Krugman writes: "How many of our professional pundits - people who should have understood very well what was happening - took the easy way out, turning a blind eye to the corruption and lending their support to the hijacking of the atrocity?"
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld testifies before the federal panel reviewing the September 11 attacks in Washington, DC, 03/23/04. (photo: Gerald Herbert/AP)
12 September 11
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tweeted his outrage over a Paul Krugman blog titled 'The Years of Shame.' Rumsfeld's tweet: 'After reading Krugman's repugnant piece on 9/11, I cancelled my subscription to the New York Times this AM.' Rumsfeld reportedly tweets for himself. See the full text of Krugman's blog below. -- JPS/RSN
The Years of Shame
s it just me, or are the 9/11 commemorations oddly subdued?
Actually, I don't think it's me, and it's not really that odd.
What happened after 9/11 - and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not - was deeply shameful. The atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons.
A lot of other people behaved badly. How many of our professional pundits - people who should have understood very well what was happening - took the easy way out, turning a blind eye to the corruption and lending their support to the hijacking of the atrocity?
The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it.
I'm not going to allow comments on this post, for obvious reasons.