Paul Krugman:
Is it just me, or are the 9/11 commemorations oddly subdued?
Actually, I don’t think it’s me, and it’s not really that odd.
What happened after 9/11 — and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not — was deeply shameful. Te atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons.
A lot of other people behaved badly. How many of our professional pundits — people who should have understood very well what was happening — took the easy way out, turning a blind eye to the corruption and lending their support to the hijacking of the atrocity?
The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it.
I’m not going to allow comments on this post, for obvious reasons.
Today is a memorial, not a celebration.
While I generally agree with the point that Krugman is trying to make about the tragedy being hijacked, today is not “an occasion for shame.”
Today is about honoring the innocent victims of the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history. It’s a day of mourning and remembrance, not a day of shame.
Like this:
Filed under: Uncategorized
Some people on facebook are saying the Times has now taken the post down. This is what I tweeted him when Krugman first put the post up on twitter:
It’s still there.
Wow, 3W, that’s A LOT classier than what I would have twitted to that dumbass (if I had Twitter), but you are all around classier than I in most respects.
Good grief, Paul. Just go away, ok?
[...] Krugman says today is a day of shame for Americans and that we all know it in our hearts even if we don’t want to admit it. Screw [...]
Karima Bennoune is a law professor and board director at Amnesty International and at the Center for Constitutional Rights. This is her post today: Why I Hate Al Qaeda.
Perfectly said!
DITTO! I also hate Al Qaeda! Say it America! SAY IT!
And we are not going to forget ever.
Who is the real hero, Krugs? I suppose it’s plastic Jesus because he personally went to Pakistan and killed bin Laden with his bare hands.
You know what? Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush WERE heroes of 9/11. They did whatever they could do to keep the country together than day. You can say these men had their problems. They may have even used 9/11 for politics later on, but on that day they did their job.
Liberals like Michael Boore were the ones who less than 24 hours later were out there saying it was our fault when no one even knew WHY yet. Krugman was probably trying to get his last paycheck from Enron that day.
Honk!
So he turned off the comments ? That’s pretty thin skinned.
It sounds like Paul actually has three sides: Shill, Shrill, and Fucking Moronic Idiot. Maybe he should get some therapy for that.
Seriously Paul?? SERIOUSLY!
There’s a blame America first strand among the limousine liberal set that has always pissed me off.
ITA
Krugman’s point is right. His expression was strong but justified.
So you believe today is an occasion for shame?
I think TC may be the place to join the shame train today.
If you want to see a whole parade of Blame America First assholes responding, just go to Steve Benen’s post in Washington Monthly. They take the cake.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_09/ten_years_later032122.php
Do you think anything to be proud of happened this day?
Yes, I do. I’m proud of the police and fire department personnel who gave their lives trying to save others. I’m proud of the passengers on Flight 93 who fought back.
I mourn all the innocent victims of terrorism.
“I’m proud of the police and fire department personnel who gave their lives trying to save others. I’m proud of the passengers on Flight 93 who fought back.”
So am I. And Bush hijacked them all, and I’m a little ashamed that I didn’t speak out more loudly against him for it. I’m proud of Krugman for speaking out now, though understandably too loud.
/closing window/
“Shame?” WTF is Krugman talking about? I do believe he may be suffering a strange sort of Obama related dementia.
Yes Paul. It’s “Just you”. Really, why do you even bother writing in the USA? There are so many other places that would just love to have you instead.
Clean up your beard.
LMAO @ “clean up your beard” *MUAH*
bemused leftist, I agree w/ you and Mr Krugman. 9-11 was the worst of humanity showing the world true evil. From that to now, we , as a world population, have become worse.
There are more bombs and senseless deaths. There are more lies and distortion. There is more suffering and more strife. The planet is dying and we are not moving toward the right path to fixing anything..
The Arab Spring seems to becoming an Arab hell. I don’t see Democracy forming, I see just more hate and division. The radicals have taken over.
Yes, shame on all of us.
Screw him and the ivory tower he lives in. One fucking day Paul, one day out of the year we can remember all those innocent people and all those extraordinary Americans who would be the LAST to call themselves heroes, became them. Nice touch not letting people tell you so.
I sit on the fence with this one. The victims deserve great honor and respect…and I think maybe we should honor them on a different day. Memorial day, maybe? As I see it, 9/11 has turned into a celebration, and I’m sure Al Quaeda(sp) loves it.
The worst terrorism on our nation’s soil was most likely when European settlers essentially committed genocide against the Indians. Many countries around the world look at our mere 3000 lost on 9/11 to terrorists and yawn….
It was a horrible day, but it’s overhyped….IMHO.
I’m not on the fucking fence about anything. The thing I REMEMBER about 9/11 are all those fire fighters & police men who WROTE THEIR SS #s ON THEIR ARMS IN MARKER before going in for search & rescue so their families could identify their bodies. So, kindly FUCK OFF.
history 101: when the settlers got here the native population had already been decimated by disease brought by explorers. Settlers and Native Americans alike were a mix of good and bad. In the end Europeans prevailed because that is what happens… more “advanced” people roll over the less advanced. Our history is our history. It is no better or worse than the history of any people.
But that’s a violation of the Non-Interference Directive!
We need a little inspiration, from Facebook:
sounds right to me.
HONK!
Thanks, I needed that.
me too.
Doesn’t she know she and we are supposed to be ashamed of all those people. /snark
Simply and beautifully put.
Thank you Sarah!
HONK
I guess you had to be in NYC to understand Paul. Bush climbing over dead bodies with his megaphone, Giuliani chasing people from the Union Square vigils for peace – which were mocked “if you sing 60′s songs you’re out of touch”. And the wars. This anniversary always makes me think of those things so, I am 100% with Paul, sorry for those whom the teevee made wave your flags.
If he’s got a problem with Bush or Giuliani there are 364 other days of the year he could have chosen to express that.
His problem (and mine) is beyond Bush and Giuliani (who actually was very good in the first 48 hours). There was one cartoon in those days that summed my feelings exactly, Angry guy, watching teevee, wearing a T-shirt “9.11. I saw it on TV and I am pissed”
why express these sentiments today? it disrespects the dead.
I’m curious. What do you think should have been done? The first responders and others at ground zero were traumatized, in shock, angry, despondent….all of the above and more. They needed to hear something from Bush that day. What should he have done? Said? How should he have said it? If at all……
Seriously. I agree that the rush to war and the way 9/11 was exploited by Giullani, Bush et al was horrible, but what exactly should have happened in the immediate aftermath?
The answer lies more in what shouldn’t have happened. No wars started (but a police action to find and capture those responsible). No PATRIOT Act – but a more responsible use of the Terrorism division of the FBI/CIA etc. All the efforts Clinton had made to contain those were eliminated by Bush when he came.
No flag waving and no chest beating. No WANTED Osama posters (just actual police work). And yes, use the sentiment for a better relationship with the world.
I agree with you on all of that. But you site Bush with the bullhorn in your first comment, that’s why I asked.
Oh. But the flag waving was not bad IMO. People needed to feel united in the attack against our country. The flag waving was a chance to heal.
I understand what you’re saying but that has nothing to do with commemorating the people who did the right thing on Sept 11th.
I’m ashamed of Paul Krugman for being such a small minded douche.
Oh, about W: no running away from danger (as he declared in an interview) and then beating his chest. No My Pet Goat. No selling a photo of himself in the airplane – allegedly surveilling 9.11 when he was actually running for the GOP fundraiser. When he came in NYC (5 days later) – no interfering with the rescue operations – responders had to wait hours for him to land. No climbing over human remains with a megaphone. Does anyone remember the phony almost tear-like speech on TV after he came from the bunker? The face was so comical, images were scrubbed from everywhere.
Okay. I won’t belabor it because I agree with you on most points. I am no Bush fan, believe me. It just seemed to me that the megaphone moment was well received by the people there. But I’m on the opposite coast and probably have no business commenting on this at all. If you, a New Yorker, felt it was wrong, I assume others around you did too.
Until 9.11 Bush didn’t even dare come to NYC – he knew how much we hated him. He was only sending Laura there. I feel as 9.11 made feel now we were beaten into submission and he can take pictures with the trophies.
You may disagree on the moment of shame thing – but you’ll have to admit: there was nothing to be proud off that happened 10 years ago. Or ever since on this matter.
I agree on the aftermath as you said. Just don’t think Krugman should have said it today.
Nothing to be proud of 10 years ago? What about the firemen and police. not to mention ordinary people, who saved lives while many of them lost their own?
Your Bush hate has blinded you to the good in people. Kumbaya m*therf)cker!
Okay everyone, let’s play nice.
Boo-hoo. A day without hippies singing.
Rudy, is that you? Wave away then, I’ll take my stinky long hair elsewhere.
A day without hippies singing is like a day with no one bringing you down, telling you how terrible you are with a sign in the street fair.
Respectfully NWS (as always), I had been a downtown West Village liberal most of my adult life, and my experience of that day and after was opposite of yours. I remember one day many months later wandering unwittingly into the Meeting House on East 11th where a huge overflowing crowd had gathered. There were politicians, professors, architects, activists, students all speaking somewhat obliquely about 9/11. It was my first exposure to 9/11 truthers and really my first close encounter with serious conspiracy theorists. I remember running out, nauseous and furious.
I guess Giuliani should have let those hippies sing in parks instead…
I have to confess to no direct contact with them – I would probably have had the same reaction as you.
What an insufferable asshole.
I’m *ashamed* of Paul Krugman.
The Onion actually has a better way of putting it than Krugman
http://www.theonion.com/video/remembering-911-a-pleasure-for-nation-compared-to,21322/
I choose to spend the day remembering friends who died that day, and honoring the others who died and their families.
But I’m fine with people diving into politics today too. It’s what we do. Eh, whatever.
If Paul and others want to walk around with their head hanging low in dire shame, so be it. Perhaps that’s just who they are, their natural state. I wish them well.
I just want it to be tomorrow already. Mourning ought to be a private thing, like prayer.
Sorry, but flag waving had nothing to do with healing. It was all about using everyone’s feelings as fodder for wars. There was no need for flag waving for healing. In NYC, we had candle vigils every night. Until Giuliani got away from the cameras and got wind of that. THAT for them was the wrong way to heal. The guy from the parks department mocked us “if you sing 60s songs you are out of touch” We were taking precious energy away from the drum beating.
That’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it. It doesn’t make it any better than others.
Except for the fact that I was there, not in front of the TV.
An answer to “what should have he done”?
I just remember now. Bill Clinton made it back from Asia in 2 days (not 5 from DC as W). He came out of his car in Union Square (and University Place). people immediately gathered around in a collective hug. No words. Some tears. Then he left. But everyone felt better after that.
Let me put it this way, I don’t give a damn where you were! Your hatred for Bush has blinded you.
Too bad he didn’t say anything when al-Qaeda attacked the Cole for longer than 5 days.
W is no Bill. My feeling is Bush did what he felt he needed to do in that moment. He went with his gut. Let’s not turn this into Clinton bashing and blaming please 1539.
I’m not blaming Clinton. He can take a car to NYC because he was a private citizen, not a potential target. As president, I’m sure he had to arrange to speak on the attack on the USS Cole. It’s the lionizing of one and demonizing of the other that I have issue with.
(If this doesn’t work, please correct it.)
HUH?!! What research and statistical models and methods did esteemed economics professor Krugman use to support his claim “and in its heart the nation knows it”?
Funny, now everyone brings up the firefighters. You know those people who never got full compensation for the ilness/death from that day. I didn’t see any national protest when even a judge had to declare it was a national shame what those people were offered. How very conveeenient!
Funny, I remember people out here on the west coast wearing FDNY shirts, hats and pins to honor those who gave their lives.
Oh, yeah, everyone loved them back then. After the party was over, they started closing firehouses, denying them benefits, etc. That was not quite as public and national as the 9.11 orgy.
I think we’re all aware of that travesty. We’re all aware of what Bush, and Obama after him, did that has severely damaged our country and limited our liberties. There’s a lot to battle over and discuss and fight for. Of course. And we will. And you can now, that’s cool. I’m doing something else, that’s all.
And you know who’s to blame for that, right? NEW YORKERS AND THE NEW YORK FIRE DEPT. UNIONS. Plenty of Americans who do not live in NYC and whom it seems you are saying have no right to comment or “feel” anything about what happened on 9/11 because THEY WERE NOT THERE gave a lot of money to organizations designed to help these men & women’s families.
The unions, huh? Time to leave this place – too toxic for me. Plus my “hatred for Bush” seems to be too toxic for you. Feel free to discuss Clinton/Cole and other fractured fairy tales in my absence. Buh-bye. Happy flag waving! Outta here!
Um who exactly do you think is responsible/at fault for workers not having the proper benefits? If the truth is toxic, I’m sorry for you. And I’m really sorry if you can’t tell the difference between criticism of a specific union for failing to properly insure its members & union bashing in general.
Oh, and nice way to deflect from the fact of all those Americans who were NOT THERE who donated to those men & women’s families.
My husband was one of the firefighters who survived that day. He was also the union rep at his firehouse. Why are you blaming the union for failing to properly insure its members? That’s not the problem, dear.
It’s the insurers who are claiming that cause and effect between the illnesses first responders are now experiencing and the toxicity of Ground Zero and the Freshkill landfill cannot be sufficiently established to award “line of duty injury” payouts.
Moreover, donated funds cannot be disbursed to first responders unless their injuries are serious, and they can provide evidence that the illnesses are directly related to the events of the events of September 11. We finally have some courageous medical researchers who are providing data supporting those claims.
Why you’re blaming a union for this is beyond me.
Why you’re blaming the union for this is beyond me.
Here’s some detailed information on the disbursement of donations.
http://foundationcenter.org/gainknowledge/research/pdf/9_11relief_funds.pdf
And let’s not forget just how hard one NY senator fought for medical monitoring for 9/11 first reponders, despite republican opposition.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091301326.html
http://ehstoday.com/fire_emergencyresponse/ehs_imp_31792/
http://www.ufanyc.org/pdf/hillaryendorsement1106.pdf
Paul Krugman said what came AFTER 9-11 is shameful.
Certainly ,he was not referring to the actual live savers and first responders.
What came AFTER is the point.
What do we have to be proud of?
Do we have less war and killing? Do we have fewer starving children in the horn of Africa.
Is the planet healing and are we safer?
Do we have prosperity?
Do we have more personal freedoms and privacy?
So women and minorities have equality?
Well, if that isn’t shameful, then tell me why I should be proud for the 9 years and 364 days since Sept 11, 2001?
Bingo. But, what do I know? I am but a hippie.
Make that blinded by hatred for Bush hippie. (Psst: I loathe both unelected occupants of the White House equally. As for unjustified attacks on Clinton, you’ll do much better amongst the bobots).
I don’t remember shipments of food to people in Africa ending on 9/12. I don’t recall that global economies did especially worse after that day. If you want to complain about the things that resulted from policies post-9/11, that’s one thing. If you want to claim that we would have lived in candy-coated Obamaland had it not been for Bush, I’m going to treat it like Paul Krugman’s execrable missives.
To me, Krugman saying 9/11 is an occasion for shame isn’t just about how certainly political leaders have done bad things since 9/11, but also implies, though perhaps not intentionally, that we don’t deserve the luxury of simply morning our losses.
To me, that’s no different than those crazy fundies who protest military funerals because the wars and 9/11 itself are all the fault of us being tolerant of gays.
People are hurting. Perhaps this isn’t the best time for that.
Exactly. Thank you DT, and I am sorry for those you lost that day.
Agree. Today is for remembering the actual date when many innocent and courageous people lost their lives, inside burning airplanes and buildings. Politics and wars and elections came later. But on this memorial date, Paul needed to STFU with his usual naive political opinions. Who the fuck is he to say Americans are or should be ashamed on this day. When Krugman isn’t talking economics, he can really be a petulant emotionally under-developed prick. Reminds me of BO who cynically tossed his rose at ground zero in 2008 while looking thoroughly distracted, while everyone else including Hillary solemnly placed their rose on the memorial stone. It’s called leadership. You either stand for the country you lead as president, or you don’t.
Honk, honk! (to DT & 3W)
I was about to say that closing comments may not be a bad idea.
[...] Since, I was called “blinded by my hatred of Bush” I also fund out that it wasn’t Congress which dragged its feet approving the puny indemnification of the 9.11 responders. It was the unions and the new yorkers who are somehow at fault, in spite of the thousand points of light (charity). angienc, on September 11, 2011 at 1:34 pm said: [...]
Ack! Krugman, keep writing, you remind me why I’ve rejected my own politics and gone over to the dark side.
Ditto!