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Paul Krugman: Tea Parties Reflect U.S. History of 'Paranoid' Politics
In Monday's New York Times, Paul Krugman argues that Tea Party protests in Washington represent the mainstream of the Republican Party and are part of a long history of paranoid politics in the United States.
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Krugman says that conservatives have believed since the Reagan presidency that right-wing ideas would make a comeback, and are now reacting to the realization that their hopes were in vain. And their anger, he writes, could have serious effects on national policy.The state of mind visible at recent right-wing demonstrations is nothing new. Back in 1964 the historian Richard Hofstadter published an essay titled, "The Paranoid Style in American Politics," which reads as if it were based on today's headlines: Americans on the far right, he wrote, feel that "America has been largely taken away from them and their kind, though they are determined to try to repossess it and to prevent the final destructive act of subversion." Sound familiar?
That, Krugman writes, would be "very bad for America."If Tea Party Republicans do win big next year, what has already happened in California could happen at the national level. In California, the GOP has essentially shrunk down to a rump party with no interest in actually governing -- but that rump remains big enough to prevent anyone else from dealing with the state's fiscal crisis. If this happens to America as a whole, as it all too easily could, the country could become effectively ungovernable in the midst of an ongoing economic disaster.
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David Sessions
David Sessions is a journalist based in New York who covers politics, religion, and the arts. He is the founding editor of patrolmag.com. ...moreRelated Articles
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Comments (115)
daballofire
12:30PM Nov 9th 2009
Paul Krugman reflects and represents the typically insane, left wing whack job.
RATE THIS COMMENT:
(40)
(40) 
Goppy
12:39PM Nov 9th 2009
Thank you ... you ABSOLUTELY validated my comment below.
The Modern Republican will ALWAYS claim that their political opposition is dangerous.
It's a perfect sign of exactly how WEAK is their Ideology.
They simply CANNOT debate political Ideology on the merits ... so ... they attack the person ... ... usually with non-sensical labels.
See?
It's all they have.
What else would you expect from a political party who RIGHT NOW ... is fighting AGAINST CHILDREN getting access to HEALTH CARE INSURANCE ....
.... and ... as if to drive the point to it's ultimate destination ... the are FIGHTING FOR ... The Health Insurance Monopoly ... FIGHTING FOR their right to RESCIND policies of clients who make a claim ... and FIGHTING FOR ... the Insurance company's right to DENY coverage to people ... if they have a pre-existing condition.
NOW do y'all get it?
Modern Republicanism is a FUNDAMENTALLY ... MORALLY VACANT ... IDEOLOGY ... an Ideology that contradicts TRADITIONAL American Values . . . Principles . . . . . . and basic CHRISTIAN IDEALS.
.
.
The Modern Republican will ALWAYS claim that their political opposition is dangerous.
It's a perfect sign of exactly how WEAK is their Ideology.
They simply CANNOT debate political Ideology on the merits ... so ... they attack the person ... ... usually with non-sensical labels.
See?
It's all they have.
What else would you expect from a political party who RIGHT NOW ... is fighting AGAINST CHILDREN getting access to HEALTH CARE INSURANCE ....
.... and ... as if to drive the point to it's ultimate destination ... the are FIGHTING FOR ... The Health Insurance Monopoly ... FIGHTING FOR their right to RESCIND policies of clients who make a claim ... and FIGHTING FOR ... the Insurance company's right to DENY coverage to people ... if they have a pre-existing condition.
NOW do y'all get it?
Modern Republicanism is a FUNDAMENTALLY ... MORALLY VACANT ... IDEOLOGY ... an Ideology that contradicts TRADITIONAL American Values . . . Principles . . . . . . and basic CHRISTIAN IDEALS.
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.
RATE THIS COMMENT:
(-23)
(-23) behumanist
1:18PM Nov 9th 2009
I second Goppy's remarks.
Also, even if the neocons win a few seats back next election, it will only be temporary. America has turned away from republicanism plain and simple. The party would be dead already if not for southern anti-abortionists.
Also, even if the neocons win a few seats back next election, it will only be temporary. America has turned away from republicanism plain and simple. The party would be dead already if not for southern anti-abortionists.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (-24)
(-24) Goppy
3:44PM Nov 9th 2009
You're right behumanist ... it's sad to see how low the Modern Republican Party has fallen.
Now ... only 20% of Americans admit to being a Republican.
See, while die hard Right Wingers jump with Glee at the antics of FOX 'Skews' ... NORMAL Americans look at:
-Glenn Beck calling our president a RACIST.
- Rush Limbaugh hoping our president FAILS ... (and calling our troops phony soliders)
- The FOX organized TEA-PARTY'S ... Americans don't like foreigners like Rupert Murdoch perverting our democracy.
Then ... of course ... there's Ann Coulter ... who only the MOST depraved person can appreciate.
NORMAL ... PATRIOTIC people ... with Hopes for a better tomorrow ... they recoil from these 'nattering nabobs of negativity and rage'.
.. ( partial acknowledgment to William Safire. )
.
.
Now ... only 20% of Americans admit to being a Republican.
See, while die hard Right Wingers jump with Glee at the antics of FOX 'Skews' ... NORMAL Americans look at:
-Glenn Beck calling our president a RACIST.
- Rush Limbaugh hoping our president FAILS ... (and calling our troops phony soliders)
- The FOX organized TEA-PARTY'S ... Americans don't like foreigners like Rupert Murdoch perverting our democracy.
Then ... of course ... there's Ann Coulter ... who only the MOST depraved person can appreciate.
NORMAL ... PATRIOTIC people ... with Hopes for a better tomorrow ... they recoil from these 'nattering nabobs of negativity and rage'.
.. ( partial acknowledgment to William Safire. )
.
.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (-12)
(-12) buster
4:21PM Nov 9th 2009
What is good about teabaggers, our kids can see how the KKK acts, and now what they look like.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (-8)
(-8) Al-Murabit
5:52PM Nov 9th 2009
I'm having a lot of fun watching the repuglican party canibalize itself. You people are pushing out the more sane aspect of your party and by doing that, what do you think will happen in 11/2012? 44 smoking who ever it is that you guys run out there like he did last November. Keep on keeping on conservatives. I hope you'll be watching 44's second term in the Not So White House jump off in January of 2013
RATE THIS COMMENT: (-1)
(-1) jgb662
7:01PM Nov 9th 2009
Well, the Religous Right-Wing Extremists - or the nut fringe invited in by the GOP (i.e., the religious fearful, KKK, Racists, et. al. that now are the faces of the Republican Party) are still a huge minority of Loud sponsored voices by Murdoch and the GOP. I think Mr. Krugman is letting the "staged" events mislead him. America isn't the hate filled crazies that have taken over the Republican Party - and with a group like that - they will eventually eat themselves. And won't the clergy that worked in concert with them have some explaining to do; supporting crazy in a world that continues to get smaller.
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(3)
(3) jgb662
7:13PM Nov 9th 2009
And RNC represents KKKrazy.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (3)
(3) bob
8:30PM Nov 9th 2009
Someone's having a tough time staying in character tonight.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (-4)
(-4) Truth
10:29PM Nov 9th 2009
WOW! We really have the Liberal Intellectual Brain Trust on this thread! Look at em go! Guppy, buster, behumansinthemist, what a team.
It's only fitting that Krugman would find support among his own kind, deranged niwits.
It's only fitting that Krugman would find support among his own kind, deranged niwits.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (-1)
(-1) Kate
8:38AM Nov 10th 2009
I agree. Krugman is a fool. Why is that we can't just disagree? If Republicans don't agree with Democrats we are racists, dumb, and now we are paranoid?
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(0)
(0) Goppy
12:34PM Nov 9th 2009
I believe that ALL Americans should understand that the underlying philosophy of Modern Republicanism ... Neo-Conservatism ... is based upon a SPECIFIC Political Philosophy.
This philosophy was an intellectualized philosophical reaction to the race riots and peace demonstrations in the 60's.
Basically ... the central tenet is ... if left to their own devices ... people will explore individual freedoms. This has the potential for chaos ... and to control the masses ... it's important to create a sense of fear from an outward threat.
So ... ... you had Reagan's famous speech in which he actually called the Soviet Union ... an ... "Evil Empire".
And continuing with the first FULL FLEDGED Neo-Conservative Administration in American history ... the George W. Bush administration ... you had HIS famous speech ... in which he created the ... "Axis of Evil".
It's all pretty standard stuff .. .. very outdated ... because it's essentially a philosophy that was designed as a reaction to a specific point in American history.
But of course ... over time ... Modern Republicans realized that ... employing FEAR ... is an EXCELLENT way to coalesce a base ... raise money ... ... and of course ... to ESCALATE spending on their BIGGEST donors ... the Military Contractors.
Here's a link to a synopsis of Leo Strauss.
http://www.alternet.org/story/15935/
.
.
This philosophy was an intellectualized philosophical reaction to the race riots and peace demonstrations in the 60's.
Basically ... the central tenet is ... if left to their own devices ... people will explore individual freedoms. This has the potential for chaos ... and to control the masses ... it's important to create a sense of fear from an outward threat.
So ... ... you had Reagan's famous speech in which he actually called the Soviet Union ... an ... "Evil Empire".
And continuing with the first FULL FLEDGED Neo-Conservative Administration in American history ... the George W. Bush administration ... you had HIS famous speech ... in which he created the ... "Axis of Evil".
It's all pretty standard stuff .. .. very outdated ... because it's essentially a philosophy that was designed as a reaction to a specific point in American history.
But of course ... over time ... Modern Republicans realized that ... employing FEAR ... is an EXCELLENT way to coalesce a base ... raise money ... ... and of course ... to ESCALATE spending on their BIGGEST donors ... the Military Contractors.
Here's a link to a synopsis of Leo Strauss.
http://www.alternet.org/story/15935/
.
.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (-25)
(-25) Frank
12:58PM Nov 9th 2009
Goppy
The reason the conservatives are speaking out is because our freedoms are in jeapordy. We, as a nation, have come so far detached from the very documents that made this nation great, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. We are a free nation and should not fall to socialism. We need to get back to the basics. We need to get back to the prinicples this nation was founded on. Folks, we need to let Capital Hill know that enough is enough. We the people need to make sure our voices are heard from coast to coast that we are going to take a stand for liberty and freedom. We are on a fast track to socialism and if we are not careful, commuism will follow...
http://teadshirts.com
The reason the conservatives are speaking out is because our freedoms are in jeapordy. We, as a nation, have come so far detached from the very documents that made this nation great, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. We are a free nation and should not fall to socialism. We need to get back to the basics. We need to get back to the prinicples this nation was founded on. Folks, we need to let Capital Hill know that enough is enough. We the people need to make sure our voices are heard from coast to coast that we are going to take a stand for liberty and freedom. We are on a fast track to socialism and if we are not careful, commuism will follow...
http://teadshirts.com
RATE THIS COMMENT: (35)
(35) langs13
1:04PM Nov 9th 2009
Frank: News flash. Your rights have already been taken away.
They were called the Patriot Act and Warrantless Wiretapping.
You missed it. Matter of fact you probably voted for the guy who got both of those passed.
They were called the Patriot Act and Warrantless Wiretapping.
You missed it. Matter of fact you probably voted for the guy who got both of those passed.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (-14)
(-14) garry402
1:15PM Nov 9th 2009
David Corn and now Paul Krugman raggin' on the tea baggers. Who's your Goppy now?
RATE THIS COMMENT: (20)
(20) doug
1:28PM Nov 9th 2009
Notice how the radical right is made up of "experts" on the US Constitution? All of a sudden their rights are being taken away, but they never cite a specific example. Ask the teabaggers what they are protesting, and they haven't a clue, but can tell you what they heard on Fox "news" or Rush Limbaugh. If you oppose them, you are un-American, a Muslim, Marxist, socialist or communist. They use the terms interchangably, with out knowing what each means. Paranoid is right. These folks make Chicken Little look positively sane by comparison.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (-11)
(-11) daballofire
4:04PM Nov 9th 2009
Garry,
The president called the teaparty participants 'extreemeists' yesterday. I guess he and Goppy will, if Goppy isn't too busy, have tiohunt them all down and insult them face to face over a couple imported beers of course.
The president called the teaparty participants 'extreemeists' yesterday. I guess he and Goppy will, if Goppy isn't too busy, have tiohunt them all down and insult them face to face over a couple imported beers of course.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (8)
(8) daballofire
12:44PM Nov 9th 2009
Who believes Goopy proves my point?
Vote I do - or shoot yourself in the head.
Vote I do - or shoot yourself in the head.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (14)
(14) bob
10:03PM Nov 9th 2009
daball,
Please go easy on the Gopster. He's feeling a bit cramped and constrained in this clown suit he's chosen for his latest reappearance. And he's about ready for a royal meltdown if someone doesn't compliment him on his big IQ pretty soon.
Please go easy on the Gopster. He's feeling a bit cramped and constrained in this clown suit he's chosen for his latest reappearance. And he's about ready for a royal meltdown if someone doesn't compliment him on his big IQ pretty soon.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (0)
(0) kmpangel
12:44PM Nov 9th 2009
why are the protesters referred to as right wing or republicans? the everyday americans out there are nothing more then citizens concerned with an overgrowing government. extremism is when you think its ok for yur government to be ultra involved with your life. im a grown woman i dont need or want my government "helping" me. t his country was founded on individual freedoms. anything else is Not America
RATE THIS COMMENT: (42)
(42) 
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