Yes, I think Krugman nails it, taking off from the Republican Party’s current Big Lie of the Day — “drill here, drill now.”
Republicans, once hailed as the “party of ideas,” have become the party of stupid.
Now, I don’t mean that G.O.P. politicians are, on average, any dumber than their Democratic counterparts. And I certainly don’t mean to question the often frightening smarts of Republican political operatives.
What I mean, instead, is that know-nothingism — the insistence that there are simple, brute-force, instant-gratification answers to every problem, and that there’s something effeminate and weak about anyone who suggests otherwise — has become the core of Republican policy and political strategy. The party’s de facto slogan has become: “Real men don’t think things through.”
Or ask for directions (advice). Or listen to it when given. Or read briefing books. Etc. Blind faith is all that is required. And big guns.
Don’t believe that the politics of stupidity don’t work. A majority of Americans now believe approving more offshore drilling would reduce gas prices within months.