Blaming the victim

[ProSense]

Blaming the victim

By Steve Benen

In several recent Republican debates, the audiences have drawn nearly as much attention as the candidates, cheering executions, shouting in support of allowing the uninsured die, and booing an Army soldier serving in Iraq.

Since that last one, the crowds have been better behaved — perhaps mindful of the perils of helping their Democratic rivals — but Greg Sargent flags a gem from last night, in which there was another round of inappropriate applause.

Two weeks ago, Herman Cain told economic victims, “Don’t blame Wall Street, don’t blame the big banks, if you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself!” When CNN’s Anderson Cooper brought up the quote, the crowd applauded. When Cain stood by it, they applauded louder.

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The larger problem, though, is that Cain is wrong on both counts. On the first part of Cain’s argument, which absolves Wall Street of its responsibilities for the crisis, the thinking here is practically pathological — does he not know the role financial industry corruption and mismanagement played in the economic collapse?

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