Krugman: "The kind of weakness Comey has so spectacularly displayed only encourages them to do more"

[dalton99]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/31/opinion/working-the-refs.html
Working the Refs
Paul Krugman | OCT. 31, 2016

... Part of this effectiveness comes through false equivalence: news organizations, afraid of being attacked for bias, give evenhanded treatment to lies and truth. Way back in 2000 I suggested that if a Republican candidate said that the earth was flat, headlines would read, “Views differ on shape of planet.” That still happens.

... Which brings us back to Mr. Comey. It seemed obvious from the start that Mrs. Clinton’s decision to follow Colin Powell’s advice and bypass State Department email was a mistake, but nothing remotely approaching a crime. But Mr. Comey was subjected to a constant barrage of demands that he prosecute her for … something. He should simply have said no. Instead, even while announcing back in July that no charges would be filed, he editorialized about her conduct — a wholly inappropriate thing to do, but probably an attempt to appease the right.

It didn’t work, of course. They just demanded more. And it looks as if he tried to buy them off by throwing them a bone just a few days before the election. Whether it will matter politically remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: he destroyed his own reputation. The moral of the story is that appeasing the modern American right is a losing proposition. Nothing you do convinces them that you’re being fair, because fairness has nothing to do with it. The right long ago ran out of good ideas that can be sold on their own merits, so the goal now is to remove merit from the picture.

Or to put it another way, they’re trying to create bias, not end it, and weakness — the kind of weakness Mr. Comey has so spectacularly displayed — only encourages them to do more.

[spanone]

1. K&R...

[The Polack MSgt]

2. K&R - This needs more eyeballs. nt

[brer cat]

3. K&R

[tonyt53]

4. Those two wen sentences, starting with "The moral of" says everything.

President Obama tried and tried to appease the GOP and work with the GOP. What did it get? Absolutely nothing, unless you want to include attempting to block everything as getting something done. The GOP is nothing bu a bunch of whiny-ass babies that cannot be pleased, even if they get their way.

[greatlaurel]

5. Paul Krugman says exactly what every thinking person should say.

Last edited Mon Oct 31, 2016, 12:18 PM - Edit history (1)

The right wing of this country have no good ideas. Every idea they have proposed since Reagan has been a disaster for the country. Their only path to power are using lies and intimidation.

[SunSeeker]

22. Exactly. nt

[DURHAM D]

6. Perfect -

The right long ago ran out of good ideas that can be sold on their own merits, so the goal now is to remove merit from the picture.

[adigal]

7. Where is the investigation into Colin Powell???? Crickets. nt

[NewJeffCT]

8. It's not just Comey

a lot of the media has bent over backwards over the years to appease the right - in the late 90s/early 2000s, CNN was losing tons of viewers to Fox News, so they met with GOP Congressional Leaders and then took a decidedly RW slant after that. However, Republicans still didn't trust the "Clinton News Network" and they turned off Democrats that watched CNN with their bias. And, soon afterwards, Democrats found their place to go with Keith Olbermann at MSNBC in 2003/2004. And, CNN's ratings have been in the tank ever since.

[Nitram]

13. I think that's what Krugman was actually saying? Starting with the 7-year Whitewater ...

..."investigation."

[NewJeffCT]

15. true

I only read the first few paragraphs.

[NastyRiffraff]

9. Another K&R

Krugman does it again, saying what needs to be said. He's right--Republicans aren't remotely interested in fairness; they want the exact opposite. Nothing will satisfy them except Hillary Clinton behind bars.

Of course, that won't happen, but the damage done goes far beyond this election. When the FBI abuses its power, anyone, anywhere in the country can be effective.

[Stonepounder]

18. Nothing will ever appease Republicans.

If, God forbid, they won the Presidency, both Houses of Congress, and packed SCOTUS, it still wouldn't be enough. There were be fighting between the far-right wing and the alt-right wing with the one not being 'in power' blocking everything the other wing wanted.

[whathehell]

10. Great stuff

Krugman nails it.

[kairos12]

11. A reminder for Democrats never again to appoint a Rethug to an important post.

[wordpix]

28. right, or invite them to fancy dinners at DC restaurants to "make friends"

fuck them, they deserve NOTHING

[Nitram]

12. Right on the money as always.

Krugman and E.J. Dionne rule!

[smirkymonkey]

14. K&R

I am so enraged and sickened by this shit.

[lillypaddle]

16. K&R nt

[Stuart G]

17. These words, "...but one thing is clear: he destroyed his own reputation.." define Comey forever.

Krugman has hit the ball out of the park:

Comey's judgment is forever questioned. What he did is wrong. Clearly that announcement could have waited till after the election. and by making his statement, he is permanently defined. Reputation destroyed... For good or for bad, that is the truth. No matter what he has done or will do, this jerk has defined himself by trying to slant the election in favor of Trump.. What a legacy. And, he deserves it forever and forever..

[GusBob]

19. The media sqwaked about WMD's so much it was not a question of if but how many?

Did they ever find them WMD's?

How many deaths peddling that RW lie?

[maddiemom]

20. Lock him up!

[SunSeeker]

21. Go Krugman!

[Hekate]

23. KnR

[lark]

24. I think Krugman is giving Comey way too much of a pass.

He's saying Comey was pressured into doing this, and poor little thing, just couldn't help it from coming out. Nope, that's not how I read it anyway. Seems to me like he's doing this for his own reasons and those are 100% partisan. He couldn't indict Clinton because there was no proof, but he went way out of his way to castigate her and put her in as bad a light as humanly possible. Then he knows all about Trumps true traitorous actions with regards to Russia, why doesn't he feel compelled to report on that after getting pressure? Why, because he wants Drumpf to be president so he's protecting him, once again for his personal partisan purposes. He needs to be jailed for this obvious and blatant Hatch Act Violation. Bet you any amount of money he gets a really cushy job at some RW think tank immediately upon his firing and they pay him if he does any jail time for taking one for the cause.

I still think Hillary will take the presidency, but am really worried now about the Senate. She will not be able to accomplish anything progressive at all with a Repug House and Senate, other than to prevent them from doing their worst, and that is totally really important. Think that's what the oligarchs want, no real progressive change, no help for the working class, the field to stay so strongly tilted towards them, but no Russia taking over the world and no crazy RW social laws to really rile up the workers. I was really hoping she or someone else had more tape on him, but if anyone did and wants it out, you'd think it would have been released this morning.

[SodoffBush]

25. If Clinton brings on a single (R) into her political arena post election

she will be making a major mistake. You can't appease these thugs. Obama has shown us that much.

[vi5]

26. The right are spoiled children...

..and they've had their every whim and whine indulged by not only the media but by far too many Democrats in power.

How many of us have been screaming and shouting for the better part of a decade if not longer that Democrats need to stop playing along with the Republican charade of being "serious" people who want bipartisanship.

They are not, nor have they ever been. Yet our side continued to play along long after this was crystal clear and we have been paying the price continually as a result of it.

This Comey bullshit is the end result and logical conclusion. If we manage to survive this we need to throw this fucking bullshit in the garbage permanently and start playing the same bare knuckle politics that Republicans do.

[Eleanors38]

27. The GOPers bully because it works. All clear? nt