It’s true that Paul Krugman says some outlandish things- from heartily embracing the criminal Occupy folks to continuing to believe whole heartedly in Keynesian economics well past its sell date, Krugman is happy to beclown himself. Given the opportunity, and the Gray Lady seems to give him many of them, he never misses the chance to show off his condescending ignorance of pretty much everything. So, what corner has his quill painted him into today? He is taking Politifact to task for its “Lie of the Year.” He is outraged. Outraged! The folks in charge of fact-checking over at Politifact said that it’s not true that Republicans voted to end Medicare. This isn’t the place to discuss the merits of Politifact’s piece; you can read it and decide for yourself.
No, it’s Krugman’s wonderful hissy fit that is noteworthy.
“The answer is, of course, obvious: the people at Politifact are terrified of being considered partisan if they acknowledge the clear fact that there’s a lot more lying on one side of the political divide than on the other. So they’ve bent over backwards to appear “balanced” — and in the process made themselves useless and irrelevant.”
Well, okay, it is important to give credit where credit is due. There is a lot more lying on one side of the political divide than on the other. Not quite what Krugman meant though- Politifact certainly does have an issue with being considered partisan. As reported on these very pages, multiple times, the fact-checking website is anything but clean of partisan bias. Most of it is aimed squarely at skewering the more conservative side of the spectrum.
Which brings us to Krugman’s real issue. It’s the same thing that has caused leftists world wide to threaten patriots like Brandon Darby or denigrate those they formerly lionized like David Mamet. Once you’re on the liberal plantation, you’re there for life. If you try to espouse any view that isn’t lock step with progressive groupthink you are immediately branded an infidel with all it entails. The greatest crime to Krugman and is ilk is apostasy.
The obvious question is, “Will Politifact run back to the fold, kowtowing and apologizing like a scorned lover, or will they actually attempt to transform themselves into a truly non-partisan group who are willing to risk the ire of both sides of the political spectrum?”