A presidential campaign based on cynical lies
US Conservatives Pile on the Excuses
Tuesday, 07 August 2012 13:03 By Paul Krugman, Krugman & Co. | Op-Ed
The commentators Mike Konczal and Jonathan Chait both had good blog posts recently on "You didn't build that," the statement President Obama made during a speech in July that, deliberately misinterpreted, has dominated right-wing discourse these past few days. But I think both of them missed a couple of tricks.
The first is that both in effect shrugged their shoulders over the fact that for several days running the central theme of the Romney campaign has rested on a complete lie.
I understand; going on about the dishonesty can get boring. But we should step back often to look at this remarkable spectacle. I really don't think there's been anything like this in American political history: a presidential campaign with a pretty good chance of winning that is based entirely on cynical lies about what the sitting president has said. No, Mr. Obama hasn't apologized for America; no, he hasn't denigrated achievement. Yet take away those claims, and there's nothing left in Mitt Romney's rhetoric.
The other thing that I think needs clarification is that it's wrong to think of conservatives as having a single argument for their preferred policies. What they offer instead is more like an onion, with layers inside layers; every time you strip away one excuse there's another one inside.
(More here.)
Tuesday, 07 August 2012 13:03 By Paul Krugman, Krugman & Co. | Op-Ed
The commentators Mike Konczal and Jonathan Chait both had good blog posts recently on "You didn't build that," the statement President Obama made during a speech in July that, deliberately misinterpreted, has dominated right-wing discourse these past few days. But I think both of them missed a couple of tricks.
The first is that both in effect shrugged their shoulders over the fact that for several days running the central theme of the Romney campaign has rested on a complete lie.
I understand; going on about the dishonesty can get boring. But we should step back often to look at this remarkable spectacle. I really don't think there's been anything like this in American political history: a presidential campaign with a pretty good chance of winning that is based entirely on cynical lies about what the sitting president has said. No, Mr. Obama hasn't apologized for America; no, he hasn't denigrated achievement. Yet take away those claims, and there's nothing left in Mitt Romney's rhetoric.
The other thing that I think needs clarification is that it's wrong to think of conservatives as having a single argument for their preferred policies. What they offer instead is more like an onion, with layers inside layers; every time you strip away one excuse there's another one inside.
(More here.)
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