The term "blood libel" has been used by a number of conservative pundits -- such as Glenn Reynolds, writing in the Wall Street Journal Monday -- to reject liberal criticism as part of the fierce debate that has raged these past few days over what constitutes responsible political speech. But it is nonetheless a term with a specific historic meaning that sits uncomfortably in Palin's video and is bound to open the former Alaska governor to a fresh round of criticism, distracting from the rest of her message in the video. The blood libel is an anti-Semitic myth dating to the middle ages that Jews murder Christian children to use their blood in religious ceremonies; it served as the basis for centuries of genocidal persecution. ...Garance Franke Ruta
No one can accuse Sarah Palin of being graceful in her downslide. Anyone else noticed that everything Palin says and does is, ultimately, about Sarah Palin, about the politics of personal convenience?
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Paul Krugman has been experiencing some personal insults lately coming from the right. Some insults turn up in comments at his blog where he responds with this (among other reactions):
Get your insults right. There is, I believe, a fair bit of evidence against the hypothesis that I’m stupid. What you mean to say is that I’m evil.
One thing is for sure: the left has a sense of humor. Am I implying that the right doesn't? Yes, I am implying that the right doesn't!
Elsewhere Krugman explains why sex is necessary.
