Tom Friedman: 9/11 is over

[malaise]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/opinion/30friedman.html?_r=1&n=Top/Opinion/Editorials%20and%20Op-Ed/Op-Ed/Columnists/Thomas%20L%20Friedman&oref=slogin
<snip>
Before 9/11, the world thought America’s slogan was: “Where anything is possible for anybody.” But that is not our global brand anymore. Our government has been exporting fear, not hope: “Give me your tired, your poor and your fingerprints.”

You may think Guantánamo Bay is a prison camp in Cuba for Al Qaeda terrorists. A lot of the world thinks it’s a place we send visitors who don’t give the right answers at immigration. I will not vote for any candidate who is not committed to dismantling Guantánamo Bay and replacing it with a free field hospital for poor Cubans. Guantánamo Bay is the anti-Statue of Liberty.
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Bravo Friedman!!

[KharmaTrain]

1. Does This Mean We've Run Out Of F.Us?

I've been as critical as anyone about Tommy over the past couple years, but saw him on with Colbert this week and it seemed like this guy finally woke up. This article was well written, but I'm stlil waiting for his appology about his enabling of this regime and his being played for the fool.

[malaise]

3. Well at least he woke up

finally.

[KharmaTrain]

6. Well...

Then he deserves a good FU! He woke up too many FUs too late...4,000 dead and his hands have blood on them.

Sorry, no sale here.

[pampango]

7. Hey, if we can win over a guy with that much blood on his hands,

that's a good thing. Nobody is asking you to like him or forgive him, just acknowledge a small victory. I am sure that the other side would love to win over a stridently anti-war journalist and we would hear plenty about it, if they did.

[KharmaTrain]

9. He Made Baby Steps

I didn't see him denounce either this war for profit or the booosh regime that exploited 9/11. If anything it appears he's not a Rudy fan and this was more a shot at him than it was any sort of mea cupla.

Now if he speaks out stronger, I'll gladly welcome him over to the right side. For now, he gets clumped with the Andrew Sullivans...people who sidestep their own complicity in what's happened and want us all to forget about what they previously said.

It's not for me to forgive...and I do acknowlege that he's finally put down the kool-aid, but I see this more as him covering his ass than it is a "victory". Why did it take him 4 years to "wake up"? Many of us here saw it from the outset. I am proud to say I was one of those 10-20% in the wake of 9/11 who didn't support this regime cause I saw this playing into their hands to turn this nation into a kleptocracy.

Sorry, Friedman can't wash the blood off his hands that easy.

[malaise]

8. It is hard to forgive any of them

but let's see how he deals with the Iran lies.

[w13rd0]

2. Friedman suffers from the same...

...ailment that struck Hitchens. Well-meaning psuedo-liberal sorts that cheerleaded war even though it was orchestrated and managed by idiots because they thought there would be a positive humanitarian outcome. They were wrong to trust Bush to do anything with a humanitarian outcome.

[pampango]

4. I hope this means that TF is a member of the "crossed over to the good side"

group of journalists.

My impression is that there are those on both sides (though the RW is more heavily populated with these) who will never admit a mistake or change their viewpoint no matter what evidence or argument life presents them with. Perhaps there is another group that can change their views (frequently without a formal declaration of such) if the facts slap them in the head enough times.

Admitting you were wrong about something important is difficult (well, at least for me). Sometimes it is easier to keep arguing for your original position, in spite of everything, so that you appear to be "true blue". I will give TF some credit if he has indeed listened to the facts and modified his opinions. (Of course, his next column may cause me to withdraw that "credit", but that belongs to a future post.) ;)

[burythehatchet]

10. your entire premise is mistaken. He's a propogandist.

[trumad]

5. Friedman finally ran out of "6 more months".

[FormerDittoHead]

11. Excuse me, but I thought that Cuba has free health care?

How about a free field hospital for poor Americans?