Paul Krugman, one of the worst editorialists at the New York Times, today has an op-ed that has to be read to be believed—in which he makes excuses for Mahathir Mohamad’s repulsively antisemitic speech to the Islamic summit in Malaysia: Listening to Mahathir. Krugman’s real point, after brushing aside Mahathir’s comments, is that the Malaysian moonbat felt compelled to insert hateful antisemitism into his speech because of ... President Bush:

Not long ago Washington was talking about Malaysia as an important partner in the war on terror. Now Mr. Mahathir thinks that to cover his domestic flank, he must insert hateful words into a speech mainly about Muslim reform. That tells you, more accurately than any poll, just how strong the rising tide of anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism among Muslims in Southeast Asia has become. Thanks to its war in Iraq and its unconditional support for Ariel Sharon, Washington has squandered post-9/11 sympathy and brought relations with the Muslim world to a new low.

Krugman goes out of his way to ignore the fact that Mahathir has been spewing this kind of hateful garbage for many years, and that Muslim antisemitism has been an epidemic for much longer.

The blogosphere has been outraged about this disgusting column all day; check out David Hogberg and Robert Musil for in-depth looks at Krugman’s latest Bush-hating insanity.