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Paul Krugman, writing today as seen here, makes a striking observation the American half of which I hear almost every day where I live in the southern U.S.:

A middle-class European, thinking about the poor, says to himself, “There but for the grace of God go I.” A middle-class American is all too likely to think, perhaps without admitting it to himself, “Why should I be taxed to support those people?”

“Which of these [two],” Jesus is likely to say, “do you think was a neighbor to the [poor persons] who fell into the hands of [society’s] robbers?”

The true Christian response is clear, as the next verse reveals:

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Any response other than active mercy is “wanting to justify [one]self,” just like the expert in the law at the start of the story. It’s missing the mark.

We’re all neighbors on this pale blue dot. Let’s start acting like it.

NY Times: Paul Krugman: ‘[If Mr. Bush endures no backlash,] the message we’ll be sending to Americans who serve their country: If you tell the truth, your courage and sacrifice count for nothing.’

Paul Krugman’s words yesterday set in motion another juxtaposition on the teleprompter in my head:

From the day it took office, U.S. News & World Report wrote a few months ago, the Bush administration “dropped a shroud of secrecy” over the federal government. After 9/11, the administration’s secretiveness knew no limits — Americans, Ari Fleischer ominously warned, “need to watch what they say, watch what they do.” Patriotic citizens were supposed to accept the administration’s version of events, not ask awkward questions.

Paul’s column continues, building up to his observations about Richard Clarke’s revelations about the Bush Administration this week:

But something remarkable has been happening lately: more and more insiders are finding the courage to reveal the truth on issues ranging from mercury pollution — yes, Virginia, polluters do write the regulations these days, and never mind the science — to the war on terror.

It’s important, when you read the inevitable attempts to impugn the character of the latest whistle-blower, to realize just how risky it is to reveal awkward truths about the Bush administration. When Gen. Eric Shinseki told Congress that postwar Iraq would require a large occupation force, that was the end of his military career. When Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV revealed that the 2003 State of the Union speech contained information known to be false, someone in the White House destroyed his wife’s career by revealing that she was a C.I.A. operative. …

The latest insider to come forth, of course, is Richard Clarke, George Bush’s former counterterrorism czar and the author of the just-published “Against All Enemies.”

I’m not interested in playing the blame game. But I am determined to see this “shroud of secrecy” removed from my government. And I am passionate about changing our nation’s direction to one that’s just, that’s sane, that’s effective, one that doesn’t grieve the Holy Spirit so much with its hypocrisy, lies, violence, and false witness borne.

So to Paul and all these others who are steadfast and willing — at whatever cost — to rip the veil of secrecy by practicing the truth, I salute you.

In an interview with CalPundit Kevin Drum, Dr. Paul Krugman (one of my favorite New York Times writers) says concerning the difference between previous presidential lying and that of the present Bush Administration:

Excellent interview, well worth reading. (Most of the comments after the interview aren’t, though, so save your time — after the first few they’re mostly right-wing yippage from people who insist that things that are flatly not true are true, that black is white, up is down.)

Telling the truth is a virtue, despite what U.S. conservative leadership would have us believe. Spinning a web of lies is not. Promoting intellectual dishonesty is not. I very much appreciate Paul Krugman — and Joe Conason and Al Franken and others — for pointing this out skillfully and intelligently.