The Conscience of a Liberal

In the current ascendancy of an unchecked leftist federalism, I was curious to hear some arguments from noted leftist thinkers. Paul Krugman's name is hard to miss, frequently mentioned in opinion journals as a leading economist and thinker (not to mention a former Enron executive). While I come from the other end of the political spectrum, I always appreciate a good rigorous...more

In the current ascendancy of an unchecked leftist federalism, I was curious to hear some arguments from noted leftist thinkers. Paul Krugman's name is hard to miss, frequently mentioned in opinion journals as a leading economist and thinker (not to mention a former Enron executive). While I come from the other end of the political spectrum, I always appreciate a good rigorous challenge, but the author offers little. The book is a frustrating read, and not because of diametric positions. I was hoping for intellectual engagement but found little. There's a lot of content but a good deal of it is specious, misleading or outright dissembling. Here is his essential premise: "movement conservatism" his phrase for people who identify themselves as conservative, rose through a collusion of money, racism, demagoguery, and criminal behavior. However, the author offers specious evidence: disparate events, guilt-by-proxy, and non-sequiturs pass as concrete evidence for shocking claims. Indeed, the book devolves into shrill nonsense, as Krugman finds conspiracies where there are clearly none. Better thinkers have persuasively critiqued the book, one good example is James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal's "Best of the Web" column <http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110010854> I kept an open mind but was punished for my efforts. This is a book whose target is vindication for the believer, not clarification, persuasion or elucidation.   hide