New York Times Columnist Line of the Day

If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas “Friedman’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Lose” Friedman, Gail “The Colander” Collins, Nicholas “The Dark Crystal” Kristof, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy.

Today\’s is from Paul \”The Little Professor\” Krugman, who in today\’s column \”Sex & Drugs & the Spill,\” finds the strain of anti-government ideology from the Bush years has helped destroy the government\’s ability to respond to crises. I give you a whole graph, because one line doesn\’t suffice:

In any case, now is the time to make that break — and I don’t just mean by cleaning house at the Minerals Management Service. What really needs to change is our whole attitude toward government. For the troubles at Interior weren’t unique: they were part of a broader pattern that includes the failure of banking regulation and the transformation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a much-admired organization during the Clinton years, into a cruel joke. And the common theme in all these stories is the degradation of effective government by antigovernment ideology.

Also, as on any Monday, I exhort you to read Frank \”Red Hot\” Rich\’s column from yesterday, \”They Don\’t Report. You Don\’t Have to Decide.\” where he eviscerates the entire news industry. And, unless you really like being angry, just steer clear of Ross \”Do That Thing\” Douthat today.