Krugman: Conservatives Are Such Jokers

[RamboLiberal]

In 1960, John F. Kennedy, who had been shocked by the hunger he saw in West Virginia, made the fight against hunger a theme of his presidential campaign. After his election he created the modern food stamp program, which today helps millions of Americans get enough to eat.

But Ronald Reagan thought the issue of hunger in the world’s richest nation was nothing but a big joke. Here’s what Reagan said in his famous 1964 speech “A Time for Choosing,” which made him a national political figure: “We were told four years ago that 17 million people went to bed hungry each night. Well, that was probably true. They were all on a diet.”

Today’s leading conservatives are Reagan’s heirs. If you’re poor, if you don’t have health insurance, if you’re sick — well, they don’t think it’s a serious issue. In fact, they think it’s funny.

On Wednesday, President Bush vetoed legislation that would have expanded S-chip, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, providing health insurance to an estimated 3.8 million children who would otherwise lack coverage.

In anticipation of the veto, William Kristol, the editor of The Weekly Standard, had this to say: “First of all, whenever I hear anything described as a heartless assault on our children, I tend to think it’s a good idea. I’m happy that the president’s willing to do something bad for the kids.” Heh-heh-heh.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/opinion/05krugman.html?hp

[kurth]

1. And Child Abusers

"I’m happy that the president’s willing to do something bad for the kids”?
Goddamned asshole.

[Mythsaje]

2. Reagan considered ketchup a vegetable...

In all fairness, at the time, Reagan was pretty much a head of cabbage himself.

[rusty quoin]

3. They were all on a diet.”

That is obscene!

[Gregorian]

5. My dad used to quote that when I was growing up.

I just remembered that when reading this. He used it as a reference to the insanity of conservatives. I didn't know how lucky I was.

Now they're calling it something like "food insecurity"? Jokers from hell!

[trusty elf]

6. As I recall, Reagan also said

"There is no law saying the negro has to live in Harlem or Watts."


I wonder if he was puzzled by that. Imagine those dumb poor people prefering to live in slums instead of in Beverly Hills. Oh well, it's a free country.

[Fly by night]

10. he also said "once you've seen one redwood, you've seen them all".

Actually, that's a paraphrase. What he actually said was: "... you know, a tree is a tree. How many more do you need to look at?"

That was when he was supporting major logging operations in California's redwood forests and suggesting that a redwood be mounted on a tractor-trailer truck in case anyone wanted to see one. (I've never seen a 200+ foot long tractor-trailer truck, but hey, I've never been in the movies either.)

I don't care how charming Reagan was. He was an ignoramus and a putz -- and the first in a line of idiot-kings foisted on us by the Rethugligans. To lead that party, you must either be stupid, naive or immoral -- with the Smirking Chimp, we got all three.

[spag68]

4. Reagan was no more POTUS

then bush is.

[johan helge]

7. All this makes you wonder about American voters

- I'm Norwegian - why do half of them vote for such heartless, ghastly people?

Is it because the US has so many blacks, and many vote for the anti-black party, no matter what? Is it that money is so much more important in US politics than in Europe, because of the TV ads in the US?

[Enthusiast]

8. Johan,

Johan, you have something there. The GOP is the party of bigots, no question about that. It's bigotry against other races, homosexuals and the poor. The attitude is that the poor are poor because they made bad life choices so they deserve scorn. Oddly enough most of the people that hold these views consider themselves Christians.

[johan helge]

9. And the US is a young country

Yes, I talked to a young American once, who voted Republican. He resented that society put a roof over the head of homeless people. But I liked him, he just had a very different way of thinking. Of course, solidarity is weaker in a country as young as the US, where you share blood only with the minority coming from the same country as yourself.

[Don Davis]

11. THE ULTIMATE JOKER (Steve Miller Does Dubya)

http://satiricalpolitical.com/?p=219

[BridgeTheGap]

12. Who said this?

"Not all conservatives are stupid people but all stupid people are conservative."

[enki23]

13. that's probably a paraphrase of J.S. Mill

I never meant to say that the Conservatives are generally stupid. I meant to say that stupid people are generally Conservative. I believe that is so obviously and universally admitted a principle that I hardly think any gentleman will deny it.
* Letter to the Conservative MP, Sir John Pakington (March 1866)