"A Reaction, Not a Thought"

Sydney M. Williams

"A Reaction, not a Thought"

September 12, 2011

Arthur Laffer, in this morning’s Wall Street Journal, quoted the late Irving Kristol: “It takes a PhD in economics not to be able to understand the obvious.” It is a line that I have long felt was particularly applicable to Paul Krugman, Nobel winner for economics and columnist for the New York Times. But I always read Krugman with a smile, sensing his “bad boy” antics were deliberately contrived and part of his act.

However, his recent blog, “The Conscience of a Liberal”, suggests a man who so filled with venom for those he dislikes that he is incapable of thinking clearly. In this piece he refers to “fake heroes,” like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani and George Bush. He suggests that the “atrocity of 9/11” has been hi-jacked by those that have used the attack for their own purposes. As a result, he writes, “The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it.” He could not be more wrong.

While my first reaction was anger, on reflection it was sorrow I felt for the man. Anyone who is this angry in print must be even angrier in spirit. Skepticism is healthy in the way we view others, especially our political leaders. We endow them with too much power to blithely and blindly obey them. But there are lines of civility that should not be crossed. Mr. Krugman went over that threshold yesterday, but in doing so he makes himself seem the less significant for having done so.

Mr. Krugman concludes that he will not allow comments on this post, “for obvious reasons.” In not permitting and then reading comments, it allows him to wallow in his vitriol, alone and forlorn, and deservedly so.