Oh... Shit! Politics.

Economics, to put it more accurately.
This was all news to me being that all the wonkery involved in the struggle to keep the Eurozone afloat hasn't been on my radar. It all seems slightly distant from me; something about thousands of miles of wave-tossed oceans and shit.
But I dropped by Larry's (Larry, the Large and Bald. Remember) today and found that he's developed a short-term man-crush on a certain, foreign head-of-state.
Apparently, Paul Krugman, the bogeyman of all the brain-dead, discredited, "Chicago School" economists, pissed off the leader of that Eastern-European powerhouse, Estonia. Said leader responded.
Larry really went for the brilliant takedown of Krugman by the president of afore-mentioned, postage-stamp sized country, one Toomas Hendrik Ilves.
And of course, all the mouth-breathing sycophants who read Larry's blog chimed in, applauding Larry's keen insight.
Of course Larry, giving due deference to the modern, know-nothing politics, didn't do much of his homework.
One of the things he praised was Ilves' seeming dissing of Princeton and Columbia Universities.
Everyone knows - I mean, it's engraved into our very being - that the only academic cred that cuts any ice is that of Utah State, Larry's alma-mater.
Thing is, ole Toomas got his bachelor's, in psychology (Now that gets some attention if you happen to be discussing macro-economics) from... wait for it... Columbia University.
He went on to get a masters, in the same discipline, but from the University of Pennsylvania.
Oh yeah, This proud Estonian, although born in Sweden (Which is obviously not Estonia. His parents were Estonian refugees. Fucker needs to show his birth certificate) he was raised in... wait for it... New Jersey.
Mayhaps this is the cause of his obvious hard-on for Princeton, a NJ institution that... he never went to. 
Anyway, Krugman pissed off this world leader by key-boarding this, mean-spirited diatribe: 
Estonian Rhapsody. 
I'm not going to provide any quotes from the above 'cause... I gave you a link. Read.
All K. was saying was: Estonia may be doing okay, relative to Greece, but that means little in the big picture.
Well, here's the payoff: Toomas has apparently never internalized the lesson  that I myself have repeatedly ignored (painfully but... I can't help myself. This missive is offered as an example):
Don't internet drunk.
Really. I can get away with it. All four people who read my blog (Hi Mom) already know that I'm a loose cannon.
What's more: I'm just a stumbling putz who tries to provide weaponry to collectors, wannabe bad-asses and others who lack good sense (I kid. I kid. I kid because I love)
So, here's my advice to "world leader" Toomas Hendrik Ilves: Give the mouse to your computer to your wife (Stanford educated) and go to bed. It'd just be better.
But... since the toothpaste is out of the tube; we may as well parse the wisdom presented by good ole' Toomas.
For the record, this guy is nothing but class.
He decided to pull the Princeton Professor's pants down... on, of all places Twitter; the Algonquin Round-Table of the internet.  
On Twitter! Could ya die? He's from "Joisey" so, what the fuck.
Anyway, he's brilliant as we'll soon see.
Hint to any Mormon, would-be examiners of the human condition: You really need to drink - a lot. That way you can look less stupid defending shit like... Toomas' Twitter ramblings.
Presented without further ado:

"Let’s write about something we know nothing about & be smug, overbearing & patronizing: after all, they’re just wogs….
 
This will be fun. I'm going to "fisk" it; just like Larry.
Fisking: the "voice of the stairs" writ large.
Of course, Krugman, silly academic, knows nothing about... economics? Or am I missing something?

Guess a Nobel in trade means you can pontificate on fiscal matters & declare my country a “wasteland”. Must be a Princeton vs Columbia thing.




Did Princeton blow off your application?
It that what this is about?

But yes, what do we know? We’re just dumb & silly East Europeans. Unenlightened. Someday we too will understand. Nostra culpa.


Whoa! Check out the big brain on Toomas!
A Latin term no less!  I'm guessing it means something along the lines of "our guilt/responsibility."
Impressive. Just what I'd expect from a guy with a Master's in Psychology from a state university.
And hey, fuckhead, you're only slightly more Eastern European than I am Scottish.
Get over yourself.


Let’s sh*t on East Europeans: their English is bad, won’t respond & actually do what they’ve agreed to & reelect govts that are responsible.


I don't know whose English is bad. You're drunker than a peach-orchard boar but your spelling and punctuation are good enough to make you intelligible. I'd hire you as a drunk Tweeter in a hot second.

Chill. Just because my country’s policy runs against the Received Wisdom & I object doesn’t mean y’all gotta follow me….


Oh boy... Sorry Homie, you're just a tad less than a month older than me and both of us lack a year on the K-man.
If you're trying to be taken seriously, don't use slang from two generations younger than you.
Overlooking the George Hill, selective capitalization... I think you may be meaning "perceived wisdom" but I could be wrong.
No matter. Neither "received" not "wisdom" are proper nouns... Stupid.

Sorry, not conserv. or leftist. Just can’t fathom why following agreed upon EU fiscal rules justifies smug & snide gloating re: my country.


Toomas, go to bed!

Above all, even his most voluminous writings assert that the public sector must grow, be indebted and foster state-sponsored jobs…Estonia is a problem for Krugman because Estonia doesn’t fit into his theoretical model.


No, Toomas, the theoretical model doesn't fit because, Estonia, no disrespect intended, is a tiny, little country.
It's as if I went to GM and told them "My daughter had a lemonade stand and the business model she followed, if you adopted it, could really pull your asses out of the crack."
It's a matter of scale.
While Estonia is fully four times the size of Lane County (where I live and move and have my being) it's is a country, not just a county... in a country.
Better yet, consider your population, 1.3 million and change.
Here's a link to the top twenty cities vis-a-vis population, worldwide.
Note; the very bottom of the list, London, has more folks in it than five of your countries.
Hell, you could fly all your citizens into LA (Provided it's not tourist season) and find hotel rooms for all of them. You may have to go as far north as Malibu but my point is made.
And Toomas, help is out there. Google "AA Estonia".
They'd be glad to have you.
No judgment, Homes.
Okay, if you've stuck it out this far, you deserve some compensation.
Following my sorry rationale of "I can't help but point out how stupid some conservatives are" I present:
One of the greatest girl-groups that no one has heard of... Darlene Love and the Blossoms.