it. One side is trying to suppress the vote, one side is trying to take away health care, social security, medicare, one side demonizes the press, one side lies and lies, that side is the Republicans. There shouldn't be sides there should be a United States. Where there is concern for all/ Where the President governs for the welfare of ALL citizens. Not just the one percent. I wanted to say for his supporters but really most of them are being hurt by his policies but are to uninformed to know it.
43
@David
Did a Democratic candidate for Governor purge the voting polls of 1 in 10 registered voters in Georgia? In Georgia, Brian Kemp, the Secretary of State, and Republican candidate for Governor has thrown out these voting registrations for thousands of citizens. Suspiciously, Kemp sent no notice to these citizens after he took away their voting rights. If they show up to vote on November 6, they’re out of luck — and so is Georgia’s democracy. Which Democrat has done something like this?
35
To be fair and balanced, so to speak, it should be pointed out that a nut-case on our side of the political spectrum did attempt to gun down some Republican congressmen at baseball practice last year. Still, I'd say that even the perpetrator of that assault, James Hodgkinson, was most likely infected by that same pervasive aura of hatred and resentment that the current occupant of the Oval Office has exacerbated for his own purposes. The desperate individuals approaching the U.S. border, seeking refuge from extreme violence and hopeless poverty in much the same way most of us would if placed in a similar situation, are in fact no less human and no less deserving of compassion than are the underprivileged citizens of our own country, including those Trump-supporters who've been misled into thinking that the people responsible for their own economic problems are the immigrants in the basement as opposed to the CEOs in the boardroom. Ignorance plus malice: a dangerous combination that could end in the implosion of our society. No one but Putin would be pleased with such an outcome.
286
@stu freeman
The difference being that the Scalise shooter was "old-fashioned" in that he was acting on his own with no incitement. Bernie Sanders never advocated for violence. It is not the same.
35
Thank you, Mr. Krugman. I agree with you. Donald Trump has the bully pulpit and is inciting violence and hatred. Donald Trump has been given the responsibility to serve and to unite the country and he has absolutely failed.
Checks and balances are not working because republicans control both houses and those republicans have failed to check an out of control president.
We can no longer put our trust in the Supreme Court with the majority now appointed by the man who is doing the damage. Donald Trump continues to call the press the "Enemy of the People" because some are calling him on what he is doing.
Hopefully, Americans will see that something drastic has to happen and will vote to restore some balance in next week's
election.....that is, if they haven't been disenfranchised by
the republican party.
First, let me agree that the shooting of 11 people in Pittsburgh last week is truly horrific and does indeed point to a resurgence in anti-Semitism. Like many NY Times readers I believe that we should pushing for much stronger gun control laws so that events like this become unlikely.
However, I don't agree with Krugman regarding his main thesis that Republicans are filled with hate and not Democrats.
And many voters will see things quite differently from Krugman.
We just saw a vote of Democrats against the seating of Brett Kavanaugh, not because he opposed abortion, but because of an unproven accusation of attempted rape stemming from events 36 years ago. Many Americans will see this as an attempt to destroy a man's life without due process.
To what extent does the vote against Kavanaugh reflect hatred of men? Men must reflect on the possibility that a woman could make a false accusation so far in the past that it is impossible to disprove. Do Democrats want to destroy lives on the basis of accusations alone?
There is also an issue of free speech. Illegal immigration has been with us for decades. People have differing opinions. Is it not hate to characterize those who talk responsibly about limits to growth as racist?
Americans have a right to argue against continued population growth without being labeled as racists and bigots.
The actions of Democrats, and the clear partisanship of the NY Times give some credence to Trump's accusations of fake news.
2
@Jake Wagner
First of all. All Democrats don't think alike.
Another thing.
Racism and bigotry is real. Read the news.
5
The hateful language isn't just Trump in the USA. It's also Victor Orban in Hungary, Marine Le Pen in France, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, it's Rodrigo Duterte in the Philipines, it's the AfD party in Germany, it's the League party in Italy, it's the Progress Party in Norway...
Why are almost all the western democracies afflicted with the same disease?
4
@Stubborn Facts
Not to quibble, but the AfD is not the ruling party in Germany, and Marine Le Pen is not president of France. But Donald Trump is the "leader" of this country.
And that is what makes the disease more lethal.
4
Civility and a basic respect for all human life and the desire to protect your neighbor. I believe in the sanctity of each life and how we have no right to take it unless we are reacting out of self-defense or fighting within a war for our country.
I hate Trump because of what he stands for and he is not a good fit for an American president because he is a hater and divider.
However, I would not want to see him or his family or any member of his cabal hurt. That is wrong. I want to see them all out of power.
We are all people of this planet who should be respected at all times and the amount of disrespect, contempt, callousness that emanates from a man who has had a lifelong love affair with himself only is sick and sad.
People who love their neighbors spread that love and share that love and conversely people who hate spread that hate. I don't want to catch that Trump virus.
1
So you just dismiss Farrakhan and his vile rhetoric as 'whataboutism' and pretend it isn't part of the cause of what happened in Pennsylvania? Its all about Trump and his supporters huh? OK, dismiss it. Doesn't mean it isn't responsible for the bloodshed. It just means you don't care solving the problem.
1
@GregP You're equating a nutjob nobody on the left endorses or even listens to with the President of the United States? Seriously? Who told you this was some sort of talking point?
Thanks for the clarity. Yes, all opinions are not equal. Some are fact-based. The media isn’t “fake” but too many outlets that aren’t outright propaganda machines are misguided by conflating objectivity with equivalence. NOT.
1
So glad Prof. Krugman has pointed out how dangerous false equivalence is in our media. I remember being so indignant that the New York Times seemed to be committing the sin of false equivalence during the 2016 Presidential campaign, treating Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as equivalents.
Now, Republicans and Fox news have weaponized ignorance, appealing to the unread and the uneducated to right the wrongs committed by "the Left". The mass murderers believe the lies of Trump and the Right because they don't read. Just think back to the man who believed that Hillary Clinton was murdering children in a fast food basement!
Hate is no longer treated as a social anomaly, and Trump actually foments racism, misogyny and social unrest openly and proudly.
Next week's elections are critically important to our country and to the world. We must all vote.
3
At some point I would like us to address, as a country, what it is about us that helps create angry loners with little self-worth and poor prospects, and whose primary solace lies in hatred and acting violently toward those they hate. Our country is psychologically ill, and our illness began long before Donald Trump appeared rose to power.
3
Considering that America was built on racism and has never come to terms with its racist past, it should surprise no one that the recent uptick in crimes committed against Black people also comes at a time when a president who is openly supported by the Ku Klux Klan and other right-wing white supremacists is in the Oval Office.
Within the short span of Donald Trump's administration, any group or person who is not Christian, white and conservative is on the firing line; something that should be unacceptable in a country as large and diverse as this one is.
And no matter how he chooses to denigrate those who may not agree with him, the fact remains that the choice in next week's election is not solely a political one -- it is a moral and ethical one as well.
Americans. Choose wisely.
1
Here's the thing: if Trump is making America so great again then why are all of his supporters so angry?
5
As much as I dislike Trump and the entire Republican Party, it is a mistake to insinuate they are responsible for these kinds of extremist atrocities. Doing so will likely push them further and further into extremism.
As our democracy deteriorates, one day left-wing extremists will likely resort to violence and will use our broken democracy as a justification. And then the right-wingers will portray the Democrats as a party of violent extremists.
This is what happens when democracy breaks down. Both sides become more and more polarized until violence erupts. It's no different than portraying all Muslims as terrorists because of acts by a few minority extremists.
This is a slippery slope. As much as I still love fact-based media like the NYT, I am afraid that the NYT is contributing to further polarization by lumping Trump supporters into a single extremist bucket.
We need to rewind and consider that there are plenty of Trump supporters who are neither violent nor racist. Those are the ones who could potentially be won over by democracy-loving people. Calling them violent racists will not win them over. Talking about issues that matter to them will.
The Trump people are constantly talking about how they are the victims of reverse racism. By lumping Trump supporters together with violent extremists, their views just become further validated.
2
@World Traveler If, after almost two years of the Trump presidency, Trump still has supporters, then yes, those supporters are just as much supporters of violence and racism as he is. If you don't want to be lumped into an extremist bucket, then don't support extremism.
1
The both sides are to blame was given new life by the Democrats attack against Kavanaugh 2 weeks before the confirmation. The fact that the alleged attempted rape took place over 35 years ago without any witnesses willing to come forward was hardball politics which came very close to succeeding. The Republicans particularly under this administration are much better at lying and cheating but the perception that both sides will try seems to me to be a given among the majority of citizens.
2
The Trump statement "I could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose any votes" has now been replaced by "Trump could be caught on videotape handing American military secrets to Russia and still not have any Republican votes for impeachment".
Kavanaugh’s diary/calendar unambiguously puts Kavanaugh and three people Ford identified as being there in the same house on July 1, 1982. That would be enough to convict Kavanaugh in any criminal court if he denied being there at the time. Any trained law enforcement officer knows this, as does anyone who has seen a police program on TV.
The most disappointing aspect was that reporters on television interviewing Republicans who said they believed that something happened to Dr. Ford, not asking if the Republicans could come up with any possible scenario where Dr. Ford correctly identified the date and place as well as the four males there, before it was known that Kavanaugh’s diary/calendar unambiguously puts Kavanaugh and three people Ford identified as being there in the same house on July 1, 1982. Ford’s description of the interior of Gaudette’s house in Rockville, MD exactly matches that of the actual house, which still exists.
The only way that Kavanaugh is not lying is either: Ford somehow previously obtained access to his 1982 diary/calendar, or Ford has a time machine or Ford stalked Kavanaugh in 1982 and planned to do this, if and when he was nominated to the Supreme Court.
3
I will dispute only one thing in this column: we don't need to "shame" people. We need to engage them and fight them, preferably on the field of rationality, where their ideas will prove to be not just immoral, but wrong. Sometimes we forget that racism is a factually incorrect view of the world--it's immoral because it is wrong. Rationality must be the preferred tool if at all possible, because that is what helped us get us as far (and perhaps it's not a long way) from tribalism as we have managed to get. There are moments when those on the left apply, for instance, the logic of stand your ground. I am not suggesting that these events are equivalent, but they are upsetting to me. What we on the left MUST defend is rational thought that deals with the empirical world. We must not succumb to the "the stronger your feelings are the more real it must be" "logic" of the faith-based right. The last pre-WWII America First Committee meeting was held on December 7, 1941. When a military man stood up and said the Japanese had attacked Manilla and Pearl Harbor, he was shouted down with cries of "throw him out" and "warmonger". Whether these folks were left or right—and there were both—they were just wrong. We need to try a little harder to be right and worry a little less about displaying our personal moral rectitude and justifying our current beliefs. But I agree with 99.9% of what Paul says, just to be clear. Whataboutism is a really low form of moral reasoning.
Krugman gets the headline right at least - the psychotic left's complete and utter hatred of Trump and America truly IS on the ballot next week.
4
Of course you mean Democratic hate. This is all we see from Liberals. Why are Jewish people voting for Democrats, especially after Obama snubbed Israel.
4
@MelGlass
$38 billion more military aid. Quite a snub, eh Mel?
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/rania-khalek/obama-hands-israel-largest-military-aid-deal-history
2
Does anybody hate Trump more than Dr. Krugman? On election night 2016, after it became apparent Trump had won despite all the liberal elite predictions and polls, the erudite prognosticator Krugman offered his assessment of the new investment climate:
"It really does look like 'President Donald Trump' and markets are plunging. If the question is when markets will recover, a first-pass answer is 'never.'"
What a prescient prognosticator!
6
What a chilling photo of the two men performing a Nazi salute at a Trump rally. The good news is that there are only two...the bad news is that tomorrow there may be eight or twenty or the whole blippity-blip MOB. Worshipping their god of hatred and racism. Straight Democratic ticket - that's the ticket.
3
The lack of self awareness in the NYT is a tragedy.
You talk of hate while spewing it against your fellow Americans who think diffently than you in terms of politics and the direction of the country.
You are right.
Hate is on the ballot.
Hate of uncontrolled immigreation.
Hate of high taxes.
Hate of abortion on demand.
Hate of mob tactics.
Most importantly a hatred of journalists and politicians who have spent 2 years traducing the reputation of anyone not fully signed up to your rainbow vision of America.
MAGA
3
@Onelove
So many commenters raging against this column. Dr. Krugman must have touched a nerve.
Here's a tip: Only the desperate need to lie about their opponents' positions.
2
@Onelove
I think you mean Make America Hate Again...
Nice faux Nazi salutes at Trump Rally.
Just adding to the hate in the name of good kneejerk liberal peace and love?
Remember back in the good old days when it was a given:
if you are not part of the Solution, you are part of the problem?
1
Fox news and the wsj are spokespersons for racism, white supremacism and hate. The liberal media including the times are enablers
You can't spell hatred without red hat.
7
You "stupid" "bitter clinger" "right-wing extremist" "racist" "homophobic" "misogynist" "paranoid" "deplorables" and "Nazis" who live in "flyover country" need to stop your "hate" and practice the tolerance we Democrats are so well known for.
5
LBJ hit the nail on the head 50 years ago:
“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
Fact: the last 40 years of republican policies have gutted the middle class and directly resulted in the historically high levels of income inequality we see today. While stirring up the electorate about 'them' coming to take your job, move in next door or (gasp) marry your children, they were busy behind the scenes gutting regulations, consumer protections, labor laws, education funding, and whispering the sweet nothings of supply side (a.k.a. 'trickle down') economics which allowed them to basically shovel money at their billionaire benefactors. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt the first couple of times, but when these policies failed again and again to bring prosperity to all, they didn't change, they just doubled down and turned up the noise of white male christian supremacy 'to 11'.
Yes, Clinton was basically 'republican lite' with his policies, but at least he made an effort to reform health insurance (before it became the crippling national problem that it is now), and left office with a balanced federal budget (those were the days, right GOP budget chicken-hawks?)
4
Wow! Just Wow - what is wrong with you Mr Krugman? There is no straight line from President Trump to any mentally deranged individual's evil actions. Evil is evil and wrong is wrong - neither have a political view. What they have in common is mental illness.
Clearly you are more than happy to market hate. And that is incredibly sad.
8
The vast, vast majority of conservatives are not on the far right. To continue to conflate conservatives and the alt right is dishonest and a lie. To ignore that a democrat drove from Illinois to the DC area to shoot republicans while yelling "this is about health care", while Bernie Sanders was saying that people were going to die from the Republican health care reform plans is also dishonest. Ignoring white powder being sent to members of the Trump family and republican politicians is dishonest. It is not Bernie Sanders fault that the crazy from IL shot republicans and it is not MSNBC's fault that some crazy sent white power to the Trump family. Politicizing tragedy to score political points is also counterproductive.
5
This is not terribly helpful, Paul.
Telling those who are more centrist than yourself that they are fools and cowards is not likely to convince them to vote exactly as you will.
Evidently you are encased in so any layers of like-minded folks that you have no feeling for how this comes off. It's off-putting.
7
@Mike
Sorry. You miss the point. There is nothing "centrist" about condemning hatred -- And I recognize a "Heil" salute when I see one.
Look at the photo again.
I think that it is increasingly evident that Republicans are developing an "American Apartheid" whether they know it or not.
4
@Paul Burnam
Oh, they absolutely know it. It's not a side effect of their policies, it's the main feature.
2
Trump with a nod and a wink has signaled to the most extreme racists, bigots and gun crazies that he is with them. They have come out from under their rocks with the full confidence that the so-called president wants and needs their support.
Trump is the face of the Republican Party. They created him and slipped him into the White House. They stand with the worst individual in history to ever occupy the Oval Office. Get out the vote on November 6th and take back our country from the Republicans who defile our nation daily by backing Donald Trump.
4
When it comes to whataboutism and bothsidesism, the NYT needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror.
The perpetuation and legitimIzation by the Times and other mainstream media outlets (including CNN) of false equivalences and false narratives in the 2016 election are an important reason why Trump won and things have gone from bad to worse since then (and are getting worse almost daily).
While Paul gets it, the NYT apparently doesn’t. See the recent article “Beto O’Rourke Once Supported an El Paso Real Estate Deal. Barrio Residents Remember”.
3
Hate is a virus. This virus is instilled into soldiers during war. During WW2, I was very young, but I had already been injected with this virus. The Japs were not human and the Germans didn’t believe or worship God. I really believed that and I came from one of the most sane and moral family’s I could have ever chosen. Since neither my Mother or Father ever preached that, where did it come from? My immediate surroundings.
Now, instead of society being my town, it’s become our Planet!
From the beginning of time, the only way any civilization has thrived was because of basic rules of conduct. Even the animal kingdom has it. Unfettered liberty is suicidal.
The problem now is “How do we stop it?” The easiest answer is simply “Checks and Balances.” The Internet gave everyone “free access” to almost unlimited free will, without any consequences until it was too late. Everyone loves the idea of free speech, but when does free speech cross the line? Is it only things like yelling “FIRE” in a movie theater just to get a response?
The president of our country started yelling Fire in the theatre just to test it out. Guess what? His base loved it. Now he not only yells Fire, but his followers actually believe him. The adults in the room were supposed to be Congress. That’s what our founders had in mind to stop the madness. So–now it’s up to us to take the virus out of Congress and replace it with good cells. Be a good doctor next week and have the guts to stop the madness.
2
Charles Manson didn't actually kill anyone but he incited others. He was found guilty of murder.
4
Trump is using one of the prime minister of Israel's, "there are thousands of Arabs streaming to the polls and only you can stop them." Remember that one?
3
All Trump needs to do to turn this thing around is proclaim, loudly and often, that if you hate Jews or Muslims or Mexicans or African-Americans or Canadians or Brits...and if you belong to a group like the KKK or the American Nazis or anything like that, I, Donald Trump, am not your friend, and I don't want your vote.
Is there any chance that he would do something like that? Such a statement would indicate real self-confidence and inner strength, instead of the fear of being seen as a weakling, a coward and a bully.
Sure there is. Not a large chance. He could make us believe he's serious by talking, on camera, live, with Soros, Hillary, Bernie and even Paul Krugman.
Not a large chance at all. But as a statistician, I cannot say that any event that might occur in the future will not happen.
That said, I'd respectfully decline to make that bet.
1
Glad you called out Cornyn--someone needs to write a book on the collapse of personal integrity featuring this newborn liar. Formerly a man of integrity, he will never recover from his blatant disregard for human decency, fairness, and the truth. He, plus the Texas AG who is running under a felony indictment somehow (ha) stalled in the courts, both need to be held legally accountable for their transgressions. Cornyn has become so deceitful he should be incarcerated for it.
1
Last night on the News Hour Judy Woodruff and Tamara Kieth both propagated, said out loud, that its both sides when it plainly is not.
In America 2018, whataboutism is the last refuge of scoundrels, and bothsidesism is the last refuge of cowards.
So be it, we have to callout the news media whenever and wherever they try to erect this lie.
Hate is on the ballot one week from today, Dr. Psul. Who will replace the White supremacists who have spread lies, paranoia, and anger among Americans? Racism, the "MAGABomber", Trump's conspiracy theorists against his "Enemy of the People" -- the free American press -- have divided our country into manifest shambles. Will our votes make any difference next week? Or in 2020, if our 45th president runs for a second term? The "Kavanaugh-Caravan" of migrants from Central America will now be met by thousands of US troops who are gathering now on our southern border at Trump's presidential dog-whistle command. Innocent blood will continue to be shed as it was on Saturday in a synagogue in Pittsburgh. At a Kroger's store in Kentucky. Democracy will continue to crumble and fall like Gibraltar, but our love for Trump's apologists is not here to stay. Today, we grieve the killing of Jews and Blacks recently by mentally-ill whackos armed with AR-15 guns, who are inspired by Trump's rhetoric to carry out murder Our divided country shall overcome the frightening barbarians living within our gates and on display several times weekly by our president at his 2020 rallies in places where he is worshipped like a tin god. Political violence and chaos fomented by right-wing extremists in support of our right wing "Nationalist" president will continue to destroy American Democracy. Yes, anger and hate are marking our ballots! "Stop, in the name of Love!"
Once more, spot on. I only wish that the newspaper for which you publish your op-eds would read what you write and abandon its False Equivalence Doctrine (which apparently some in the editorial room confuse with fairness). People who flat out lie should not have the NYT as an uncritical venue for pushing their venom. The same goes for the WaPo, but this comments section is in the NYT.
1
"All of these hate crimes seem clearly linked to the climate of paranoia and racism deliberately fostered by Donald Trump and his allies in Congress and the media."
Hate, my friend, can be found every day in the NYT Editorials and in the comments that follow them.
4
And where is Mike Pence on all of this?
True.
And next time don’t join in the Hillary attacks on Sanders and his supporters which were electoral insanity aside from being dishonest.
And I am not now and never have been a Sanders supporter.
Put another way. It takes a lot of enablers to hand the Republic over to a fascist buffoon and his fascist followers.
4
The New York Times throughout the 2016 presidential race and to this day is one of the worst perpetrators of false equivalence.Talk to your bosses and colleagues if you want to effect come change.
3
yes, hate is on the ballot one week from today, Dr. Paul. Who will replace the White supremacists who have spread lies, paranoia, and anger among Americans? Racism, the "MAGABomber", Trump's conspiracy theorists against his "Enemy of the People" -- the free American press -- have divided our country into manifest shambles. Will our votes make any difference next week? Or in 2020, if our 45th president runs for a second term? The "Kavanaugh-Caravan" of migrants from Central America will now be met by thousands of US troops who are gathering now on our southern border at Trump's presidential command. Innocent blood will continue to be shed as it was on Saturday in a synagogue in Pittsburgh. At a Kroger's store in Kentucky. Democracy will continue to crumble and fall like Gibraltar, but our love for Trump's apologists is not here to stay. The killing of Jews and Blacks recently by mentally-ill whackos armed with AR-15 guns, who are inspired by Trump's rhetoric to carry out murder, may be here to stay. Somehow, our divided country shall overcome the frightening barbarians lodged within our gates and on display several times weekly by our president at his 2020 rallies in places where he is worshipped like a tin god. You can bet that Political violence and chaos fomented by right-wing extremists in support of our right wing "Nationalist" president will continue to destroy American Democracy. Yes, anger and hate are marking our ballots! "Stop, in the name of Love!"
Gang GOP needs to be taken down. Our democracy, allies, the world, and every living thing on the planet, depends on it. Donald Trump is a divider, a hater, a tax cheat, and abusive to anything not donald. Vote blue everyone
2
The noun, Sir, is hatred. Hate is a vowel.
That said, hatred is on the prowl throughout the earth. It sits on a four-legged stool:-
The side effects of over-population
Suppression of women.
Inadequate distribution of resources.
Excessive religious control by greedy leaders.
We do have to be carefully taught.
3
@Noreen
hate
noun
1.
intense or passionate dislike.
"feelings of hate and revenge"
synonyms: hatred, loathing, detestation, dislike, distaste, abhorrence, abomination, execration, aversio
Fanatical Trump supporters are “working towards” the president in the same way that naive German citizens “worked towards the Fuhrer” in a previous generation.
Trump and his white Nationalist Republican Party are not interested in avoiding the horrors of the past, they are using it as a playbook.
2
Just want to point out that fellow Times columnist David Brooks is the guiltiest man in the business when it comes to bothsidesism, whataboutism, and disingenuous calls for “civility”. He’s doing it right now in a column running next to this one.
Never before have I seen in the Times the same comment in virtually the same language from reader after reader after reader. Scroll down. You’ll find it again and again. “Vote as if your life depends on it. Because it does.” Nobody among those commenters wants to suggest what happens if votes don’t matter.
1
This opinion piece and most of the comments are why this country is in trouble. 'You're with us or against us'. If you truly believe that Republicans are evil, Democrats are righteous, you are part of the problem.
5
@RHB50
This opinion piece and most of the comments are pointing out a problem. Trump regularly labels the press "the enemy of the people." At his rallies, he calls Democrats "evil."
If you don't think this is a problem, I don't know what to tell you.
But feel free to bolster your case by citing any politician who claims all Republicans are evil and all Democrats are righteous.
2
@Chris Winter
Of course name calling on both sides is a problem. Trump is an idiot, but the media is not helping itself. An example would be a politician making the 'joking' comment in an interview that "I know they all look alike" as the interviewer mistook Eric Holder's comment by crediting it to Corey Booker. It's not in the news because Hillary Clinton said it. Why is that?
Hate is always on the ballot in Alabama because the Alabama Republican Party has designed and manipulated it to be based on racism, bigotry, right wing evangelical extremism, homophobia, and hatred for all things Democrat which is always characterized as an African American political party.
If you are white it is expected that you are a Republican. When you are white and you speak out in support of President Obama and Sec Clinton as I did in several letters to the editor a few years ago you are savaged, lied about, harassed and your personal and business reputation left in tatters. That happened to me. I learned my lesson and shut up but not before having to hire attorney's to send letters to Advance Media/al.com who refused to remove malicious, libelous, statements and accusations they allowed to be posted about me.
So if you wonder why Alabama is hate filled, blame the Republican Party who traffics in hate, racism, and bigotry and exacts a huge price from whites who don't tow the line.
2
The lack of outrage at the recent murder of Jews is beyond comprehension. Yes people are sad but nowhere do I discern a call to action, a call that this or anything like this can happen again. For 70+ years Jews have said, "NEVER AGAIN" and yet here it is again. This is partly because America lacks moral leadership from the government. More important, WE THE PEOPLE appear beyond the ability to be outraged because .......
1
Dear US---all of us,
If you do not endorse hate, please, please vote next week.
1
Yet another NYT article denouncing Trump, the “deplorables” and other good Americans in “flyover country” who elected him.
Why not mention how culpable the liberal MSM is in constantly bombarding their viewers and readers with divisive, hateful, partisan rhetoric. And the “narrative of the week” before the midterms? Anything bad is Trump’s fault.
There’s about the be Red Tide next week.
3
"In America 2018, whataboutism is the last refuge of scoundrels, and bothsidesism is the last refuge of cowards."
Mic drop. Thank you, Dr. Krugman. The fascists are here and doing what no real American could ever imagine.
2
Thank you! You are spot on. Now please tell your editors. Because the NYT has been as guilty of false equivalence reporting as any organization. It isn’t always necessary to find someone from the “other side” for a quote and give it equal prominence. Just print the truth.
1
Hate, Rascism, Misogyny and SPITE. The four HorseMEN of the GOP apocalypse. That’s ALL they’ve GOT.
VOTE.
2
It is time to admit it to ourselves and say it clearly. The truth is that the Republican Party is Fascist. It's not irresponsible name calling to say this. It's not exaggeration. It's not simplification. It is a fact. The Republican Party is Fascist. Hello.
4
I hope that the news editors of the NY Times, long-time purveyors of both-siderism, read this piece and take it to heart.
1
Just about three months after the inauguration of the self-declared least-anti-Semitic man in the White House, he never mentioned Jews on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 24th, just groups of other people that also perished during the largest ever industrial murder machine known to mankind.
He is a white power racist and an anti-Semite par excellence, trying to hide his hate and viciousness behind his three Jewish grand-children, grandchildren that would not even be considered being Jewish by the the Chief Rabbi of Israel.
"Fine people on every side"? I was never so ashamed, utterly confused and frightened about what has become of my adopted country during the three decades I have been living here.
"First they came for the socialists - and I didn't speak up, because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists - and I didn't speak up, because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews - and I didn't speak up, because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me - and there was no-one left to speak up for me".
Pastor Niemoeller of the Lutheran Church in Berlin-Dahlem, 1934
3
"What about" Louis Farrakhan's comment comparing Jews to termites? How many Democrats went on the record to excoriate that ugly statement?
"What about" threats and white powder sent to Susan Collins after her pro-Kavanaugh speech?
"What about" recent threatening left wing harassment of people going about their business in Portland?
"What about" the guy who broke Rand Paul's ribs?
"What about" death threats regularly received by conservative personalities?
"What about" the sucker-punching of Minnesota Republican House candidate Shane Mekeland, which resulted in a concussion?
"What about" the myriad other examples which could be cited demonstrating threats and physical violence against individual Republicans, and Republican campaign offices?
Yes Paul, "Whataboutism" is just as valid as it ever was.
44
@HurryHarry
What about Congressman Scalise??
Mr. Krugman, Peggy Noonan's recent column in the WSJ provides an interesting perspective regarding how each side views the current environment.
"Democrats really and sincerely see the threat of violent words and actions as coming from the right. It’s Mr. Trump—he’s hateful and has no respect and it sets a tone. He encourages fights at his rallies; he said the other night that a congressman who pushed around a reporter was his kind of guy. He calls the press the enemy of the people. He widens all divisions, mindlessly yet opportunistically. No surprise his adversaries are being sent bombs.
Republicans and the right truly, deeply see the threat as coming from the left. Rep. Maxine Waters and Sen. Cory Booker actually told crowds to get in Republicans’ faces; Hillary Clinton says you can’t treat them civilly. Republicans see the screamers and harassers at the Kavanaugh hearings, the groups swarming Republican figures when they dine in public, antifa. A man who wrote “It’s Time to Destroy Trump & Co.” on Facebook didn’t insult Rep. Steve Scalise last year; he shot and almost killed him. The intimidation is coming from the left."
-Peggy Noonan, WSJ, 10/26/18, "Defuse America's Hateful Politics"
Please don't hide the Dem's sins simply because you may disagree with the policy choices of the Rep's. Both sides share blame.
My question is: Do you have any solutions to offer?
3
@HurryHarry: Hey, thanks for giving us such a great example of what Krugman was talking about!
1) the Democrats haven't created an atmosphere in which violence is tolerated/encouraged, as Trump has.
2) Farrakhan is a pariah to most people, and hardly representative of any Democrats/Progressives.
3) None of your examples above, which no one on the Left has condoned in any case, resulted in fatalities (is was the case in the latest shootings).
You can keep pretending it's all the same, and see where it leads us as a nation. Even if the GOP succeeds in continuing its pattern of voter suppression, Gerrymandering, etc., and you keep winning due to the archaic Electoral College and the disproportionate advantage the Senate gives rural, sparsely-populated states, the nation *is* changing. The typical Trump supporter (white, uneducated, middle-aged or older) is dying off. If you manage to hold onto power in spite of everything, people will eventually over-turn the system you rigged against them. All that remains, is to see whether said epiphany is a violent one or not...
55
@HurryHarry
Here's some more "Whataboutisms" for you:
What about not stirring the flames of division that are already burning too high in this country?
What about seeking examples to us instead of going tit-for-tat?
What about taking the first step, and setting a good example?
What about AMERICA?
What about it?
29
"Bothsidesism is, it turns out, a fanatical cult impervious to evidence."
Yes! We are right and they are wrong. We are good and they are bad. Love and hate. Angels and demons.
Manichaeism has been around for, what, 2000 years. Zoroastrism (Ahuramazda!) even longer. Psychologically speaking, this is casting projection of our inner shadow onto our "opponents". By trying to delegitimize the (very valid, imo) concerns of people about illegal immigration (tens of millions already here!), crime, urban:rural divide, the right to cultural survival... Krugman is fueling the very fire he 'd like to put down.
4
@Kai There's not a single word in this column delegitimizing "concerns of people about illegal immigration". Krugman is outlining very clearly how Trump and his followers have warped those "concerns" into hatred and violence.
2
@Bob Fisher
The anger many people feel about illegal immigration is that not a single one of previous administrations were able to put a dent into it. On the contrary. The anger seems to be justified. The Democrats seem to be happy to encourage the caravan, whereas - like it or not - Trump is the only one with at least semblance of a plan to prevent the lawlesness. By labeling the (righteous) indignation as "hatred", Krugman seems to be de-legitimizing it but without offering any solutions.
@Kai
"The right to cultural survival" ? Do you feel your culture is in danger of extinction? There's only one group in the U.S. at present who feels that way, AFAIK.
And it's not a group I would ever endorse.
1
Hate has been very much a campaign tactic. The 02 elections were run largely on homophobia by putting anti-gay marriage referenda on midwestern state ballots to rile up the base and get 'em out to the polls.
This is the same thing only for immigrants and minorities. It is louder, more virulent, and all democrats have been assimilated into the "enemy." But it is the same tactic. Rove should be proud.
2
Joyce, the media picks up and magnifies the blemishes of trump’s opponents. They are driven by commercialism. He plays them all and they undo his opponents and censor them. There is much to be said about trump and the gop that is being censored
Well said. Congressional Democrats need to emphatically state the President and Congressional Republicans alone share the burden of the violence, discord, negativity and lies that have culminated in loss of lives of innocent fellow citizens.
Call it what it is a poison, a disease that is becoming an epidemic.
1
Kudos, Professor.
1
Thank you Professor.
All I can say is Vote!
Save democracy and decency. Vote.
3
Thank you Dr. Paul Krugman for leading me to your interview with Rep. Nancy Pelosi. It was a valuable lesson in the role of Government not to be missed or from which to be mislead. Vote for the Democratic Party. Vote in your own interests.
Another reason to never miss your column.
3
Hate is on the ballot? The two sides with violent and uncivil language are like two children fighting on the playground - He hit me first, no I didn't he me first. Trump is camped on the low road and Maxine Waters, Robert DeNiro, Johnny Depp, ad infinitum have succeeded in matching him.
Neither side has tried to elevate the dialog except for Joe Biden who previously wanted to take Trump behind the woodshed and yesterday advocated a less confrontational approach to politics. Your snarky headlines and sanctimonious editorials have added to the fire. It's disappointing when a Nobel laureate and supposed academic resorts to jingoism.
3
@W. Ogilvie You just provided a textbook example of the very both-siderism and false equivalencies that this column addresses.
2
@W. Ogilvie
And when has Trump ever "elevated the dialog"? He may read from a teleprompter (a thing he derided President Obama for doing), but the next day or sooner he will hold a rally and tell us what he really thinks.
I agree with Bob Fisher: Your comment is false equivalence.
1
Nelson Mandela said, "How can I ask my opponents to change their mind unless I myself am willing to change mine?" and nobody cried false equivalence. I agree that Trump and Fox are peddling hate and that Democrats are not. However, as a liberal I can honestly say, get off your soap box, behind the scenes there is no shortage of hatred at liberal cocktail parties. We can rant and rave about conservative dirty tricks, outright lies, and bold manipulation, all of which we have a right to. But right wing anger against liberal elitism is valid. We are elite. We have open disdain for people who dress a certain way, who eat at fast food restaurants, who attend certain sporting events or drive certain vehicles. We eat sushi and tiramisu not steak and apple pie. We have all sorts of attitudes about how life should be lived and we hold those of simpler preferences in obvious low esteem. Sure, we talk about helping poor people, but we just want the government to take care of them so we don't have to... god forbid we'd have to brush elbows with a NASCAR dad or a guy with a buzz cut wearing a camouflage jacket. Democrats don't seem to understand... regardless of politics, we will continue to lose elections as long as we are perceived as snobs interested in protecting our own lifestyles - which is closer to the truth than we like to believe. Glenn Greenwald's YT video on Brazil should serve as a warning - it can get worse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq2pvabDN7c
2
Just a small point regarding your headline. Early voting has been going on in several states for some weeks now. In NC, we are beginning the third week of early voting, and in Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) alone, just over 100,000 people have voted. Hate is already on many ballots.
(1st part of comment)
The beginning of a Dictatorship has begun in America. Are you ready to have Trump as your leader for the rest of your days?
Are you ready to have the entire Trump family strip away your freedoms as they take office one by one in this inevitable dictatorship?
The "press" is always the first to be stifled at the start of a Dictatorship.
"Fake" news is not a creation of Trumps, just like "MAGA" was a slogan used by Bill Clinton's campaign, then stolen by Trump.
"Fake" news is one of the first steps all dictators used to confiscate their peoples country. Silencing the lambs is imperative.Republicans are desperately trying to shut down our free speech using Trump's lunatic antics.
The second step toward dictatorship is creating hate, anger and violence amongst the people through unwarranted fears, using sensational hoaxes, in order to mask their true intentions of an oligarchy.
(2nd part of my comment)
We are heading toward step three.
It takes less time than you realize to end up in a Dictatorship. This is the republicans last hope of taking over this country. I've never seen them so violently desperate to succeed.
This is not because I want any particular party to win, as there are issues within each, yet to lose our way of life, just to enhance the impulsive greed of this rogue republican party is unacceptable. The signs are there, look deeply.
I'm positive we are looking at the most important election in American history come this Tuesday. Think long and hard before you sign your children's lives over to these oligarchy ridden and kleptocratic rogues.
Vote for your freedom, or grieve your outcome.
2
In modern times only one presidential candidate has ever said anything like this “I’d like to punch him in the face.” This violence is coming right from the top - I agree with you Paul - we have a bully in the White House and the Republicans should be confronted as the party that condones violence. Our president has offered to pay the legal fees of people who assault protestors at his rallies. If this is not an invitation to violence I’m not sure I know what one is. We need someone of moral fiber in the White House, not a man who speaks like a thug.
From "True Believer - Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements" by Eric Hoffler:
"We do no make people humble and meek when we show them their guilt and cause them to be ashamed of themselves. We are more likely to stir their arrogance and rouse in them reckless agreeiveness."
"To wrong those we hate is to add fuel to our hatred, Conversely, to treat an enemy with magnanimity is to blunt our hatred for him"
Prof. Krugman continues to "add fuel to our hatred" ... It's a mistaken communication, but one haters love to use.
3
I am so sick of the hatred this president generates. Does he know what he's doing? Is it purposeful? You have to believe someone is at least coaching him the GOP must win the mid-terms, and then he applies his slash/burn approach.
So, it's purposeful. He uses word like "nationalist" and "mob" and "caravan" purposefully and does grandstanding stunts like sending troops to the border and saying he can end citizenship by birthright.
I am tired of hatred, but my feelings for this administration are unfortunately appropriate and gauged to match their actions.
CONGRESS?? Do you CARE? Can't Tell. AMERICA! WAKE UP! This admin is chipping at our freedoms EVERYDAY! VOTE BLUE!
1
News outlets like Public Broadcasting go so far out of their way to give equal time to both sides it's nearly unwatchable. You haven't lived until you've seen Judy Woodruff roll out a Republican talking point "well some people say......."
If you want to present both sides do it but check it for accuracy first that way you can present it like this "well some people say blah, blah, blah even though our research indicates that's as likely as a snowball in heck." Then whoever she's interviewing can respond to that.
If you're being presented with something that is clearly in the realm of "the earth is flat" or the "climate isn't warming" you do not put it out there as if it's valid. You ignore it. Our problem is we're too civil to call a lie a lie and the GOP know it.
1
While it is imperative that we as a people do everything in our power to legally restrain Trump's uncontrolled power mongering, we must always keep in mind that Trump is the symptom, not the problem. The GOP has been courting and rewarding the far right for many years. They could have stopped Trump from securing the nomination, but they made a bet for short term gain that racists, anti-semites and haters of all things that America stands for would turn out for them. They already had the Tea Party -- the same group, so they placed their fortunes on racism and hate.
They must have thought they could control Trump. After all, he has been seen as a buffoon in business circles all of his life and therefore would be an easy mark. Mitch McConnell salivated at packing the Federal judiciary with his right wing ideologues. But Trump is now in total control of the party.
Any Republican now who sticks with this faction based on hate and fear is no patriot. He or she is a nationalist. How ironic that my dad went to war to rid the world of those same nationalists.
1
Trump brought Steve Bannon in to the White House as Chief Strategist as a co-equal to the Chief of Staff. That day ended the myth that it was all an act to get elected and he would become a President of all the people.
You have to stop calling them Trump apologists. At this point they are complicit in the crimes against humanity that are becoming an everyday occurrence.
2
Every day we get "Trump says" bla bla bla and we are supposed to take it seriously, most of us don't, unfortunately for the world, the MAGA mob takes it very seriously. Trump is the crazy guy in Times square holding the "The world ends today" cardboard sign except, the real crazy guy in Time Square has more credibility because of Trump.
what about Bernie's supporter shooting Republican congressman?
What about 70% of criminals in jail being democrats?
About your statement - "All of these hate crimes seem clearly linked to the climate of paranoia and racism deliberately fostered by Donald Trump and his allies in Congress and the media".
Please do educate us on the "clear" link. Opinions of bunch of political mouthpieces does not imply clarity.
What is blatantly lie is your statement that "Killing black people is an old American tradition, but it is experiencing a revival in the Trump era". Shooting of black people and shooting by police has gone down in Trump era as compared to Obama era.
3
@PJ
"What about 70% of criminals in jail being democrats?"
How about a citation for this claim?
"Please do educate us on the "clear" link. Opinions of bunch of political mouthpieces does not imply clarity."
https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/09/12/study-shows-two-thirds-us-terrorism-tied-right-wing-extremists
I think to stop this epidemic of false equivalence, new tactics have to be employed.
I like to refer to them as Abbie Hoffman tactics. Abbie, you may remember, used to troll the government in real life ways back before electronic trolling was a thing, using satire and ridicule to point out and undermine authoritarianism. Remember when he claimed he and his followers were going to protest the Vietnam War by levitating the Pentagon? Ridiculous, sure, but the bizarre overreaction by those in power helped advance the cause, because it made the government look thuggish, stupid, and uncool.
I think it's time we made Trump and his supporters look that way on a regular basis. Yes, I know, to a lot of people they already do, but there needs to be more organization and more overwhelming numbers.
Whose up for infiltrating the next Trump rally and breaking out a chorus of "We're Not Gonna Take It" on kazoos? Or tossing a cream pie right at Sarah Huckabee Sanders during a lying statement to the press? Or, since it is the Halloween season, covering the White House fence in Silly String . . .
Please feel free to come up with your own suggestions. I know, with security the way it is, these might be tough to pull off. But I suspect we have some enterprising people out there who might have some ideas.
2
Thanks, Mr. Krugman for your blunt and honest assessment of the responses that I have been hearing from Republican spokespersons, after the attempted bombings of Democrats and the actual killings of Jewish and African American citizens. This violent behavior and hatred has been fomented by President Trump's tweets and speeches, and also, as pointed out by others, by what he fails to say. Republican justification of this is complicity in allowing the violence to occur. Please, please vote for change in November.
1
You should have voiced this strongly-worded, concise description of reality much sooner, in the early days of this fiasco. Even then - immediately before and after the 2000 election - the agenda of the violent, hateful hysterics was already plainly obvious. Even Barak Obama couldn't reverse the trend.
Instead, you waited until one week before the midterms to drive home the point with the language that needs to be spoken. Your earlier columns approached the subject much more discretely, in anemic tones that were simply inadequate to describe what you already knew.
During that lapse, the hysterics have had a virtually free run in the face of half-hearted opposition. They've been able to re-enforce their lies with simple repetition, flood the social media with propaganda, and conduct numerous, growing "grass roots" events to strengthen the insanity. Meanwhile, those of you in the sane population reacted with what amounted to "tut-tut" responses with nowhere near the magnitude and expertise of what the insane population's leaders were doing.
So, despite the strength and accuracy of your narrative, it's far too little, too late, to issue this warning. In effect, you - all of you - equivocated when forceful verbage was needed in the media outlets now in virtually complete control of the medium. That medium has become the message. Their message, not ours.
the most blatant false equivalence is that
Entertainment equals News
(Compare Fox "News" with PBS News Hour)
or that the lies perpetrated by don the con are equivalent to verifiable facts
if citizens cannot (or choose not) to understand the difference, then they do not deserve a democracy
1
Bothsideism and Whataboutism are the staples of the Sunday "news" shows. What explains this. I don't expect Fox or Murdoch to have morals but what explains the other networks? Is it corporate ownership? Laziness? Fear?
1
"The fact is that one side of the political spectrum is peddling hatred, while the other isn't."
Sure, Paul. You just keep peddling that partisan line.
And, feel free to make up any facts that help you get through this collapse of your world.
You might want to avoid reading your colleagues on the Op-Ed page and The Editorial Board. Some of them peddle rhetoric that partisans could consider less than kind and loving.
Although, really, what fair minded person would consider "collective lizard brains" anything but a term of endearment? "Basket of deplorables" and "dregs of society" were surely meant in the finest sense of civility and inclusion.
Yeah, Paul, it's the Other that is the scourge.
3
Just as a deep, localized skin infection erupts to form a boil, Donald Trump is a manifestation of the underlying disease that is the modern Republican Party. Donald Trump has not “taken over” the Republican Party any more than the Republican Party has taken over Donald Trump.
Trump’s unapologetic racism embarrasses the Republican establishment, but only because he says out loud what Republican candidates have been whispering since Richard Nixon unveiled his “Southern Strategy.”
Republicans may be embarrassed by Trump’s naked racism, incessant lies, manifest unfitness for any public office, and most recently his shockingly inhumane punishment of innocent children. At the same time, however, they appreciate that his daily outrages divert public attention from their decades-old war on ordinary Americans. And like a compliant child, he has meekly done their bidding in that war.
Cheered on by crypto fascists like Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and Mike Pence, Trump has stacked the federal courts with rightwing judicial activists and eliminated federal regulations that protect consumers, workers, and the environment. Last but far from least was his signature on his sole legislative achievement, the Orwellian-titled “Tax Reform” bill that rewarded the oligarchs who fund the Republican party with yet another massive transfer of wealth from ordinary Americans to the obscenely wealthy.
1
I am all for whacking some on “the media,” for its chasing clicks and market share uber alles, for its simultaneously giggling at Trump and handing him a ton of free air time, and for its progressively dumbing down arguments.
But this doesn’t happen in a vaccum. It happens because we eat it all up with a spoon, because we couldn’t be bothered to do a little reading and thinking, because we were so busy screeching at Hillary for being impure, because we never stopped to ask what the heck Jill Stein was doing at that RT dinner with Putin and Mike Flynn, because we never bothered to just go vote.
And it may just happen again, because as far as I can see, way too many folks are scrabbling around for alibis for their own actions.
2
Why is anyone listening to Krugman. Krugman has been wrong about everything Trump since day one. Creating more problems for Americans than necessary. Predicted total collapse of the markets if Trump won.
3
Democracy depends on the belief that opponents may sometimes have views that are not evil. We seem to have lost this realization and the United States we knew no longer exists.
2
The hyper fear mongering by networks like Fox News is really the key fuel source for the violence. I would ever so like to see the advertisers on these networks threaten to walk away from them unless civility is restored. Can public boycotts of these advertisers work to prompt their intervention? Little else seems to make a difference.
1
Well Paul, many of these comments have sure proved the point of your piece! There is no substantive defending of Trump. It cannot be done. But plenty of "what about" and "look over there".
1
Right on, Paul. Once again you hit the nail exactly on the head. Thank you for writing this.
If people believe--like many in the media--that truth is found in the middle between opposing sides rather than objectively knowable, then the less scrupulous side has a strong incentive to push to the extreme. In the end, the Big Lie will tip the balance away from what's real.
3
I wonder if bothsiderism is caused by an understanding of what works on TV as a medium? If we saw a bunch of talking heads dispassionately saying the obvious: "this behavior is awful and should not be tolerated in reasonable society", it might get boring after a while and we'd turn off that channel. So they include a speaker who otherwise we'd think of as a nut-case. In ancient times they'd put that person in a pillar, and entertain the TV audience humiliating them. But in modern times we seat them at the same table the rest of the talking heads are at and pay them lots of money for appearing. The price of being entertaining may be the we legitimize hateful speech.
Faux News has a different formula. I guess maybe some people find it entertaining to watch people saying things that would otherwise be offensive in polite company and like watching so that they feel empowered to say hateful things and act in hateful ways.
2
Thank you Paul. You nailed it again. American media pretending that both sides are to blame for the escalating hate befouling our society comes from a deep cowardice. To turn this ship around requires profound courage. Media and Democrats need to step up, if we are to save our liberty.
1
When Trump won the election, I cut my satellite service as low as possible and, then, cancelled it as soon as my contract expired. I think the cable news media, with all the freebie coverage Trump received during the campaign, share a large part of the responsibility in Trump's rise.
The incessant false equivalencies leave me incredulously shaking my head. After decades of being called everything but a child of god by Republican pols and sycophants (thinking, especially, about Rush Limbaugh from the 1970s through 1990s), the left has started spouting back. But it took the era of "from Fox News to Trump's lips" verbal assaults to raise the left's defenses. So, of course, everything is the left's fault. And, disrupting some pol's dinner is equivalent to mail bombs and wholesale slaughter.
I'm afraid that 40% of the population are suffering from short- and long-term memory loss -- the right neither remembers their behaviors from yesterday, let alone the past 30+ years. At least memory loss is something about which a person can have sympathy and empathy. The alternative is deliberate deceit, hate, and malfeasance just to win elections, and that's unconscionable in a democratic republic.
4
“...one side of the political spectrum is peddling hatred...” Paul, read your own column. Pluck up your courage. The sentence should read “...Republicans are spreading hate...” We may very well be at the end of the Republic. The end of the American experiment. England used to be a great empire - then it wasn’t. I would argue that, up until a couple of years ago, England became better. So, America dies. Becomes a Christo-Fascist Oligarchy for about 50 years. Then, the peasants rise up. There’s a revolution. And things go well for a while until people get lazy and it falls apart again. By then, it will be another Ice Age, so it really won’t matter.
2
The great irony is the hate shown toward President Trump et.al. just within the emails of support for Krugman's editorial.
The day Trump was elected the venom was espoused by those who were on his opposite political spectrum. I am not going to go point by point showing examples of the violent acts from the leftists and the threats of death towards the President ,after all doing so would, laughably in the tough guy Krugman's eyes, cause me to be a coward.
5
Why would anyone feel the need to retract a statement when everything, no matter how serious, is forgotten and forgiven within a week? ...Unless the other side commits the offense. In which case everything is remembered forever and needs to be revenged forever. We live in the age of "I'm OK; you're not."
2
Hatred of others has always been there. It has always had occasional breakouts, be that lynchings, Nazism, etc., but society was eventually able to get those most afflicted by it back under their rocks, to a tolerable degree, most of the time in most places. But recently has come along a new way for those who think that way to find each other and get their ideas reinforced by each other, and it has broken out again. And then Trump came along and told them it's OK to think that way. Now they're spreading their slime everywhere.
I was standing in line checking in for a cruise a few days ago and an old white guy standing next to me told me (also an old white guy) that it's too bad the bombs didn't take out their targets -- this from someone who couldn't be poor and uneducated. Scary. We have a job ahead of us getting these people back under their rocks. People like to talk about personal freedom, but too many leave out the fact that responsibility goes along with that freedom. For some, responsibility has to be enforced through rules. Free speech isn't free. Hate speech isn't alright.
1
Our president declared himself a "nationalist" this weekend. What he meant was "white nationalist" and his people heard him clearly. Fear of "others" is the only thing they have to offer.
3
"There’s a straight line from Fox News coverage of the caravan to the Tree of Life massacre."
There are hundreds of straight lines from Fox "news" to the slow, steady drumbeats of racism, false equivalence and fascism.
Rupert Murdoch and collaborators have been slowly destroying the social fabric of the USA to benefit the Oligarch Class, and laughing all the way to the bank.
2
"All of these hate crimes seem clearly linked to the climate of paranoia and racism deliberately fostered by Donald Trump and his allies in Congress and the media."
That's a fairly broad statement with zero backing. Last time I checked Dr Krugman's PhD is not in sociology.
The President does use strong words. In this country we have always, until recently, valued the freedom of speech. This paper spend countless lines ripping the President. That is their right. I do not hold them responsible for the shooting at the baseball field any more than Trump owns the bomber.
In the minds of Dr Krugman and the NYT and the left, they are free to say whatever they want about the President. They regularly call him treasonous, racist, sexist with no repercussions. But should he fire back, he is to blame for the actions of demented lunatics. Give me a break. The tragedies are awful and have nothing more to do with Trump than any other President. People don't kill each other depending on whether the President has a potty mouth or a Harvard education. They kill because they are morally bankrupt or mentally ill.
3
PK,
All those whataboutists and fake equivalence people in the press, politics and elsewhere seem to have forgotten that in the end opposing Mussolini looked real good on the résumé.
Democrats = Good
Republicans = Bad
Got it, Krugman. As usual, thank you for your oh-so-deep insights -_-
2
@Ed
That isn't what he said. There was quite a bit more detail. If that's all you got out of it, the fault is with you, not Paul.
1
Attacks on the media and free speech? Check.
A hostile foreign power using our own institutions to spread lies, buy political influence, and sway elections? Check.
Inciting violence against those with differing views? Check.
Imprisoning children in concentration camps? Check.
Dehumanizing minorities and immigrants? Check.
Packing the Supreme Court with lemmings? Check.
Unlawfully using the military to perform police actions during peacetime? Check.
Unilaterally overriding the Constitution regarding birthright citizenship? Check.
I've never been ashamed of my country until now.
2
"Sin is on the ballot next week". Oh I'm sorry, it was hate. Or was it racism? This PC prudery has gotten so bad, re-wording it as "sin" should show people what it really is. It's the Moral Majority of the Left.
3
The very first job of a President-elect is to heal and unite the country. Before the inaugural balls, before the swearing in, before the new congress meets, the tone has to be set and messaged from the top. This is a task at which this pretend President has failed miserably
2
If we are going to be entirely frank and specific, we need to focus on white men.
They are responsible for generating and propagating all manner of racism and anti-Semitism.
Moreover, these men are on the ideological right.
James T. Hodgkinson
I guess Paul forgot about him . . .
3
The image accompanying the op-ed says it all. It looks all too 1930's Germany.
The cancer is metastasizing, large enough to be seen with the naked eye.
Will Americans see and act on the threat?
1
There is no doubt of a connection. right wingers used to use dog whistles, now they use trumpets. Crazies only need a little encouragement, often in the form of a blind eye. And make no mistake, it's only right-wing crazies who commit mass murders, tote loaded guns around with them, make death threats (anonymously, because they're cowards), threaten on social media, plant bombs, use violent and inflammatory rhetoric, accuse the opposition of treason and terrorism, and their wear it all proudly. It's all straight out of the right-wing playbook.
1
The murders are horrible, but statistically they barely register among all the other incidents where people kill each other for no good reason daily in America. And, as even Krugman has to admit, the perpetrator was critical of Trump. That leftists can't stop to try connect Trump to anti-semitism when half his family is jewish, half his cabinet too and Israel's government is among his biggest fans, is so obviously ridiculous that it's certainly hurting Democrats politically.
So let's move on to the other case, where the perpetrator is indeed a Trump superfan. But funny how every single article just ignores the fact that the guy mailed ten(!) 'bombs' and not one of them exploded. Either the guy was incapable of building a real bomb, or - more likely - he never tried and they were fakes all along. Still a hate crime, but I think it matters that apparently nobody was ever in actual danger.
So, nothing exceptional really happened, only the common events we had get more media attention to influence the upcoming elections.
1
I wish Paul Krugman were on the ballot next week.
2
Hate isn't the only thing on the ballot next week. The choice couldn't be more stark: American democracy or American fascism. The fact that we have a president who not only isn't backing down from attacking the media, even after everything that's been happening, but is DOUBLING DOWN, makes that abundantly clear.
Folks, it's very simple. Either we like democracy or we don't. And the fact is, as hard as it may be to stomach (and as much as you'd like to say your representatives may be different, and as much as they may well be), any vote for the GOP at this point is a vote that says, "well, maybe a racist, xenophobic dictator isn't so bad."
I don't like it any more than you do. Voting straight party line shouldn't be how we do things - and throwing out the Nazi analogy should only be done if there is absolutely zero doubt or alternate recourse. But that is where we are. It needs to be said, and it needs to be acted upon, NOW. If we wait, it WILL be too late.
The moment I was advised that my adamant refusal to debate topics such as slavery and racism made me a left wing tribalist, I gave up on this country. I mean, seriously, am I supposed to be willing to list the pros and cons of slavery to convince people I'm not a frothing at the mouth leftie activist?
I guess I'm just a frothing at the mouth leftie activist, then.
Stupid people in large numbers is always a problem in a democracy.
1
Hate calls hate. Mr Trump was elected instigating hate into people joust discouraged. Then he continued to distribute hate in the people, but did nothing simple like a law on gun control to reduce inside violence in the USA. The Pittsbourgh Synagogue massacre is a bright example, where the same Jews don't want to see his hypocrisy, supporting one day the people asking to kill all Jews and next day to express his ambiguous condolences for the mass killing.
I think that next week Americans have the choice to say on which part they stay: with hate and lies, or with the truth, tolerance and common living in a really united USA, if this is still possible.
I can think of only one legitimate comparison for the Democrat side. James Hodgkinson shot 70 rounds into a congressional baseball game, critically injuring one Republican House member, Steven Scalise.
how is it that his Jewish son-in-law and daughter, both counsellors to the president, are unable to enlighten him to the dangers of his speech and behaviour. Even if they don't care about anyone else, can they not see the danger to themselves and their children if this ugly movement is allowed to grow?
It's time we follow France's lead and outlaw swastikas. Nazism has been condemned by international law as criminal and genocidal. Nazi symbols and speech must be prohibited from our streets and country. No exceptions.
PK tosses another ringer!
1
Steve Scalise
Where was Krugman when another crazy opened fire in DC nearly killing Steve Scalise on a baseball field?
Nobody has a monopoly on crazy.
3
That was the question I wanted to see reporters ask press flack Sanders at yesterday's White House briefing, "When the president lies about gangs and Islamic terrorists invading our country in the "convoy", does that unite our country?"
Narcissists will harangue you, lie to you, push and pull you, gaslight you, and swear you did the whole thing to yourself until you collapse from emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical exhaustion. Please, even though you are so exhausted from these last two years of malignant narcissism, get to the polls next week, and vote out the cancer that's killing us. Then, the country can start to heal and regain its natural strength and optimism.
1
False Equivalence..... Al Gore was being interviewed by Judy Woodruff of the PBS Newshour wherein she pointed out to Gore "whatabout the scientists who disagree with climate change causes" and Gore interrupted her forcefully saying "that's nonsense, 99% of scientists agree climate change is real and your 1% are outliers with little respect in the science community, don't equate the 1% with the 99%". Woodruff was appropriately chagrined. The liberal media has this obsession with showing how "fair" they are. Fox News has no such qualms and so far they are winning. The fascists in Italy and Germany used the soft underbelly of liberal democracy to destroy it.
1
Somehow....I think Steve Scalise would have a different perspective.
3
You’re either heading towards a more racist society, or to a less racist society.
Next Tuesday, any vote for any GOP candidate in any race means you’re fine with the former.
1
Right wing media like fox and wall street journal broadcast hate from only one party, the right wing extremist gop and trump. They censor the opposition. The times, nbc and pbs newshour broadcast hate from both sides. Thats how they claim to be non partisan. It allows them to get subscribers from both sides. That is the name of the game
How do you shame the shameless?
So what if the person who mailed the bombs or killed in Pittsburg was a Trump supporter or not. So what if they are republican or a democratic. That is not the issue and doesn't matter. They need to be thought of as criminals. What does matter is that political leaders have encouraged their actions.Trump showing up in Pittsburgh today is no different than an arsonist showing up after fire to see what they have done.
1
Yep, bothsideists are flourishing and it isn't just the GOP, there are those still trying to pretend that support for Trump is all about economic anxiety, they are just normal people scared, etc...despite the fact that studies of Trump supporters have shown those with the most economic anxiety are not his biggest supporters.
The reality is that Trump and the GOP are playing into the hate songbook, and that most of the people supporting him are in fact supporting him because he is enunciating what they feel, that the country "is being taken from them' by feminists, LGBT people, hispanics, Asians and of course the perpetual bogeyman, "international Jewish conspiracy centered around the media [the media is the enemy of the people? not exactly transparent] and the big banks promoting a new world order". Sorry, but the excuses have to stop and people have to call it what it is, this isn't good people who are scared, these are people who are 'good people' as long as you are 'one of them'.
1
If the passion for hate is greater than the passion for love Trump wins . And America loses. We will find out on Nov 6.
6
There's an article on Newt Gingrich in The Atlantic that came yesterday that I've just starting reading. He's apparently proud of the role he played in destroying civil politics in America. The situation we are in today really started when Republicans took the House in Clinton's first term. They never considered Clinton a legitimate president, and they continued that line with Obama. As Paul Krugman has pointed out before and does again today, one reason Republicans are getting away with their behavior is the failure of the press to call it what it is and look for false equivalence. Remember the nonsense the Times printed about Hillary Clinton during the last campaign. I'm looking forward to the coming election with fear and trembling. If the American people continue to allow the Republican Party to dominate government, democracy in America may be done, and the press will have contributed significantly to its demise.
6
Perhaps rather than repeat right-wing attacks on “the media,” after sticking a new label on the jar, you could identify exactly which news reports were so very, very unfair to Hillary Clinton.
Be specific, now: “all of them,” and “this one I didn’t like that was published sometime,” don’t count.
I voted for Hillary, fairly happily; I still think everybody was nuts not to, given the alternatives. But a good newspaper is not in business to make me happy each and every single day.
1
When Trump talks about Jewish financiers funding the Caravan and the Kavanaugh protestors, he is engaging in the most despicable anti-semitism imaginable.
That Jews are now being massacred in their place of worship and sent pipe bombs in the mail is not only predictable, it is inevitable.
And yet, the election a week from today is neck and neck. What has become of our country?
12
The internet service providers (Facebook et al) should not be responsibile for taking down hate speech. Who draws the line?
What they should do is make sure that everyone knows where it is? And talk about it in the news.
We need to see this stuff. We thought it was gone. We totally misunderstood the depth of human misogyny.
It is perplexing that it is bound together with greed and a legitimate resentment from the working class that they whole global thrust of commerce and change did not respect the needs of the people most particularly affected.
We need to raise taxes on the people who have the majority of the resources to pay for securing social security, medicare and medicaid and pay for infrastructure jobs to make up for all of the manufacturing jobs that have moved elsewhere or been replaced by automation or the need to maintain our environment.
Those people who have the majority of the resources are very, very lucky and the should be very, very humble and they should be able to see that their luck may come at the expense of other people. Their is risk and it needs to be acknowledged and compensated.
1
One can know that President Trump gives support to racist, anti-Semitic, anti-immigration hatred by his inflammatory polemic and that his and others on the right's rhetoric fuels hatred that leads to violence without closing one's eyes to egregious statements or behavior by the president's opponents. We have a country in which people are increasingly unable to communicate with each other if they disagree and in which many Americans on both sides of the political spectrum view other Americans as dupes, buffoons, or promoters of evil. To view this only as a one-sided issue is more weakminded than seeing the exaggerations and hatred on both sides. Yes, the president and his supporters spew more hate, but to stop hate becoming the signature emotion of our country, we have to recognize it wherever it appears and urge both sides to seek an alternative. When a nation becomes and remains polarized, it suffers wild swings in direction and governing democratically by majority rule breaks down. European and South American history have given us and are continuing to give us plenty of examples of this. You don't stop hate by labeling peacemakers as weak or cowards. That's a dangerous position to take and a recipe for disaster.
2
Trump's lies and incendiary sarcasm are bad enough. But the fact that people still go to his rallies and delight in his act is truly disheartening. Trump has found an audience of clapping, MAGA hat wearing throngs lapping up his zingers and falsehoods. That's the real problem. No amount of correcting the record will eliminate willful ignorance--and just plain ignorance.
3
I would think that all Trump supporters would have to have some element of fanaticism. Certainly those who attend the rallies are fanatic. What I worry about is the point where the constant fallacious argument fed by conspiring hackers online leads to mass hysteria among his fanatical base. Individuals have crossed that line and it feels like the fuse is burning on the powder keg. There is a certain zeal on the right when liberals or democrats are harmed or maligned similar to scoring a goal or making a touchdown. Winning at all cost. Politics as sport. Voters as fanatics. American politics has always had this element. Is this time different? Donald Trump is certainly different. He is undisciplined and cynical in his appeal to the darker side of human nature to secure and maintain power. He is seemingly incapable of change, so we should know what to expect. The question is no longer about him, but about all of us. How we relate to each other and our differences. How we hold ourselves to account for our actions and our attitude. Will we choose unity or division? We know what Trump represents. Republicans have to ask themselves if all this "winning" is worth the risk of what is being lost.
3
The whataboutists and bothsiders who believe themselves to be moderate Republcans have the opportunity at the ballot box next Tuesday via secret ballot to vote the scoundrels out of power without disclosing their own tarnished decency. We must hope at a minimum they will do that.
But why should they not be proud and loud about repudiating the hate filled cabal that has taken over their party? The poison that is killing what used to be the home of conscientious conservatives threatens to kill our democracy if the right-wing hard core holds on to power with the votes of Republicans who don't share their hatred and fear but vote with them out of party loyalty.
Democrats in Congress should invite sane and decent Republicans to switch parties or become Independents and caucus with the Democrats. Isolating the Trumpistas is essential to the return of American values.
3
Thank you for constantly reminding us how damaging false equivalence is to our democracy. Let's call it what it is... lying. It is what lead to crazy Trump instead of the supremely qualified and sane HRC. How many times did I yell at the TV during the campaign when the email server was elevated to some huge controversy instead of hearing a fact-based explanation educating the public as to what it was really about (and not about). Now look at the wholesale criminality and immorality of Trump and his cronies. It would be almost laughable if it wasn't for the bodies strewn in their wake.
I am grateful that we have Krugman to keep telling it like it is. I wish more people in the media had the courage to call out, or better yet, to stop fabricating and perpetuating the false equivalencies.
2
This is one of the clearest statements on false equivalence and bothsiderism that I’ve seen. But it still lacks one essential: especially with regard to main stream media, it’s time to start naming names.
6
Than you Mr. Krugman, that need to be said and you said it well.
Part of the issue is that many, if not most, trump supporters condone trump's hateful rhetoric and his calls for violence against his critics. They cheered when trump called for a man to be beat up in his crowd, they cheered when he made fun of a disabled man, and they cheered when he made reference to body slamming a reporter. Trump's list of hateful and violent rhetoric is too long to write down.
Do trump supporters condone these acts of violence that some may call terrorism ? Undoubtedly, it is just a question of how many - And, unfortunately that number seems to be growing.
2
A local GOP campaign ad ominously tells his potential constituents that his opponent wants to make drastic changes to Medicare. The scariest part is that it is true - his opponent want to expand it, eliminate the 'donut hole' and reduce the eligibility age to 55! Yes, it would be a drastic change - for the better - but the partial truth is the way the greedy old partisans gain and keep power.
While we are voting against the hate, let's also vote FOR truth, justice, and (what used to be) the American way of tolerance, global responsibility and support.
2
Um, the PPACA already eliminated the donut hole.
@Robert
No, it didn't. The PPACA is completely separate from Medicare, and the 'donut hole' is still very much in existence, depending on what kind of supplemental insurance you can afford to buy.
False equivalency and whataboutism run rampant in the media. I just saw Rep Costello from Pa doing it on MSNBC and nobody challenged him. All the republicans will do it until they are vigorously challenged.
2
@Bill George
Every year at Christmas we're reminded in A Christmas Carol that Charles Dickens did name ignorance and poverty as the two greatest causes of social failure - and he did name ignorance as the worst of the two. And Dickens saw the market and business morality creating them.
But another writer of Dicken's time, Alexis de Tocqueville foresaw today's rising danger in America, Despotism " Which is never more secure of continuance than when it can keep men asunder; and all its influence is commonly exerted for that purpose. No vice of the human heart is so acceptable to it as selfishness" and the despot "perverting the natural meaning of words, he applauds as good citizens those who have no sympathy for any but themselves."
Mr. Krugman, you do of course realize that Trump has a daughter who converted to Judaism, a son-in-law and one of his closest advisers who is Jewish, and grand-children who are Jewish. Also, Trump has been more supportive of Israel than any other U.S. President has ever been. He even moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. America's relationship with Israel has never been stronger than it is now. (For those out there who may have forgotten, Israel is the only Jewish state on the planet.) Lastly, the gunman who killed 11 Jews in Pittsburgh actually has a strong hatred of Trump. Of course why let facts get in the way of your bashing of Trump. By the way, I didn't voted for Trump (or Mrs. Clinton.) Trump deserves much of the criticism that comes his way, and he has many faults, but being anti-Semitic is definitely not one of them.
3
@Paul Tilghman - You're missing the point. Bowers' big issue was immigration. He believed in the conspiracy theory that Jews were behind all this immigration, particularly George Soros and HIAS - the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. But Bowers focus was on the caravan, which Trump mentions many time a day as a threat to this country. Trump didn't have to be specifically anti-Semitic to get the anti-Semites fired up.
I’d point out that we actually have a strong relationship with the far Right in Israel and that this is not all of Israel, that that shooter may have hated Trump but he certainly was chanting Trump’s fantasies about George Soros’ organizing the caravan as he opened fire, and that when I contemplate Trump’s constant attacks on the fantasized Deep State and fantasized shadowy cabals of international bankers, I reflect that handsome is as handsome does.
Not to mention Trump’s charming attempt to declare himself a nationalist, while magically sanitizing the first syllable of the word, “Nazi.”
Trump also has a wife—in fact several of them over the years—but that doesn’t mean he respects women.
He is anti-Semitic except toward his family Jews.
Many people are racist—but not about their favorite NFL or NBA players.
The fear and hatred the Trump has unleashed is real and palpable. As part of an interracial couple my significant other and I, we feel the eyes upon as we walk down the street. The underbelly of racism has been incised and released. I now really understand the fear that my African American forebears must have felt. Just by making eye contact with a caucasian female could subject one's neck to the noose in those days. Watching a trump rally is chilling, it conjures up what a National socialist
party rally must have been like in the 1930's.
2
Why can’t local authorities step in and shut down a Trump rally when he is blatantly fomenting violence? Free speech is not absolute.
1
Excellent column. Bothsidesism and false equivalency are killing this country. The media is also guilty of giving every utterance by trump extensive coverage as if it was important. You seldom read anything about A democrat.
3
I think the false equivalence begins with treating trump as if he isn’t an unhinged narcissist mistake vs reality. As if the words of a pathological liar amounts to anything more than hot air or bad breath, as if a statement made in the beginning of a sentence then contradicted by the end of the sentence is anything more than idiotic blather , never reaching presidential levels.
2
Republican senators who support an unfit, president unworthy of his position are traitors. They remain passive and quiet out of self interest while our country's ideals and aspirations to a civilized nation are being dismantled. What other proof any intelligent person need than listen to this president's own words and observe his actions or non actions to impeach him? The congress proves by not removing him that they approve of this corrupt, unethical, underserving, con man they serve, they are as shameless.
1
This president is disassembling democracy. He, his administration, the various funders and groups such as the federalist and heritage foundation are pandering to alt right and evangelicals to demonized the left. It is likely supported worldwide by those engaged in control of the fuel industry. We are living in dangerous times.
3
When someone is saying "partisan" rhetoric or behavior, just substitute "Republican" and you'll be on the way to accurate understanding. NPR does this a lot, and it is cowardly.
Tell the truth. Call them out. Be honest, and accurate. (Be like Paul!)
1
This is what America has been all along. I wanted to believe that perhaps we had passed the tipping point when President Obama won twice. I wanted to believe that the numbers of intolerant, bigoted, racist, greedy, unempathtic, jingoistic, Americans had dwindled to the margins, never to be heard from again in any meaningful way. Boy, was I ever wrong. The hate, fear, loathing, and intolerance is here and I'm beginning to wonder if this country and the world at large will ever get past this scourge.
3
“There’s a straight line from Fox News coverage of the caravan to the Tree of Life massacre.”
The downside of the First Amendment is that, while providing for free speech even if it’s offensive, it doesn’t allow to shut down speech that is deliberately false and harmful to the public welfare (welfare including both our personal and national security, as well as our psyches).
Fox “News” goes beyond being the communication organ of the Trumpist state. Its false (fake news?) statements about ethnic and religious groups isa throwback to the fascism of the 1930’s. It’s leading Trump by the nose to make questionable decisions about citizenship, economic drivers, and public safety.
We have enough remaining tendrils of racism and religious bigotry in this country without exacerbating those notions of evil “others” who would attempt to undermine society, foment political dissent, distort the global economy to their ends, and threaten the purity of wives and daughters.
It’s time to impose consequences for yelling “fire” in our national discourse.
Rejection, Paul, is not hatred. What you see the world over is the wholesale rejection of The Program (the authoritarian religion of the Left--the UN/2Coasts/EU troika). The masses have come to believe that they are being served false religion in the form of Climate Change, and they are desecrating the idol at the ballot box. The prospect of Hillary (again) shows how utterly in disarray the Left is. "NOT TRUMP" 24/7, Paul, is not a vision, and as a wise man said long ago "where no vision is the people perish." The working man is too busy putting food on the table to worry about 1.5 degrees by 2100. He secretly mocks gender politics around the water cooler, and he knows that the welfare state will only require the people who actually work, work harder. What frightens the Left most is that the masses are slipping out or their control again. Worse, the EU nanny state is waking from its dogmatic slumbers. It seems like yesterday that climate, bathrooms, a guaranteed income were all the rage. Today, no Democratic candidate mentions them. The ballot box, Paul, is only about selection and rejection. It is not enough to mean well, one must do well. This is the message of the ballot box.
2
@shreir I guess you mean while Right is too busy dismantling Economy, creating Wall Street chaos, ruining, cutting, Social Services, Education, Health Care, dismantling Infrastructure, Ethics, Waging War, Brainwashing masses with Ignorance/reality tv and foxtv and and while enriching their GOP, their cronies, their senators, their supporters will ill gotten gains and tax cuts?
2
But Paul, the promise of tax cuts!
And "possibly, sometime soon, we are deeply studying a cut for the middle classes and working people, soon...".
1
Hate is on the ballot on both sides, but definitely more abundant on the GOP side. However, the GOP also has fear, death and ignorance on their ballot.
So there's that.
It's come to this.
Take the Pittsburg tragedy as case in point.
Decent people, victims, the survivors, officials, everyone, need to stop standing on the platform with him, where ever that might be, thus providing him with his photo-op content. He needs to understand that he is not fit for mixed company. He is in fact a retrograde.
To stand with him in this circumstance would simply aid and abet him in his destruction of the very decency and goodness they and we should all stand for.
He has repeatedly co-opted the images of the Scouts, steelworkers, Native Americans, other victims of other crimes, all in the pursuit of his own greater glory.
It's becoming gross.
He needs to understand in a visceral, up close and personal, live and in real time that he is not acceptable on any level as the POTUS.
1
Line after line about hate......but less about common sense. I wonder about the many comments about what Trump has said and done, and wonder if the writers agree with hate from the Left?
Did you agree with the hatred expressed by the manager of the Red Hen Restaurant when she forced Sarah Sanders and her family to leave the restaurant?
Did you agree with the hatred expressed when the Red Hen manager followed Sanders and her family to the restaurant across the street, forcing the Sanders family to leave the area?
Did you agree with the hatred expressed by Congresswoman Maxine Waters when she expressed her contempt for Cabinet members, exhorting her supporters to "get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them. And you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere."
Even before the inauguration, did you agree with the man who yelled at Ivanka Trump and her three children about 'being on our airplane'.........forcing her and her children to leave at the request of the airline?
How many of us have the decency and common sense to know there are two sides to this story.
First - most Americans don't hate other Americans.
Second - for a relative few Americans on both sides, there is dislike, disapproval and disgust with their opposites on the other side.
I don't think I'm wrong about most Americans.....and I wish opinion writers and TV talk show folks would dial their rhetoric back.
Win elections with common sense - I think it might work!
4
Shouting angrily in a restaurant is generally not fatal.
1
I thought all of that was pretty stupid, but nonetheless I recall that none of it involved punching people in the face, mailing bombs, or shooting up a synagogue.
Also not murdering two people in a market, or seizing a wildlife refuge and shooting at cops, or shooting up a health clinic, or running anybody over and killing them, or calling for gay people who won’t repent to be hanged, or...
1
@Azalea Lover - If you think it's "common sense" to equate a bit of rudeness in public with pipe bombs sent to the president's named enemies or mass murder in a synagogue, then you need to re-calibrate your common-sense meter.
1
If only the facts in this article were more historically correct. Heavy ethnic, racial, and religious violence has been our steady diet for at least the many decades that I have been alive.
The micromanagement of Congess, the media and the population, the latter by echo chambers, had been a full-time White House occupation, showing outright abhorrence of the targets, while inner cities were burning, unattended.
Actually, hate has been on the ballot for years: virtually any national candidate with a (D) behind their name.
2
@Plato please elaborate, what candidate preaches or did hate with a (D) behind their name?
2
Great column, Dr. Krugman. Now please start naming names, including those at the Times. The bothsidesism isn’t going stop until the culprits are pointed out and shamed.
1
“At this point, pretending that both sides are equally to blame, or attributing political violence to spreading hatred without identifying who’s responsible for that spread, is a form of deep cowardice.”
America's future is on the ballot November 6th!
ALL DECENT AMERICANS MUST VOTE NEXT TUESDAY!
Are we a nation worthy of sacrifice of veterans of all races, genders and religions?
Are we a beacon of light in times of darkness in the world?
Are we capable of a deep course correction by some citizens?
Are we a country that still values freedom of religion, voting rights, and human rights here and worldwide ?
On November 6th we shall reveal who we are!
Is there a list of consistent bothersiderism journalists? As consumers we can call and complain en mass if we subscribe to their parent media.
I don’t know who they all are, it’s helpful to name names. Not necessarily saying that’s Dr. Krugman’s job.
Why does the media always take credit for these sick people’s actions? It shows how narcissistic and sick the media has become; however, I do find it interesting that the media is starting to feed on itself. These crimes are no more prevalent than previous administrations (remember when “blacks” under Obama felt emboldened and killed all those cops in Dallas and Obama all-but justified the actions). The colors and ideologies may change, but the way the media tries to pin all these recent events on Trump is unfair and childish.
2
How come nobody defends Megan Kelly when she honestly commented the acceptability of using White-face and Black-face as Halloween dress up when she was a TEEN. Figuring that was about 25 years ago not now, so why the silence from the left.
@Larry As a presenter on national TV she had an obligation to educate herself - maybe talk to a person or organization fighting racism and ask the question. She could have asked Wikipedia and discovered "The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation" or the "dandified coon"' In short, she could have done some research instead of wondering aloud about something concerning race relations. She should have known better. I hope she can learn from the experience and go on to help people understand each other better.
Creepy Mr. Cornyn reveals why he is not trustworthy. He hears something, misstates it and answers his misstatement. That Republican thing is why they cannot govern or debate.
My question is "how is it that an evil minority is running the whole show in this country?" The United States has become ugly. It's no longer the place I used to love.
1
So why don't you call out and shame them? Chuck Todd of Meet The Press is the poster child for this phenomenon. He let Hugh Hewitt compare people yelling in a restaurant to pipe bombs and did not take down the ridiculous false equivalence between a Bernie Sanders supporter attacking the Republican baseball practice and Trump/Fox-inspired violence.
Today, I'll cast my vote and shun any Republican on the ballot. I'll even scrutinize any candidate with an "R" in or near their last name!
It may be the result of having read David Brooks essay earlier this morning but it appears to me that the good professor's reference to "civility" and whataboutism had David in mind .
1
I would like to watch the part of the Pelosi interview where she mentions "collateral damage," but I don't have time to watch the whole 68 minutes. Can anyone say the approximate time in the video when "collateral" occurs? Thank you!
Trump is planning to come to Pittsburgh later today. There is a significant number of people here that have been very vocal about how they do not welcome his visit, while others have questioned the timing as victim funerals were already scheduled for today. But since Trump plans to come anyway, I'm curious to see how he will comport himself. Considering the circumstances, I would view it as a positive gesture if he can find a way to avoid the spotlight, stay away from both the press and the podium, and confine his actions to offering his private condolences to those most directly affected while here. That would be the civil, decent, human thing to do. Unfortunately, I do not actually expect that, and I think it more likely that things will get ugly. For the sake of the victims and their families, I hope I am wrong.
1
"The fact is that one side of the political spectrum is peddling hatred, while the other isn’t."
Almost true, Paul. And it is true that Bernie Sanders was quick to condemn the violence by a fan of his. But the reality that at least one prominent Democrat, Maxine Watters, has been caught on camera advocating a forceful put down of people whose views she disagrees with is problematic for your point of view, Paul.
"And refusing to point that out for fear of sounding partisan is, in effect, lending aid and comfort to the people poisoning our politics."
Pointing that out is -- unless one is enormously skilled in articulating words that distinguish clearly between the person who is behaving badly and his/her dysfunctionally anti-social behaviour -- dangerous for society because of the effect on simple people who are angry .
@Angus Cunningham "... the effect on the simple people"? And who are these "simple people"? Is there still a peasant class? I would suggest whoever these "simple people" you refer to are, you would find upon investigation that they have the same level of complexity and understanding as anyone else although it might be different from yours. I see you're from Canada's big city - Toronto. I'm from Newfoundland. Does that make me one of the "simple people"? I assure you, peasants in the hinterlands of any country have a perspective that might surprise you.
1
@Angus Cunningham
Waters wasn't advocating violence against elected officials: just advocating peaceful protest. Whether it is appropriate to protest elected officials while they are ordering food in a restaurant is appropriate or not is a valid question. Whether it was appropriate for Trump to jokingly praise a congressman who assaulted a reporter by body slamming him is a question that answers itself.
Trump makes statements supporting violence against his opponents every day. Waters made one statement on one day and spend the next week clarifying what she meant. The same with Holder.
You have to spend a lot of time and energy combing through the statements of democrats to find any statements that can be construed as favoring violence. If you want to see Trump make racist and violence supporting statements anytime, just turn on your TV.
@MJM
Your point about 'simple' people is well taken. I did not mean to imply my readers were simple. Please note that I did add the distinction 'simple people who are angry'.
We are all simple relative to the universe of what is unknown, and this is especially so in discussions about economics. When we accept that, we do not need to be contemptuous of anyone but can start asking questions that expand our perspectives rather than phrase ones that have the effect of putting another down.
No mention of the attempted assassination of GOP Congressmen playing baseball, by a deranged Bernie supporter Paul?
Obama's CIA Director on CNN Prime Time calling Trump a "traitor!" ?
A little perspective, please!
9
@OWilson
Sanders never used inflammatory rhetoric.
Trump is a traitor. Even were he not that is not a call to violence.
A little perspective, please!
5
Violent attack’s are far more prevalent from the right. Perspective indeed
10
@OWilson
I'll see your pro-Bernie assassin and raise you: a liberal hating bomber, a parking lot killer of 2 black people in Kentucky last week, an anti-semitic mass murderer, and a Kansas shooter of 2 Sikh men (killing one) while they were sitting in a bar from last year - to name only a few examples.
And comparing the use of the word 'traitor' to shooting people in cold blood is, well, no comparison. Not to mention that there are 10s of millions of Americans who actually agree with him.
26
It's a common belief that some beliefs are good. Unfortunately, this is a belief shared by those who believe in racism and hate. In the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer based on a "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof of how we trick the mind with our ridiculous beliefs about what is supposed to survive - creating minds de facto programmed for destruction. And this applies to all beliefs, not just "bad" beliefs. When we understand this, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity. See RevolutionOfReason.com
2
On Sunday in the WAPO Jen Rubin wrote a great piece entitled "These Things are not the Same" discussing the republican use of "whataboutisms" in comparing republican violence and hate speech to democrats rebuttal.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/10/28/these-things-are-not-the-same/?utm_term=.9fd5ac813312
4
Please read your colleagues column, perhaps these are ways we can all try to diffuse the polarization and demonizing the other tendencies.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/29/opinion/recovering-the-lost-art-of-civility.html
2
Dr. Krugman's piece is spot-on.
The bad news is that you only have to go to the comments section of just about any pro-Trump / anti-"left" article on FoxNews.com to see that hatred spewed out, usually with Extra Capitalization or CAPS PERMANENTLY LOCKED, alongside the horrendous spelling mistakes and poor grammar.
Here's the good news: There are a lot more of us sane critical thinkers than FoxNews would have you think. Social media magnifies the presence of hate speech more effectively than any swastika painted on the side of a synagogue.
Here's the best news: Those of us who are still sane and able to discuss politics with our angry brethren have most of the income and wealth in the US. It's time we use that flexibility to save the Republic:
1.) Vote, and help others to vote, next Tuesday.
2.) Contribute as generously as you can to the sanest candidate in your local, state, and US Representative race.
3.) Most of all, speak out when you hear hatred, stupidity, and misinformation. Speak calmly, clearly, respectfully, but with quiet passion:
"No, I'm sorry, but you're mistaken. You say {x}, but the truth is actually [y]. Here are sources for that truth. Please investigate."
It's our Republic, but as Franklin said, "if you can keep it."
7
I apologize for such an "unsubstantive" comment, but a day or so ago it hit me that the word "hate" seems to be replacing "hatred" ini our national vocabulary. Of course, both nouns have a long history in our language, and I think you could argue that the single syllable word may pack slightly more punch than the other. Just an observation, though I admit I'd be loath to lose the two-syllable version. To me it seems valuable all on its own.
1
Who am I to Change the World?
Throughout history, individuals have changed
The course of human events for better or worse.
My actions may not ever affect the whole world,
But I can attempt to change an important part
Of my world. For instance, if I don’t vote,
I’ve accomplished nothing. I will think less of myself
For not participating and taking responsibility
As an American, for which others have sacrificed
Their lives protecting my freedoms.
Not voting, is not an expression of dissatisfaction.
It is not an opinion. It is a paralysis of citizenship.
8
No one is alive today who can personally recall the US Civil War.
So when we say we've never seen anything like this before we are speaking from personal experience.
Looking at a map of the "Free states" versus the "Slave states" seems to nearly (not exactly) match the division in our country today in an aggregate way, other than the fact there are some conservative or progressives smattering into the state majorities.
The hatred never ended, we just call it something different, more politically correct, now.
9
I am afraid the whole world is going backwards and ultimately will lead to a third world war (starting in Europe) due the extremists winning elections or becoming authoritarian leaders there. All leaders who speak falsehoods and insinuate blame on the other political parties and incite individuals who are ready to strike out and commit acts of domestic terrorism in their own countries to their own people due to political views or associations not inline with their own beliefs.
This division of our nation started back in 1994 when Newt Gingrich and Republicans took and maintained the majority in the US Senate and Congress and has only gotten much much worse once Barack Obama became President. A now, due to a almost 300 year old constitution the majority of votes by "we the people of the United States" does not determine the outcome of a Presidential election, which has happened twice in the last sixteen years. Prior to these two elections (2000, 2016) the popular vote matched the Electoral College vote except for one to two other times which occurred in the 1800's.
5
Thank you Professor Krugman for this column. What you said is necessary but not sufficient. You need to name names. The cowards practicing both siderism are there to be named and shamed. Let me start with Matthew Dowd of ABC and Chuck Todd of NBC/MSNBC. They both are stalwart practitioners of this insidious act and their panels are filled with like-minded cowards. When Ornstein and Mann pointed out the aymmetric insanity of the Republican Party, suddenly they became persona non grata on the talk shows. @Somewhere's comment on the culpability of the press is spot on. Thank you for your tireless efforts to put the record right.
11
Refugees seeking asylum is a legal point of entry into the United States. Period. Legal. So is immigration.
There is nothing illegal or immoral: people present themselves at the border and then follow the legal process. Some are denied entry. Some are not. They are all screened.
Why then is this law and order administration poised to break the US law, use the army and defeat this ginned up non crisis of there own making: turning it into an invasion?
Fear and hate. It’s not personal-it’s us vs them - a look over there shell game of distraction: every con or pick pocket uses a similar schitck. That it’s working is shocking. That so many have piled on the ruse is mortifying. That people are now dying because of these lies apauling!
14
Mr. Krugman, please call out the actual people who are playing the bothsidesism game. I call out NPR, whose news reports drive me batty these days with their soft-pedaling the issues and presenting radical racist and white nationalist views as though they are legitimate, rational ideas.
9
Wilfully obtuse -What this means is that no amount of facts or reasons, no matter how clearly, calmly and patiently you lay them out, is going to change the minds of the wilfully obtuse. They are too brainwashed. They are too far gone.
10
Hate resides on one side. Distortions and selfrightousness? Let's guard against them sloshing over into both parties.
3
Hate wins elections. It has become an essential tool for autocrats and leaders with fascist tendencies, from India, Turkey, Italy, and eastern Europe, to North and South America. The pendulum will swing back at some point, but meanwhile we're stuck with hate on the ballot for a while.
5
Since I don’t do social media, I’m left with watching CNN, MSNBC, network nightly news ( now one minute of news for five minutes of drug commercials). In a valiant effort to get out the broader message of what this administration is about, it seems most of the time is filled with presidential tweets, appearances, snippets, examples. Over and over. Then we get the retro Crossfire-esque back and forth with a moderate Republican (bothsideism) plea for understanding, with a sprinkling of tsk-tsking that maybe Trump, Repubs have gone a tad overboard, but are well-meaning.
I love Morning Joe, and Chris Mathews’ (sp.) hour (we call it the daily rant). But at the same time it’s a.....bit of lazy journalism. Get out of those studios, and stop giving Trump, his tweets, comments prime time.
Show us facts. Take your crew and sit in front of that Georgia candidate’s office and ask to see the thousands of suspect voter registrations. And stay there. Take your crew to North Dakota and sit in front of that sheriff’s office- the one too busy to hand out addresses for tribal voters- and follow him. All week. Ask the governor why they demand addresses without first assigning addresses- 20 years after even bright red state Idaho did that.
And maybe, just maybe, have a few Democrats on your show. I had a rare Nader sighting a week or so ago- but he took wing so quickly I thought it was just wishful thinking.
Get off your duffs and give us facts, show us facts. Over and over- forget tweets.
16
It is dishonest to write this column with no mention of the shooting of Republican congressmen by a Bernie Sanders supporter. True, Sanders hasn’t called for body-slamming journalists or beating up protesters, and hasn’t mused about “2nd Amendment people” stopping Hillary if she’s elected. Still, the shooting is clearly relevant, and to not mention it is wrong.
13
But that's the problem. Bernie Sanders has never called for violence, nor engaged in the sort of demonization that Republicans have peddled for 30 years. 71% of political violence is perpetrated by Right Wing extremists; 3% by the Left. That single event does not magically justify the both sides narrative; the proportionality is just not there
20
@Ilya Shlyakhter
Not really. The piece is about the rhetoric and lies of the Republican party and what it leads to. Neither Sanders nor any leader in the Democratic party fed the flames of violence like Trump et al. So that shooting, while horrific, is not relevant.
9
@Ilya Shlyakhter
Sorry, but no. Sanders didn't encourage violence; he hasn't hyped fake threats from migrants and Jewish financiers. And he didn't blame the media for the shooting. So it just doesn't belong in the same space.
96
Paul - I've been following your writing for decades. I respect you immensely.
"The fact is that one side of the political spectrum is peddling hatred, while the other isn’t. And refusing to point that out for fear of sounding partisan is, in effect, lending aid and comfort to the people poisoning our politics. "
I wish that you would explicitly call out the NYT. The Times is the the most significant media outlet promoting bothsiderism and whataboutism in the country. The Times needs you more than you need it.
2
I would add that the Trump opponents who have harassed politicians in restaurants are not Democratic politicians. They are private citizens for whom the Democratic Party is not responsible, whereas the Republicans who are spewing hatred and bigotry against blacks, Jews, and Hispanics are the President and Republican members of Congress.
7
Thanks, again, for Dr. krugman’s Crucial Clarity. We, the People, are under a sentence of the Presence of a “President” who, by Office, is allowed the freedom, apparently, of his Ubiquitous Mouth. Apparently, there is no leash on the “President’s” tongue.
1
Thank you Dr. Krugman for laying this out so unequivocally. I have two friends, one of whom is calling for ‘civility’ and rising above what he dismisses as partisanship. The other is still angry Bernie Sanders was robbed of the nomination and believes Hillary was irredeemably corrupt; he could never vote for her.
So here we are.
You’ve written about zombie ideas, bad ideas that simply won’t die. We have something comparable here: people acting with good intent in a way that enables the worst results. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
1
Trump was elected because he tapped the racist vein in America to win the election, and he has no desire to bind the wounds.
5
I found Pence to be particularly disturbing, since he's supposedly extremely religious. An axiom among religious conservatives is that exposure both to pornography and exposure to violence on TV or in video games cause social harm and can lead to violence. But suddenly extremely hateful speech, falsely referring to people who disagree with him as enemies & as out to destroy the country, referring to immigrants as pests to be exterminated, saying neo-nazis are fine people, somehow it doesn't matter in this case??
9
I feel a lot better now that I know that the Israeli government did not consider the people in Pittsburgh as real Jews and that their synagogue was not really a synagogue because they were not Orthodox. The hate of orthodox Jews for all the other Jews is unbelievable.
2
I'm exhausted by this government. It doesn't work for me. It works for white racists and robber barons. I'm tired of being told to vote when Republicans have a stranglehold on the vote in rural areas, among less educated white men, educated white men, and those despising taxes--and dominate all houses of government as a result. We need to split into 2 countries, one for racist whites and another for the rest of us.
2
The GOP’s appeal to race baiting has a long history. It is amazing people seem to forget Lee Atwater and Willy Horton.
Not to condone any of these crimes which are reprehensible but one should make an effort to understand the socio/economic circumstances in which such hate occurred. People gloss off and forget that the Weimar hyperinflation and depression was the prelude to the massive Nazi repression started by Hitler.
The economic changes of the last 40 years are killing the middle class and creating a plutocratic elite. Its in such environments, in Spain, Italy, Japan, and Germany which fascism, rabid nativism, arise. Psychologically the anger is often that deflected away from the elites in power by authoritarian personalities. If you want this hate based slaughter, now of Jews, but mostly of blacks to continue and worsen accelerate the demise of the middle class with lack of adequate social welfare. My ownly surprise was that Trump was not hyper militaristic when he came to power. Evidently that status quo is too favorable to Trump's style of theft. In my opinion based on studying fascism elsewhere things are bound to get worse here socially unless social inequality is somehow addressed. It is notable that income inequality is not addressed when talking about hate. I hope in the future, the Times starts to point out the connections, which may be indirect and somewhat subtile.
2
Dr Krugman
I was asking all my friends to vote, since Trump & GOP power is on ballot next week, but you said it even better and I have changed my message:
Hate is no ballot next week, powered by GOP & Trump, please vote (& vote blue) to get our country back.
2
Please, please, in our grief about the mass shootings in Pittsburgh, do not ignore the hate crimes in Jeffersontown, KY! There has been very little coverage of the lives of these 2 persons of color who were gunned down while innocently shopping at the local grocery. I am Jewish, and I am inconsolable about this crime and its magnitude, concurrent with the mass murder in PA, and bombs sent in the mail, all perpetrated by supremacists. To kill a person is to destroy a universe, in Jewish philosophy.
1
Fox “News” is the single largest purveyor of right wing fanaticism and conspiracy theories. Why doesn’t anyone call out Rupert Murdoch by name? Every time someone refers to Fox “News” it should be prefaced by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox “News”. This guy alone is responsible for so much of hatred. Talk about fake news! Rupert Murdoch’s Fox “News” has nothing to do with news and does not deserve 1st Amendment protection in my opinion. The mainstream media needs to call out Rupert Murdoch and Fox “News” for what they are, antagonists for the worst elements of our society.
5
And I also like how Republicans label the struggle for equal rights by minorities of every stripe as "identity politics", as if the marginalized groups in America are responsible for its current divisions. Yep, African Americans who protest the extrajudicial killings of African American are caterwauling "snowflakes" tearing at the body politic as are Jews who condemn anti-Semitism.
The only ones engaging in identity politics in this country are white supremacists who believe they are being "attacked" when somebody different from them dares object to being treated as an inferior by them. And, when their demeaning, indecent, divisive, harmful rhetoric is pointed out to them by the hated other, they accuse those they abuse of trying to stifle free speech and of being "politically correct".
So, bothsidesism, identity politics and political correctness are the three stabbing prongs of the gaslighting trident used by the right to rile up its base and to silence dissent. Next week, all decent people must vote against false equivalency, for equality and for the restoration of civility in politics.
8
Bertrand Russell famously said, "The trouble with life is the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent full of doubts."
What you are asking is for intelligent people, who are trained to examine both sides, to finally take a stand, something which many over schooled folks do not have the spine for.
Churchill, reacting to Neville Chamberlain's "peace in our time" said, "You were given two options: War or dishonour. You chose dishonour and you will have war."
That is essentially the choice for anti Trumps now.
3
Racism and hatred are good distractions for ignorant and poor whites, by an inept president that does nothing to improve their lot. His mission is "Make the rich richer, liberate them from ugly taxes, let the masses pay for the government."
That is why Trump love the ignorant.
1
In medio stat virtus, think and repeat those who are too coward to take a stand.
You got this one right!
Hate has long been on the ballot.
It was on the ballot when Willie Horton was front and center in the GHW Bush presidential race, courtesy of the late Lee Atwater.
It was on the ballot when the likes of David Duke ran as a Republican candidate in Louisiana for the U.S. Senate.
It was on the ballot when Trump-supporter Sheriff Joe Arpaio ran for office.
It was on the ballot in Illinois in the form of Neo-nazi Arthur Jones' run for Congress, in Alabama where Roy Moore ran for the Senate, and when Donald Trump accused Barack Obama of being born in Kenya.
The list is too long to complete here, but all have one thing in common: they are running as Republicans. Republicans, in turn, are running for cover, not necessarily because they disagree with the extremists, but because they want to hide their tolerance of of them.
3
@Quoth The Raven But Sister Souljah and all those *Super Predators™* were a real threat not just a Clintonian political fabrication? And save the bothsiderism accusation, the Clintons nor the Democrats are nowhere near the left, they are merely the Blue Team of capital's managerial employees.
My dear Americans, „D“ is for forward, „R“ for reverse. It’s now or never.
4
"the claim that Jewish financiers are bringing brown people into America to displace whites."
This is America 2018. Fear Trumps decency
Somehow it fell right into the lap of the GOP. It's the ultimate combination shot. "They" supporting "Those" to bring down US. feeding red meat to angry discontented racists, who need something and someone to blame for their underachievement. It's the perfect plan and with hate radio ( formerly known as talk radio) spewing it 24 hours a day-( if it's on the radio it must be true) the republicans are riding a crest of xenophobic propaganda to victory.
All this talk about Soros and not a word about the Koch brothers.
1
Agreed. As soon as the Democrats stop using identity politics, racism and misandry to attack decent, caring, Americans because of the race and gender, things will improve.
2
@American - Nonsense! Just look at the fear and loathing being driven by the completely fabricated "caravan" meme. Identity politics? Racism? Now Trump is sending 5200 US Army troops to the border, while the "caravan" is at least 1,000 miles away, and walking maybe 20 miles a day? Get a clue.
2
Or, to say this in a single sentence, “Only one side of the American political debate has a best-selling book which posits that adherents of the other side, simply by the fact of being in the opposition, are committing ‘Treason’.”
Kinda sums it up, eh?
As far as I can tell, the Democrats are not saying much about the spectacular crash of the stock market. Since Trump used the rise ad nauseam as evidence of his masterful command of the economy, I would have expected deafening noise from the Democrats, and their supporters in the press.
1
Unfortunately, there is a total disconnect in this country. My observation is that those who support Trump and today's GOP couldn't care in the least that they lie, cheat, and steal, to get power. They don't care about truth, integrity, or even thoughtful debate and policies that would be to their advantage (health care, education, living wages, etc.). Even though Dr. Krugman and others have written excellent, logically-sound articles about the effect of Trump in office and the current GOP support of him, their base won't read them. Many of them have never even read a newspaper, especially the NYT. They choose not to inform themselves of thoughtful articles written by very intelligent people. All they want is the tacit permission to blame somebody for their diminished influence and power. And they absolutely love that those of us who value logic, truth, and the integrity in our leaders are really, really angry because we can't logically and thoughtfully do anything about it with all our "elite" education.
1
From my very small corner of the world fractured by hatred, I share this story: recently, a woman posted on NextDoor that she had broken her hip and was in need of some equipment to help her take a shower safely. I didn’t have the equipment, but have been in a similar spot, and watched the site to see what happened. Days later, the relieved and grateful woman posted that needed equipment, plus extra helpful stuff, plus meals, had all been donated —by strangers. I don’t know the race, religion or citizenship status of any of them. But I do know kindness when I see it. Let your kindness show, people. It counts.
12
@Joyce Adams Our world is not fractured by hatred, and I recently saw the same kindness expressed in equipment (wheelchairs - foldable/manual plus electric, and other equipment for a man who had a stroke).
Down on the ground where most of us live, kindness and caring are expressed every day.
Kindness and caring don't make the news, don't increase TV ratings, and don't make editors happy.
2
I have encountered increasingly comments these days by people who react to all this violent behavior by saying "There's violence on both sides."
My response is always to ask them to please list these individual instances, on BOTH sides. The discussion usually stops there.
5
Well, Paul, I agree with you in general, but here is a "bothsideism" that I do believe:
I believe that both R's and D's are responsible for the fact that we have 11 million+ immigrants in our country ILLEGALLY. Neither party has been willing to work with the other to develop a fair and comprehensive immigration policy. We really do need to do this, and just maybe we needed a "wrecking ball" like Trump to bring us to our senses and finally do something about it.
I am all for LEGAL immigration, and bringing in immigrants that can contribute to our society. I am all for keeping ILLEGAL immigrants out. What is so hard about that concept? It is not too different from most other developed countries. Maybe we should look to Canada as a model for a sane immigration policy.
While we're at it, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to take a look at Canada's health care system as well. They spend about half as much money per capita on health care as we do---- and I have yet to meet a Canadian (including 2 doctors) who would trade their health care system for ours.
Our government really did need to be shocked out of it's complacency------ perhaps in the long run, we needed someone like Trump to cause us to bring sane people back into government.
5
Ah Professor Krugman, once again you have spoken the truth. Hate is truly on the ballot when Trump is involved. Hate of Trump. Mind you he might deserve it and certainly seems to relish inspiring that hatred.
By the way, how are your cats doing?
1
@Ishmael Mauthausen Not hate of Trump, hate for what he, does, stands for and inspires.
2
I love to listen to informed news on NPR, but am constantly sicken by the false equivalence they persist in inflicting on their listeners. The need to give point an counterpoint means that even the most outrageous lies go unpunished by journalists who know better.
14
@MrC How odd. I listen to the informed news on NPR because they do an excellent job of informing their listeners by using facts.
2
I slowly start to incline towards the belief that maybe it would be better if Trumpism maintains control of both the Senate and the House after the midterms.
I am fully aware of the very high price of such. The ultra right (the heart of Trumpism) will be emboldened and Increasing waves of hate crimes should be expected. An incredible further damage to the fundamentals of the US will result. A real tight physical or virtual wall around the US. Immigration basically at a complete stop (maybe with exception of Norwegians). What will be left of regulations by 2020 will be negligible. Maybe a third ultra right wing judge on the Supreme. And the list goes on and on.
So why am I thinking this way? A meager win for democrats (a slight majority in the house and a larger majority in the senate for the republicans) will eventually do the same. But my hope would be that the ultra Trumpists (including of course Trump) would be emboldened to a point that their actions will become so disgusting, brazen and blatant, that the Republicans will lose big in 2020. Alternatively, a meager win for Democrats might make a reelection of Trump in 2020 very possible. The total net damage of my option might be significantly less than Trumpism in charge through 2024.
1
@Pedter Goossens There won’t be an election in 2020 if Dems lose both houses of Congress. Trump is already planning lawsuits to undo a democratic win. This is not my fevered imagination. It was reported by Carl Bernstein (of Watergate fame) last week. So if you want to preserve the US democracy vote for every democrat you find on your ballot.
1
Trump is inciting riot; and his hateful rhetoric which is broadcast
over OUR airwaves should be outlawed..
Trump should be dismissed due to his mental condition;
Amendment 25; Section 4
Vote for a Congress who will stand up to this would be dictator.
Vote on November 6th...for those who will change our Congress.
4
No truer words were ever spoken sadly.
3
Back in the 1960s, I used to hear the funny, light-hearted refrain: "Vote for the Democrat of your choice, but vote."
Now it's not so funny nor light-hearted.
3
"The fact is that one side of the political spectrum is peddling hatred, while the other isn’t."
What a horrible, simplistic lie that is only being used for partisan purposes. Fact is, 99.9999% of the folks who identify as GOP are appalled by these events as anyone else. To try to lump them in to identity politics is disingenuous at best, self serving at worst.
Pelosi, Watters, Booker, Hillary have made very aggressive comments towards aggressive confrontations. Antifa can be linked as closely to the Dems as anyone on the right, and their violence has easy to see. Or how about we tie the folks (many who are black) to the murder of police officers (many who are white), to the Democratic rhetoric?
Fact is, in certain instances, BOTH sides of the political spectrum are peddling divisiveness and in same cases outright hate. Fact is, those divides have always existed, the media seems to somehow think they are new. Hate crimes have been around forever and will be around forever. Sad fact of life.
What I find most disgusting is folks like Krugman and others that try to use these for political gain. Shame on him and shame on the Times for publishing such an opinion piece. The media is engaging in exactly what they are railing against.
5
You are exactly what krugman wrote about , equating both sides....as if a handful of democrats speaking about not taking it lying down, talking about standing up to aggressive republican attacks....and YOU equate that to trump’s repeated foul mouth attacks at his RALLIES, his crude constant attacks on Twitter......you are the problem.
@Marvin Nope.
VOTE. Don't let hate outnumber you at the polls.
If there is one glaring weakness about educated people, it is this: We give up too easily, close our nose and run away from stench. Well, sometimes we have to help in the clean up.
So go to the polls next week and let your voice be heard, your vote be counted and your opinion be known.
2
Yes, hate is on the ballot next week. And if hate wins, the nation is lost forever.
4
This is fine Mr. Krugman. But you could go further. Bothsideism is not only evidence of moral cowardice and hypocrisy - it is also an intentional media strategy serving to promote and magnify controversy. The more controversy, the more viewers, the more clicks, likes and so forth. And the more money from sponsors.
2
Addressing alienation, despair, profound loneliness is a basic cornerstone of my politics. Listening to David speaking about these things feels like listening to muzak. He continually justifies in syrupy, whinny sentimental terms the social conditions, the economic oppression, the puritanical sex negative forces, the soul deadening politics that contribute mightily to this condition.
Not once has he taken any responsibility for the politicians he has supported, to the repressive movements he has pushed, the mockery he has directed to people who actually have worked for basic change. Nor for the misery he has helped bring about.
He seems to have changed somewhat. But an underlying arrogance seems to remain in place. He understand for example that racism and sexism are real. But feels threatened if he can't define it in his terms and then orchestrate the response. Well sadly the world he often posits is arid and the pain that it causes beyond real.
1
Amen---Mr. Krugman you put your finger on what has been bothering me with all these Trump voter interviews---with every terrible day in this election cycle--Trump justifiers become more and more absurd. I could stomach better a Trump voter saying something like--"yes, he is a terrible person, but I agree with his policy on...." But, it makes me crazy to hear: "well, the Democrats are just as bad and stop taking Trump so literally---and besides, most of what is being reported is fake anyway."
6
We must reject hatred in our votes. Reading this morning of Trump's plan to end birthright citizenship through an executive order chills me to the bone. While in normal times, no president would believe an executive order can eviscerate a constitutional amendment, we no longer live in normal times. And, we now have a Supreme Court potentially poised to affirm even this gross violation. Imagine our country without the Fourteenth Amendment. How about the 13th? Or the Fifth or the Sixth? Hatred is ruling today. If we don't reject it soundly a week from today, we are headed to a terrible future.
10
Actually, stupidity is on the ballot next week. Consider, for all intents and purposes, America did not change after 9/11. As someone who was here before it, and after it, America really did not change. So how stupid are these people who think they are going to change anything with their acting out. A year after September Eleventh, George Bush was back to coveting oil, a day after Tree of Life Americans were back to watching football. The plea you ought to be making is for people to realize the futility of their actions and stop.
3
Upset and angry about the hatred that Trump and his enablers are whipping up? We need to do more than writing letters to this echo-chamber and yes, even just voting.
Go beyond political hobbyism. Volunteer for a campaign of a D candidate. Suppose that for each comment written to the NY times comment section, that writer also talked to a potential voter on behalf of a D campaign? Collectively, this would actually flip some tight races.
I was with Mr. Krugman until he brought up this 'both sides are to blame' nonsense. I agree with most of his writing but he lost me on this one.
1
I read the government is seeking the death penalty for the Pittsburgh murderer. Ah, the death penalty, the ultimate expression of hate.
Each of us is born innocent. We learn love. We learn to hate. Why is it so easy to learn hate?
We build walls. We live in gated communities. We live in neighborhoods of our own ilk. We live as though we are opposing football teams out to do whatever it takes to win.
trump said we'd get tired of winning... I'd say we are tired of trump and losing our souls because of him and the hate he spews.
1
Be specific. Name names. Otherwise its just more natter.
2
Give 'em hell, Prof. K. For all its good work, the mainstream media enables Trump with its saturation coverage of him which only serves to normalize his outrageous behavior.
Never forget that mainstream news is fundamentally an entertainment medium, owned by the giant entertainment companies such as Comcast and Disney. For all his moral flaws, Trump is bringing in the ratings. Confrontation and conflict are good for ratings and revenue.
Both sides-ism and what about-ism are simply media techniques to ensure a constant atmosphere of conflict and negativity to attract viewers and readers. There is no financial incentive for the media to change its behavior on this matter.
1
As I listen to trump spew the hate, I'm convinced that more people should practice birth control. Just think of the possibilities had trump never been born.
2
The GOP is ascendant. They hold all three branches. And yet, instead of a bold vision for America, legislative and policy iniatives with a clear goal - we have frequent hate crimes, SCOTUS nominee screaming at Senators, a President hosting agitprop 3rd world rallies, deregulation of education, environment, financial regs, a firehose of lies and open gerrymandering. Imagine if Dems had all three branches...we would be talking about healthcare, not self-annihilation. And we are supposed to spend our spare time right now discussing how bad the Dems are? This is the GOP ascendent - a nightmare.
6
The inside-the-Beltway media elite will always practice bothsidesism. They're much more interested in getting invited to the A-list parties and rubbing shoulders with the rich and powerful than they are with reporting the news fairly. As I was reading your article, I couldn't help but flash back to David Gregory dancing along with a rapping Karl Rove at a 2007 correspondents party. Yuck!
1
The photograph that comes at the top of this opinion piece speaks almost as eloquently as Dr. Krugman. You haven't seen these guys at a Bernie Sanders rally now, have you?
The red Sea of MAGAbomber hats (yes, that's what they really are to be called today) look like so many apples. And there, right in the middle of the barrel, are a couple of bad apples proud to play their role in spoiling the whole bunch.
Thank you, Doug Mills, for your breathtaking contribution to this opinion.
2
Donald Trump would not be President if it weren't for the deep-seated hatred millions of his supporters have for immigrants, blacks, Hispanics, non-Christians, homosexuals, and women who refuse to accept sexism and misogyny. No one should expect him or his fellow Republican enablers to abandon a winning formula. If some innocents die along the road to electoral victory, so be it. That's apparently the price of MAGA.
6
You wrote: “At this point, pretending that both sides are equally to blame, or attributing political violence to spreading hatred without identifying who’s responsible for that spread, is a form of deep cowardice.”
Is that any way to speak about your employer?
@Noman Facts and citations, please.
At some point we're going to have to admit that this polarization isn't going to end. The Republican Party is pulling the nation toward fascism and we are either going to have to fight against the fascists or submit to their rule. We're kidding ourselves if we think that somehow there's a happy middle here. There isn't. The America we once knew is gone. It's not coming back. And what follows is not going to be easy or pleasant.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Way to join the party, Paul.
Trump doesn't need to encourage hate groups - you do it for him.
The tragic hate crime at Squirrel Hill speaks for itself.
Please don't exploit it and the victims by throwing them into your political agenda.
Ah, yes, the Economics of Hate. 'They" are coming for our jobs, our daughters, and OUR birthright that our forebears stole fair and square from people who had been here 15,000 years. They will never replace the RIght Sort of People, 'Christians' who only hate those who deserve our disdain. That way we will all be happy and wealthy ever after, as soon as we take care of 'them'.
Making America Hate Again will solve exactly none of our problems, but it will bring back many problems we hoped we were past. What about the Bad People on both sides? What about the Good People on both sides? What about Both Sides? There are not two and only two sides.
That is what Democracy looks like. Many sides brought together. Not by land, or family, or tribe, or wealth, but by a common set of ideals that make many into one:
E Pluribus Unum.
4
And these waves of hate, paranoia, and conspiratorial fervour are occurring while our economy is humming along at full employment. That's frightening.
It's frightening because when the economy turns sour those waves of hate, paranoia, and conspiracy fervour will be aimed even more insanely and deadly at their usual suspects - the Jews, blacks, other minorities, and the democrats. That's terrifying.
This has to be stopped now while it should be easy to do (easy to be civil when times are good), if we wait for economic bad times there will be no way out of the hell the Trump party has created.
6
Agree, but "Hatred" is how Republicans have won elections for decades, certainly from Reagan to Trump. Reminded of Prof. Krugman's comment months ago, "It is only going to get worse" or words to that effect. Sure enough, it has gotten worse with Trumpism!
5
What is truly appalling about the situation described in this column is not just that Trump and the Republicans are peddling hate, but that so many Americans - tens of millions, apparently - are so ready to buy what Trump, the GOP, and Fox are selling.
Further, the right-wing's perception of itself as somehow the victim in all this is truly bizarre. That the right-wing chooses George Soros as its boogeyman is even more so. Soros's philanthropy is there for all to see, and I've found nothing alarming in the causes to which he's given, especially when compared to, say, the Koch Brothers, whose money goes to fund think-tanks that promote the continued burning of fossil fuels. The Kochs are directly funding the end of the Earth as we know it, while Soros is funding nothing nearly as sinister.
God save us from the power of stupid people in large groups.
17
Trump claims the right to do or say anything no matter how hateful or harmful to our country and that includes attacking the media endlessly. But it is the media, not only FOX but all of its outlets, that give him free coverage and the more hateful the better. To Trump it really doesn't matter whether the media condemns him. For him it is the coverage itself. Is there a gag or box big enough to muffle this man's hateful message and in the end how can we live in a 'free' society if we try to restrict his speech. We need a citizenship that can evaluate these things with a clear eye, but that seems to be beyond at least 40 percent of our population.
1
Well said. Whataboutism and bothsideism are rationalizations for people who should know better, not just for congressional Republicans who not only drank, but are manufacturing, the Trump kool-aid.
4
Thank you, Paul, for calling out the weak kneed cowards who pretend both sides are to blame and let trump and his minions get away with lies and incitement to violence. This is the best and most important column I have read all year.
1
The ballot is not about Trump, Kavanaugh or even Congress, it is about those who wish to change this country into a Socialist Republic and those who do not.
3
@Mark
From that point of view the ballot is also about those who wish to change this country into a Fascist Dictatorship. Which is what happens if the President is allowed to change the citizenship provision in the Constitution by Executive Order.
2
Even if every Democrat running in every office on America won next week, I'd wager there would be less than 100 actual socialists in the government. Please turn off Fox and read up on what a Socialist is. Hint: It's not Pelosi, or Schumer, or Feinstein.
1
The Great Experiment was deeply flawed from the beginning. Instead of a genuine republic based on Enlightenment principles America became a slave holding Herrenvolk Democracy run by self-reproducing elites and wreaking havoc in many parts of the world. Sufficient numbers of (mostly white) people did well enough in that system to keep it flourishing, while decades of struggles for civil and labor and women's rights brought more people into the realm of full citizenship and at least modest prosperity. But that liberal hiccup has ended as a thoroughly corrupt GOP abandons any pretense of adhering to civil and democratic principles, driven on by a narcissistic sociopath in the White predicted by HL Mencken 100 years ago and by the rage of ethno-nationalist hatred, fear and ignorance of huge swaths of a white population no longer pacified by the breadcrumbs the Republican establishment has thrown them since the 1970s. Like in 1861, this crisis will not be resolved but by a form of civil war - and it has already begun.
6
Republicans have given up on the idea that the president can and should show moral leadership in addition to possessing the vision and leadership skills to advance his agenda. For Republicans, as long as the agenda moves forward, ethics and integrity are unnecessary. They are thrilled that Trump has blown up the idea that the president should exhibit consistent moral and ethical standards. But, I and most of the people I know, still expect the president to have consistency of character, in addition to the political skills the position demands. So, when Trump apologists claim not to care about his racism and sexism, his insults and slurs, as long as the economy is fine, I can't agree. I don't think it's asking too much for the President of the United States to set an example of both integrity and political acumen. And, because some past presidents haven't shown moral leadership is no reason to excuse Trump. Our expectation should always be to be better and to do better.
5
Yes, hate is on the ballot next week.
But hate is also against the ballot next week.
Hate is behind voter suppression and gerrymandering.
1
Why do all hypothetical Trumpian shootings have to happen on 5th avenue? Can't we spread the love around? Surely Park, Amsterdam, Broadway--even 14th, perhaps--also deserve to have someone fictitiously shot by the president there, no?
And he'd probably get away with those, too.
2
Isn't it the case that the Trump Administration is de-emphasizing the dangers posed by domestic white nationalists and other right-wing terrorists? Isn't it the case that they want us to fear poor migrants a couple thousand miles away more than the whack-jobs inspired by Trump's reckless rhetoric? The govt report on these domestic rightists was squelched by the GOP several years ago because they viewed it as offense to their base. So, we can't blame Trump alone. His party was waiting for him all along.
11
We need someone with an Avenati-like fearless presence to take charge---and there seems to be hope that there will be.
@SLBvt Replacing one authoritarian personality for another is no answer to creeping fascism. We don't need another pugilistic person - despite my secret pleasure at seeing Trump bested - we need a healer.
2
Unfortunately Trump's hate campaign is willingly spread for nefarious reasons by a whole group of greedy and evil minded media hacks, pundits, and even the broader media under the guise of "telling both sides." How much of this ick can the public gobble up without throwing up? Trump supporters are like a lynch mob, completely dedicated to hanging all opposition.
2
Excellent column, objective analysis, thank you. Trump and his supporters have been promoting appalling falsities and character assassination for years. Let's just remember a few: Trump spreading the falsity that Obama was not born in the USA, thus trying to deny his very existence; Trump equating all immigrants from Mexico with rapists and murderers, thus stoking indiscriminate hatred against all of them; Trump stating at his rallies that he would pay the legal fees of anyone who would punch political opponents in the face; Trump suggesting that his political opponent should be locked up and smiling satisfied when his cult followers chant "Lock her up"; Trump labelling the media outlets that do not support his views as "enemy of the people", thus stoking hatred at journalists who criticise Trump; Trump stating that the white supremacists marching in Charlottesville to the tune of anti-semitic chants and responsible for the killing of a peaceful conter-protesting woman harbor "fine people" just like the people who oppose racism. I could go on and on with the documented, hundreds of instances where Trump has stoked hatred and condoned physical violence or attacks on anyone who opposes him. It's all documented in videos. But his supporters refuse to see the evidence and acknowledge it. Such cowardice must be defeated if we do not want to slide even more into fascism.
Hate is not running this time, it is referendum on common sense. We finished "Who is to blame" chapter, now it is time to turn the page to the "What is to be done" part.
One cannot be “just a little pregnant.” Either you are or you are not. It is a binary condition. The same holds true for any person who supports Donald Trump. Either you countenance his divisive and hateful behavior or you do not. There is no middle ground, no equivocation. Support of his behavior places one squarely in the gutter with him. Sorry if that offends you, but it is true.
Forget policy and politics. This election is about good vs. evil. It is about compassion and decency vs. hate and crudeness. I am an Independent who now firmly believes that the Party of Trump has lost all moral values. For them to retain full control of all the levers of power come Election Day shall be a clear sign that American society is hopelessly rotted from within. I certainly hope that there remains enough decent and thoughtful people in the country who will vote against ALL those candidates who believe Trump is the answer to America’s problems. A Basket of Deplorables, indeed.
4
Mr. Krugman sharply identifies what all persons of good faith should, by now, plainly be aware of: the malignant, radical danger that has infected our body politic. And which has become, essentially, non-political. This is the heart of Trump's trembling core and wholly destructive mission - and which has been partially achieved: freshly murdered bodies have yet to be buried, and more pipe bombs may be on the way from another maniac who's been handed a license to kill. This ain't the time, as Krugman correctly argues, for the seeking of moral or political equivalencies. Intellectual preening will not stem the tide. Having the collective, unflinching courage to accurately identify this cancer and stand up to it, might. We have a chance on November 6.
2
''This needs to stop, and those who keep practicing bothsidesism need to be shamed.'' - I completely agree, but who is giving the platform for such action - the press ?
Every single segment on the news (at least the main stream media) HAS to have two (2) sides of the argument ''debating'' (I would submit it is either yelling or one side blatantly lying and not being challenged) so that the news channel cannot be blamed for bias.
This makes for supposedly good television, but horrible truth or reality. Anyone watching might (usually do) come away with the sense that there are equal points of view, and then might be swayed by the proponent, since they were the loudest or the more charismatic.
Climate change is a prime example, where if there truly was a ''debate'' of equal measure, then there would be 97 scientists on one side and 3 on the other putting forth ''facts''.
We NEVER get to see that, and that is translated to every other position, which will include the debate about ''other'', or immigration , or just laying the ground work to put a target on a particular group to blame. (for something or other)
THIS is why we have the outcomes that we do of extreme violence. If there is no platform, then the chances for go down. If there is no firearms to procure, then the chances for go down. If there is no room in society for people to ''fall through the cracks'', then the chances for go down.
If we actually voted and cared, then the chances for go down.
Honest candidates and voters don’t know how to lie blatantly and consistently. They respect Truth and are reluctant to unhitch themselves from it.
Trump and his acolytes will lie and then immediately deny that they are lying. That’s hard to cope with.
1
What we have seen in America over the past two weeks, not to mention the months and years before, is truly ugly. It is also reminiscent of the rise of fascism in early 20th century Europe.
We had better take note of this unless we intend to take the same road that resulted in more than 60 million European deaths by the end of World War II. This is not hyperbole. Virtually nobody in Europe at the time of fascism's rise predicted the horror that it would spawn.
With hindsight, we should know what happened when fascism was inadequately confronted. As the victims of the Holocaust die out, the institutional memory that constrains the worst angels of our nature disappear.
I fear that this is what's happening in America right now. There is no excuse for it. We need to read and heed.
6
Hate-- but also ignorance is on the ballot, anti-intellectualism is on the ballot. There are people who would seek to control a woman's behavior who do not have even the knowledge that a tenth grade biology class might impart-- what were they teaching these people in high school? I have had arguments with anti-abortion types who tell me in all seriousness that pregnant women can't get cancer, or heart disease-- because magic, I guess. They think they can deny things as they really are, simply by passing laws, and then making people live in the real world with rules they have made up for their imaginary one. It defies common sense. It defies reality. These people are not living in the real world but they feel entitled to impose their fake one on us all. They need to go.
4
It's good to see, in all the remarks posted here, that we are awake and profoundly moved by the violence and it's obvious promotion by various actors in this drama. Hopefully those espousing this garbage will pay a price ... peacefully. There's no solace for those of us who have seen this building since Nixon and Reagan times and have been ridiculed for pointing it out.
If those who profit from the promotion of hate and deceit aren't compelled to act responsibly, how can we expect to evolve 'back' into a more responsible, democratic society. Keep in mind that we, through the FTC, license networks! Maybe we should expect a bit more?
2
It has become popular to say that "Trump isn't the problem." Of course he is. I'll gladly stipulate to the fact that racism and anti-semitism run deep in our nation, but no President has ever welcomed and fomented that hate like Donald Trump has. And the truly sad part is, he does it for laughs. For applause. For his own adulation. We can't put the genie back in the bottle for another two years, but as you suggest, we have a chance to begin that process next week.
1
Once again, couldn’t agree more. So sick of the mainstream media trying to be “fair and balanced” to appease the dwindling number of conservative viewers who don’t live in the Fox News bubble. One side is peddling hate and violence, the other isn’t. Report the facts and let the criticism fall where it may.
1
Khashoggi, mail bombs, 11 murdered in Synagogue and the “true enemy of the people” reported it all yet we are sending 5000 troops to confront the “Soros” invaders walking with their children a mere 1000 miles away.
“Both sides”? What is the other side. Is there really another side? There may be “tribalism” among Nationalists and the rest of us are like spectators in a Horror movie. All those “conservatives” who spin rationales for what has become “conservative” tribalism should consider the consequences because they are escalating and have become deadly. Bret Stephens and David Brooks may be able to spin GOP loyalty to Trump but at some point the visceral anguish should overwhelm their sophistry. It is too late for the refugee children ripped from their mother’s arms, for the protester in Charlottesville, and for the 11 worshipers in Pittsburgh. It is too dangerous.
Paul, Trump should know that he's not welcome in Pittsburgh today.
Why ?
First he "would be a distraction from funerals taking place Tuesday."
Next, why would Trump go to to the same city where a gunman totally inspired by his "divisive rhetoric", as you wrote, opened fire on very peaceful people who were just praying?
Trump is playing politics in sending our troops to the border to stop children and women coming from countries of central America which were devastated by Trump inspired dictators who opened fire on those women and children because they objected to the killings of their husbands and parents.
And just because this hard core White Nationalist supporter killed 11 Jews saying Trump is not doing enough to stop migrants coming to America, he acquiesced to the demands of his gunman and sent the army to stop migrants who're 1,000+ miles away.
We can all bet that Trump did it to get votes from his White Nationalist supporters for the midterms which is only 7 days away.
Once the elections end on Nov. 6th, Trump will quietly order our combat troops to go to their barracks after putting up the same huge banner on our southern border just like George W. did after a few days into Iraq war, "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED."
We all know what happened in Iraq after a Republican president claimed victory within a few days of sending our troops to Iraq.
If we allow this president to claim victory after the slaughter of 11 Jews, maybe we should change the name of America to Iraq too.
From the Southern Poverty Law Center a 2018 study:
“A new terrorism database analysis shows almost two-thirds of the terror attacks in the United States last year were carried out by right-wing extremists.”
Violence by leftists is about 3%. Keep that figure in mind the next time Trump and his lapdogs are spewing what about isms. And no, shouting at someone eating dinner in a restaurant does not equal getting shot or blown up.
It’s time the media corrects inaccuracies and blatant lies when they are interviewing people. Also they shouldn’t let someone make blanket generalities about another group or person and ask instead for a specific example. A Republican friend once told me she hated Obama because he made so many executive orders. I asked her to give me an example of one of his executive orders that she objected to. She couldn’t name a single example and neither could her Republican husband to whom she turned for help. They were just parroting nonsense that they had heard on their favorite “news” source Fox TV.
3
Thank you Prof. Krugman. If I had been editing this piece I would have moved this brilliant observation higher. I believe it sums up the whole problem with so-called "objective" journalism: "Trump famously boasted that his supporters would stick with him even if he shot someone on Fifth Avenue; what he didn’t point out was that pundits would piously attribute the shooting to “incivility,” and that Sunday talk shows would feature Fifth-Avenue-shooting advocates and give them a respectful hearing."
2
Paul, guess who helped put it there. Hate, I mean. Look inward, sir.
We all put it there, thanks to the muckraking media that sells their collective souls for more readership and viewership.
Happy? I didn't think so.
3
@Lake Woebegoner
Give an example of what you are talking about.
Reporting hateful acts of politicians who work for the American public is not hate.
7
Paul Krugman is incredibly insightful and intelligent, and I always look for his column. This week's is perhaps the most important I've ever read by him. He is exactly right about the mistaken notion among conservatives that the moral aberration of Trumpian conservatism is somehow always matched by an equal corruption on the left. Trump has run on that idea. From the beginning, he has cast aspersions against our government, and now toward democrats, that we are somehow evil, lost, greedy and inhuman. He has somehow thrust his own inner ugliness outward and claimed that it resides in us. Carl Jung once wrote that even a mad person's outlook has it's own strange inner logic. Now, what we have all feared since Trump came on the scene is unfolding. I try to reassure myself that this is the same country that elected President Obama, twice.
2
From the moment the president announced his candidature, I felt overwhelmed. Through the campaign the rhetoric of his comments were evident who he is. People ignored this. The disruption and pathetic attacks to Sanders from the Democratic party have responsibility on all this. Hilary it is very responsible because she and the DNC pretending to be civil did not mounted a stronger campaign. We are back in an extremely divided country, and still they can not remedy the problem of every election, convince democrats to have the right material to go and vote;aka IDs, register etc. The media/news/press have a big responsibility to make things worse, the simple fact of publishing every single whisper of the president makes him stronger than his own narcissism. The only thing he wants is adulation, he gets it from the coverage in the news everyday. I believe there are many good decent american in both parties, and neither of those sides it is thinking anymore what is the best for the country therefore themselves. Everybody it is in a defensive and attack mood. No stopping to think and see that who is winning it is putrid corrupt politicians.
57
@Change Face to blame clinton is absurd. She won the popular vote and didn't have the russians helping her win...whereas trump lost the popular vote and did.
27
@Change Face Hillary did nothing to poor old Bernie. It was he and his supporters who constantly attacked her. They sounded just like Trumpers.
18
@Change Face
The media isn't liberal or conservative. MSNBC, CNN, and their brethren are owned by profit making corporations. They do not broadcast things because alerting the public is in the national interest. They broadcast things that improve ratings and allow them to charge their advertisers more.
That is why all of the major networks, both cable and broadcast, spend their time analyzing every word that Trump says. They repeat his most controversial comments on air and then let their regular talking heads spend hours of air time explaining why obviously racist or false statements are racist or false. When these stations cover the elections, they cover them as if they were sporting events. Whose ahead and who is behind or by how much looks like baseball or football coverage.
The coverage is dictated by ratings and personality analysis and sports coverage always win over careful analysis of issues. So, for example, you know that Republicans are for deregulating, but how often to the networks or cable actually discuss what regulations are being cut and what impact those regulations on people? All regulations are good; all regulations are bad. Who cares what the regulations actually are, it's a matter of tribal loyalty. Actually discussing such issues is boring and doesn't contribute the the bottom line, so forget it.
7
Dr. Krugman; here is something off topic for you to expound on in the future. I thought of it this morning;
The Republican Tax Cuts law lowered the national Corporate rate to 21 percent, down from 35 percent.
A new 15 percent foreign profits tax was established.
Most foreign factories are American corporate owned so that 15 percent tax is on American corporations and takes away profits from investors.
The new Trump Tariffs are consumer taxes.
That consumer tax money goes to the treasury to offset the wealthy's responsibility to pay taxes.
But then it seems as though the new total corporate tax rate combining the national and foreign taxes amounts to 36 percent considering the fact that the national corporations hold those foreign profits.
So lets just say the tax rate on corporate business actually remained about the same as before after adding national and foreign tax rates.
Then along comes the tariffs or what are really consumer taxes expanding overall taxation. That is first paid by producers and then consumers who pay the built in tax prices.
So, actually, taxes went up.
6
I think you are being over general in your assumptions. Directly corporate tax rates were lowered across the board and taxes rates disproportionately lowered for higher income individuals. The tarriffs are like virtually everything Trump does--without foresight or planning but knee jerk actions to make a show of power without regard for consequences, with lots of collateral damage to both U. S. residents and businesses as well as other unintended targets around the world, fried and for alike.
To dignify Trumps trade war spasms as anything resembling a coherent "tax plan" is to give him far too much credit. Rather he simply follows bad policy when there is any policy and otherwise sews chaos in which increased costs are randomly spread.
Sadly many angry and bigoted chumps, essentially would be social bomb throwers, mistake this for effective leadership.
In the end Trump is just an amoral loudmouth bigoted bully with a mob of followers.
Historically this does not turn out well for any but a few war profiteers.
The immoral appeal to hatred and fear is not the only problem facing American democracy. There is an institutional problem that dates back to the the country's founding in the 18th Century.
Ask yourself, in what other democracy could the candidate with 3 million more votes than her opponent, lose the election? In what other democracy, could the political party with with 60% of the votes for its legislative body get 40% of the seats? In what other democracy can wealthy individuals, corporations and special interest groups contribute unlimited amounts of money to a candidate? In what other country does the campaign for the highest office in the land begin two years before the election? In what other country can 15 second, one sided, half true, slick and expensive television commercials flood the media for months before the election?
To get better candidates, fairer elections, and an informed electorate that will produce results that truly reflect the will of the people, we desperately need electoral reform now, before its too late.
24
Trump’s yammering his nationalism and word salads at rallies and pointing to the press box for followers to scorn while he had an actual domestic terrorist in the very room with him feeding off his hate should be a warning. Having no morality is a type of blindness too.
Cornyn has just become a tiresome enabler, twisting words. He should be ashamed. That is not good enough. We need a couple of brave people in Congress to stand up for the country.
10
The nightmare is that Trump is given shelter and food.
Those whose jobs are to keep order and peace, give him comfort and praise.
Who swore on the Constitution, and have brought us the brutal rallies of today.
Play with the dynamics of fair elections.
Tinker until the wealthy own our lives.
Powerful people:
-citizens who thought it would be fun to gamble,
-who wanted their vote to show blind rage,
-who giggled as they voted.
-who didn't vote.
Those who profit from Trump, anyone who enjoys this danger, who feeds on it, gives air, housing, or agency to these ideas and this man, they are as powerful, and are worse than he.
Both siders? You who have the power to stop this but don't?
Rationalizers?
We have a government of checks and balances.
It includes everyone.
Everyone who has abdicated responsibility, they are worse than he.
Our laws protect journalists and publishers and newscasters, and these powerful people, enriched by this time, look what they have and have not done.
Those who have enjoyed the phrase "fake news" and twisted it for him, are worse than Donald Trump
On all of cable news, within all the media, many abdications, many abettors.
Those who hand gifts of podiums or months of air to degenerates to blurt propaganda and lies because its good for ratings.
Those who are parasites, dining on the debris of his carnage.
They are the nightmare.
We won't succumb to Donald Trump, but to them.
2
Did our country help the people of Central America address sustainability as our neighboring countries? Family planning? Gosh no. We backed up any tin pot nasty dictator that came along. The little wealth that these countries generate falls into a few dirty hands at the top. Instead, our people here indulge in illegal drugs that fuel a murderous criminality in Central America as drug traffickers muscle their way into positions of power. The U.S. and its addicts are to blame for much of chaos that now tears at the heart of Central America.
8
Finally, finally, finally! we are starting to see more columnists like Mr. Krugman calling out the right wing political movement and its media mouthpieces for the purveyors of ignorance, lies, bigotry, and yes, even hate, that they are, and have been for many years now.
The false equivalence, whataboutery, bothsidesism, etc., that is used by the right wing extremist fear- and hate-mongers to keep pushing their message as if it is a legitimate "side," while escaping any political consequence for the terrible damage that they have done to this country and our political system, can no longer be borne.
Yes, hate is on the ballot. Now is the time to unequivocally reject it by voting the Republican Party down on November 6.
11
Hatred is on the ballot. Hatred that is based on ignorance; fear of some other group of getting ahead of youself( if I am a poor white then a black or Asian or Hispanitic should be poorer); immigration issues seeped in racism.
From my perspective in Canada, the USA is becoming a failed state. A country divided by more and more by class,\and where politics determine your religion.
America the only western nation that does not provide universal health care to its citizens. And a country now unable to play fair with its allies around the world.
Clearly a failed state and your election next Tuesday will change nothing. In fact it will exacerbate is state America is in.
6
@John V
Declaring that elections won't change anything can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. In fact, next week's vote is hugely important; it can't solve the problem, but can at least leave the door open for solutions.
46
@Paul Krugman
Thank you. Hope must overcome fear. I just think the rot in Republican politics is deep. It is going to take years to undo what Trump has initiated.
I wish the American people all the best. Nevertheless if the Republicans retain majorities in Congress it will only make things worse in the short term.
Thank you I appreciate your articles very much.
2
@Paul Krugman
Typical, "it's Trump's fault", we will worry about solutions later. Sorry, but no. You will move on the next victimization story and hatefully to try to advance your political agenda - and leave this in the dust.
1
In just the last week I have learned that Trump is preparing to erase transgender people from existence.
This morning I learned that Trump is preparing to erase an important part of the 14th Amendment from existence.
Next week, we will have the opportunity to begin erasing the Trump Administration from existence.
VOTE.
23
@CV Danes
Now he's seeking to issue an executive order to strip children born here of their automatic citizenship, if even one of their parents isn't a legal resident.
This violates both the 14th Amendment and Federal Law.
But he'll do it anyway.
2
"They all do it" is one the two favorite Republican political strategies. The other is "Divide and Conquer." Trump and Company did not invent "They all do it". They have simply made it Great again. "They all do it" absolves those who injure their brothers and sisters of guilt. In essence, "They all do it" is a kindergarten in the back seat screaming "He hit he first!" With "they all do it" you end up with a country very much like a school playground where bullies rule with their fists over those who "look funny".
1
I called my Senator’s office to tell them America expects Congress to be a check on Trump.
Seems to be news to these folks that giving Trump a blank check is not their job. I asked the office kid if he had heard anything about Congress and our guy in particular actually confronting this “enemy of the people” slur or calling political opposition of Americans “evil”.
Nope, hadn’t heard anything he said.
We have to get some people in office who have a conscience and some spine.
13
I believe in balance. The politics of fear and hate may have gotten Trump the white house. But at the same time it has caused a rise of people that are rejecting his hatred, bigotry, corruption, lying and refusal to defend the American people and the constitution.
It may take a while, but in the end Trump and his GOP enablers will lose. Let's start by voting his GOP lackeys of office today.
Vote!
1
Dr. Krugman is surely right--hate is on the ballot. But even bigger than that: Leadership is on the ballot.
It is axiomatic that organizations take on the personality of their leaders. Look at sports teams and corporations. A culture is formed and reinforced through words and action. Players joining successful teams like the Golden State Warriors and Apple see their leaders enforce their culture. Unfortunately, the same has been true for organizations with historically bad leadership, like the Cleveland Browns, the New York Knicks, Uber, Volkswagen and Wells Fargo.
And the same is true for countries.
More than anything else, Trump is a failure of leadership. He values self over the good of the country as a whole. He takes all credit, but accepts no responsibility. He has shown that he cares only about people who support him and makes no attempt to work with those who do not. He pits people against each other, rather than asking them to work collaboratively. Everything is black-white and win-lose. He loves volatility and chaos, because in these conditions he thinks he looks like the Great Fixer.
I heard a commentator say that hate is this country's herpes; it can lay dormant for years but then, under the right conditions, can reopen into a festering sore of bigotry. Trump's utterly failed leadership is responsible for creating the conditions under which this carbuncle of hatred could re-emerge. And it has.
5
''This needs to stop, and those who keep practicing bothsidesism need to be shamed.'' - I completely agree, but who is giving the platform for such action - the press ?
Every single segment on the news (at least the main stream media) HAS to have two (2) sides of the argument ''debating'' (I would submit it is either yelling or one side blatantly lying and not being challenged) so that the news channel cannot be blamed for bias.
This makes for supposedly good television, but horrible truth or reality. Anyone watching might (usually do) come away with the sense that there are equal points of view, and then might be swayed by the proponent, since they were the loudest or the more charismatic.
Climate change is a prime example, where if there truly was a ''debate'' of equal measure, then there would be 97 scientists on one side and 3 on the other putting forth ''facts''.
We NEVER get to see that, and that is translated to every other position, which will include the debate about ''other'', or immigration , or just laying the ground work to put a target on a particular group to blame. (for something or other)
THIS is why we have the outcomes that we do of extreme violence. If there is no platform, then the chances for go down. If there is no firearms to procure, then the chances for go down. If there is no room in society for people to ''fall through the cracks'', then the chances for go down.
If we actually voted and cared, then the chances for go down.
5
Trump and his Republican lackeys spead fear and hatred as a political weapon for their own small minded, self interests.
Shameful, cowardly and disgraceful.
I’m not surprised most people in Pittsburgh don’t want Trump any where near the heart breaking area where the mass shooting occurred. The people of Pittsburgh know the blood of this shooting is on Trump’s hands.
Vote my friends, we and our country are so much better than this dreadful President and his hate fulled behavior.
6
Trump has supported policies and laws that have been extremely detrimental to our society. He has gutted our regulations which protect the environment. His tax law has benefited his family, corporations and the top one percent. His foreign policy is more like a "reality" show than protecting the national interests.
He has brought back hate and fear. He plays with this on his campaign stops. He stokes hatred against his opponents and minorities. Fox "news" also plays to the elderly white nationalists by reporting the "invasion" of our southern border. This is fake news.
5
I agree, hate is on the ballot and yes we have seen these nasty political ads the week leading up to Election Day yet, we have to recognize that this time it is different. We have a President, backed by a propagandist news media stroking the flames of hatred and fear. We have a Republican party sitting in the crowd, watching, some participating and allowing this destruction to play out on their own watch. For what? Power? Individual gain?
I sent flowers yesterday to my local synagogue and wrote in the card "I am glad you are our neighbors and if there is anything we can do in support of your safety in our community, we will be there." I also stopped at the local DNC and signed up to volunteer and drive my neighbors to the polls all day next Tuesday- to take a day off of work, to be in service to others. I believe that we all have to do our part no matter how small, we all have to fight this cancer of fear and hatred in any way we can. I wont be on the sidelines, watching and waiting out this time in our history- it's time to be bold and take action for the health of our communities and our beloved democracy.
6
Acting violently upon hatreds will not stop while Trump is President and while the GOP continues to enable his agenda. I hope reason and love for the country will be stronger than hate on the ballot next week.
The American hate and the insecurities have always been there. If not, we would not need a Bill of Rights or political correctness movements or housing laws.
The issue with our Hater in Chief is that people knew better than to act on their hates but now the President gave them the blessing to act on those feelings. In other countries, they call these acts terrorism.
2
Hatred of others has been turned into an everlasting art form of the right. The GOP politicians stopped preaching love for others for decades. Divide and conquer is their mantra and ethics. They are the ones who started this and they do not deserve to be coddled by anyone especially the liberals who they smear and attack with every breath. We need to educate those who do not vote into voting for a party that is humane and cares. We desperately need a new bonafide third party with no baggage. Fresh ideas will save us, not prehistoric, hurtful ideas. Wake up America, our survival is at stake.
2
Hate is not only on the ballot, it's counterpart, fear, is thick on the ground and as is despair, at least here in Pa, mourning the alt right slaughter in our lovely northern sister city. My local committee person just dropped off my lawn signs, which I host every election. I am a Democrat with long country road frontage on the way to the little local school polling location, in a highly civil suburban town never previously divided by politics. I realized, here in Pennsylvania, this year, I'm hesitating - afraid to put them up - afraid of attack, afraid to draw automatic weapon fire, afraid for my Jewish children? Trump is coming to the state, to further enrage already unaccountably enraged MAGAs. Yes, somewhere not so deep down at all, I realize I am very afraid.
2
''This needs to stop, and those who keep practicing bothsidesism need to be shamed.'' - I completely agree, but who is giving the platform for such action - the press ?
Every single segment on the news (at least the main stream media) HAS to have two (2) sides of the argument ''debating'' (I would submit it is either yelling or one side blatantly lying and not being challenged) so that the news channel cannot be blamed for bias.
This makes for supposedly good television, but horrible truth or reality. Anyone watching might (usually do) come away with the sense that there are equal points of view, and then might be swayed by the proponent, since they were the loudest or the more charismatic.
Climate change is a prime example, where if there truly was a ''debate'' of equal measure, then there would be 97 scientists on one side and 3 on the other putting forth ''facts''.
We NEVER get to see that, and that is translated to every other position, which will include the debate about ''other'', or immigration , or just laying the ground work to put a target on a particular group to blame. (for something or other)
THIS is why we have the outcomes that we do of extreme violence. If there is no platform, then the chances for go down. If there is no firearms to procure, then the chances for go down. If there is no room in society for people to ''fall through the cracks'', then the chances for go down.
If we actually voted and cared, then the chances for go down.
1
I agree.
Now more than ever:
If you're not part of the solution...
3
Paul Krugman is right when he says, "There’s a straight line from Fox News coverage of the caravan to the Tree of Life massacre."
After the mid-term, should the voters put some constraint on Trump and give the Democratic Party control of the House, we should immediately have the Murdoch's under oath before congressional committees. Let's get to the bottom of their fascist plan for America and the world. Let's fully examine some of the obvious lies they have peddled and their motives.
Before he was elected senator, John Cornyn was a Texas District Judge, an Associate Supreme Court Justice and Texas Attorney General. 95% of his decisions, more or less, were evidence-based. The rest of his decisions were decided by politics. He knows the difference between Trump's evil fantasies and evidence-based reality. John Cornyn did not promote as many obvious lies or talk like a snarling dog until a big part of his primary base were thoroughly propagandized by Fox and their ilk. Cornyn wants to be president after Trump is gone, and he is accountable to the billionaires who have Trump's back.
Finally, take heart and Vote! Be brave and stand together and we will beat them.
8
Hate is also fully on display in the press room at the White House, from Sarah Sanders. Her contempt for anyone who (oh, the horror!) criticizes Trump is palpable, and someone needs to round all those reporters up and form a strategy for pushing back, because right now, they are ENABLING her.
5
@Jessica Mendes
I wish the reporters would just laugh at her and walk out.
1
Very good analysis. Fully agree!
1
I had a disturbing conversation with a friend who sidled into "whataboutism" comparing the pipe bombs to the heckling the Trump administration figures get when out in public. I blew a gasket. Mouthpieces for a lying President should get public rebuke, those who criticize the President should never ever get pipe bomb. They are not the same and we need to shout down those that say it is.
2
For the immigrant caravan we send in 5200 troops. Armed to the teeth. Against very poor families likely armed with a backpack and water bottles. Pleading for help And for the purveyors of violence home grown in America, we provide water and fertilizer to the cause. The absolute fear is the "criminals" in the midst of the caravan. But for the angry white men, sitting alone in an apartment or in a white van seething under the radar(and there are plenty more where these two came from), we send in angry hateful rhetoric from our leader.
5
Trump's Assertion of His Will to be seen in the center of any event that captures national attention whether appropriate, welcome or not, is at the center of this spectacle. It is always about Trump. Get ready Pittsburgh, Trump is on his way to photo bomb your mourning. To paraphrase Reagan in Dystopia: It's "mourning" in America, under Trump.
Remember "Little Ryan White?" The little boy who was one of the first confirmed cases to contract HIV via transfusion? Michael Jackson hitched a ride on Donald Trump's jet to visit Ryan and his mother. Jackson was there to announce his collaboration with the 13-year-old White: a foundation for other similarly afflicted children.
Trump photo-bombed that press conference announcing he was writing a check then and there for '$1,000,000' to cover Ryan White's medical bills. That check never seemed arrive.
"I like a lot of things Donald wants to do, but I don't like how he conducts himself. Not respecting women, making fun of the handicapped — that really concerns me," Ginder said during the 2016 race. "How can we expect our kids not to bully when a person who is running for president bullies?"
P.S. many thought the recent claim that The Trump Administration Department of Health and Human Services's reported request that funding for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program be used instead for detainment of immigrant children was a hoax. It is completely true and documented.
It's Donald Trump: Mourning in aMErica.
2
In recent days, I've seen pundits in the Times, the Washington Post, the center/left cable shows all dropping the gloves and calling out Trump and his enablers in Congress, at Fox and on talk radio for the hate and false fear they are spewing.
Still unspoken is the unspeakable truth: the credulity, gullibility and, honestly, the stupidity of the folks in Trump's base. Are any of them still waiting for their 10% income tax reduction that he promised them by the end of this week?
1
Thank you for this truth telling. I have long thought the Times article headlines were misleading and too forgiving of Republicans and Trump. They really only need one heading - The Latest Lies. That says it all.
Krugman is of course correct, and Trump's words are so replete with hatred that they and their speaker seem despicable, repellent, loathsome, and indeed "deplorable." Are not these words filled with feelings and thoughts that should be expressed?
I agree with Naomi about NPR not challenging untruths, but I still watch and support.
This article is right on Point!! Must support the the "false equivalency" argument.
Trump and his minions do promote hate and division and the other side do not!! Very simple!!!
Now go out and vote and get everyone you know who cares about the future to do the same!!
The press is largely to blame. Why? Because the press doesn't push back hard when total lies come out of his mouth and the mouths of his sycophants. When they lie, it's time to yell out "that's a lie", "nonsense", or laugh in their faces. That should have started to two years ago. When the other side is playing for keeps, you better do the same if you want to survive.
610
@Somewhere you don’t think they do that? He did exactly that in this article when he linked to the Nancy Pelosi interview. I have seen numerous lists with links to tweets and rhetoric by trump and others which calls out their lies. I don’t think what you’re saying is accurate unless you’re speaking about some of the rights favorite news outlets like FOX.
23
@Somewhere The press is too general. Trump and Republican lies are called out each day by this paper, the Post, Politico, Huffington Post, The Nation, The Atlantic, Progressive, Axios, MSNBC, CNN, BBC, PBS and others. None of these are read or seen by Trump's base. It's time church leaders called out his lies instead of supporting him due to the abortion issue. Church and state are not separate these days. And religious leaders have a duty to call out lies and un-Christian behavior.
40
@Adrianne. The problem is they don't push quite hard enough and the people who need to see and learn aren't watching cnn or reading the nyt.
33
Liberal Democrats may not urge violence, but they have a lot to answer for, nevertheless. They peddle hate and intolerance in their own way. Their dismissal as "racists" all those who disagree with them, their open contempt for the white working-class, their elitism and moral absolutism, have all contributed to the confrontational temper of our times, and the slide of the country into authoritarianism. And Krugman is their biggest cheerleader.
8
@Ron Cohen,
This is all hyperbole. No one advocating for a more universal health care, or a more complete embrace of equal societal rights for all, is advocating violence. Criticism, even harsh criticism, is not hatred. Anger at years of systematic disenfranchisement, suppression, and cultivating grievances among those parts of the populace who can be manipulated to support authoritarians out of fear is not hatred. Seeing our history for what it is, is not hatred. What people on the left have to "answer for" is how to be effective in showing that they are more natural supporters of the country, both its citizens and its ideals, than the GOP.
9
@Ron Cohen
I too abhor moral absolutism. What this country needs is greater moral deviancy. Who’s to say what’s right and what’s wrong, what true and what’s false, what’s fact and what’s fiction. Everyone should be entitled to their own reality.
4
As long as gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the electoral college remain the status quo, nothing will change. The majority of Americans strongly disagree with Donald and his minions. They are not represented in our current political system.
8
Calculating your political position from the positions of those around you is just another form of moral turpitude; it is the opposite of standing on principle. And it is the underlying problem of American politics over the last 30 years. Democrats decided under the DLC to "move to the center" towards the right under Clinton; the Republicans saw the Democrats headed towards them and ran further to the right like a frightened deer, and the centrists struggled to keep up. It's why no one in America seems to notice that policies Nixon and even Reagan implemented would today be considered so far left as to be indistinguishable from "Socialism".
10
Thank you. As usual, you have summarized the situation perfectly. I have contacted my congressman, Tom Garrett, to ask what he is doing to address Trump's vile rhetoric. No answer yet.
18
Imagine if all of the energy and vast resources being used to stoke fears, peddle hate, and blame others were actually used to really make America great again. There might be efforts to recognize and address the grave issue with young people's self esteem. There might be ways in which to combat the negative side of social media - isolation, cultivation of conspiracies, etc. There might be actual policies built to retrain, re-educate, and re-energize those individuals whose industries, jobs, and livelihoods are being impacted by the forces of change. There might be efforts made to bring understanding of all people and actual faith (not selective 'right wing' versions of it) to help build communities that can thrive.
All of that would be great except for the fact that the GOP, Fox, the president, and his supporters don't actually want solutions. They want to be angry. They want others to take the blame for their own misgivings. They want to stoke fear. They want, above all else, power.
This isn't going to end anytime soon and before it does, there will sadly be a lot more carnage. Hate has an agenda and it never ends well. What they don't realize is that they will suffer too - perhaps now and for sure in eternity. Soul-lessness may devour love, peace, joy, and harmony on earth but it's cost will live forever.
Choose wisely. Choose with a conscience. Choose brotherhood not division. Choose humanity over hate, love over war.
22
While I agree with Krugman's points about hate I am not fully convinced, at least where Donald Trump is concerned. Trump manifests amazing fear, at least by American standards, and his passion for bullying seems grounded in fear of uncertainty, the unknown, and change. His first tendency when confronted by the unknown or something outside his comfort zone is to flee. He ran from service during the Vietnam war, he ran from the Paris climate accords, he ran from NAFTA, etc. So we know from his personal history he is a coward. EXCEPT, and it is an important exception, when money, status, or authority provide him a power differential, then his bullying instinct moves into play. He tugs his forelock and grovels before authoritarian rulers in Russia, North Korea, or Saudi Arabia but lashes out at the poor, displaced, or marginalized. When was the last time he displayed genuine concern for the less fortunate? Of course he makes use of them when it serves his purpose but otherwise embraces public policy that do them damage. The notion tht he can arbitrarily cancel birthright citizenship because doing so serves his interest is just today's example. The argument that he can personally control which groups gain citizenship and therefore control over who will support him is the very apex of monarchical thinking. The real danger here is the longer he imposes his fear and bullying on public discourse and the framing of public policy the more threat he will feel from voices of civility.
6
I listened to the MSNBC/ Governor Kasich interview yesterday. I had some hope that at least he would give an honest appraisal of the current situation. Instead, he launched into whataboutism. You could hear the insincerity. But mostly, you could hear the shame of a beaten man. An appeal to common decency has no place in the GOP. There is not one good man left standing.
In Indiana, the Republican Secretary of Education can't even get a hearing in the Statehouse regarding what she sees as abuses of the voucher system. The GOP holds a supermajority, and the Education committee chairman won't allow it in committee.
We see the same every single day in the Republican Congress. The most obvious abuses of power are the Devon Nunes Intelligence Committee and the Chuck Grassley Judicial Committee. Both are shams. When the evidence and the truth are getting too close to the President or to Justice Kavanaugh- they will just not allow the evidence into the public, or they will suspend the investigation.
WITH GOP GOVERNMENT, we have lost our Constitutional guarantee of redress of grievances. The grivances of 70% of the population will never make it out of committee.
30
Trump and blindly-supporting-Trump supporting media have set the toxic tone in our country. However, and Democrats MUST face this, fear and disdain of illegal immigrants (a term that more accurately conveys public sentiment than"undocumented") is the main fuel of Trump's support. How is it that any American of Mexican descent, let alone many, can support Trump? How is it possible that in Texas, Mexican Americans are not frothing at the mouth for the chance to vote out Ted Cruz? It is because they view themselves as American citizens and want to protect their rights as citizens.
When people feel unsafe they vote for politicians who trade on mirages of "strength" and "law and order" even if they know the image of strength is a lie: "at least he's lying in a direction that makes me feel safe."
Democrats can answer this by embracing diversity and simultaneously acknowledging that the rights of diverse American citizens are greater than those of non-citizens.
Angela Merkel lost the will of the German people by pushing Germany to open its arms too far. She deserves a Nobel Prize for her decency. But now, as a direct consequence of her open arms policy, Germans have moved rightward and she has become unable to lead.
We must not let that happen in America. Democrats must win and the path to victory comes from at least partly allaying the fears that Trump has stoked.
5
Holding power in a democracy require winning elections. I agree with Krugman in many regards. But we need to win elections and stop making cute points. Repeat: win elections. Calling the deplorables "deplorables" may feel good, but may lose you an election, send you into oblivion, and leave you with Trump and company.
Did Lincoln campaign on abolition? No. Did he win? Yes. Did he move the country with him? Yes. Would you say he was ineffective?
So, win. Then we talk about whataboutism and all the "unfair" things going on out there. The game is on, do not get distracted. I know the dems can make good points. But please just win.
8
False equivalence is the shield of a weak mind and argument. It needs to be called out and shut down and identified for what it is forcefully and without hesitation.
I’m tired of talking to my TV as I see Republicans do this on national TV day after day without a bit of pushback from supposedly professional journalists. This has got to stop, if our country is going to have a future.
610
@Chris
I agree. Today on NPR the commentator was interviewing a Texas preacher/football coach. When the topic of kneeling by the players came up, the preacher said " its disrespectful to the people who fight for our country". The commentator just let this pass, while I was fruitlessly yelling " its about police brutality, cops killing people in cold blood without suffering consequences, not the military"! But i have to hand it to republicans...they sure know how to reframe an issue and tap in to our darkest Id.
43
@Chris - A prime example of this is Chuck Todd on MTP (I can't bear to watch him much lately). He let Erickson of Red State go on and on, pedaling lie after lie, without so much as a hiccup.
14
@Chris-zzz
We're talking about politicians here. Rep. Steve King endorsed a white supremacist candidate in Canada. John Cornyn and Charles Grassley, along with Trump, bought into the myth that George Soros is bankrolling the supposedly threatening caravan of refugees.
Show me the Democratic equivalents.
12
Even if they wanted to, the Republicans wouldn't know how to stop peddling fear. They have not done anything else in a very long time. The thought that they may somehow wake up and realize that they are the cause of the insanity that currently grips our country is an impossibility. They are too busy blaming it on others, and the rest of the time, they are actually engaging in the fear mongering, lying about their own policies, and distorting anything that they perceive to be contrary to their own way of "thinking." It has become a habit with them, and it is consuming them. We cannot change them. We cannot converse with them. So, be it. Vote.
8
Isn't hate just another tool in the toolbox of the 1%, and isn't it on the rise everywhere that income inequality makes chumps of the majority, so that the very few oligarchs get to strut about?
Russia, Brazil, the Deep South...
You cannot have great poverty and a few insanely rich people without hate being used as a tool to divide the people.
I remember San Francisco, in the early 1970's, when there were still cheapish places to live, and there were few homeless. Now, the tech oligarchs are gods, and the poor cannot afford a roof.
Hate isn't just a far right thing.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
8
To preserve their cruel ECONOMIC agenda the GOP must use hatred and racism to retain the support of Trump's base who are really getting shafted by Trump's policies.
8
Boy I repeat myself. Normally I'd try to check that in common discourse. Now I want my opinion to be heard and heeded - and feel it bears repeating.
Listen please - forget that I am a nobody in the current scheme of things - that I am just an elderly gent who while very comfortable never came close to being filthy rich or famous or revered by the masses.
Listen to what I know - what any ordinary person with intellectual honesty, a thoughtful mind, and memories or knowledge of the 1900s should know.
We are in dangerous times - our darker natures are being cultivated by "leaders" that selfish prey on fear of others and tribalism; "leaders" that twist normal imperfections in groups and systems into disproportionate fear and loathing; fear and loathing that drive support for their "leadership" as saviors.
Beyond that they lay claim - sometimes rightfully but mostly exaggerated - to shiny objects - victories of sorts - to drive further support in people that morally speaking find them repugnant.
They use lies - well crafted propaganda - they are masters.
We've seen this before - we've fought and died to thwart it before.
We must - we must - fight it again - with our VOTES - we must vote for our better natures - or we will become victim eventually to what is darker.
24
Does Trump know it is against the law to yell fire in a theater? That is essentially what he has been doing at all his rallies.
390
@BSR. If the law is not enforced then what good is it?
High crimes and misdemeanors will continue without checks and balances.
27
@BSR. I wonder if Trump is in violation of US Code 18-373. Soliciting violence. It seems apropos to his intentions.
23
@BSR You should absolutely shout "fire" in a crowded theater -- if it's on fire. What you shouldn't do is falsely shout fire in a crowded theater.
6
No, attempting political assassinations on a mass scale is not the same as yelling at a public elected person in a restaurant. BTW I don't remember Republicans yelling "incivility" when one of them yelled at President Obama "you lie" to his face during a state of the Union address in Congress no less.
The GOP is sinking under the weight of its hypocricy.
10
I understood the pride so- called Independents place in being middle of the road or non partisan. More so these days. Today, being independent-minded would be to recognize that one side is trading on unjust, unethical deeds and immoral principles. There can be no joy in being non-partisan if one aims to live an honorable life.
5
I don't know what Trump really thinks about the hate crimes. But definitely he thinks his rhetoric works to bring out the rages of desperate people. He doesn't think about the consequence of his actions just like he withdrew from TPP, UN's Paris Climate agreement, and Iran Nuclear deal. Mr. Trump further infuriated and insulted our European alliances. I don't know what was his intention doing that. His trade wars with many countries are still ongoing. Countries and people can be fooled by his action once, but future will be different.
4
Compromise and consensus are traditionally what make democracy work but there can come a point at which compromise is no longer possible. Those of us in the LGBT community, for example, cannot compromise regarding our civil rights - won through long struggle and now being eaten away - bit by bit - by the Trump mob. We cannot compromise when Trump wants to erase the transgendered from legal existence. Compromise is not possible with those who think professional services can be denied to LGBT people on the grounds of personal distaste. Nor is compromise possible with those who assault the legality of my marriage to my husband. I am either married or I am not - it is black or white - either, or. I can't compromise by being a little bit married. Further, talking to a died in the wool Trump supporter is just like talking to a religious fanatic. Facts and logic don't matter. The polls indicate the majority in this nation is still tolerant and compassionate. We can't rest or compromise until our government is reflective of the majority - not the hate-filled peddlers of lies and bigotry.
273
@Tobias Grace You are correct, but it is not just your civil rights, it is all of ours. The Fascist take over is everywhere, and don't those gun-toting red hat people know that the freedom they are endangering is their own as well? I cannot compromise with the Corporations which are happy to destroy the earth for their profits.. Those making the decisions to continue polluting the only earth we have, will die with us!
19
@Tobias Grace - as the other commenter noted, it is ALL of our civil rights. But the alt-right will gladly give up their rights in exchange for more hate. And you are correct, Trump supporters are very much like religious fanatics. When Trump made the false messianic claim before the election "Only I can fix it... only I can save you!" -- along with all the other morally repulsive speech and conduct that just oozes endlessly out of the man -- I thought surely evangelical Christians in this country would reject. That has probably been the single most disappointing aspect of "the new reality" I live in since he was elected. That, and knowing about this dark-hearted alt-right underbelly that I have to admit, I was completely ignorant about prior to Trump & Bannon.
Our country is sick right now and in need of healing. No stronger argument could probably be made for universal healthcare than recognizing that our entire country is sick. We (ALL of us) are the real victims as Trump practices his Munchausen by proxy on the citizens of America, feeding us more and more poison every day. I know his "supporters" are lapping it up right now... in a way they remind me of an alcoholics or drug addicts. The thing they keep turning to try to make themselves feel better is the very thing that is killing them.
4
Well put. I am so tired of bothsideism. When Clinton called them deplorable, because of the hate they spewed, she was right. It is deplorable to spew hate. BUT she’ should have said “their rhetoric” is deplorable. Not the people. We’re in a time of false equivalence. Your colleague, Mr. Brooks, is the king of this. I do hate the rhetoric spewing from Trump’s mouth but I don’t want to kill him or harm him, I want him to stop. It’s the same with his supporters: I don’t want them harmed, I wish them to be curious beyond their own lives.
9
I am so gratified to see someone else make note of David Brooks' defense of the horror behind the extreme right which includes Trump. There is no place for equivalence in this situation. Evil is evil and no excuse or smoothing over changes that fact.
People who support violence against various minority groups are also cowards. They have so little self respect and character strength that they are unable to own it when it occurs. Is there not one mainstream Republican out there who may risk losing his/her voters but who will stand up for what is right, humane, and in the best interest of the country?
8
Speaking of false equivalents, there is one that I find particularly annoying. That's the one in which a Bernie Sanders supporter who shot a Republican congressman is equated by the Republicans with a Trump supporter who committed some act of violence or the other. Last time I checked, Bernie unfortunately wasn't the president.
5
Fear it seems is once again a hot political commodity for the Republicans. If you can't solve real and identifiable problems and want to stay in power, you have to create a fear and come up with a solution to solve that problem. Trump is a master at this and his supporters are lapping it up. No need to work on complex issues like national health care, climate change, or even rebuilding infrastructure if you can convince people we are going to be overran by a few thousand asylum seekers escaping tyranny in central and South America. This can be solved by sending the military to protect our border. So simple anyone can understand our country is once again safe. We can only hope this will fail and the mid terms will send a message that the majority of Americans are not buying into this ridiculous scheme.
8
Feels like the religious wars in Europe which inspired the writers of the constitution to make clear the "separation of church and state". Now we have reality vs fake news brought about big time after the elimination of the Fairness Doctrine under Reagan. This is when Fox, hate radio etc. dominated especially rural fly over areas of the country. Media owned by corporate right wing should be broken up allowing independent sources with real journalism.
In my opinion, when there is a population like the very "religious" Evangelicals, etc. which believe that god stuff, anything like facts and reason, much less scientific method, has little chance to prevail.
At the bottom of the whole discord is the well reported dominance of profiteering international corporate control of governments resulting in mass gaps between rich and poor with small middle classes.
4
This column reinforces my thoughts that, although I still consider myself an Independent voter, I could not currently cast my vote for anyone willing to attach an R to their name.
The Republican poison needs to be electorally rejected. It is the only civilized way forward.
15
The attitude that Republicans have retreated into as their only defense: it's no big deal, whatabout?, well they do the same, only serves to normalize the hate and violence and only serves their run to power.
Their other tools is to call those who firmly push back on their hatred and violence, guess what? Why hatred and violence, of course, in an effort to tamp down the response so they can continue unabated while neutering those who would call them out.
We cannot not stand up to extremism, hate, and violence. Not doing so gives it permission to grow. Just like bullies exploring the boundaries of the permissible. Until they are held in check they will continue until it isn't just the others who are affected but all of us.
1
I also note the lack of women in the picture of the Trump rally. Why? Simple. Their own men are just too frightening and violent to be around. I ask myself, "if I were a Republican woman would I want to be there? Would I feel safe?". The answer is no, I would not. And apparently they don't.
2
My Trump-skeptical, Reagan-loving Republicans cringe when I say this, but the seeds for Trump were planted long, long ago with Reagan and have germinated into the monstrosity we are witnessing today. The whole Party should be held to account for the damage they’ve inflicted upon this nation. Sadly, I’m not so sure that will happen soon, as our election process is heavily weighted to give this minority a disproportionate degree of influence in our affairs. This is an inherently unstable situation and I’m afraid the eventual resolution of that instability is likely to be quite ugly.
587
@John yes, Reagan, the Frontman for Greed, but more so Nixon, the Transparent Meglomaniac.
22
@John
You are so correct. Reagan began our downfall. He brought the religious right front and center. He espoused the theory (so accepted now) that if you agree with them it is because they are right; if you disagree, you do not love your country.
62
@John -- I voted for Reagan the first time he ran and haven't voted Republican since. The lies and greed and selfishness of Republicans were obvious then and have only gotten worse. They are in no way the fiscally responsible party. They are in no way good for this country.
50
Like any demagogue, Trump is using racism and xenophobia as political weapons. By the deployment of troops to the border to halt "an invasion" and his calls for the repeal of the 14th Amendment just before the election, Trump is betting Democrats will fall into his trap and publicly endorse issues unpopular with many Americans.
Trump is a testament to the power of shamelessness.
Our only recourse right now is to turn congress blue .
11
Yes, Trumpism is an abomination. The thing that bothers me is that Trump is not the sole purveyor of identity politics. Democrats are in fact using it to ingratiate themselves to an ever more bitter and divisive base. Democrats have done as much to bring out the violence as Trump or any Republican has. Do they think that demeaning the very working class people that they used to represent as deplorables does not have an impact? Trump feeds the anger but he is not the source of it. The condescension from the left is palpable. Republicans and Democrats are playing to their demographic bases and no one is reaching out to unify. If we as a nation had any real leadership at all, this level of partisanship and divisiveness would not exist. Instead of playing one group against another, a true leader would bring us all together. It’s a shame that neither Trump or the Democrats see any value in this.
1
The two biggest enemies of a fair and democratic society are probably poverty and ignorance (not necessarily in that order. While they often go hand in hand, both are not necessary for the spread of bigotry and hate: the current president has never experienced the former).
The tragic irony in the prevalence of said poverty and ignorance is that those most prone to suffer from the consequences are able to publicly attack those they consider their enemies, using the weapons so easily found on the Internet. At the risk of provoking a great wailing and gnashing of teeth, that is what happened with Ms Clinton: in retrospect, which former candidate now seems most like a crook?
118
@Bill George
You didn't need the internet to tell you running Clinton on the ticket was a bad idea. We could use a Magic 8 Ball and still get the same answer. She would have lost to any typical GOP candidate in a landslide. The amazing thing is Republicans gave her a fighting chance by nominating Trump and she still lost. I don't need to gnash my teeth. All of this was self-evident in 2015.
13
@Andy I disagree. Keep in mind the Clinton won the popular vote by over three million and lost the Electoral College by about eighty thousand. Perhaps a more "mainstream" Republican might have won both, the majority of voters preferred a moderate Democrat. In 2020 the Democrats will need to put a tough candidate on the ballot to who is able to take on Trump. No Republican is able to stand up to him. Hopefully there'll be someone out there.
18
@Bill George Perhaps you are familiar with Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." The Ghost of Christmas Present harbors two orphans, Ignorance and Want (Poverty), and tells Scrooge to beware of them, but especially Ignorance.
14
Krugman offers nothing new. Anyone who disagrees with him is a "coward." Well, I disagree with him. Both the extreme right and extreme left in this country tend toward violence. I'm so tired of hearing them blame each other.
The hard right is about 11% of voters; the hard left/progressives are about 8%. Yet, together, they dominate our political system and both demand that the rest of us take sides. Well, I refuse to. We need some centrist leaders in this country, people who can speak to the broad majority who are reasonable, tolerant, and moderate, and who yearn for like-minded politicians.
5
Hate has been on the ballot since the escalator ride. Hate was on the GOP primary ballots. Hate was on the Presidential ballot. It is just more obvious in 2018 after 2 years of hate-based policy and rhetoric. Hate works for the GOP. As long as hate returns the GOP to power, they will leverage it. I say these things as a conservative. Time to send a message. Time to force political consequences for support of or failure to act against hate. Time to vote.
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@Moderate Well said!
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@Moderate
Hate has been on the ballot since 1968 and Nixon's "Southern" (Racist) Strategy. And before that too, (Barry Goldwater opposed the Equal Rights Act) but was widely rejected.
"Treason doth never prosper-what's the reason?....."
7
This is it folks. Bombs are flying, and bodies are dropping. Trump has transformed the Republican party into a fascist organization. Trump is their Fuhrer. That term is not to be taken as a smear, but as an accurate descriptor. Just now, Fuhrer Trump has stated that he wants to end birthright citizenship. That is a direct violation of the US Constitution. Birthright citizenship is a cornerstone of liberty. It was passed to give the slaves full citizenship status.
His horrible position is proof positive that Fuhrer Trump is only concerned with His laws, not our nation's laws. That's what fascists dictators do. They undermine the legal processes that protect us, then they impose their will, all supported by a complacent legislative body. Fuhrer Trump has already stacked the courts with judges that support enormous, almost unchecked presidential power. Then he has done the worst.
Fuhrer Trump has destroyed the truth. He has so confused the public, that vast numbers of people don't know what to believe, so they believe him.
Fuhrer Trump has two Joseph Goebbels, Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Huckabee Sanders. They can even explain away murder. Fuhrer Trump even has state TV, Fox News to spread his lying propaganda.
All of these steps took place in 1930's Germany. The Nazis efforts were more intense and destructive, but Fuhrer Trump is modeling his strategy after them. It is a known fact that Fuhrer Trump has extensively studied the rise of the Third Reich.
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Let’s be blunt. Mainstream media - read CNN and its CEO - have played a sickeningly cynical game going back to the 2016 election cycle. Let’s take a red hot social issue and let’s bring on someone or even a panel with people from the far right extreme edge of the Republican party who have a big mouth and are willing to shout and argue and defend anything. It gins up ratings from liberals and gets both sides incensed with one another. And divides us. Trump has watched it and gets the playbook. He loves it and then turns it around on CNN. Those at CNN and other cable outlets who are now (rightly) concerned about the violence in this country continue to play the game for ratings and bonuses. They are, if nothing else, complicit in this sad period of history.
3
Hate speech. Hate crimes. Advocating violence against the Other. Systematically dismantling the rule of law. Loyalty oaths. Calling the media the enemy of the people. Consolidating power in one party. Nationalism. This is Germany before the WWII. We are being formed into an authoritarian country at best, at worst a totalitarian state. Every politician that has supported Trump MUST be voted out of office. He is a very real danger to America and the world.
20
I keep thinking of the vast power behind oil & gas interests (and coal which produces most of our electricity,) which equates to employing first-class political operatives to protect them from the will of the people. We care about clean air and water for the next generation. They care about super-secret global deals that undermine the environment (us and our children,) but benefit their almighty bottom line.
And that's just environmental predators; there's big tech with their dreams of worldwide coverage with huge profits made by their unfettered ability to cajole. Ownership of media has the same clout.
Then you have the subservient judiciary who, having worked and planned for a business friendly system (people not so much,) have now come into their own.
These are just some of the daunting opponents of the peoples' interests that we of the left are up against.
It's been said many times lately, but it's true: we have a chance to stick our finger in the dike--come out and vote for the democrat (right, left or center.) It will be a start.
7
It isn't often that someone puts their intellectual bankruptcy on a billboard for all to examine.
Yet here it is.
"Whataboutism" isn;t about justifying an act by pointing at someone else's act.
It is about pointing out the hypocrisy of someone who judges behavior with a double standard.
As does Krugman, who rabidly attacks Republican policies but uses hypocritical arguments to defend equivalent democrat policies - particularly when it comes to corporatism.
When you hear cries of conservative "whataboutism" from the prohgressive left, it's because they've been caught in a lie and they are trying to change the subject.
6
"False equivalence, portraying the parties as symmetric even when they clearly aren’t, has long been the norm among self-proclaimed centrists and some influential media figures. It’s a stance that has hugely benefited the GOP, as it has increasingly become the party of right-wing extremists."
Thank you for saying what the moderators at one influential media outlet don't want to hear from me. I have tried to post a dozen or so like-minded comments, right here, in response to the horrific events of the past week, trying to pointing out the fallacy of this purported 'fair and balanced' approach. I tried harsh words, I tried conciliatory words, I tried aggressive language, I tried roll over and shown my belly pacifist language. No dice; someone here likes to stifle those who expose what they don't want revealed. Funny how ‘fair and balanced’ apparently means eliminating commentary from those trying to point out that the emperor has no clothes; why, there are both sides to that claim, as many people are saying his clothes are very fine.
I will miss reading commentary such as yours, immune to the censorship whims of those who publish your column. Yet I cannot and will not continue to put money in the pockets of those who stubbornly refuse to even acknowledge those who might try to point it out (isn't that is a form of cyber-bullying? - interesting coming from those who supposedly hate bullies). One cannot fight intolerance by passive-aggressively refusing to allow dissent. Peace.
4
Not only hate, but morality and ethics are on the ballot.
Nate Collins, indicted and arrested for insider trading is leading in New York’s 27th Congressional District. How sad is it that voters don't mind voting in (a probable) criminal in congress to represent their district?
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@Chuck They mind if it is Hillary's e-mails, or if Al Gore said something about the Internet. The voters don't seem to care about facts.
1
@Chuck,
The incumbent congressman, Chris Collins, has been indicted for insider trading. His cell phone call from the White House grounds to sell stock (soon to tank) was on all the "real news" networks.
His opponent is Nate McMurray.
Vote.
The Supreme Court's Conservative majority has protected the hate-filled messages paid for by billionaires and millionaires exercising first amendment rights. Rights granted to large corporations deemed as persons. And we have a president who has no other tool in his arsenal but hate speech, insults, lies, fear-mongering, and stirring up a fascination for violence like a wrestling promoter. It's time hate speech is recognized for what it is: deadly and disruptive.
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@Al Singer At least in the district I live in the vast majority of Republican funding comes from local individuals. The Democratic opponent is getting the vast majority of their funding from out of state. People have no vested interest in my community are trying to buy an election.
4
@John I have a vested interest in your representative. That person votes on many things that affect everyone in this country, not just those in your district.
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@Al Singer I have often wondered what if campaign financing was left to only from people who lived in a Congressional district or for the Senate to residents of the state. It seems to me that would likely result in having candidates that had to have more personal interaction with constituents and much less TV ads. Of course this will never happen but it would be interesting to contemplate.
13
False equivalence, portraying the parties as symmetric even when they clearly aren’t, has long been the norm among self-proclaimed centrists and ....."
...also among many on the far left & others during campaign 2016 who were determined to ignore the vast gulf of difference between trump and Hillary Clinton. They too helped elect this crazy to an office he is ill qualified for.
12
@Mary Ann Donahue That’s what happens when you put up an unworthy nominee to face an unworthy nominee. All distinctions are lost. Democrats were right to nominate Obama over Clinton. They got it wrong the second time around.
1
@John ~
Did you even read what Dr. Krugman wrote about whataboutists and bothsiders?
There was absolutely no unworthiness comparison between the selfish, me first trump and the hardworking & accomplished Sec. of State and Senator from New York during campaign 2016.
One thing Hillary did, helping to get medical treatment for 9/11 first responders, totally overshadows anything trump has ever done or will ever do for another human being!
Read Krugman's op-ed.
1
Every news story is printed with a point of view. But we are at a point where we look at the mast head and decide the whole paper is true or false. Somehow we need to find an outlet for a commonality of facts nationwide. We may be past that point.
I spoke to several men in Maine recently after hearing them talk about the Kavanaugh hearings. As they criticized me for not "knowing" whether Dr. Ford was speaking truth or not, they also told me Soros was paying the protesters (absolutely sure that their news source, Fox, was the gospel truth).
10
If you give people a task, they will do the task within the confines of the responses they have learned. You’re challenging people to be democratic, to work together to create decisions that work for all in the midst of power hungry politicians who have sold their souls to the highest bidder. If we want our democracy to work we must create the learning people need to make it work in the context before them and help them understand and apply the will they need to take and use the learning. Dr. Krugman, you are a teacher and a leader please ponder this dilemma and show us your plan.
6
I mostly stopped listening to NPR because most of the hosts do not challenge lies and whataboutism from guests and callers.
49
Maybe what needs to be sent to all the Trumpsters on Social Security Benefits are huge Postcards with McConnell and Trump's pictures on it and them declaring that all Social Security benefits, Medicare and Medicaid will be done away with under the Republicans.
No other words.
Maybe their self-interest will motivate them to either vote for the "other" or stay home and not vote. Sometimes self-interest will out weigh hate.
29
@Jean McConnell's statement that maybe after the midterms they will go after the ACA again, and work on the deficit problem by cutting entitlements: SS, Medicare and Medicaid. (Note: two of these are not entitlements but paid-into programs for the duration of our working lives.)
Can't help but think McConnell knows something we don't; he's too sly a politician to tip his hand accidentally.
14
@Jean What self interest lies with a system that single handily eliminates the greatest source for wealth building for lower to lower middle income Americans? Hey are better off investing that money but most don’t understand that.
@Jean but there is zero truth to this. I have heard it claimed by your side for decades, but it never happens. Trump emphatically says it won't, his base is full of Seniors.....
But you just keep saying it...
Since the 2016 election violence on the right has been increasing … even though the Trumpists control the entire government. Why? Because the Trump supporters know that they are in the minority and that the majority is now fully motivated to do something wholly radical - vote! And this must, to them, be stopped at all cost.
19
If hate wins next Tuesday, we'll all lose a lot more than just the election.
And if you think about how far we've morally devolved in just the past two years, the damage a hate victory will ensure and inflict will be exponentially greater. Add gerrymandering and voter suppression tactics to that evil mix and you'll only have one political party left, which equals no democracy. As Lord Acton said more than a century ago, 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely.'
If this is fear mongering, Senator Cornyn, "So be it."
Vote.
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We must vote republicans out of office. They have refused to speak out against trump’s divisive speeches and policies. They are content to enable a man who is not a legitimate president. You cannot lose by almost 3 million votes and declare victory. The will of the people has been ignored. Vote to remedy this situation. We must return civility, intelligence and science back to our presidency. trump is ill-equipped to be our leader. His only interests are applause and money.
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@MLE53 Civility cannot come from identity politics. If Democrats are genuine about wanting to create a better nation then they need to abandon postmodernism and embrace unification.
4
@John, I've heard that same thing over and over. How is that done, when far right republicans continue to associate with hatred and hate groups, and the majority of the remaining right (sadly including religious groups) either voice support or simply say NOTHING?
10
@John
Eschew obsfucation.
1
Paul points at exactly the problem with how habits of journalism are blind to false equivalence. I am seeing this warning voiced here and there, but it doesn't seem to be making a difference in the practice of journalism. Perhaps it is up to us as readers to start regularly and systematically calling out false equivalence when we see or hear it from our sources of news. This instinct to pit sides against each other is only for entertainment, not the pursuit of clarity. As my 16 year old son says, "It's all just wrestling."
15
Thank you for speaking the truth and calling out the GOP and its supporters. We need more prominent individuals to speak the truth and stop invoking false equivalency. I came of age in the 60s, a tumultuous time of division but one that never approached our current situation. The President’s rhetoric does fan the flames of intolerance and violence. We need to come together. Whatever happened to the Age of Aquarius. If anything remained to our present time, it has been stomped to death by Mr Trump and his bullying, lies, and demonizing speeches. We need to come together. Vote next Tuesday!
16
Hate, or at least contempt, is indeed on the ballot next week. Bothersome though it will be in my advanced years, such emotion will drive me to the polls to vote AGAINST all candidates for the party that refuses to take greenhouse gas accumulation seriously.
23
"At this point, pretending that both sides are equally to blame,
or attributing political violence to spreading hatred without
identifying who’s responsible for that spread, is a form of
deep cowardice."
and we might even have reached a point where,
if you intend to show courage, you might have to tell yourself:
"i'm ready to die for the good [social, democratic] cause."
let's just boldly hope we can improve things while we're alive.
[although hate has been on the ballot since time immemorial.]
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