It (Literally) Doesn't Pay to Be Too Far Ahead of the Curve

Paul Krugman, today:

A Party Defined by Its Lies
At this point, good people can’t be good Republicans.

Me, 12 years ago:

[In] Age of Dubya ... one can either be a Good American or a Good Republican, but one can no longer be both.

So what was the clear, bright line that kept us dirty hippies and our loud, rude opinions -- we who were right about the Right all along -- out of the public square and in a state of unemployable pariahhood all this time?

Mainstream media editorial policy.

From Paul Krugman again:

During my first year as an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times, I wasn’t allowed to use the word “lie.”

That first year coincided with the 2000 election, and George W. Bush was, in fact, being systematically dishonest about his economic proposals — saying false things about who would benefit from his tax cut and the implications of Social Security privatization. But the notion that a major party’s presidential candidate would go beyond spin to outright lies still seemed outrageous, and saying it was considered beyond the pale.

The NYT maintaining an editorial policy that protected liars is what created the fetid swamp that made David Brooks possible.

Sigh.

Behold, A Tip Jar!