One of the best things that comes out of the NY Times decision to stop charging for access to its op-ed writers is that everyone has access to Paul Krugman again. Today's column, Fearing Fear Itself, is a must-read. And by must-read, I mean that reporters, pundits and people on Capitol Hill should read it, too. That crowd can't fall for the drumbeat of war with Iran like they did in 2002 with Iraq.
Krugman deconstructs the GOP campaign of fear using the made-up concept of Islamofascism, which he notes is "not an ideology; it’s a figment of the neocon imagination." And that neocon imagination is running wild -- and influencing the ideas of the GOP Presidential candidates, particularly Giuliani, Romney and Huckabee:
In the wake of 9/11, the Bush administration adopted fear-mongering as a political strategy. Instead of treating the attack as what it was — an atrocity committed by a fundamentally weak, though ruthless adversary — the administration portrayed America as a nation under threat from every direction.
Most Americans have now regained their balance. But the Republican base, which lapped up the administration’s rhetoric about the axis of evil and the war on terror, remains infected by the fear the Bushies stirred up — perhaps because fear of terrorists maps so easily into the base’s older fears, including fear of dark-skinned people in general.
And the base is looking for a candidate who shares this fear.
Just to be clear, Al Qaeda is a real threat, and so is the Iranian nuclear program. But neither of these threats frightens me as much as fear itself — the unreasoning fear that has taken over one of America’s two great political parties.
The GOP candidates and the GOP base are clamoring for war. This time around, they must be stopped. And, since the traditional media fell for the Bush/Cheney/Neocon war agenda in 2002, we'll be beating the drum to expose the war agenda this time.
