Friday, November 08, 2002
PAUL KRUGMAN: AN AMERICAN HERO
Even though Krugman writes for The New York Times, he hasn't presstituted himself to the GOP like 99.9% of his colleagues in the mainstream media. Perhaps that's because his op-ed gig is part-time and he has a secure day job as a Princeton U. economist, so he doesn't have to worry about getting stigmatized as a "liberal" and killing his career.
In today's column, Krugman's more optimistic about the foreseeable future than I am, and has some advice for the hapless Dems:
Democrats should complain as loudly about the real conservative bias of the media as the Republicans complain about its entirely mythical liberal bias; that will help them get their substantive message across. But first they have to have a message.
--snip--
To have a chance of breaking through the wall of media blur and distraction, the Democrats have to get the public's attention — which means they have to stand for something.
It's obvious what the Democrats should stand for: Above all, they should be the defenders of ordinary Americans against the power of our burgeoning plutocracy.
Yes, that's what the Dems should stand for, and I would add that the Dems should make it clear that there is absolutely no contradiction in being pro-capitalism and anti-plutocracy. After all, the great savior of American capitalism in the 20th Century was none other than that anti-plutocrat plutocrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Even though Krugman writes for The New York Times, he hasn't presstituted himself to the GOP like 99.9% of his colleagues in the mainstream media. Perhaps that's because his op-ed gig is part-time and he has a secure day job as a Princeton U. economist, so he doesn't have to worry about getting stigmatized as a "liberal" and killing his career.
In today's column, Krugman's more optimistic about the foreseeable future than I am, and has some advice for the hapless Dems:
Democrats should complain as loudly about the real conservative bias of the media as the Republicans complain about its entirely mythical liberal bias; that will help them get their substantive message across. But first they have to have a message.
--snip--
To have a chance of breaking through the wall of media blur and distraction, the Democrats have to get the public's attention — which means they have to stand for something.
It's obvious what the Democrats should stand for: Above all, they should be the defenders of ordinary Americans against the power of our burgeoning plutocracy.
Yes, that's what the Dems should stand for, and I would add that the Dems should make it clear that there is absolutely no contradiction in being pro-capitalism and anti-plutocracy. After all, the great savior of American capitalism in the 20th Century was none other than that anti-plutocrat plutocrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
