To the Editor:
I must take issue with “The Politics of Spite,” by Paul Krugman (column, Oct. 5), in which he argues that the modern Republican Party has the “emotional maturity of a bratty 13-year-old.”
I agree that the Republican Party today is in many ways the embodiment of a legacy of lies and fear-mongering promulgated by Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich. It seems that the Republican platform has been reduced to knee-jerk opposition to any proposal that might benefit our current president, even if it would help most Americans.
But as a middle school teacher for 25 years, I have to protest that even bratty 13-year-olds are not this thoughtless, petty or spiteful.
Huntington Lyman
Middleburg, Va., Oct. 5, 2009
To the Editor:
Paul Krugman claims, “If Republicans think something might be good for the president, they’re against it—whether or not it’s good for America.”
But let’s not forget that many Democrats were hoping that the surge in Iraq would fail because if it succeeded in turning the war around, as it did, that might redound to President George W. Bush’s credit.
Mr. Krugman’s generalizations about Republicans are no more fair than would be such generalizations about Democrats based on those who hoped the surge would fail.
Steven R. Gerber
New York, Oct. 5, 2009
Note from KBJ: For eight long years, Democrats (including Bush-Hatin' Paul Krugman) rooted against George W. Bush, even when it hurt this country. The only people who are entitled to complain now are those who complained then. Anyone else who complains is a hypocrite, and hypocrites should be ignored.
Note 2 from KBJ: I challenge the first letter writer to cite one instance in which either Newt Gingrich or Rush Limbaugh lied. Just one lie, that's all I ask. And please remember that a lie is more than a falsehood. It is a falsehood uttered with intent to deceive.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 