Krugman makes this stuff up

There is no excuse. The Nobel Laureate Krugman based his column on a falsehood on March 21. Krugman claims to be quoting Newt Gingrich:

“They will have destroyed their party much as Lyndon Johnson shattered the Democratic Party for 40 years” by passing civil rights legislation.

But Gingrich never said that. Note that the controversial part is not a quote. That's Krugman's putting words in Newt's mouth.

If Krugman knew anything about history he would know that Republicans supported the 1964 Civil Rights legislation in greater proportions than did the Democrats. Or he could look it up, if he didn't know already.

Gingrich was speaking about Johnson's "Great Society" welfare state. Quote him, distinguished Professor.

And Krugman's editors... Does anyone dare edit him? Only after his embarrassment was in print, his editors added the following correction, quoted verbatim:

Editors' Note: March 23, 2010
The Paul Krugman column on Monday, about the health care bill, quoted Newt Gingrich as saying that “Lyndon Johnson shattered the Democratic Party for 40 years” by passing civil rights legislation. The quotation originally appeared in The Washington Post, which reported after the column went to press that Mr. Gingrich said it referred to Johnson’s Great Society policies, not to the 1964 Civil Rights Act.