Two words: Savage Smackdown.

One of the reasons I really like Krugman's official site is that he can go off on people in a fashion that would be impossible at the NYTimes. I mean, I doubt even Raines would let Krugman say something like this:

But it took about 30 seconds for the right-wing scandal machine to pounce. Robert Rubin works for Citigroup! And he was a Clinton-era icon! So he's guilty! Off with his head! Republican operatives began sending thousands of faxes; talk radio made Rubin's sins topic # 1; and Andrew Sullivan dutifully attacked Rubin in his blog. And with amazing gullibility, the likes of Tim Noah at Slate jumped on board, without bothering to check even the most basic facts.

The big joke is that the Enron deal took place months before Rubin joined Citigroup. Oh, well, maybe he had a time machine. (Reports suggest that Sullivan does - that rather than admit to a mistake he revised his post, a big no-no in the blogging world.)

Krugman is hardly alone in hammering Sullivan et al for this, but few summarize the mighty wurlitzer so well.

Hmm... I wonder if Krugman will actually start a blog down the line, once that textbook is finished up? Now that would be a fun read.