Legal Commentary

Welcome To Politics

By Big Tent Democrat

Paul Krugman, perhaps the most vital asset in the Media for progressive policies (even if he does not always advocate for them), writes these strange words:

My sense is that too many people are taking the easy route of going for the cheap slogans instead of thinking things through; and some people are pushing their signature issues even when the evidence clearly shows that they’re wrong. And we can’t afford that kind of self-indulgence.

I'm not familiar with every issue Krugman mentions in that post (though I think he is wrong on the issue of "too big to fail"), but I am familiar with how politics works. I think Krugman is confusing "easy route" with "effective route" when it comes to politics. In a perfect world, politics would be a polite debating society. In the real world, "cheap slogans" are almost always more valuable than "thinking things through." The thinking comes first - decide what policy you want to forward, then the politics (the "cheap slogans") for forwarding those policies comes next. Bashing Wall Street (and Goldman) is clearly the best "cheap slogan" for advancing financial reform. Silly to pretend otherwise. Krugman's title - "Can't Anybody Play This Game" - is ironic to me. He seems the one lacking in the political acumen here.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on April 25, 2010 (boomark / email).