Is Paul Krugman's reference to "Very Serious People" a direct reference to

[madinmaryland]

Thomas Friedman? Friedman thinks himself to be so important and serious that he really is a caricature.

Krugman has Friedman nailed. Watching Friedman on Lawrence O'Donnell it appears that LO is discussing policies with Cliff Claven.

[SoCalDem]

1. Nailed it.. Cliff Clavin , indeed

[leveymg]

2. He was pompous yesterday on CNN with Peirs Morgan

Not an original thought or insight from Friedman. Catfood Commission Centrist nostrum about cutting entitlements and taxes mixed with a scary neocon conception of what he thinks America should do to make itself Great Again by military intervention in the Middle East/Persian Gulf.

[madinmaryland]

3. He really has never had an original thought. Yeah, he and the catfood commission

is a perfect match. He is completely beholden to the 1%.

[hifiguy]

4. I think the Moustache of Understanding

and David (Waterhead) Brooks are charter members of the VSP club. Krugman clearly has nothing but contempt for them both, though I think he dislikes Brooks a bit more.

[madinmaryland]

10. Heh...

I had forgotten about that one!!

[Fumesucker]

5. It's a term that's been around for a while..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Serious_People

Very Serious People or Very Serious Person (VSP) is a sarcastically derogatory phrase given to pundits and legislators who are generally viewed as having respectable, conventional opinions but are actually wrong and foolish. The term has particularly been used and popularized by Paul Krugman, who says he may have borrowed it from blogger Atrios.[1] The term has been in use since at least 2007[2] and is generally used by liberal bloggers and opinion writers

And yes, The Mustache of Understanding is a VSP.

[hifiguy]

8. You must be a Charlie Pierce fan, too.

The MoU is Charlie's pet term for Friedman.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. And Krugman has gotten better

which is the scary part. Been reading his "world is flat." He's abandoned some of those views, or at least greatly modified them.

[madinmaryland]

7. Krugman has been spot on with his "predictions" of the republicans' destruction

of the economy over the last 12 years.

Yeah. Friedman's whole "world is flat" screed is essentially a flop. Amazing how his handlers have gotten him to change his views. He has never admitted, though, that he was completely wrong, yet he wants everyone to believe the he is a Very Serious Person.

His 15 minutes have lasted way too long.

[Hamlette]

9. that wass painful, and Claven is the perfect description

I hadn't seen Friedman on TV in a long time and first thought "he must have something to say or he wouldn't have come on the TV". I should have known better.

He was dreadful. Had nothing to say. Couldn't answer the questions, couldn't hold a conversation. To think that people look up to him. And he has a dream job! NYTimes pays him to spout off and he has nothing to say!

/rant off

[n2doc]

11. And David Brooks n/t