Economist Paul Krugman warned of a new “axis of evil” this week that includes Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the U.S.
Former President George W. Bush once spoke of Iran, Iraq and North Korea as an “axis of evil” due to the actions of dictatorial regimes, long trains of humanitarian abuses and gulags. The new trifecta of evil, Mr. Krugman says, earn the designation for resisting reports on the severity of climate change.
“There’s a new axis of evil: Russia, Saudi Arabia — and the United States,” the New York Times columnist tweeted Monday while sharing a piece by The Washington Post.
“Arguments erupted Saturday night before a United Nations working group focused on science and technology, where the United States teamed with Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait to challenge language that would have welcomed the findings of the landmark report, which said that the world has barely 10 years to cut carbon emissions by nearly half to avoid catastrophic warming,” the Post wrote Dec. 9.
“’There was going to be an agreement to welcome the … report,’ said Jake Schmidt, the managing director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s international program, who is in Poland,” the piece continued. “’The U.S. wanted to ’note’ it, which is saying in essence that we know it’s out there but we have no comment.’”
Mr. Krugman buttressed his stance with an op-ed titled “The G.O.P. Goes Full Authoritarian.”
“The fact is that the G.O.P., as currently constituted, is willing to do whatever it takes to seize and hold power,” Mr. Krugman wrote Monday. “And as long as that remains true, and Republicans remain politically competitive, we will be one election away from losing democracy in America.”
The economist claimed that “voter purges and deliberate restriction of minority access to the polls have become standard practice in much of America.” He also accused Republican lawmakers at state levels — and only Republicans — of “extreme gerrymandering.”
The conservative media watchdog NewsBusters called his analysis for the newspaper “absurd on multiple levels.”
“Democratic-controlled districts [in Wisconsin] (as elsewhere in the United States) tend to be very politically homogenous,” NewsBusters wrote Wednesday. “So, Democrats may very well rack up a lot of votes in those areas — thusly inflating some imaginary statewide popular vote for the Assembly — without ultimately helping out Democrats running in more politically competitive or Republican-supporting districts. No secret authoritarianism is needed as an explanation.
There’s a new axis of evil: Russia, Saudi Arabia — and the United States https://t.co/rcJup3b1m0
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) December 10, 2018
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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