The American Spectator

Reader Mail

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In response to the question David Hogberg's recently posed on your website about Paul Krugman's October 21 New York Times column: If suggesting that Mahathir's remarks are calculated to keep a good economy going is not excusing anti-Semitism, what is?

Suggesting that Mahathir's remarks are calculated to rally the support of anti-Semites is not excusing anti-Semitism. This is nonsense.

Krugman was explaining that leaders in largely Muslim countries are getting points from throwing out red meat of this sort. He wasn't condoning it. He thinks that American foreign policy is contributing to worldwide anti-Semitism.

If you want to question Krugman's column sensibly, try engaging with the actual issues he raises: Is it true that anti-Semitism worldwide has increased? Is it true that it has increased as a result of American foreign policy? Has the level of Mahathir's anti-Semitic rhetoric risen in the last two years? Does he do it more than he used to? Does he say more extreme things than he used to? Are other leaders in that part of the world using more anti-Semitic language than they were before?

Krugman could be wrong about the thesis of his column, although it seems fairly obvious to me that our recent policies have exacerbated anti-Semitism throughout the world. But the thesis of his column is not, "it's okay for Mahathir to talk like this." His thesis is, "Mahathir is talking like this because it pays for him to do so in terms of public support, and the reason it pays so well can be traced back to stupid American foreign policy."

I think Krugman should have organized his column differently, it was just too sophisticated. The New York Times, my 6th grade teacher used to say, is written at a 6th grade level. But this column is at a college level; the words are not obscure, but the logic is more complex than you usually encounter in newspaper columns. In other words, this column was written for people who already have a clue. It was clear to me reading it that it would be too easy for his enemies to mischaracterize his comments. After all, it's not the first time he's run afoul of the right-wing smear machine.

p>Suggesting that Paul Krugman would condone anti-Semitism is absurd. As he mentioned in a comment today on his website , most of his grandfather's relatives died in Treblinka. Krugman is one of the most intelligent and courageous writers of our day, and I'm sure he is getting tired of the ad hominem attacks and would welcome people wrestling with the substance of his essays for a change. br> -- Nina Mollet br> Juneau, Alaska /p>

topics:
Foreign Policy, Education, Constitution, Alaska