The Kroog Versus The Olympics

Paul Krugman on Wingers laughing at Chicago's Olympic failure:

So what did we learn from this moment? For one thing, we learned that the modern conservative movement, which dominates the modern Republican Party, has the emotional maturity of a bratty 13-year-old.

But more important, the episode illustrated an essential truth about the state of American politics: at this point, the guiding principle of one of our nation’s two great political parties is spite pure and simple. If Republicans think something might be good for the president, they’re against it — whether or not it’s good for America.

To be sure, while celebrating America’s rebuff by the Olympic Committee was puerile, it didn’t do any real harm. But the same principle of spite has determined Republican positions on more serious matters, with potentially serious consequences — in particular, in the debate over health care reform.

Jules Crittenden on The Kroog:

But Krugman isn’t talking about the Democrats under Bush, and how a party that has been so single-mindedly focused on childish destruction of its opposition for years now, a Party of No, can possibly accomplish anything worthwhile now that it controls both the legislative and executive branches. (The good news is that party has lacked much in the way of skill at tactics period, and puerile spitefulness has proven a poor substitute.) Krugman is instead talking about the opposition party that, joined by Democratic moderates, is seeking to put the brakes on a dangerous and highly disruptive agenda item that is being pushed chaotically at the worst possible time. And all Krugman wants to do is engage in a spiteful, puerile attack on the opposition. Nobel thoughts from an economics laureate who would do better to spend his time thinking of ways to improve our economy that don’t involve debt-burdening it into the Stone Age.

And people wonder why the Republicans lost in 2008 and the Democrats have 60 votes in the Senate now.

My work here is done.