DISQUS

I have liked Krugman's rhetoric less as time goes on--during the Bush years, it seemed as if his targets were more focused. Now he often seems to be swinging wildly.

However, Crook's initial attack on Krugman, that he was advocating protectionism because he followed the liberal wing of the Democratic party, was indefensible. First, that sort of speculation about motives is common enough, but still a low blow. If Crook can lead with that sort of charge, it's not exactly surprising that Krugman will react angrily.

Second, it is clear in reading Krugman's post that it is not meant to undermine the well-established arguments against free trade, arguments that made Obama, to take just one example, look bad during the presidential campaign.

Third, and most importantly, Krugman argues that even if the case he's presented is accurate, free trade is such an important issue that abandoning the progress we've made on it would be unacceptable. And he says that we should not abandon free trade even if it would mean giving up on a temporary source of economic stimulus.

Frankly, I can see why Krugman might be annoyed that he'd been called a protectionist shill for the Democratic party. He could've been more polite, but he'd been accused of acting in bad faith. Crook's polite reply smells a lot like that kid in elementary school who started fights but acted like an angel in front of the teacher.

Just to make sure, the contrasting photos you're using aren't the kind that are designed to show people without color blindness what it's like to have the condition.

I ask because the silhouettes for left 4 dead are much easier for me to see in color blind mode than regular mode, although I have done perfectly on several color blindness tests. In particular, the silhouette through the wall is almost invisible, as the crosshairs are pretty bad too. I'd probably play in color blind mode if I played the game.