General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsKrugman: G.O.P. LIES
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/18/opinion/paul-krugman-fantasies-and-fictions-at-gop-debate.htmlIf the discussion of economics was alarming, the discussion of foreign policy was practically demented. Almost all the candidates seem to believe that American military strength can shock-and-awe other countries into doing what we want without any need for negotiations, and that we shouldnt even talk with foreign leaders we dont like. No dinners for Xi Jinping! And, of course, no deal with Iran, because resorting to force in Iraq went so well...
The real revelation on Wednesday, however, was the way some of the candidates went beyond expounding bad analysis and peddling bad history to making outright false assertions, and probably doing so knowingly, which turns those false assertions into what are technically known as lies....
I began writing for The Times during the 2000 election campaign, and what I remember above all from that campaign is the way the conventions of evenhanded reporting allowed then-candidate George W. Bush to make clearly false assertions about his tax cuts, about Social Security without paying any price. As I wrote at the time, if Mr. Bush said the earth was flat, wed see headlines along the lines of Shape of the Planet: Both Sides Have a Point.
Now we have presidential candidates who make Mr. Bush look like Abe Lincoln. But who will tell the people?
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)dougolat
(716 posts)Bravado is all that's left, and apparently it doesn't feel as good as they're used to!
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Republicans have been lying for decades and usually with no Democratic Party challenge.
Because the lies were never challenged the dishonesty grew and grew until it has become an enormous house of cards.
The Jeb Bush assertion that Dubya kept us safe should be chased all over the media until we make him cry.
Do you hear me, people!
malaise
(269,157 posts)Last night said that Dumbya shouldn't be blamed because he was only in charge for eight months.
I found that hilarious. He didn't address that 'kept us safe part'.
9/11 happened during the Bush and Cheney tenure - nothing will change that fact.
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)Like Bernie.
Electric Monk
(13,869 posts)&U&G&M&A&N
tabasco
(22,974 posts)That's our big problem. Propaganda works.
roscoeroscoe
(1,370 posts)It helps a lot that Bernie took up the challenge. Gee, if we had Democratic Party debates right now there would be some solid push back on the airwaves