The Bush administration’s fiscal profligacy is beginning to prompt real divisions in Republican ranks. It should.
KRUGMAN CRITICIZES DEMOCRATS: Yes, it’s a “to-be-sure”-ism. But it’s the first time in memory that the unhinged columnist has made even the smallest gesture of equal treatment. What got into him?
MORE ON ROBESON: I’ve been reading more about Paul Robeson. I hope my criticism of his support for Stalin is seen in the context of my deep admiration for his standing up against the monstrous crimes of Jim Crow and segregation. I think he deserves honor for this alone. He was almost wilfully blind to the evils of Soviet Communism, but perhaps the brutalizing experience of many African-Americans in his lifetime provides some exculpatory context. (It makes Bayard Rustin’s liberal integrity even more striking.) I also note this:
In March, 1956, after Khrushchev outlines Stalin’s crimes against humanity, Robeson suffers an emotional collapse. Over a two-month period, he swings from a manic state to a severe depression.
He had a powerful conscience and enormous courage. But he was desperately wrong about Stalin. Pity it took Kruschev to tell him what had been obvious for decades.
The Dish 