When an insane man killed six people and shot Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in the head, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman explained that this was “right-wing extremism” simply “taken to the next level.”
That Jared Loughner was schizophrenic and completely divorced from any actual political debate – on the Right or elsewhere – somehow never bothered Krugman. Facts matter little to those who possess a “deeper truth.” And to Paul Krugman, the “deeper truth” is that the American Right alternates between utterly stupid and thoroughly evil.
There’s been another high-profile shooting – the killing of Trayvon Martin – and so Krugman has again weighed in, blaming the Right. No, not the stupid Right – not the “ignorant yahoos” as he puts it – but the bought-off corporate Right.
Krugman’s piece is either a non-sequitur series of slurs against conservatives, or – if it has anything resembling an argument — it’s this conspiracy theory:
- The American Legislative Exchange Council pushed the Stand Your Ground laws.
- ALEC is funded by private prison industries, which “has a financial stake in anything that sends more people into the courts and the prison.”
- And therefore, ALEC is doing the bidding of the prison industries.
You probably see the problem with this argument: the conclusion is the opposite of the one that the first two points would imply. If Stand Your Ground is problematic, it’s because it makes it too hard to send someone to prison for shooting someone else. Why would a prison industry dependent on a higher prison population push a law that reduces the prison population?
I happen to find ALEC’s closeness with coporate America troubling.
I also happen to think the private prison industry is problematic, because it is a monied interest profiting from laws that add to overcriminalization.
The last thing I would blame this industry for, however, is a law that lets shooters off the hook.
But again, Krugman is echoing “deeper truths.”
