Prematurely right

Prematurely right

by digby

Paul Krugman observes an important political phenomenon:

This is actually a fairly familiar thing from my years as a pundit: the surest way to get branded as not Serious is to figure things out too soon. To be considered credible on politics you have to have considered Bush a great leader, and not realized until Katrina that he was a disaster; to be considered credible on national security you have to have supported the Iraq War, and not realized until 2005 that it was a terrible mistake; to be credible on economics you have to have regarded Greenspan as a great mind, and not become disillusioned until 2007 or maybe 2008.

He’s right, of course. And it goes back a long way. I don’t know how long, but I do recall that leftists who joined the Spanish civil war against the fascists were excoriated at the time and later dubbed “premature anti-fascists.” Being right too early is never fully forgiven, I’m afraid. Perhaps the next question is why this is always aimed at the left?

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