I'm right I'm right I'm right I'm right I'm right

Via Ezra Klein, a blog post in the Economist that has the exact same explanation as I do for why Krugman gets on Obama's case so much. Namely, that Krugman decided long ago that American politics was all about race, and thus believes a black man can never win. And since the Economist is always right (as we all know), I must also be right. Boo-yah!

What I find startling is that Krugman would try to be all tricky-sneaky and conceal his real reason for opposing Obama behind a bunch of wonky health-policy nitpicks. Is this an economist thing? Lots of economists believe strongly in free trade, for example, and then argue for it using silly arguments they don't really believe, because they think the public is too dumb to understand the real ideas. Do people believe the economists' dumbed-down straw-man arguments? No. They just start to believe economists are just a bunch of political hacks. Which is what a lot of people are starting to think about Krugman.

Why doesn't Krugman come right out and say "I think America is still too racist to elect a black man"? That's how the marketplace of ideas works, dude. Say what you think, say why you think it, let people make up their minds. Otherwise you're being arrogant and ineffective at the same time.