Krugman: ‘Welcome to Post-Truth Politics’
To refashion an old phrase: “There are lies, damned lies, then yarns spun by Mitt Romney.” This is the gist of a recent post by Paul Krugman, who points to falsehoods recently uttered by the Republican presidential hopeful to predict new lows in a new era of fact distortion wrought by those seeking the helm of the highest level of federal government. —ARK Paul Krugman at The New York Times: As Greg Sargent of The Washington Post has pointed out, there’s a common theme to these whoppers and a number of other things Mr. Romney has said: the strategy is clearly to portray the president as a suspect character, someone who doesn’t share American values. And since Mr. Obama has done and said nothing to justify this portrait, Mr. Romney just invents stuff to make his case. But won’t there be some blowback? Won’t Mr. Romney pay a price for running a campaign based entirely on falsehoods? He obviously thinks not, and I’m afraid he may be right. Oh, Mr. Romney will probably be called on some falsehoods. But, if past experience is any guide, most of the news media will feel as though their reporting must be “balanced,” which means that every time they point out that a Republican lied they have to match it with a comparable accusation against a Democrat — even if what the Democrat said was actually true or, at worst, a minor misstatement. Read more
To refashion an old phrase: “There are lies, damned lies, then yarns spun by Mitt Romney.” This is the gist of a recent post by Paul Krugman, who points to falsehoods recently uttered by the Republican presidential hopeful to predict new lows in a new era of fact distortion wrought by those seeking the helm of the highest level of federal government. —ARK
Paul Krugman at The New York Times:
As Greg Sargent of The Washington Post has pointed out, there’s a common theme to these whoppers and a number of other things Mr. Romney has said: the strategy is clearly to portray the president as a suspect character, someone who doesn’t share American values. And since Mr. Obama has done and said nothing to justify this portrait, Mr. Romney just invents stuff to make his case.
But won’t there be some blowback? Won’t Mr. Romney pay a price for running a campaign based entirely on falsehoods? He obviously thinks not, and I’m afraid he may be right.
Oh, Mr. Romney will probably be called on some falsehoods. But, if past experience is any guide, most of the news media will feel as though their reporting must be “balanced,” which means that every time they point out that a Republican lied they have to match it with a comparable accusation against a Democrat — even if what the Democrat said was actually true or, at worst, a minor misstatement.
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Public Figures Challenge Putin’s Power
Two high profile figures associated with the Kremlin joined tens of thousands of Muscovites in the streets Saturday to once again protest Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s attempt to prolong his tenure as the nation’s leading figure in the upcoming presidential election. The two were former Finance Minister Aleksei L. Kudrin, who was part of Putin’s inner circle for more than two decades, and billionaire Mikhail D. Prokhorov, who has vowed to run against Putin in March. Protesters were skeptical of both men’s involvement, fearing that they represent establishment attempts to co-opt a growing opposition movement. —ARK The New York Times: But it is clear that government elites are taking protesters’ complaints as a warning and scrambling to head off a more dangerous confrontation. On Saturday, for the first time, two high-level figures connected to the Kremlin were at the demonstration. Former Finance Minister Aleksei L. Kudrin, a member of Mr. Putin’s inner circle for more than two decades, took the stage to express his support for many of the protesters’ demands: the dismissal of the head of the Central Election Commission, Vladimir Y. Churov; the dissolution of Parliament and new elections; and changes in the election code to allow for free competition. … “Sorry, what relationship does Kudrin have to democratic movements?” wrote Vladimir Varfolomeyev, an editor at the radio station Ekho Moskvy, via Twitter. “He’s a bureaucrat who has faithfully served the regime for 10 years.” When Mr. Kudrin took the stage, he was booed by some in the crowd and cheered by others. Read more
Two high profile figures associated with the Kremlin joined tens of thousands of Muscovites in the streets Saturday to once again protest Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s attempt to prolong his tenure as the nation’s leading figure in the upcoming presidential election.?
The two were former Finance Minister Aleksei L. Kudrin, who was part of Putin’s inner circle for more than two decades, and billionaire Mikhail D. Prokhorov, who has vowed to run against Putin in March. Protesters were skeptical of both men’s involvement, fearing that they represent establishment attempts to co-opt a growing opposition movement. —ARK
The New York Times:
But it is clear that government elites are taking protesters’ complaints as a warning and scrambling to head off a more dangerous confrontation. On Saturday, for the first time, two high-level figures connected to the Kremlin were at the demonstration.
Former Finance Minister Aleksei L. Kudrin, a member of Mr. Putin’s inner circle for more than two decades, took the stage to express his support for many of the protesters’ demands: the dismissal of the head of the Central Election Commission, Vladimir Y. Churov; the dissolution of Parliament and new elections; and changes in the election code to allow for free competition.
… “Sorry, what relationship does Kudrin have to democratic movements?” wrote Vladimir Varfolomeyev, an editor at the radio station Ekho Moskvy, via Twitter. “He’s a bureaucrat who has faithfully served the regime for 10 years.” When Mr. Kudrin took the stage, he was booed by some in the crowd and cheered by others.
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Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) rebuked House Republicans yesterday for suggesting the government ![Share This icon](http://static1.firedoglake.com"/plugins/share-this/images/share-icon-16x16.gif"){kind=icon}
