Wow. Color me smacked down! Of course, one of his commenters dutifully cites and quotes at length the now-all-over-the-web David Brooks column which attempts to patiently explain to all of us lowly ignoramuses how egregiously "misunderstood" Reagan is, and since Bill has made it now a policy to block anyone who disagrees with him, Brooks' column is viewed over there as the last word on the subject. Period. No further examination of THAT story is needed, thank you. So, as a contrast, I had to bring you, dear readers!, this publius post from this morning that includes links to not only the original Krugman post, Brooks' rebuttal, and subsequent responses to Brooks' rebuttal, but also what I thought was an excellent examination of the question of why righties are scrambling so to defend Reagan on this issue. I highly recommend it!
There is such an ocean of good stuff to read, isn't there? I just got in the mail my copy of Krugman's "The Conscience of A Liberal" and I can't wait to get into it. But I would be remiss if I didn't also point you to two great posts that Atrios linked to: This one about Hillary and feminism, and this one about Obama, which references an essay by Tom Hayden and includes the following:
The Republican Party politicians are extremely adept at exploiting divides in this country. Like the generational divide. Almost anyone born from 1960 on - voters now 18-47 - have few, if any memories of voters age 48-63 who were caught up in the thick of one or more of the Civil Rights, antiwar, Women’s Rights, UFW, reproductive rights, environmentalism movements, or the beginning of the GLBT liberation movement. Us boomers are not trapped in some time warp fighting the same battles, advocating the same tactics, or even suggesting we have all the right answers.
But what we do have are important memories. We’ve been the canaries in the current coal mine whose dust has darkened everyone’s future. Much of what we’ve seen in Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld and Powell and Armitage and Abrams and Perle and Wolfowitz and so many others tied to this White House is not new to us. Most of us spotted these phonies miles away, using old methods and old law violations to pursue policies and rights encroachments that are recycled failures, dusted off in pursuit of the same corrupt ends.
Our capacity to remember is your first line of defense. And in another three decades, yours will be necessary to warn and protect some future generations. We may not always know how to solve every problem. But we can see problems brewing. We can provide some answers. We can point to some things previous generations tried that didn’t work, too.
Ooooo-rah! Take THAT all you whippersnappers!
5 comments:
It is really sad what has become of ATC of late. Bill has turned it into a stagnant little echo chamber where the same little group of dittoheads make snide, juvenile jokes and constantly stroke one another's egos in the absence of any contrary opinions.
It was pathetic the other day when Express-News columnist Jonathan Gurwitz popped in to make some crude homophobic, gay-bashing joke at the expense of some actor who had the audacity to criticize the Bush regime. And Bill, of course, giggling and spuring it on.
The closest thing to a contrary view there now is Dave who takes a "pox on both your houses" stance on most issues. Dave was lamenting the fact that ATC has become "boring since Mike and Ann left because now everyone agrees with one another."
And Otter seemed downright desperate the other day to try and lure "lil Ann" back for another mud fight.
I do miss having a forum where I can engage people on the other side in legitimate debate, but it is clear that ATC was no longer serving that purpose and I have no desire at this point to go back there.
I can't stomach them anymore. I have had trouble making comments. I am not banned, I don't think, but it gives me an error no matter what browser I use, Safari, FireFox, or IE.
Wouldn't surprise me if the pulled a BillO and cut my mic. Can't have anyone challenging the things they think they know with facts and contrary ideas.
Funny thing about Reagan, they all seem to forget or forgive that he pulled ot of Lebanon. Especially after an attack, we could have been seen as "cut and runners" But that is easily forgotten. Kind of like Iran Contra, hmmmmm, who is the new boogeyman in that region. It's almost like they need their FDR posterboy so badly that they will do anything to make it a reality. I recently heard that they (Republicans) want to add Reagan to Mount Rushmore. That is just foolish.
Tough to say, but The Gipper wasn't all there in his last years and many on the inside knew it. But, if one dares broach that subject, then you will get blasted for even mentioning his ahlzheimers. hey maybe they are so sensitive about that because they have a touch of it when remembering Reagan's legacy.
Yes, Mike it is sad, but in a Bill kind of way, which is to say not "sad" as in "evokes despondency or compassion" but "sad" as in "pathetically unworthy" - heh. I saw "li'l" Otter's plea, but I missed the comment from Dave - ha! - and I still think it's "sad" that Bill has yet to explain to his readers why you and I don't comment over there anymore. I also don't miss those conversations - it was fun for awhile, but Bill has gotten increasingly shrill and his boneheadedness is just exasperating (as RickyB found out rather quickly, right Rick?). I still like going over there every once in awhile, just to see what he's writing, if only as a springboard for my own posts.
He will NEVER tell them why, but these kinds of posts here taht may be read are great when he links to your site to show the atrocities you commit against him by throwing his words back in his face, which in turn he can say that you took him "out of context" :-)
The guy has the kind of Alberto Gonzales credibility and couldn't even look a cyclops in the eye.
...to add, he would rather have his band of like-minded curmudgeons believe that we couldn't take the heat so we "cut and ran"
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