Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman decided to mark the occasion with a New York Times op-ed titled “The Years of Shame,†calling Rudy Giuliani and George W. Bush “fake heroes.â€
Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
@WiL
In it, Krugman writes of 9/11:
“The atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons.†He goes on to say that “the memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame.â€
On Monday’s America Live, pundits from both sides of the aisle reacted. Brad Blakeman, former deputy assistant to George W. Bush, called Krugman a coward and a “hack†for his remarks, saying that the journalist has “absolutely no regard for any members who suffered that day.â€
“He should be fired,†Blakeman said. “He doesn’t speak for 9/11 victims … I lost a nephew on that day – a first responder who was killed saving people. He certainly doesn’t speak for me; 9/11 is not a phony event for me.â€
Blakeman called out his own service to the country in government, asking where Paul Krugman was in the years after 9/11.
“What the hell did he ever do except spew hate without any basis in fact? I saw what President George W. Bush did for this country – I was there; I observed it,†he said. “I also saw what Rudy Giuliani did. He was a mayor at the time – not only for America, but for New York city – when they needed him the most.â€
Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink, came out in defense of Krugman, saying she agrees with his categorization of the years after September 11 as “years of shame.†Benjamin said 9/11 was used to justify two “unjust wars,†bloat the Pentagon budget and fatten the pockets of defense contractors, and condone torture – all of which have sullied the reputation of the United States around the globe.
FOX
A War Criminal and an utter failure and crook. He’s just calling a duck a duck. People are easily blinded by all this “patriotism”. A piece like this shouldn’t even come close to being taboo anymore.
Finally a real article. I agree with you 100% James. After researching the events of 9/11 I’ve been having this exact conversation with ppl. I wish everyone would take their heads out of kim kardashians ass for a second and realize wtf is going on in this country. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice – they should all be charged with war crimes. In fact, I actually believe that 9/11 was a false flag op. Bush was dying to go to war and what better way than to start a “war on terror”. sucks that you can’t openly discuss these things bc you’re automatically ridiculed for not being “patriotic”. Its an ultra sensetive subject bc so many innocent lives were taken.smh