We are, or at least we used to be, a nation of moral ideals. In the past, our government has sometimes done an imperfect job of upholding those ideals. But never before have our leaders so utterly betrayed everything our nation stands for. “This government does not torture people,” declared former President Bush, but it did, and all the world knows it.

well, i agree with krugman's conclusion, but not the argument, exactly. remember, let's see, the legalization of slavery in the constitution, the fugitive slave law, dred scott decision, plessy v ferguson? remember indian treaties, the seminole wars, the trail of tears, slaughtering people for dancing? seeing what happens when you don't treat syphilis? blowing away the entire populations of hiroshima and nagasaki? or destroying the village in order to save it? there are ideals here, and actually i think the cause of human freedom owes america a debt. but there's no use saying we were a beautiful, idealistic people before 2001. it's an intensely equivocal heritage.