Joe Nocera has a good piece about the demonization of Elizabeth Warren; it’s something remarkable to watch. In a sane world, Warren — who warned about consumer debt before it was fashionable, and in particular warned about the abusive lending practices that played a significant role in the buildup of that debt — would be an icon of reform. But to listen to the GOP, she’s a power-mad usurper of individual rights, a threat to the solvency of our financial system.

As Nocera points out, this attack needs to be seen in the context of the GOP attempt to undermine any and all financial reform. And the GOP has it in especially for anyone who got it right: since they’re trying to sell a narrative in which the financial crisis was somehow generated by too much government intervention, not too little, and the bankers were just helpless victims, they especially need to demonize the people who called the actual route to ruin as it was happening.

And it’s not just the Republicans: Warren has clearly faced a lot of hostility from within the administration, too. And as I see it, this also comes precisely because she was right: that gives her the kind of credibility that, in turn, makes her something of an independent force — which some people don’t like at all.

Of course, that very credibility could make her an important asset to the Obama administration, for whom she could serve both as an able administrator and as a symbol of commitment to reform. But so far, the administration seems eager to avoid drawing any contrasts with the GOP, even when it has both justice and public opinion on its side.