Newshoggers Comments
You have a stronger stomach than me. I saw Friedman's title on the NYTs opinion page this morning had a look, gagged and quickly clicked backwards. Similar when I watched the Colbert introduction last weekend and Steven said he was the night guest I chose bed a half hour earlier than usual. Not interested in what he thinks, writes or says. It was always only a matter of time for Friedman to change his theme, hadn't he milked the other threads almost to death. Again, isn't it that Friedman played a role in creating the "9/11 stupidity". JHC he implicitly still keeps it up in his new theme by linking "9/11" to everything: Iraq, crappie infrastructure, hilarious border precautions, etc. etc.. Didn't the tiny perfect person write some book about the world being flat maybe he forgot to consider that stupid public policies - fiscal, foreign ... - can just push a country off the end. But there is no accountability, it seems, for those that prodded suckers towards an edge. Their defense I guess is that they didn't actually jump it was the poor lemmings for whom they taylor their themes.
Like him or not, and I don't like him or trust him, he's still an influential voice in the debate and he's never going to lose his job for spending the last five years playing the half-wit.
I'm willing to forgive and forget if he really had a change of heart. Or even if he didn't, as long as he keeps writing columns like this.
You have to work with the crass opportunists you have, not the ones you want.
Friedman is a fraud both ways. I can recall Billy Jeff saying "the great wisdom of the American people" which switched dramatically when GWB was elected twice. Constitutionally.
Any student of history or any person knowledgeable of the Middle East knows that we have to stick it out. Period.
I guess compromise is a part of a democratic political system, or it certainly should be at least for politicians, but that is in regard to making decisions that effect people.
Opinionated lay people like Freidman are simply a commodity. The NYT purchases this commodity because it provide them with some value added. I suspect that some of the Freidman value comes from him being able to sniff the slight breeze of change in what some readers want.
I don't think he has any real impact on how individuals feel about a subject. Though, he likely does reinforce existing views. At most, since he seems to lag substantially behind middle-of-the-road perceptions, he is just a verification of which way that thinking maybe waving in the wind.
As I said I ignore what he writes and says and I do this mainly because he seems to be just an opinion with a column which provides me with no added value for time I might invest.
But his change does say something, I think, about how the middle is now likely thinking about the whole "9/11" opportunistic scare induced nightmare inflicted on Americans.
"whole "9/11" opportunistic scare induced nightmare" which resembles Pearl Harbor, another cowardly attack on the USA, eh?
Or are you a "truther?"
Geoff, I don't search him out either but this column seemed worth noting. He does have influence or else we would be calling it a Kristol unit or a Kagan unit instead of Friedman.
Dealing with neocons is like dealing with three year olds. You want to reinforce good behavior. I'm willing to praise him when he behaves well. I feel certain he'll give us many more reasons to mock him.
And Dave, calm down would you. Friedman is not worth starting a fight over.
Commenting by HaloScan
