And loses the opening battle to Greenwald.
Reader Interactions
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.
Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.
Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.
The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.
Fear or fury? The choice is ours.
Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.
Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.
The words do not have to be perfect.
Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.
It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.
We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.
Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.
Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.
Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)
Peak wingnut was a lie.
The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.
… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact
Democracy cannot function without a free press.
Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.
He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!
Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.
If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.
If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.
I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.
nightjar
Ouch, direct hit to the USS Friedman. Poor Tom and his never ending struggle for relevance.
Crusty Dem
Friedman is a genius. He’s the master of column recycling. “There’s an imminent threat from XXXXXistan and we must invade Ira*”. It’s a shame we don’t have the technology to reuse the paper wasted and just white out and replace the appropriate letters.
Dennis - SGMM
Say what you will, my hat’s off to the NYT for getting a mustache attached to a rectum to write a column.
4tehlulz
My only response to TF is to recommend he look into seppuku.
ThymeZone
Wow.
I thought Friedman was a complete blithering idiot before I discovered this thread and read the linked piece.
Even with that, I sat here slack-jawed at the stupid.
OMFG, you could take the first guy you saw on the nearest parkbench and give him a laptop and 45 minutes and he could write a more coherent vision of the world’s realities than Friedman could do in a week, with three co-writers and a fact checker.
The guy is just a complete nutcase. Why anyone pays any attention to anything he says at this point is beyond me.
Between him and Dowd and Kristol, NYT is running a lunatic asylum at this point.
sidereal
Laugh.
Friedman does an awesome impression of a Red State or Powerline frontpager.
Breschau
Heck, that’s nothing – did you see what Glenzilla did to Joe Klein in his most recent column?
Ouch. That’s gotta sting.
p.a.
Anyone know TF’s resume? How did he achieve a position of such prominence when he is pretty clearly a dope?
When was the last admission of shame by someone in the American elite? When was the last ‘I’m sorry. I was wrong. I’ll go away now.’ Or will the next occurrence be the first?
p.a.
Westmoreland maybe?
Jay B.
Friedman, like Dowd, was a reporter first.
null pointer exception
Olberman is ANGRY. His special comment today is the one for ages.
Turbulence
p.a.,
Richard Clarke did a pretty good job of saying “Sorry, I fucked up. I take responsibility” when he addressed the 9/11 Commission.
Kevin
Tell us what you really think, Olbermann! wow, that was quite a rant.
Just Some Fuckhead
I imagine one of the Special Comments will end with Olbermann clutching his chest, gasping wordlessly and falling over.
Gold Star for Robot Boy
What was KO ranting about?
Kevin
Bush giving up golf because of the war in Iraq, among other stupid things he said in an interview with Politico.
sidereal
Why isn’t it on YouTube already? I thought we lived in the post-TV era.
Conservatively Liberal
I loved Keith’s closing line:
‘Mr. President, just shut the hell up!’
I concur.
TF is a hack, and a pretty poor one at that, and I hope he keeps it up. I don’t know if I could handle the universe if TF started writing sane columns.
Isn’t that one of the signs of the Apocalypse?
sidereal
Blam. I guess we do live in that era.
Crusty Dem
I’m still a bit stunned that a man who is such an unmitigated disaster every single time he opens his mouth won two (2?) Pulitzer’s and a Polk award for his reporting in the Middle East. It just goes to show that a great reporter isn’t necessarily a good thinker (or pundit).
Of course, he should be commended on marrying well. Sure, lots of people marry into money, but most don’t marry into $4.1 billion. That’s quality. OTOH, he did give us “The earth is flat”. So fuck him.
AlphaFactor
God, I hate these assclowns.
It’s their damn fault we’ve suck $1trillion+ into a b.s. war in the middle of the desert. Why does everybody else have to bear the cost of it with them?
jake
Win.
The Moar You Know
Married a billionaire, just like John McCain.
sidereal
Whoops. That was an old one. Good reminiscing about the surge, though. Great times.
eastriver
Let’s not forget that Friedman is fantastically wealthy from an inheritance. He doesn’t really need the income he gets from writing.
(Hey, JC, why don’t you write something? Using snarky puns to link to someone who actually writes is child’s play. I remember a time when you actual got your finger tips soiled by those filthy keys. You were even kinda good at it.)
sidereal
Here is the latest special comment.
AlphaFactor
Holy crap. You’re right.
Hmm. Would it be considered a form of selling out if I were to decide to marry one of the Friedman girls for their money? I promise that I’d close my eyes and pretend its Jennifer Lopez or something everytime!
Cruel Jest
Yeah, that was an autopsy. I suppose replying would be “beneath” him but I’m looking forward to the attempt.
jake
Nah, he’ll Hulk out, tear a hole through the studio wall and stomp the White House flat.
KEITH SMASH!
GSD
Tom Friedman was Ron Jeremy’s stand-in on adult film shoots throughout most of the late 70’s and early 80’s.
That’s when Jeanne Kirkpatrick took a liking to him.
-GSD
Soylent Green
When Olbermann was a guest on Letterman a few weeks back, Dave said, “There’s something I just have to say, you are a very large man.” It’s true, the guy is huge. Paint him green and he is already the hulk.
Although I wish he would stop calling Bush “sir” in those classic takedowns.
Tsulagi
Read the linked Greenwald post. Not quite sure which Friedman stupidity to point to first. So this idiot, about a Friedman unit ago, was actually serious that Obama should keep Cheney on as VP for his experience/skillz in the ME? Yeah, that’s worked well so far. Now that idea is pure unadulterated stupid that burns.
And now six months later, cold war with Iran? Stay the course? His Groundhog Days must last for six months. Then he starts all over again fresh with stupid.
Pug
Sorry that this is off topic, but has anyone seen this new poll from Quinipiac?
The most interesting thing is that non-college educated whites favor McCain over Obama by 7 points. They also favor McCain over Clinton by . . . 7 points.
Can we get some fresh spin in here from the Clinton campaign and the media, please?
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1295.xml?ReleaseID=1177
Desmond
It’s long been obvious to anyone with half a brain or the ability to read that Clinton’s electability argument was BS. Obama is kicking McCain’s ass in most of those polls just as handily as Hillary is.
Nevertheless, it is still very early. Hopefully Jeremiah Wright will remain Obama’s biggest scandal.
Cruel Jest
It’s incredible. It’s why I had to leave the intertubes for a while. Friedman gets away with it. He just keeps talking and people buy his little books have him on their little Charlie Rose show’s and give him a prominent voice in the nation’s paper of record. Then it’s time for a few fluff pieces on Malkin. What does Instapundit think?
It maketh a Hippie cuss.
Kevin
That is some serious, world class, stupidity. Did he get that bit of wisdom from a cab driver in Istanbul or something?
Shade Tail
This is also mostly off-topic, but considering the post is filed under “assholes”…
Mr. Cole, have you noticed yet that the Republican National Committee sometimes gets banner ads on your front page? I’m looking at one right now that reads, “Take Our Survey: Do You Believe Judges Should Interpret the Law, Not Write It?”
John Cole
They are getting a lot of bang for their buck, aren’t they?
TheFountainHead
That article is dangerous. Like, defies the Theory of Evolution dangerous.
glasnost
To be, contrarian, I think this was a pretty good column by Tom. Most of Glen’s “takedown” of the column is either a bunch of quotes about stuff Tom Friedman has said in other than this column, or else a bunch of bi*ching about US foreign policy in general. Now, some of those b*tches may or may not be smart, but they don’t neccesssarily relate to Tom’s column.
Like it or not, our national security and defense community in this country thinks that we are in a Cold War with Iran. I include most Congressional Democrats. Iran also thinks we are in one with them. And so do most people in the ME. If you want to analyze events in the ME, then that’s the story. Tom is right, analytically.
There’s really not much hyperbole about how Iran is a terrible immediate threat to the US or the Western world or anything.This, for example:
“Tehran has created a situation in which anyone who wants to attack its atomic facilities will have to take into account that this will lead to bitter fighting” on the Lebanese, Palestinian, Iraqi and Persian Gulf fronts. That is a sophisticated strategy of deterrence.
This is accurate.
What there is in the column is sadness that we seem to be in no position to prevent Syria and Hizballah from strangling Lebanon. It’s not an existential threat to the US, but it is sad.
Meanwhile, Tom’s position on the situation doesn’t look much different from Barack Obama’s.
Glenn is a smart guy who’s done a lot of good, but he’s also interprets his targets in the most malicious manner possible, sometimes quite recklessly.
Cain
Well, he is talking to the office of the president. Calling him ‘asshat’ might set the wrong tone.
cain
Brachiator
Well, no.
There is no such thing as a monolithic national security and defense “community.” These are just fucking jobs that people have. And some of these jerks can get more money and influence for their sections if they can invent threats and enemies.
There are people at the State Department and the various defense agencies who have alternate, more plausible ideas about the ME, but who cannot get anyone’s attention because they are not pushing for some idiotic military or diplomatic confrontation. You know, kinda like all those analysts who got kicked to the curb because they pointed out correctly that Iraq did not possess WMDs.
Similarly, what Iran believes is interesting, but not necessarily significant. Saddam Hussein believed that he could bluff his way out of a catastrophic confrontation with the United States. How did that work out?
That’s funny. The last time I checked, there was already a fair amount of fighting in Lebanon, the Palestinian areas, Iraq and parts of the Persian Gulf. Iran is just one of a number of players, and the world pretty much goes on. Also, it’s not much of a Cold War if there are lots of little hot wars.
And the greatest irony of all is that by deposing Saddam Hussein (a secular Sunni), the U.S. turned Iran into a regional power broker. But this still does not make Iran a major player.
Yep. Let’s all repeat that. No existential threat to the US. Again, not much of a Cold War.
Mentis Fugit
Although I wish he would stop calling Bush “sir” in those classic takedowns.
If it makes you feel any better, you can imagine it as being spelled “cur”.
Chuck Butcher
When in the near historic past has Frieman been proven right about anything? When does a complete inability to get it right disqualify one of these assholes?
TenguPhule
I don’t care how much lipstick you stick on that pig, it’s still a fucking pig.
conumbdrum
How in the sweet name of Jebus can anyone watch that Charlie Rose clip of Tom “Mine’s a Hunky Mustache” Friedman, in which he defends the Iraq War as a vitally needed exercise in pro-USA dick-slinging, and not feel a violent urge to blow lunch — preferably on Tom’s head?
And in what goddamned universe is this fucktard considered a liberal? I showed this clip to my girlfriend, after which she said, “I never knew liberals came in neocon flavor.”
Friedman should be mandated by imperial edict to visit the home of every parent, every spouse, every significant other of the “boys and girls” (his words) who died in Iraq and explain to them is his oh-so-measured tones just what their loved ones died for: so America could make like Dirty Harry, .44 in hand, snarling “Suck. On. This.” to the world.
Shithead. He might be more disgusting than Bill Kristol… at least William the Bloody is good for a derisive snicker or two, long as you don’t think about how much he’s being paid to spew his dribble.
Hope for Tom’s sake he never sets foot in Berkeley to peddle his nostrums on the lecture circuit, because I will plant a steel-tipped boot right in his “Friedman Unit.” Consider your ass warned, bitch.
jake
Yep. North Korea kicked out inspectors, opened the reactors, created and tested a small nuclear device. Not to mention their habit of lobbing large explody things into the sea when they’re bored.
But we’re in a CW with Iran.
rachel
I imagine something similar was going though the minds of those people who pied him recently. Some people deplored it (David Drezner for one, I think), but as far as I’m concerned Friedman could be pied every hour on the hour for the rest of his life, and it still wouldn’t make up for this piece of warmongering.
rachel
Ooops, that should have been ‘Dan Drezner’.
PeterJ
The primary is over, focus should be on the GE and McCain. The important thing about that poll is that that Obama (and for that matter, also Clinton) is doing a lot better against McCain in the group non-college educated whites than Gore (17 points) and Kerry (23 points) did against Bush.
Wilfred
This was just Friedman’s birthday card for Israel, which is busy undermining the NIE on Iran and pushing hard for a US attack on Iran while Bush is still President.
Friedman quotes Michael Young (actually Michael Husayne Young) chief apologist for the Israeli attack on his own country, Lebanon, and waterboy for the neocons. Unbelievable.
Wait till the noise levels go off the meter at the upcoming Aipac war gathering on June 2.
Lit3Bolt
Ah, but as people have pointed out, there is an existential threat to Israel, which as we all know devote’s half of the Mossad’s resources to filling the US with agents to promote Israel’s interests.
So Israel is in a Cold War with Iran, and thus, by extension, since Israel’s foreign policy drives US foreign policy, the USA is in a Cold war with Iran. But Israel wants us to take the heat for any retaliation. So really, the USA answers to religious fanatics in the Middle east.
I keep dreaming that the US will eventually tear Israel from its teat, but it’ll never happen. Israel knows like half of our military/intelligence secrets and would just look for another sugar daddy to protect it, maybe Russia (who would be much more demanding, but hey, if you gotta survive).
Apsaras
For anyone who missed it, Matt Taibbi’s review of The World is Flat is a classic.
DrDave
Friedman is the prototypical Paranoid Truculent Male.
glasnost
Yep. Let’s all repeat that. No existential threat to the US. Again, not much of a Cold War.
Well, it makes it a small and stupid Cold War, but I think the defining element of a “Cold War” is “two nations engaged in elaborate games that spill well into surrounding nations to try to weaken, manipulate, and bully each other”. I don’t think the existential threat is what makes a “Cold War”.
Fledermaus
The fact is you will never lack for work when your entire spiel is how great American corporations are and how much good they do in the world – espically the military industrial complex.
Tax Analyst
Brachiator is pretty much right on point there.
glasnost’s “point”, on the other hand is, to borrow some of his own words, “…small and stupid…”.
There is really no “point” to your point, unless you feel there is some need to continue grossly over-inflating Iran’s power at the expense of other issues.
Look, a Nazi Jackalope!