Pre-un-spinning

Krugman, when he's writing in his area of expertise, writes a good column. (He writes well when he's out of his depth, too, but isn't always defensible then -- just ask Amelia.) Still, today's column is not surprising in the content (its author debunking the Bush administration's spin on and celebration of perceived decreases in the deficit), but rather its timing: before any such spin and celebration take place!

A year ago, I would have been more shocked at this; today, it seems normal. It's easy to predict how the President will choose to deal with these numbers -- just ask The Onion, whom Krugman quotes in perhaps the scariest part of the entire article. From a Jan. 18, 2001 article they ran:

"We must squander our nation's hard-won budget surplus on tax breaks for the wealthiest 15 percent," the magazine's spoof had the president-elect declare. "And, on the foreign front, we must find an enemy and defeat it."

So, why not preëmpt the budget-glorification song and dance today? Le sigh.