In his column titled
”
The Years of Shame
”
published on this 9/11, Nobel Prize winning economist, New York
Times columnist and avowed liberal Paul Krugman wrote that
Americans are ashamed of their actions following 9/11 and the proof
was that the 10th anniversary
”
commemorations [are] oddly subdued.
”
In his column titled “The Years of Shame” published on this 9/11, Nobel Prize winning economist, New York Times columnist and avowed liberal Paul Krugman wrote that Americans are ashamed of their actions following 9/11 and the proof was that the 10th anniversary “commemorations [are] oddly subdued.” He went on to say that former New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani and former President George W. Bush, among others, were “fake heroes” who “raced to cash in on the horror” of the 9/11 attack. That’s incendiary stuff, but we live in a world of incendiary stuff and that’s hardly the worst of it; besides it’s political speech and Giuliani and Bush are public figures who can handle themselves.
The problem for me came when Krugman slammed the door on any dissenting opinions; “I’m not going to allow comments on this post, for obvious reasons,” he wrote to close his column. What’s obvious to me is that this is a clear case of intellectual cowardice. In other words, if you’re not ashamed of America’s actions after 9/11, he does not want to know about it.
I disagree with Krugman. I do not believe Americans are ashamed and I believe the 9/11 commemorations should be subdued. They should be more of a memorial than a victory parade. Additionally, I don’t know anyone of any political stripe who considers either Giuliani or Bush a hero of 9/11 any more than they consider President Obama a hero in the death of Osama bin Laden. Most Americans have come to realize that there are no political heroes; it’s an oxymoron. That’s a good thing.
Krugman’s columns are well read and remarked on; his last four weekly submissions averaged 470 comments each prior their forums being closed. This time he lights the fuse on the dynamite, locks the door, and walks away whistling because he’s afraid that someone in the Bronx, or Nebraska or even Hollister might take him on. Here’s some advice from a native New Yorker: If you’re going to dish it out, you’d better learn to take it or no one will ever respect you. Perhaps I’m more disappointed with the Times for letting him get away with it.
Although Krugman has disagreed with the administration on several issues, usually form the left, but he’s safely in the Obama camp. For those who believe I should defer to Nobel Prize winning economists, I offer the current condition of the economy as a rebuttal. That is a problem for Krugman; his preferred party is taking a hell of a beating because the economy stinks, so there is a natural suspicion that this assault is politically motivated. The fact that public comments are off limits on this one subject just reinforces that suspicion.
I see 9/11 as one of few times most of us are able to put our hatchets away, even if only for a day. The terrorists did not worry about victim’s positions on any political topic or, for that matter, anything else about them; the victims were just a means to an end. Their end was to take a measurable toll, show us that we are vulnerable, and, most importantly, divide us internally so we will be less effective in fighting them. Krugman helps them along by making scurrilous charges and then declaring case closed for fear of contradiction, thus he becomes a just another type of “9/11 Truther.”
Feel free to comment on this subject; unlike Paul Krugman, I do not fear dissenting opinions.
Note: I expect Krugman’s column might generate other commentary; for the record, I wrote this without reference to any opinion but my own.
Marty Richman is a Hollister resident.
