Paul Krugman’s column in the NY Times mentions the Downing Street leaks, making some excellent points:
it’s crucial that those responsible for the war be held to account.
and
We need to deprive these people of their ability to mislead and intimidate. And the best way to do that is to make it clear that the people who led us to war on false pretenses have no credibility, and no right to lecture the rest of us about patriotism.
I’d like to see more people making this point as clearly as Krugman does in his column.
What more really needs to be said?
not entirely a rhetorical question …
but in the battle of soundbites, if I had one point to drive home in a debate, it would be the credibility issue.
What little I do watch of the news, I find it hard to see that the news outlets are going to do much more on this. The administration is doing a great job of side-stepping on this and one hears everything about China or energy or something else..You name it it is out there…nothing this week did I hear on this issue at all. It is their way of hiding the reality on things, including the non-reality of the foreign relations hearing as well. The upper ranks, of the military, are saying things are not good in-country, then come home and say it is just fine. What are we to really believe from them..
As far as I am concerned, all the news should be on the war and the follow up also on in Afghanistan as well.
I agree that “news” outlets are not doing much, and won’t until it’s fashionable. What I am looking for in the short term is more of the well-articulated opinions such as expressed by Krugman becoming more difficult to ignore in the mental environment, planting seeds of thought that may still take some time to sprout.
Effective talking points are evolving as more writers devote their attention to the turning tide.
Another recent example of sharper opinions being published is yesterday’s column by Margaret Carlson about the ethics problems beginning to catch up with Republicans in the House and Senate. This appeared in the Bloomberg news service, which may get some attention from readers in the financial industry – people don’t want to go down with a sinking ship.
Krugman, Bob Herbert and Frank Rich are truly wonderful. Did you notice that he actually mentioned the Downing Street Memo and told the media that they should cover this?
I don’t know what is worse, Bush manipulating Americans into launching a war against innocent people resulting in the deaths of over 120,000 people OR the media covering the fact that Bush manipulated Americans into launching a war against innocent people resulting in the deaths of over 120,000 people.
he actually mentioned the Downing Street Memo and told the media that they should cover this
Yes. I admire Krugman’s talent for reasoning based on facts. His column concludes: