by a siegel
Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 02:28:02 PM EST
Paul Krugman, the winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Economics, penned an article a few months ago: "Know-Nothing Politics".
the debate on energy policy has helped me find the words for something I've been thinking about for a while. Republicans, once hailed as the "party of ideas," have become the party of stupid.
For Krugman, the Republican embrace and promotion of Drillusion exemplified how "know-nothingism" had become revered within the Republican Party. "The party's de facto slogan has become: "Real men don't think things through."" ANd, "In the case of oil, this takes the form of pretending that more drilling would produce fast relief at the gas pump."
Krugman called the Republican leadership to task for promoting a policy that flew in the face of facts and expert knowledge. His real fear was the power of this "dumb" approach to energy when it came to potentially swaying votes. Looking at this debate and the difference between lying and confusion, Krugman came to this generalized conclusion:
In any case, remember this the next time someone calls for an end to partisanship, for working together to solve the country's problems. It's not going to happen -- not as long as one of America's two great parties believes that when it comes to politics, stupidity is the best policy.
