openeyes

Has anyone seen the column by Paul Krugman in today's New York Times? It's titled "Gotta Have Faith" and talks about Bush's actions last week concerning faith-based initiatives and the furor over Trent Lott's unsurprising remarks. He ends it by saying "And then, years from now, when it becomes clear that much public policy has been driven by a hard-line fundamentalist agenda, people will say "But noboby told us." I think it's a very insightful essay.

Tom Sawyer

Here's the link for it:

<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/17/opinion/17KRUG.html" target="_blank">NY Times Article</a>

It is a very good essay.

The Admiral

I would like to read it but I don't want to fill out the membership form. I suppose it can't be printed here due to copywrite?

The Admiral

simian

In a few days, it may be put <a href="http://www.wws.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/" target="_blank">here</a>, assuming it is the same Paul Krugman.

Simian

The Admiral

Here is a copy of a letter I just sent to the local paper. I don't know if they will print it but they almost always do. This one is a little over the max length of 250 words but they violate their own rule frequently.


Steve Lovejoy
Dec. 14, 2002


It was a grand experiment, but it’s over. Ignorance and superstition have once again triumphed over Science and Rationality. The lights grow dim, the thinker retires to her cave. The Priest, Shaman, Medicine Man and Snake Oil salesman reign supreme. The credulous self deluded who comprise the vast majority of the human race heave a sigh of relief and relax in front of their television sets. God is in its heaven, all is right with the world. George Bush is in the White House and his apostle, John Ashcroft sits at his right hand. Jesus of Nazareth is proclaimed to be the worlds greatest philosopher. Billions of dollars of tax payer money , with no oversight required, are rained upon “Faith Based Organizations” by fiat of George Bush while a brainless gutless congress sits by concerned only with their own individual welfare.

The founders of this country initiated a radical experiment. They envisioned a country in which religion was to be perfectly free and protected from government interference. Every person would be free to practice any religion they chose provided they did no harm to others. It was expected each religion would pay for its own sustenance, that no one would be taxed to support any religion and that no religious test would be required for public office.

Unfortunately, they left some loopholes, and the wiley serpent of religion took full advantage of them. Today, not only is religion directly subsidized to an amount that none of us can even conceive, but all the propaganda services of the government are at its disposal. Billy Graham, a man so ignorant that he really believes what he preaches has been an honored guest in the white House of every president since Truman.

It aint over til its over, but when its over, its over. And its over. Goodbye Democracy, though you were honored largely in the breach, at least you were honored.

Hello Theocracy, though you have been a stranger to these shores you have found your champion, George W. Bush.

David L. Nelson
3944 Chicory Rd.

muon

I don't understand. You don't post here under your real name. Why not fill out the NYTimes form with false info as well? Or is there some other reason not to fill out the membership form?

The Admiral

Actually, I just did post under my real name. Good question though, why not?

Dave(The Admiral)Nelson

The Admiral

Thanks simian, I bookmarked the site.

The admiral

Carlos

Krugman's columns are always interesting. He is that economist at Princeton whose page simian linked to. That page includes a link to <a href="http://www.pkarchive.org" target="_blank">The Unofficial Paul Krugman Archive</a>, where, among other things, you can find the <a href="http://www.pkarchive.org/column/121702.html" target="_blank">current article</a>.

[ December 17, 2002: Message edited by: Carlos ]</p>

Toto

That's the idea. Filling out the registration is free, but you give a certain amount of marketing information to the New York Times. You can sign up your cat, claim that he has an income of $5,000 a year and has 16 children, and the marketers will not bother you.