Paul Krugman: Time For Passion And Outrage

It doesn’t matter what Obama, or any Democrat does–but especially Obama.  Paul Krugman aptly points out that you can’t appease the crazies.  Krugman warned all along it would be the case that…

…any Democrat who made it to the White House would face “an unending procession of wild charges and fake scandals, dutifully given credence by major media organizations that somehow can’t bring themselves to declare the accusations unequivocally false.”

So, how’s it going?

Sure enough, President Obama is now facing the same kind of opposition that President Bill Clinton had to deal with: an enraged right that denies the legitimacy of his presidency, that eagerly seizes on every wild rumor manufactured by the right-wing media complex.

This opposition cannot be appeased.

Take, for example, the “death panels” that, according to the Bama Bashers, would have a government panel decide when to, in the words of Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, “pull the plug on Grandma.”  The people making this bogus claim have favored the very same policies when they weren’t proposed by Democrats.

It’s a complete fabrication, of course. The provision requiring that Medicare pay for voluntary end-of-life counseling was introduced by Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican — yes, Republican — of Georgia, who says that it’s “nuts” to claim that it has anything to do with euthanasia.

And not long ago, some of the most enthusiastic peddlers of the euthanasia smear, including Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, and Mrs. Palin herself, were all for “advance directives” for medical care in the event that you are incapacitated or comatose. That’s exactly what was being proposed — and has now, in the face of all the hysteria, been dropped from the bill.

Two things are needed here: passion and outrage.

…passion for the goal of ensuring that every American gets the health care he or she needs, outrage at the lies and fear-mongering that are being used to block that goal.

Krugman discussed his column with John Harwood. (h/t Crooks and Liars)

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.