Tom Friedman, raging neocon apologist and self-described "crazy, liberal

[Skidmore]

hawk". How do people like him come to exist? Freakin' Pearl and Wolfowitz also self-identify as liberal or Democrats. I don't understand.

I was just listening to Friedman's speech to the Governor's Conference. He just doesn't present some ideas, he preaches this flat world stuff. High priest of the corporate facist state. And what was more discouraging, is that many of the governors sat there star struck and trying to figure out how they can sell there states over. No discussion of the pitfalls of these models, or the harm that Walmart--China's eighth greatest trading partner--does to the peoples of THIS nation, but "how can we play the game better?" I feel nauseated.

[Kickin_Donkey]

1. There are a couple of things, in my opinion ...

He's a classic media whore caught up in the prestige, power (such as it is), and the material rewards that come with his celebrity "journalistic" position. He's caught up in the world of trying to hang with all the other "cool kids" in media and politics, and lives in that bubble. To actually talk sense like his colleague at the Times, Paul Krugman, would make him a wonk, and he wouldn't get to be in the "in" crowd anymore.

Do you think his kids would ever fight in Iraq? Of course not. I think Tom believes he is one of the Platonic gold people who are the elite that run the society (like a good Straussian).

But at the risk of getting called anti-Semetic, I think the key to understanding Thomas Friedman is that Israel's welfare is his driving force. Not unlike a DINO senator from Connecticut.

Just my 2 pesos.

[redstateblues]

5. that explains his support for the war- the rest flows from that

He made sense before he started supporting the war- once he drank the kool aid his thinking has been fuzzy and his vision has been through rose colored glasses.

[liberalpragmatist]

7. Except I feel he is one of the more-balanced commentators on Israel

"From Beirut to Jerusalem" was excellent. And while I disagree with his assessment of Camp David, I genuinely find his stuff on Israel and the Palestinians to be far more balanced than most other writers.

Which is what makes his sponsorship of the Iraq Debacle even weirder. It's like he was just captivated by the idea of replacing Iraq with a democracy (he openly said before the war that the WMDs were exaggerated).

[nine23]

2. O man...

...that flat world shite from his latest book is so embarrasingly condecending and school-marmishly simplistic and preachy, I wanted to demand my money back. Then I remembered: I only borrowed it from the library (thank god).

If I may quote you, I was somehow fraudulently suckered into reading shit written by a 'self-described "crazy, liberal hawk"' who, in truth, is really nothing more than a weak, lame "raging neocon apologist". Emphasis on "lame".

My personal silver lining? Now I know. What he's truly about, that is. I'd still like my time back.

[GR]

3. He's A Moron....I Was Surprised About Jennifer Granholm...

supporting his cockamamie ideas....He seems to want to start a race to the bottom where everyone works 24/7 for peanuts and has to beg the hospitals for healthcare...But he pissed me off also when he said don't take subjects you like in school, take courses from teachers you like....He is taking all the responsibility for learning off of the student and putting it on the teacher. As a former teacher, I know it's bull and teaching should not be a popularity contest.

[Joanne98]

4. The world is not flat it's SLANTED! My thread on CAFTA!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1934144&mesg_id=1934144

[gizmo1979]

6. I like freidman on terrorism

But when he ventures into free trade he doesn't take into acct.the American worker.

[Muddy Waters Guitar]

8. Yeah-- he occasionally has flashes of sense, but in general

Friedman comes off as a hyperactive 16-year old boy too enamored with his gadgets and toys to understand nuance or the human suffering in countries where he dismisses the objections of workers screwed over by the increasingly fascist corporate warfare-welfare state. He's OK when he talks about Israel, nicely balanced, and he does address the issue of renewable energy resources, but he's deplorable in his free-trade bloviations and his repugnant Iraq War championing.

See e.g. http://cntodd.blogspot.com/2005/02/thomas-friedman-is-idiot.html

His books, frankly (Lexus and the Olive Tree, anybody?), are almost unreadable: The truth is that Friedman is a terrible writer, given to mix up metaphors and connect concepts that have nothing to do with each other, also coming up with a multitude of head-scratching WTF?? sort of conclusions that make you wonder if he's got a bong next to his laptop if he's typing away. Case in point: "No two countries with McDonald's have ever attacked each other." What???? (It wasn't even correct-- the US attacked Serbia in 1999, and there are plenty of McD's in Serbia.)

See http://www.nypress.com/18/16/news&columns/taibbi.cfm -- Matt Taibbi's hilarious take on the unique awfulness of "The World is Flat."

Also http://www.exile.ru/books/review92.html

[gizmo1979]

9. Yes his eco-green

agenda needs alot of work.