It’s Official
by tristero
The New York Times itself called Paul Krugman shrill, going so far as to compare him to Limbaugh:
Like the rants of Rush Limbaugh or the films of Michael Moore, Krugman’s shrill polemic may hearten the faithful, but it will do little to persuade the unconvinced or to advance the national discussion of the important issues it addresses.
And the reviewer complains Krugman’s book is “factually shaky.” These are the only two shaky facts the reviewer deemed important enough to mention:
(Kansas, whatever its other crimes and misdemeanors, is not customarily regarded as the birthplace of Prohibition; the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965, not 1964.)
True enough, The Voting Rights Act passed in 1965. As for Kansas being the birthplace of Prohibition or not, that is an opinion, not a fact. It may be a shaky opinion, but the fact is that:
In 1881, Kansas became the first state to outlaw alcoholic beverages in its Constitution, with Carrie Nation gaining notoriety for enforcing the provision herself by walking into saloons, scolding customers, and using her hatchet to destroy bottles of liquor. Other activists enforced the cause by entering saloons, singing, praying, and urging saloon keepers to stop selling alcohol.[4] Many other states, especially in the South, also enacted prohibition, along with many individual counties.
I think you know what to do.
[Update: I am very happy to have an opportunity to let you know that there’s a bit of a mutual admiration society going on around here. I don’t think Digby’s noted this comment publicly so in case you missed it, from Krugman’s blog :
The blogger Digby – who is, by the way, one of the best writers you’ll ever encounter, on or off the Internet…
I think the most appropriate comment to that is to answer in blogspeak:
What Krugman says. ]