Meanwhile, at Mother Jones, we are told that Krugman's post is "shameful"...

[NRaleighLiberal]

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/09/paul-krugman-9-11?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Motherjones%2Fmojoblog+%28MotherJones.com+|+MoJoBlog%29

by Rick Ungar -

snip

"I completely agree with the substance of what Krugman had to say in his post.

I also completely deplore his choice of posting his piece on the ten-year anniversary of the attacks.

snip

"Today, the conservative blogosphere is going crazy condemning Krugman's article—and I don't blame them one bit. Indeed, the only thing I do not understand is why more progressives are not joining in that condemnation, as Krugman's piece only serves to set back the principles and causes of liberals and progressives everywhere. By forgetting what is important about yesterday's commemorations, Krugman has played right into the hands of those who would use such a reaction to tar the true intent of liberal commentators and, by extention, every other progressive in the country."

not so sure about that assessment....at least Krugman got some people's attention. What do you think, fellow DUers?

[trumad]

1. 3000 dead equals 100,000 dead in the Middle East.

Who should mourn more?

[yurbud]

9. more like a million in Iraq

[coalition_unwilling]

22. Everyone knows that one American is worth at least 100 Middle

Easterners (or 400 Vietnamese) :sarcasm:

[spanone]

2. what could have been more important than the truth yesterday?

[phantom power]

3. Ungar's reaction reminds me of what it was like after 9/11 ...

I'm left, like I was back then, wondering: "when, Rick, *is* it the right time to tell the goddamned truth?"

[Luminous Animal]

4. There are quite a few good comments following Ungar's article supporting Krugman

This one pretty much says it for me...
Grow up, MoJo. The timing was necessary to call attention to the real significance of the occasion. A little more self-reflection and a little less jingoistic patriotic knee-jerking would have been good for all of us over the last decade. Krugman didn't say it in these words, but others have: the real tragedy of 9/11 is that America responded by giving bin Laden every single thing that he wanted. The tragedy has been going on for ten years, and counting.

[gratuitous]

5. There's never a good time for apostasy

And the High Church of Redemptive Violence brooks no heresy, particularly on one of its High Holy Days. But it is interesting to see, once again, that the High Church claims members across the political spectrum.

[hifiguy]

6. In Mother Jones of all places

:wtf: Krugman only told the unvarnished truth.

[dtexdem]

7. America does an excellent job of celebrating it's defeats.

Even the National Anthem, though based on a poem about resilience and survival under overwhelming attack, is basically about a defeat -- the shelling of Fort McHenry after having its capital city (and its capitol) burned by its enemy of the day.

And Texans are always going on about "Remember the Alamo" -- a resounding military defeat with 100% casualties.

And there's Custer's Last Stand.

Even "Remember the Maine," though perhaps an engineered excuse to go to war, claims to remember a loss.

So 9/11 fits right in with the tradition.

There was nothing of true importance about yesterday's commemorations -- because they were an insult to the actual traumatic event.

[former9thward]

20. Those military defeats were followed by victory in the war.

That why they are remembered.

[coalition_unwilling]

24. OT but you reminded me of one of my all-time favorite jokes:

Q: What were Custer's last words?

A: "Where the fuck did all those Indians come from?"

:)

[kenny blankenship]

8. Fuck YOU, Rick Ungar.

[Enrique]

10. ridiculous

I can't believe that tripe is at Mother Jones. It sounds more like something you'd see in Parade Magazine. Criticizing Krugman for violating some made-up rule about what you're supposed to say on some arbitrary anniversary. Lame!!!!!!

[truebrit71]

11. Condemn Krugman for voicing his opinions (that i believe are largely correct) about that day?

I don't think so.

You see, this is why the reich-wing always wins...one courageous Liberal goes out there and says what everyone else is really thinking, the rethuglicans flood the air with their fake outrage, and the less courageous liberals then join in the bashing of the courageous one...No wonder the Dems are known as the 'Circular Firing Squad'....

The reich-wing stole that day from being a solemn rememberance of those that had died because the fake-heroes the RW invented had failed in their duties, and instead turned it into a bullying pep-rally full of chest-thumping patriotism and mindless flag-waving without ever stopping to wonder what all the shouting was about...

We are LESS secure, have FEWER rights, millions fewer jobs, hundreds of thousands of innocent people dead both here and abroad, and a political system that is literally trying to tear itself apart, so what, pray tell, is there to fucking shout about???

Krugman is right, and ANY "liberal/progressive/democrat" that thinks otherwise has a fucking screw loose imho...

[phantom power]

14. Ungar's attitude is exactly how we ended up in Iraq in the first place.

I remember it very well -- back then, it was never "the right time" to speak any unpleasant or politically inconvenient truths. Before the invasion of Iraq, anybody who said it was a bad idea was shouted down. And after the invasion, we were also shouted down ("why do you hate the troops?" blah blah blah).

Fuck Ungar and everybody like him.

[Rex]

12. Ungar must be stupid or a tool to mention GWB 'protected Americans'

because he did not and saying he did should SHAME the person saying it. Sorry Ungar, some of us are stilled pissed off about the whole thing and don't live in the world of 'let's move on, nothing to see here' like you do! Maybe Krugman's timing was bad, but to remind us of the evil fuckers that GOT US HERE is never a bad idea imo.

[Eric J in MN]

13. After Ronald Reagan died...

...I was reluctant to write how I felt about Reagan right away, thinking it would be more tasteful to wait until his body was in the ground. But it took a week for them to bury Reagan, and people had had enough of the topic, and I never did write about how I felt about Reagan.

I've since decided that we should tell the truth about how we feel about political figures and issues right away instead of trying to guess what other people might consider tasteful timing.

[CarmanK]

15. Ted Koppel said approx the same thing. Finally, truth to the people.

It is about time that men of honor speak out against the puffery and the lies surrounding 9/11 memorials and what we have done to ourselves as a result. by the way, he had to post it yesterday, the impact was for all to see. Our first responders ran to the rescue and can't get health care coverage from the current day congress. The FBI is spying on citizens without warrants and the CIA is carrying on covert operations on American soil. We surrendered our liberties, to the Patriot Act and our moral authority to the war criminals Bush/Cheney.

[RaleighNCDUer]

16. It seems that most of the comments (and I, as well) disagree with Ungar. nt

[Luminous Animal]

17. MoJo readers are smarter than Ungar.

[Enrique]

27. he's answering the comments now

he skipped mine, unfortunately. :-(

[Luminous Animal]

29. Thanks for the heads up.

But... but... but..., it was the timing (w-a-a-a-a-a-a-h).

Fuck, I so tired of hearing that from liberals.

[Enrique]

18. MoJo's slogan is "smart, fearless journalism"

irreverent my ass!

Mother Jones is an independent, nonprofit magazine dedicated to bringing you smart, fearless journalism. Winner of the 2008 National Magazine Award for General Excellence, MoJo is committed to gutsy, no-holds-barred investigative reporting that asks tough questions and gives you real answers. Mother Jones is uncensored, irreverent, not beholden to special interests - and obligated only to you.

[Loge23]

19. The truth hurts the guilty

Krugman said what many think.
GWB, Kerik (is he still in jail?), and Giuliani tried to make their careers out of this horror - 9/11.
What can be more diabolical than that?
They will probably succeed in running Krugman out of the NYT, like all of their other good writers (Rich, Herbert, Dionne, etc.)

[lunatica]

21. I prefer the Truth no matter what day it is

I applaud Krugman for telling it constantly.

[Claudia Jones]

23. two problems

It is never "the right time" according to those who would rather not hear the truth, and remaining silent for fear of the right wing reaction always means the right wing gets more power and influence.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

25. Truth tellers are always punished. See Michael Moore, for example.

[WhiteTara]

26. I aplaud Krugman. Who cries more for their loved ones?

We all cry the same.

[obxhead]

28. There was not a better day to make that post.

On a day full of propaganda and lies it was completely appropriate.

[pennylane100]

30. I left the following comment on Mother Jones

in the comment section of his article.

"There is definitely an apology needed here, from Rick Ungar to Paul Krugman for such a well timed and well written article about ALL the victims of 9/11 and more importantly to the victims themselves who are rarely acknowledged.

The act of terrorism that took around 3000 lives that day was a prelude to a greater act of terrorism two years later. This country used 9/11 to justify waging an illegal war that resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people and the displacement of millions of refugees. The fate of the victims of these two horrific events are forever intertwined in history.

Unger would have a little more credibility if he was not so concerned about the reaction to Krugman's article from the hatemonger of the right wing media. If he does not believe that the death of Iraqi civilians were a result of 9/11 he should say so. However if he thinks they are connected he should explain to the Iraqi people why he believes it is so distasteful to mention the deaths of their citizens on the anniversary event that triggered them."

[NRaleighLiberal]

32. I just put my comment in there as well. n/t

[Luminous Animal]

36. Excellent comment!

[NRaleighLiberal]

31. fascinating! 50% unrecs.....but few if any who feel differently commented in the thread.

[pennylane100]

34. How do you know how many unrecs a thread gets.

I just went to the unrec option and accidentally added another one while playing around, sorry.

[NRaleighLiberal]

35. Greatest/click on top 10s - it was around 25 to 25 each way

[Douglas Carpenter]

33. yes when we consider the measured and tempered tone of people like Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly

when talking about September 11 - it is no wonder the conservative blogosphere is so rightly outraged.