There's something to Alex Massie's shot at me here: Progressives sure seem a lot less enthused by Europe's contrariness on stimulus than they did when Europe was resisting the Iraq War. "Once upon a time - and not so long ago neither - Democrats thought it was important for friends to speak candidly to friends and stand up for what they thought was right," writes Massie. "Now? Not so much." But Massie is conflating two arguments here. There was one argument about whether Europe was right abut the Iraq War. Progressives thought they were and were pleased to see them standing against America's charge. And there was another argument about how to handle European disagreement. Conservatives thought there should be diplomatic reprisals and a general chilling of the Atlantic partnership. Progressives disagreed. I know a lot of progressives concerned that Germany is making a dangerous mistake in refusing to increase its stimulus spending. But I don't know a lot of progressives who think we should boycott sauerkraut as a result. Unlike in the Iraq War, the question of America's relationship with Germany and America's views on Germans fiscal response are, or at least should be, separable. As such, the end of Alex's post gets a bit odd. "What if the Americans are right?" He asks. "Well, maybe they are. But what if they're wrong? Is it really necessary for every country to adopt identical responses to the current difficulties? How likely is it that there can be a global one-size-fits-all answer?" Seems pretty likely to me: The banks, after all, are global, as is the problem. A simply national response doesn't make a whole lot more sense than telling each state to worry about this on their own. Others might disagree. Either way, it's a question that requires an answer. And brushing it aside, as Alex does here, is an answer of sorts -- or at least, it's the functional equivalent of one. Choosing not to coordinate globally, or not to pressure Germany into increasing their fiscal response, is choosing one policy response over another policy response. And these choices will have consequences. Friends should speak candidly. But they should speak candidly in pursuit of accurate conclusions.
