by Uncola for TheBurningPlatform.com
If one ever wanted to witness a completely, beyond the pale, and over the top example of liberal hubris and condescending arrogance, one could do no better than to read Paul Krugman’s Black Friday essay published in the New York Times on November 25, 2016.
This opinion piece, entitled “The Populism Perplex”, is a perfect example of educated stupidity and how to contort oneself in order to see things the exact opposite of reality. Reading this treatise of surreality is like watching “Stranger Things” on Netflix and viewing into the nebulous world of the “Upside Down”.
Regarding the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, Krugman claims:
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by more than two million, and she would probably be president-elect if the director of the F.B.I. hadn’t laid such a heavy thumb on the scales, just days before the election. But it shouldn’t even have been close; what put Donald Trump in striking distance was overwhelming support from whites without college degrees. So what can Democrats do to win back at least some of those voters?
Rarely will one see such blatantly haughty contempt and conceited pretense in one paragraph. In the mind of Krugman and his ilk, Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party were several intellectual bridges too far this year for the unwashed and uneducated Trump supporters and deplorables, all. It was the fault of James Comey as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who deceived the plebeians and thereby stole the election from the innocent and victimized Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Oh, if only the world could be totally managed by those with post graduate degrees as well as distinguished professors of Economics perched high within their Ivory Towers and Ivy League fortresses. If only then, the world would be pure and just and true. Can you just see the bubble-minded Hollywood and D.C. Beltway Cristal and caviar crowd all nodding their heads in agreement?
Obviously, crude concepts such as honesty, morality, responsibility, accountability and law are virtues for only the uneducated in the esteem of the elite establishment today. In their minds it is they who are truly advocating on behalf of the lower castes of American society. For only they are sufficiently enlightened to guide the simple minded through the perilous minefield of geopolitics.
Now, see how Krugman resurrects the ghost of Bernie Sanders as the answer to his problems:
Recently Bernie Sanders offered an answer: Democrats should “go beyond identity politics.” What’s needed, he said, are candidates who understand that working-class incomes are down, who will “stand up to Wall Street, to the insurance companies, to the drug companies, to the fossil fuel industry.
How could the American public have failed to understand that Hillary Clinton would have courageously stood against Wall Street, the insurance companies, the drug companies and the fossil fuel industry in spite of these being primary sources of funds to her campaign? Never mind that Krugman’s own New York Times identifies Saudi Arabia as a “particularly generous benefactor” giving “between $10 million and $25 million to the Clinton Foundation.”
Next, Krugman opines regarding the stupidity of American voters and their lack of understanding concerning the loss of Appalachia’s coal mining jobs and American manufacturing jobs:
Nobody can credibly promise to bring the old jobs back; what you can promise — and Mrs. Clinton did — are things like guaranteed health care and higher minimum wages. But working-class whites overwhelmingly voted for politicians who promise to destroy those gains.
So Krugman expects American workers to accept the plunder of globalism and, with a certain fatalistic resolve, trade off the dignity of work in order to accept handouts from liberal politicians in the form of free healthcare and the forcing of employers to pay higher wages at governmental gunpoint.
Moreover, we, the stupid, are to forget about Obama’s War on Coal and the corrupt cronyism of Solyndra consuming $535 billion in taxpayer dollars or the ridiculously incompetent, ill-conceived support of wind and solar companies by the Department of Energy under the Obama administration.
And finally, poor Paul tries to make sense of it all:
The only way to make sense of what happened is to see the vote as an expression of, well, identity politics — some combination of white resentment at what voters see as favoritism toward nonwhites (even though it isn’t) and anger on the part of the less educated at liberal elites whom they imagine look down on them.
To be honest, I don’t fully understand this resentment. In particular, I don’t know why imagined liberal disdain inspires so much more anger than the very real disdain of conservatives who see the poverty of places like eastern Kentucky as a sign of the personal and moral inadequacy of their residents.
According to Krugman there is no evidence of favoritism toward nonwhites in America today and the racially motivated, “less educated” are only imagining the liberal elites “looking down on them”. In his mind, and in the collective mind of the establishment globalists, the imagined failures of liberalism are merely a scapegoat for the actual evils of ill-informed and uneducated conservatives and nationalists who dared to dream of America becoming great again.
After all, Trump is a populist Pied Pieper who lies. He lies because the problems in America cannot be fixed unless Paul Krugman of the New York Times says they can be fixed.
Of course, the voters have been deceived by Russian controlled Fake News websites and all of this is what allowed Trump’s platform of immigration and trade to deliver a historical victory in the 2016 elections.
According to Paul Krugman and the New York Times, it was all just a misunderstanding.
It is no wonder why the Establishment now wants a do over.
“Solyndra consuming $535 billion…”…..s/b million
Krugman in NY Times is preaching to his choir. Useless drivel to be consumed mostly those looking for confirmation bias.
Good catch. The Solyndra $535 billion was a typo. Was meant to be $535 million.
Admin, if you wouldn’t mind changing this for accuracy, I would appreciate it.
Solyndra, 535 million. Obamacare WEBSITE 834 million (burwell) up to 2.1 billion (bloomberg). Just for comparison, the Dallas Cowboy stadium cost a billion. An F-22 fighter cost 339 million. And Stockman wants to start balancing the budget by clawing back social security benefits from people who paid in.
Those things you listed are wasteful, yes. But if you think we can come to any semblance of a balanced budget without huge changes to SS you are deluding yourself. Yes, people paid in. And then the government wasted the money. But plundering the young and unborn to pay for their grandparents and great grandparents isn’t going to work either. We are all going to get shafted. The sooner we all realize that the better. Otherwise, we can continue on the course we are on, and all get 100% of nothing, which, in my opinion, is what will happen.
Gator, that’s stupid republican tripe. I ain’t buying it anymore than I buy the 200 trillion unfunded liabilities number. We can cut PLENTY before we push granny off the cliff. Let’s get the moochers off SSDI. Let’s get the foreigners who never paid in off social security. Let’s get the 90 million unemployed back working again. Then we can talk about granny. Social Security could be swimming in cash
Here are some numbers, Gator. In 2015, the social security system paid out 668 billion in retirement benefits. In 2015, the social security system collected 795 billion in payroll taxes. See the problem yet? They also claim to have earned 93 billion in interest, for the sake of this arguement call that bogus. The worst case scenario I could find is if we don’t push granny off the cliff, in 2035, Social Security would only be able to pay out at 77%. Don’t know about you, but I’m terrified.
“stupid republican tripe” Its been a long time since anyone has called me a republican. Lets say you are right about the 200T in unfunded liabilities that you don’t believe. Lets cut it in half, and say its 100T. That still more than the govt has any chance of paying out without massively inflating. Our debt right now is about 20T. Just a normalizing of interest rates would cripple us and bring back trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see. We are not going to see another economic boom and bring back 4-5% growth again. And its not just the federal governments debt thats a problem. State and local governments are drowning in it. Many will start to default in coming years because they can’t meet their obligations in todays interest rate environment. US consumers are also up to their eyeballs in debt, and have already overextended themselves as it is, again even with record low rates. A normalizing of rates would cripple the consumer as well, spurring a new round of bankruptcies and debt write-offs, which would weaken our already teetering house of cards banking system. I suppose you think we can keep rates at zero forever, or you really do think that there is some kind of magic debt nirvana where we can borrow our way out of this, or you believe trump is going to unleash growth like we had post WWII? None of those scenarios seem very likely to me.
Gator, not calling you a republican, calling that argument a republican argument. Debt destruction. It’s what’s for dinner. No question.
Krugman the reptile; may the mighty Russians crush him
Isn’t that the truth. Krugman has more sycophants per word published than any other economist (except that he no longer makes any pretense of being an economist, only a shill for whatever the leftist “great idea” of the week is).
Paul Krugman, like most of these IYI’s (intellectual yet idiot, as coined by Nassem Taleb) is a fraud. He is always advertised as a nobel prize winning, economist. Only problem is there is no Nobel prize for economics. There is a Nobel Memorial Prize, which was probably invented to make these second raters feel equal, intellectually, to the physicists and chemists – not!
I look forward to the demise of the MSM so that babbling buffoons like this guy are relegated to where they belong – obscurity.
There was a Spanish politician’s quote falsely attributed to Cervantes: If the dogs are barking, it’s because we are advancing.
You’ll hear these mutts yapping louder and louder.
Everybody forgets as they climb higher and higher up the slope that there is a down side ahead.
The train is fine, Paul…
Way back when I used to shop at the same place as Krugman and it would give me great amusement to crowd him into the cat food shelves as I passed him in the aisle. I did it often enough that if he saw me coming he’d put his head down and steer his little cart around the corner before I could get to him.
Good times.
I am just happy the Dems can’t figure out why they lost and that people like P.Krugman are at the helm and blowing wind in the sails to keep Dems on course to get to the edge of their flat earth world.
Chew on this little gem. These fuckers are in full blown denial. “it’s unclear whether trade benefits low-skilled workers. Anyone claiming to know is either naïve or disingenuous. But given the value of trade, it would be wise for blue-collar Republicans to accept compensatory income redistribution through progressive taxation rather than demanding heavy protectionist restrictions.” edward conrad, at NRO today. Hey edward, suck on this. See if President Yeb! gets any traction with that.
Compare this quote with the one above. Same shit. Different party. “So Krugman expects American workers to accept the plunder of globalism and, with a certain fatalistic resolve, trade off the dignity of work in order to accept handouts from liberal politicians in the form of free healthcare and the forcing of employers to pay higher wages at governmental gunpoint.” The globalists are fanatical. They don’t know anything else. They can’t conceive of anything else. It’s a fucking religion to them. All of it. Eat your peas, rednecks. Not anymore.
I am a firm believer in free speech whether one agrees with it or not,but seriously,sometimes you really just want to kill some of these people.
crush the reptile!!
I am delighted that the cluelessness of the Krugmans, NYTs and WaPos of this world will lead them astray for the next decade at least.
We don’t want to assassinate the Krugmans of this world, they will destroy themselves. We want to be rid of the Deep State, who occasionally demonstrate competence at SOMETHING.
Well said, James the deplorable wanderer. I reject the LEFT’s attack on Trump supporters. In my circle of friends and family are many well-educated folks that also supported Trump and rejected Hillary. These include folks from medicine, dentistry, Scientists, the space industry, and many other disciplines. The Progressive (stealth communist) tactic of attacking those that embrace opposing viewpoints is getting old. Besides that, many smart & educated folks admire the common-sense and bull-shit meters of the so-called uneducated. We reject your idiocy Krugman.
Krugman and those of his ilk should be on their knees thanking God that a man like Trump was elected. If Mr. Trump is unable to accomplish at least part of his program and resolve some of the grave problems confronting America then the next Trump will more closely resemble General Pinochet or the Indonesian generals. Those fellows dealt with their own Krugman’s in a rather more muscular manner, including throwing them into the sea without benefit of parachutes or turning them into chopped liver. Don’t think this has not occurred to some of the unwashed masses, Krugman. Of course, Krugman is no fool. A lying sack of shit, an incompetent “economist”, a filthy snake, yes. But no fool. He knows perfectly well that this is shaping up into a war between the real America and the rancid multicultural witches brew Krugman and his type have cooked up. He knows very well who will win in the end and what will be dished out to him and his friends. Nobody is listening to liberal assholes or Zionist apologists and agents like Krugman. His best bet is to make himself scarce and fast. Or wait for the midnight knock on the door. We have learned a thing or two from his leftist buddies.
Let us see if we can fight to break the pIZZA gATE, because
if so, 1/2 the gov will be eliminated. That is why Trump
said, “they are good people” and “they need to heal.”
I bet O briefed him, “you will not get home alive.”
Nice block quotes… lookin’ fine Uncola!
Thanks for your help. As is often the case, I was overthinking it and making it way too complicated. Why use obscure HTML symbols when a WordPress toolbar button does it with the click of the mouse. I was PaulKrugmaning the problem. That’s what it was.
Overthinking. Before I heard of that term, I never overthought anything. I simply defeated myself with perfectionism a la Stucky.
“PaulKrugmaning” That’s a new one. I like it.
As in Hey Man, don’t Paul Krugman me, buddy.
nothing is puuurfect…you are doing great Uncola…
snapping at the heels of our Mr. Quinn. Wordsmith
with Passion.
Uncola and FM, get a room.
Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. – Proverbs 26:11
They are consuming themselves. Let the feast continue! Encourage it even! 😉
Stay awake.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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Had an interesting conversation with a colleague concerning some of this. He’s at least willing to talk and listen, if not heed.
He went the the spiel: Hillary won the popular votes (I have my doubts); uneducated white folks bought the MAGA thing (perhaps people did buy into it, some were educated and some were not white — because the alternative was worse); they’re racist/sexist/islamophobic, ya ya ya.
I told him this (and it is what I believe): that he didn’t ‘get it’, this had p^^& all to do with any of those things; it had to do with a bit of old truism: you kick a dog and eventually that dog is going to turn around and bite you — you talk in pretty much genocidal terms about a group of people (and this includes minorities, any of them who wander off the rez are wearing targets from there on out, and what about the ones who have white family? there’s a few of them out there, you don’t think you’re playing with fire expecting them to give up on people they love — for your ’cause’?) and you tell them to shut up and take it, laugh when they protest, and what do you eventually expect? No amount of scraps from the table is going to take away the knowledge of what you have been saying to them, still say in fact. Some things are more important than money or benefits or even culture/society/patriotism…when the dog is starting to really hurt from those kicks, which are getting harder, and starts beginning to think it might just get kicked to death (and worse, you’ll kick its pups to death), then you’re fixing to get bit really hard. Dog’s not going to care what happens after that point; it knows it at least got one good bite in — let you know it was still alive.
He kinda got scared by that and blurted out “you’re right, we need to stop”. Maybe there’s some hope for him, but probably not.
So you see yourself as a ‘kicked dog’, do you?
And why do you suspect that dog was treated that way? Because he was nice dog?
Maybe she was just as mangy old bitch who bit people?
It’s Black Friday, not Good Friday. Why would anyone crucify themselves by reading Krugman drivel. Hopefully in three days time you will be resurrected.
Hiliary wins the popular vote only when you count illegals voting, the deceased voting, people voting multiple times, voting machines switching vote from Trump to Clinton, prisoners voting, etc. I mean look at the crowds that came to her speeches compared to Trump, its all an illusion created by MSM only it did not work this time.
It’s remarkable that someone who never pulled a democrat lever in their life turn into staunch democrats the minute they die. They say a conservative is a liberal who got mugged. By that thinking a Democrat is a Republican who died.
Krugman is not stupid but he is getting paid lot’s of money to tow the party line.I read an article on another website ( can’t remember the name of the article)that he is getting paid over 10 million dollars a year for promoting the central Banking system.He is getting paid to promote liberal economic policies.If that article was correct he is getting paid alot of money to lie.
Is he towing with a barge?
” whites without college degrees.”
Has anyone seen the phrase ” blacks without college degrees.” supporting Hillary???
Other overlooked categories:
Whites without EBT
Whites without guns
Whites without dresses
Whites without baby mommas
It’s “toe the line” as in a runner “toeing” the starting line before the race. Jenny R. hit a lot of nails on their heads. Trump has better not disappoint. Merry Christmas to all.
I love how “whites without college degrees” are STILL the medias whipping boy, even after this. As though its evil for them to vote their own self interest, unlike, say, black people or hispanics. For the record, I am white with a college degree, and see myself as having similar interests. Who do they think makes their pampered lives possible in most of the country? Who is going to show up, most of the time, when you need a plumber, and electrician, car repair, etc? Who grows the food? Most times, its a white male. Liberal society’s whipping boys make their very existence possible. This same category of people happens to own a huge % of the guns in this country. They are also tired of being pissed on and told its raining. They should thank thier lucky stars trump won. At the very least, his election probably delayed the great culling by at least a few years. These people are pissed off, trust me. RIght now they feel better because they won some small victory, got in one tiny little jab. Since I don’t buy in MAGA, since I don’t think its possible at this point, it will be short lived. Enjoy the relative calm while you can.
get extra canned goods
I am white, college-educated with multiple degrees. I voted for Trump; I have more in common with the mechanic who fixes my car than I do with Krugman. I have more in common with a German auto mechanic or a Russian soldier than I do with Krugman. I have more in common with a Thai hotel maid …..
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Well, maybe not; the Thai are a bit more forgiving than I am….[img
The liberal elitest who have never learned that people who get there hands dirty for a living are not flailing about to stupid to come out of the rain and are just waiting around to be lead like a lamb to the slaughter ! Hillary Clinton lost to thinking / working people because one thing we learn fast in what’s left of our industries is who is and is not FULL OF SHIT . The Clinton’s win on crafting a bucket of lies hidden in a barrel of shit and you notice the fruity elitest and students still incapable of perceiving or supporting life on their own support her without question ! The insults were obvious to us out here in rough hands country ! As for our racist sexist views , if spending trillions of dollars on social programs that give us terms like “baby daddy ” make people jamed up by a tax system that forces us to support stupid behavoir and listening to someone on the phone when you call a state or federal service and realize Ebonics has become a second language and supporting my wife and family make me a buckle dragging baffon and deplorable ya well Krugman FUCK YOU . I paid for my kids education to prevent them from being buried in debt like the people you support rigged up for them and I did it in spite of you assholes
You people are all full of shit !
Poor Snowflake…
One needs to understand the context of Krugman.
He was educated by highs priest in the discipline of Keynesian economics.
He became a high priest in the discipline of Keynesian economics.
He received a nobel prize in economics (nobel prize in economics established by the Swedish Central Bank (Sveriges Riksbank), not the nobel committee) essentially to provide support for the central bank grifting operation fraud of printing money out of nothing and then buying hard assets (such as mining companies, media outlets and government officials) with that fiat money. The nobel prize is the central banks’ way of justifiying their grift by rewarding various Keynesian economists who rationalize the grift, in many cases using mathematical expression. An economic version of the trade show antics of Academy Awards in hollywood.
The Keynesians and the Democrats (and many Republicans) are guilty of magical thinking.
Krugman’s life and vocation are built on a giant fraud, a Tower of Babel that distances his thought process from common sense. He doesn’t get it and can’t get it because his thought process is devoid of natural process and common sense. It is all magical thinking.
So he provides a tripe analysis and yells Onward! forever missing the forest for the trees.
At least his photograph holding his cat is amusing.
But he certainly won’t/can’t help you push your car out of the ditch.