Is it time to throw Paul Krugman and Robert Reich under the bus?

[Emit]

From just a cursory look during my lunch break, seems Krugman was 'favorably surprised' and Reich gave Obama two cheers and only one jeer. :D :hide:

[DJ13]

1. I hope so

We could use their company down here.

[rurallib]

2. It's not like anyone is listening to them.

[gateley]

3. We only listen to people when they validate our beliefs. nt

[elocs]

9. Must be human nature, the other side only listens to those who validate their beliefs as well. n/t

[gateley]

10. That's why we hang out here, and they hang out at FR. :=) nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. Yep. It's called "confirmation bias" and we are all susceptible to it.

We want to read or hear those things that tend to affirm the beliefs we already hold, and we pay little attention to, or disbelieve, those that contradict our beliefs. In many cases, opposing opinions, or even facts, actually serve to strengthen the intensity of our existing beliefs, even if what we believe is factually incorrect. That's why the peer-reviewed statements of 900 climate scientists have failed to persuade the climate change deniers that climate change is real. Nobody wants to admit to being wrong, so when confronted by contrary facts we dismiss the facts as wrong, or tainted, or the product of a conspiracy.

And if somebody expresses a favorable opinion of something or someone we have already decided is bad or wrong, that opinion will not necessarily change our minds. Instead, the source of that opinion will be belittled, ignored, or rolled right under that bus.

It happens all the time, and liberals are no more immune to confirmation bias than conservatives.

[banned from Kos]

4. Anyone except Taibbi apparently - I have discovered he is a demi-god

and Nobel economics winner hybrid here (which humors me greatly)

[Emit]

12. After I read Taibbi, I yearn for a good smoke ...

then, shortly after, the urge passes, and I come back to reality.

[Emit]

26. Oh, and, I don't even smoke!

(... anymore)

[sabrina 1]

20. Weren't you slamming Krugman not so long ago?

That see-saw you are on must be making you dizzy.

Most of us here do not change positions on people who have earned credibility depending on what they say about the President every other day.

So, Krugman is back ON the bus today? Hilarious! I'm going to miss him down here UTB, at least until he writes his next column. :rofl:

[fascisthunter]

22. it's too funny

I noticed the same thing... maybe a programmed robot? Dunno...

[banned from Kos]

25. Not Krugman. I am in the Brad DeLong/Krugman Bernanke fan club

(granted, Krugman has criticized Bernanke for NOT enough QE) --- but Bernanke is Keynesian like Krugman, DeLong and myself (not that I matter).

[Life Long Dem]

5. I threw him under the bus long ago.

I have no plans to drag him out from under the bus either.

[dawg]

6. I agree with them.

They have been critical of the President, but the jobs proposal (taken by itself) is pretty good.

[saras]

7. For a short bus, they can sure fit a lot of people under it.

When people stop paying attention to the details of policy and start paying attention to which authorities approve and disapprove of it, you know the policy is a profound failure.

[Cirque du So-What]

8. Why not?

Even FDR has been tossed under the bus by the purists at one time or another, so why NOT Krugman & Reich? After all, they're sofa king smart, so who are these eggheads to speak from their area of expertise? Give me the opinion of an anonymous yahoo on the internet any ol' day!

[EFerrari]

13. Well, I'm expecting Krugman to walk his support back

when he has some time to see how this will work out. So, not him. :P

[Emit]

16. hahaha okay fair enough then and please be sure to post it when he does

so we can pull him back out from under the bus

;)

:hi:

[FarCenter]

14. What does it mean to "throw them under the bus"?

Throwing two tenured professors of economics under the bus? How?

[Luminous Animal]

15. Reich's jeer was for the plan. You totally misrepresented his view.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich-s-Blog/2011/0909/Two-cheers-and-one-jeer-for-the-American-Jobs-Act

Cheer 1) Presenting the plan in front of Congress
Cheer 2) Laid out the problem (jeez how hard could that have been)

JEER: the jobs plan he presented isn’t nearly large enough or bold enough to make a major dent in unemployment, or to restart the economy.

[Emit]

17. lol yes if you were going to take me really very seriously then yes reich's one jeer was huge

I apologize for not working that very serious matter into my afternoon lunch break snark. I will try harder next time.

edit word

[Waiting For Everyman]

18. DU is hysterical.

We've seen no details yet, and nothing has been passed yet. But all is lost anyway. We really need a "swoon" smiley.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people are losing everything they have in floods, but you'd never know it.

[MannyGoldstein]

19. Krugman: less than 1/4 of what's needed, Obama can't get it passed.

Other than that it was better than he thought it would be.

[chill_wind]

28. Heh.

If there's one thing I love about him, it's his often very dry "drollness".
He bashed his head against the wall in frustration for weeks after the first stimulus go-round.
The summer deficit ceiling/budget debacle seemingly did it for good, for him, it sounded to me at the time. Those were his bleakest and angriest assessments about Obama's priorities, ever, that I remember from him. I don't think he could have enjoyed writing them and I wonder if out of weariness and self-sane preservation, he's just tired of the futile head-banging. And it has seemed futile.

[dtexdem]

21. No, no -- the GOP defunded the bus.

Nothing to throw anyone under any more.

[JHB]

23. I think he's on a ski lift...

It just rotates him between on and under depending on whether he's reluctantly praising the administration or criticizing it on any given week.

[customerserviceguy]

27. I would expect a fair minded person

to sometimes agree with the President (or anyone else, for that matter) and sometimes disagree. I tend to distrust those who are either constant detractors, or perpetual cheerleaders for a political leader.

I wish that these esteemed men had some comment about undermining Social Security with deeper FICA tax cuts, though.

[DCBob]

24. Is there anyone left "on the bus"?

[DirkGently]

29. I don't see critics of Obama turning on people the way supporters attacked Hamsher, Greenwald, etc.

Edit:

In fact, are there ANY neutral / liberal commentators who have been treated that way for *agreeing* with or praising or encouraging Obama? Any parallel to the "firebagger" playground nonsense? The attacks on the "professional left?" The dripping venom and disdain and "________ = automatic unrec" drive-bys?

Can't think of any.

:shrug:

And of course, neither Reich nor Krugman issued anything like an unqualified endorsement. They're thinkers. Thinkers don't fit into anyone's partisan box.