The Wager: Can I Make Paul Krugman Lose His Liberalism in Less Than an Hour?

Here's the wager: Can I make Paul "The Conscience of a Liberal" Krugman lose his liberalism in less than an hour? Of course, there are conditions attached: I will need to transport the professor away from the ivied halls of Princeton to the wilds of Iran in order to witness the forthcoming execution of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, whose picture appears to the left. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, convicted of adultery by the Islamic Republic of Iran, has been sentenced to death by stoning, unless Iran's benevolent judiciary decides merely to hang her or otherwise reduce her sentence as the result of world outrage. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani confessed to this "crime" after 99 lashes, but subsequently declared her innocence.

Paul, just so you know, stonings are performed with relatively small rocks, so the victim, buried almost up to her neck, will feel prolonged pain and will not lose consciousness after being hit in the head by a single stone. Yes, there's blood, an eyeball may be detached from its socket, and often the children, who are forced to watch the execution of their mother, swoon, but if all goes as expected, it should be over within the space of an hour, after which I can drive you back to Imam Khomeini International Airport and then put you on a plane to JFK.

As I mentioned, the possibility exists that the Islamic Republic of Iran will bow to international pressure and commute the sentence, in which case allow me alternatively to suggest that we stop in Saudi Arabia, where we might be lucky enough to witness the decapitation of a person convicted of robbery and the subsequent crucifixion of his body.

Of course, there is no knowing for sure when the next armed robbery will take place in Saudi Arabia, so as a stopgap measure, we can also visit Turkey, Jordan and Gaza, where we are certain to be able to witness the aftermath of several honor killings perpetrated by family members against their mothers, sisters or daughters, who might have been foolish enough to have used a cell phone to call someone outside of the family, or have committed some other horrifying action that has forever sullied the reputation of their men folk.

And after you have partaken in one or more of these "events", I will ask you again whether you still want that mosque built in what were once the shadows of the World Trade Center (http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/bad-for-the-jews/) without first asking who is financing the extravaganza and what form of Islam is to be preached there. You may know a lot about economics, Paul, but have you studied Wahhabism or some of the more radical forms of Shiite Islam? They aren't exactly Ethical Culture.

But forgive my rudeness if I ask how it is that liberals like Maureen "Loosey Goosey Saudi" Dowd (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/opinion/03dowd.html), Roger "Iran is not totalitarian" Cohen (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/opinion/01iht-edcohen.1.20503279.html), Nicholas "End the Siege of Gaza" Kristof (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/opinion/04kristof.html?ref=nicholasdkristof) and you haven't seen fit to write a column about poor Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani in The New York Times? Is this too unpleasant, or simply not in keeping with current liberal thought?

If it were up to me, I would say it was indeed a matter of conscience, liberal or otherwise.