Friedman: Addicted to 9/11(Even if you hate him - read this one)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/14/opinion/14friedman.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position=

I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I hear the president and vice president slamming John Kerry for saying that he hopes America can eventually get back to a place where "terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance." The idea that President Bush and Mr. Cheney would declare such a statement to be proof that Mr. Kerry is unfit to lead actually says more about them than Mr. Kerry. Excuse me, I don't know about you, but I dream of going back to the days when terrorism was just a nuisance in our lives.

If I have a choice, I prefer not to live the rest of my life with the difference between a good day and bad day being whether Homeland Security tells me it is "code red" or "code orange" outside. To get inside the Washington office of the International Monetary Fund the other day, I had to show my ID, wait for an escort and fill out a one-page form about myself and my visit. I told my host: "Look, I don't want a loan. I just want an interview." Somewhere along the way we've gone over the top and lost our balance.

That's why Mr. Kerry was actually touching something many Americans are worried about - that this war on terrorism is transforming us and our society, when it was supposed to be about uprooting the terrorists and transforming their societies.

The Bush team's responses to Mr. Kerry's musings are revealing because they go to the very heart of how much this administration has become addicted to 9/11. The president has exploited the terrorism issue for political ends - trying to make it into another wedge issue like abortion, guns or gay rights - to rally the Republican base and push his own political agenda. But it is precisely this exploitation of 9/11 that has gotten him and the country off-track, because it has not only created a wedge between Republicans and Democrats, it's also created a wedge between America and the rest of the world, between America and its own historical identity, and between the president and common sense.

[wtmusic]

1. Xcuse, but Friedman is just about 1 1/2 years behind the curve

This isn't news or even insightful--it's what he should have been writing in March 2003.

Thanks for nothing, Thomas.

[glitch]

4. Along with the NYT in general (ex Krugman and Rich, some others).

Should we be happy that Friedman finally gets some of it now? I guess I am happy for him, but he is not one of the columnists I look to for insight.
But if he can bring some of his readers along finally, thats a good thing.

[Skittles]

6. it disgusts me how long it took

asshole

[Pirate Smile]

2. It is good. I loved this last part:

"But the point he was raising about wanting to put terrorism back into perspective is correct. I want a president who can one day restore Sept. 11th to its rightful place on the calendar: as the day after Sept. 10th and before Sept. 12th. I do not want it to become a day that defines us. Because ultimately Sept. 11th is about them - the bad guys - not about us. We're about the Fourth of July."

[Still_Notafraid]

3. Damn right! n/t

[Downtown Hound]

5. Way to go Tom!

The rest of us that can walk and breathe air at the same time without concentrating really hard already figured this out about two years ago.

[rooboy]

7. I guess turning things around depends on people like him waking up...

but I still wouldn't buy the prick a beer. He's got a lot of penance to serve.

[BlueEyedSon]

8. It's a good column, he's still a jerk.

But it's still good news that he is coming around....

[Kolesar]

9. Friedman comments on the war that he f**king got us in to

Here he is, trying to finesse' a new vision for the war that was lost the day we attacked.

[freesqueeze]

10. If The World Changed on 9/11

Then maybe that would explain how we could elect a President who has destroyed our job base and offended many of our long term allies. Something's changed or else this miserable failure would be 20 points down right now.

[Jade Fox]

11. Despite the source, this is one of the best things I've read lately...

Frankly, I have never understood the desire to form our national life
around Terrorism, nor am I convinced that 9/11 made it a more serious
threat than it was. We had been told for years it was only a matter
of time before there was a major hit on the US, and the Bush Administration
did everything but send the Terrorists an engraved invitation.

[Renew Deal]

12. kick

:kick: