This moment of absolute jaw-dropping "Don't they know he's, you know, JEWISH?" shock brought to you by the right-wing noise machine.
Over the last couple of days, I’ve been getting mail accusing me of consorting with Nazis. My immediate reaction was, what the heck? Then it clicked: the right wing is mounting a full-court press to portray Occupy Wall Street as an anti-Semitic movement, based, as far as I can tell, on one guy with a sign.
Krugblog
OK, so now we all point and laugh at the Godwin violation. Done? Good.
Because Krugman goes on about deeper meaning, and I'd like to invite you below the Orange Squiggle of Power to discuss same.
The key to understanding this, I’d suggest, is that movement conservatism has become a closed, inward-looking universe in which you get points not by sounding reasonable to uncommitted outsiders — although there are a few designated pundits who play that role professionally — but by outdoing your fellow movement members in zeal.
... SNIP ...
Many members of the commentariat don’t want to face up to the fact that this is what American politics has become; they cling to the notion that there are gentlemanly elder statesmen on the right who would come to the fore if only Obama said the right words. But the fact is that nobody on that side of the political spectrum wants to or can make deals with the Islamic atheist anti-military warmonger in the White House.
As further examples:
Rick Perry's tax plan, as diaried by Avenging Angel and Jed Lewison.
Herman Cain's tax plan as diaried by ... well, nearly all of us.
The ongoing panic regarding sharia law - this one is by Shawn Russell and is noteworthy because it ties into OWS.
The fact that Michele Bachmann briefly led in some national polls for the GOP nomination for President. Yes, of the United States.
James Inhofe and climate science.
Rush Limbaugh and the Lord's Resistance Army.
That should be enough. These are not fringe people. These are leading candidates for the GOP Presidential nomination, leading figures on important topics; and Limbaugh remains the single most powerful voice in the party.
And they don't care if what they say has any objective reality at all. They don't care how much they lie. No one can call them liars and be believed by those who have bought into their lies.
A while back someone did research into bias and discovered that conservatives are more likely to believe something after it has been proven false - if the article describing the proof is in the New York Times.
Where there is no truth there is no reason. Where there is no reason there is no compromise. The GOP as currently constituted can no more participate in governing than a two year old in the midst of a tantrum.
2:36 PM PT: Forgot the obligatory link.
Onion