Paul Krugman, "Severe Conservative Syndrome": Care to Trade a Zonk for What's Behind the Curtain?

Yes, Paul Krugman and I are in partial agreement. Yesterday, in response to Thomas Friedman's New York Times op-ed "We Need a Second Party," I wrote (http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.com/2012/02/thomas-friedman-we-need-second-party.html):

"This election's crop of Republican presidential candidates? Dismal, to put it kindly."

Today, in his New York Times op-ed entitled "Severe Conservative Syndrome" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/opinion/krugman-severe-conservative-syndrome.html?ref=opinion), Paul Krugman concludes:

"The point is that today’s dismal G.O.P. field — is there anyone who doesn’t consider it dismal? — is no accident."

Thanks, Paul. Glad to know that I'm not an "anyone." But as I also observed in so many words in yesterday's blog entry, Obama has proven himself a narcissistic opportunist, whose guiding motivation is to be re-elected. In 2008 Obama's campaign slogan was "Yes We Can"; in 2012 this slogan has morphed into "I Didn't Do It."

Krugman begins his op-ed by observing:

"Mitt Romney has a gift for words — self-destructive words. On Friday he did it again, telling the Conservative Political Action Conference that he was a 'severely conservative governor.'

As Molly Ball of The Atlantic pointed out, Mr. Romney 'described conservatism as if it were a disease.' Indeed. Mark Liberman, a linguistics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, provided a list of words that most commonly follow the adverb 'severely'; the top five, in frequency of use, are disabled, depressed, ill, limited and injured."

Although surely tempted, the politically correct "Conscience of a Liberal" did not add to Liberman's list "severely retarded."

However, notwithstanding recent gaffes, Romney, with twin degrees from Harvard, is anything but dumb. A conservative? If he still manages to eke out the Republican nomination and beats Obama in November, does anyone know what America will be getting?

Back in the 1960s, there was a television game show called "Let's Make a Deal," in which contestants sought to trade what they brought to the studio for trips, furniture, jewelry and cars hidden in boxes or behind curtains. Occasionally, contestants had the bad fortune to choose a joke prize, otherwise known as a "zonk."

Bottom line: If Romney takes the Republican nomination, will the American electorate trade a "zonk" (Obama) for what's behind the curtain? Yet another "dismal" choice.