Economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman dropped an op-ed on Monday that lies somewhere between delusional and hallucinatory — with a strong tilt to the latter.
I thought it would be both amusing and infuriating as hell to take a close look at the fallacious piece of garbage and shred it where appropriate — which is pretty much the whole thing — although I'll probably have to triage so I can limit my article to a reasonable length.
So why is Krugman "now deeply worried for America"?
Truth be told, it's a complete crock of crap but let's pretend Krugman truly believes it. In typical melodramatic Krugman fashion, he begins (emphasis, mine):
Until a few days ago, I was feeling fairly sanguine about America’s prospects. Economically, we’ve had a year of strong growth and plunging inflation — and aside from committed Republicans, who see no good, hear no good, and speak no good when a Democrat is president, Americans appear to be recognizing this progress. It has seemed increasingly likely that the nation’s good sense would prevail and democracy would survive.
"Plunging inflation."
As my colleague Nick Arama reported on January 29, while Joe Biden continues to babble (lie) about how inflation and prices are coming down, his own Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, told ABC News precisely the opposite:
I think most Americans know that prices are not likely to fall.
Um, Mr. Krugman?
Biden Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen: "I think most Americans know that prices are not likely to fall." pic.twitter.com/QM9fWa56NS
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 29, 2024
"Americans appear to recognize this progress."
Yeah, no — the opposite continues to happen.
According to a new Gallup poll, the results of which were released on February 8, less than half of Americans say they are “very satisfied” with the way things are going in their personal lives. Moreover, while 47 percent of adults expressed high satisfaction with their lives, the number has edged down three percentage points over the past year — and is only one point higher than the 2011 record low.
As I reported last Thursday, even Democrat operative James Carville admonished Biden and the Democrats not to "tell people how great the economy is." Carville suggested his party should be honest — and try to help people cope with the more than 17 percent cost of living increase under the worst president in at least modern U.S. history.
Krugman continued:
[W]atching the frenzy over President Biden’s age, I am, for the first time, profoundly concerned about the nation’s future. It now seems entirely possible that within the next year, American democracy could be irretrievably altered.
And the final blow won’t be the rise of political extremism — that rise certainly created the preconditions for disaster, but it has been part of the landscape for some time now. No, what may turn this menace into catastrophe is the way the hand-wringing over Biden’s age has overshadowed the real stakes in the 2024 election.
Oh, please. Again, yet another Democrat admonishing all of America: Don't believe your lying eyes. Biden's brain is broken, Mr. Krugman and it continues to break even more — steadily so — and the detestable part is you know just as much as we do.
As I reported on Sunday, an overwhelming majority of Americans believe Biden is too old, as witnessed by his steady decline, to run for reelection, much less serve another four years in the White House. According to a post-Hur Report, ABC News/Ipsos poll, 86 percent of Americans think Biden should step aside. Yet Krugman dismisses the concerns of nearly nine out of 10 Americans as mere "hand-wringing."
Krugman continued, saying he knows Biden's old, but...
Yes, it’s true that Biden is old, and will be even older if he wins re-election and serves out a second term. I wish that Democrats had been able to settle on a consensus successor a year or two ago and that Biden had been able to step aside in that successor’s favor without setting off an intraparty free-for-all. But speculating about whether that could have happened is beside the point now. It didn’t happen, and Biden is going to be the Democratic nominee.
Wanna bet, Paul? If so, how much? The Democrat Party would have to be even more delusional than we already know they are if they don't kick Biden to the curb — either before their national convention in August or sooner.
Krugman then launched into the "Two Bidens" shtick, suggesting that the Biden he sees behind closed doors isn't the same Biden we see shaking hands with the air, speaking to long-dead foreign leaders, getting lost on stage after he loses a fight with his teleprompter, and doing other things that scream "Senility!"
As anyone who has recently spent time with Biden (and I have) can tell you, he is in full possession of his faculties — completely lucid and with excellent grasp of detail. Of course, most voters don’t get to see him up close, and it’s on Biden’s team to address that. And yes, he speaks quietly and a bit slowly, although this is in part because of his lifetime struggle with stuttering. He also, by the way, has a sense of humor, which I think is important.
Again, please. It's on Biden's team to address that? Address what?
Dude, distance — whether "up close" or far away — is irrelevant. Joe Biden can barely put two sentences together before forgetting what he's trying to say. Yet you and your Democrat comrades want America to believe that the mumbling president turns into a sharp-as-a-tack genius with off-the-chart incisive communication skills behind closed doors? Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?
"Most important, Krugman absurdly wrote, "is that Biden has been a remarkably effective president."
By what measure? His intentionally created border crisis that continues to worsen? Bidenomics? Bidenflation? His reckless behavior in the Middle East and irresponsible handling of the never-ending Russia-Ukraine War?
After spending a couple of paragraphs obligatorily bashing Trump, Krugman closed with this:
Again, I wish this election weren’t a contest between two elderly men and worry in general about American gerontocracy. But like it or not, this is going to be a race between Biden and Trump — and somehow the lucid, well-informed candidate is getting more heat over his age than his ranting, factually challenged opponent.
Imagine that.
We have serial-lying, buck-passing Biden in the Oval Office who scares the hell out of an overwhelming majority of the American people, yet Paul Krugman derisively attacks "factually-challenged" Donald Trump.
Yeah, I'm out.
Related:
NYT's Paul Krugman Tried to Compare Joe Biden to Ronald Reagan. Any Guesses How THAT Turned Out?
Biden of All People Mocks Trump Over Mental Acuity, Trump Says 'I'll Let You Know When I Go Bad'
