Quote without Comment:"The more pressing question, is . . . whether we will begin to re-evaluate the piercing pitch of our political debate in the wake of Saturday’s [Arizona] shooting."
--Matt Bai, New York Times, 1.8.11
"If sane Republicans do not stand up to this Hezbollah faction in their midst, the Tea Party will take the G.O.P. on a suicide mission." [emphasis added]
--Thomas Friedman, New York Times, 7.26.11
"I [blame] the Republicans for the needless debt-ceiling fracas, especially the Tea Party-era House Republicans . . . The debt-ceiling showdown represents hostage-taking, plain and simple."
--James Fallows, Atlantic, 7.28.11
"The facts of the crisis over the debt ceiling aren’t complicated. Republicans have, in effect, taken America hostage." [emphasis added]
--Paul Krugman, New York Times, 7.28.11
2 comments:
Wall Street Journal Editorial today (8/1/11):
The debt ceiling is a political hostage the GOP could never afford to shoot, and this deal is about the best Republicans could have hoped for given that the limit had to be raised.... Sooner or later the GOP had to give up the hostage.
So I guess we all agree now: The Republican Party took the US economy hostage, and as a result, won more concessions out of the President than they could ever have hoped for otherwise; that is, the hostage-taking tactic was politically effective.
What we appear to disagree about is the morality of that hostage-taking - commonly treated as a tactic of terrorism - which some of us (but only some of us) find repugnant.
Cheers,
Derek
Thank you for your comment!
Actually, my problem is with the language--calling one's political opponents "Hezbollah" on a "suicide mission" and "hostage takers." Bai was right in January at the time of the Gabby Giffords shooting to caution against overuse of such language. It's just as offensive when the Wall Street Journal does it (thanks for the example) as when the New York Times or Atlantic do it.
Great, by the way, to have Giffords back in Congress and voting. A very touching moment.
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