Dowdily Friedman
Pecksniff Friedman continued his Dowdily wailing on Imus' radio show. On Imus, 'Sniff shabbily told us Abu Ghraib "happened" because we had poor intelligence, so "we tried to beat it out of 'em."
Few things are sillier than NY Times writers crying about Iraqi POW abuses when they live in a city where 5 women are raped and 1 person is murdered every day, and they utter not one word of complaint.
If it's any consolation to 'Sniff, in all likelihood, there are some Red Staters traveling from the WTC site to their airport, and they're hoping they'll not be victimized by the terrorists that commit 50 violent crimes each and every day in banefully blue NYC.
'Sniff Friedman remembers "20 months ago" so well, but he doesn't seem to recall what he wrote on September 13, 2001. While sitting in Jerusalem, 'Sniff wrote that 9/11 was the opening salvo in "World War III" and "it means there is a long, long war ahead." (As Aristotle wryly observed, "is" means many things.)
Fifty months ago, looking at the rubble of the WTC on CNN, 'Sniff asked many questions, but he's never answered any of those questions in the intravening months. Today, 'Sniff asks six more superfluous questions, as if world events are foreordained based on our ability to untie 'Sniff's Gordian knot. (Truly, Dickens' Pecksniff captures Friedman's essence.)
One thing we've learned in "20 months" is: Friedman has not grown any wiser. Long before Operation Iraqi Freedom, long before September 11th, Friedman worshiped the transformative secular creed of "neo-liberalism."
How many times have we heard 'Sniff tell us "globalization" would solve Third World problems? or would lead to democracy in China? or wars are not fought between Big Mac nations to prove his notional theory? Clearly, Friedman does not understand David Hume's chiming clock theory of causation.
In 1996, Professor Samuel Huntington, Clash of Civilization, scorned the "Davos culture" imprinted into Friedman's commentary. Huntington wrote: "The evidence simply does not support the liberal, internationalist assumption that commerce promotes peace." (Searching Friedman's Times page, we get 19 hits on "davos" and 125 hits on "globalization" -- we are what we write.)
How many times have we heard Friedman rationalize "Arab streets" behavior (e.g., jumping for joy when the WTC was destroyed, or Iraqis tossing grenades at American troops) because they were "humiliated"? (Searching Friedman's Times page for "humiliated" we get 10 hits.)
How often has 'Sniff told us "culture matters" for others, while forgetting it's equally true about Americans? Didn't we hear 'Sniff's "Two Nations" whine about Red Staters (and some very Blue ones) believing that same-sex marriage should be banned?
Has Friedman forgotten sitting in Jerusalem, on September 11, 2003, when he realized how weak the neck muscles were, for suicide bombers' heads are "blown straight up," and then he had his epiphany that culture really matters? But in 'Sniff post-election wailing, we heard him gnashing his teeth that many Americans object to the notion that abortions should be as readily available as Chinese take-out.
Since Saddam Hussein's statue fell "20 months ago," how many times has 'Sniff shed tears for the half-million Iraqis that were butchered by Saddam's tyrannical regime? (Searching Friedman's Times page for "mass graves" we get 4 hits; whereas, Searching Friedman's Times page for "abu ghraib" we get 6 hits.)
Nothing proves Friedman's cluelessness regarding Iraq more so than 'Sniff's Question 2 answer ("we are still at least two divisions short in Iraq") and his Question 5 quote ("We have never been able to persuade Iraqis that we aren't there for the oil."). Are we to believe more American troops will convince the Iraqis we're not there for their oil?
At the end of October, the European Union Commissioners signed their constitution, but only 10 of 25 Member States will allow their citizens to vote on its ratification. Will 'Sniff be surprised when Bush stands for the "group shot" with the German Chancellor, one of the countries that will not allow its citizen to vote for its ratification?
Here's an idea, 'Sniff: go back and answer the questions you asked yourself 4 years ago, then we'll talk about answering your latest batch meaningless questions.
Few things are sillier than NY Times writers crying about Iraqi POW abuses when they live in a city where 5 women are raped and 1 person is murdered every day, and they utter not one word of complaint.
If it's any consolation to 'Sniff, in all likelihood, there are some Red Staters traveling from the WTC site to their airport, and they're hoping they'll not be victimized by the terrorists that commit 50 violent crimes each and every day in banefully blue NYC.
'Sniff Friedman remembers "20 months ago" so well, but he doesn't seem to recall what he wrote on September 13, 2001. While sitting in Jerusalem, 'Sniff wrote that 9/11 was the opening salvo in "World War III" and "it means there is a long, long war ahead." (As Aristotle wryly observed, "is" means many things.)
Fifty months ago, looking at the rubble of the WTC on CNN, 'Sniff asked many questions, but he's never answered any of those questions in the intravening months. Today, 'Sniff asks six more superfluous questions, as if world events are foreordained based on our ability to untie 'Sniff's Gordian knot. (Truly, Dickens' Pecksniff captures Friedman's essence.)
One thing we've learned in "20 months" is: Friedman has not grown any wiser. Long before Operation Iraqi Freedom, long before September 11th, Friedman worshiped the transformative secular creed of "neo-liberalism."
How many times have we heard 'Sniff tell us "globalization" would solve Third World problems? or would lead to democracy in China? or wars are not fought between Big Mac nations to prove his notional theory? Clearly, Friedman does not understand David Hume's chiming clock theory of causation.
In 1996, Professor Samuel Huntington, Clash of Civilization, scorned the "Davos culture" imprinted into Friedman's commentary. Huntington wrote: "The evidence simply does not support the liberal, internationalist assumption that commerce promotes peace." (Searching Friedman's Times page, we get 19 hits on "davos" and 125 hits on "globalization" -- we are what we write.)
How many times have we heard Friedman rationalize "Arab streets" behavior (e.g., jumping for joy when the WTC was destroyed, or Iraqis tossing grenades at American troops) because they were "humiliated"? (Searching Friedman's Times page for "humiliated" we get 10 hits.)
How often has 'Sniff told us "culture matters" for others, while forgetting it's equally true about Americans? Didn't we hear 'Sniff's "Two Nations" whine about Red Staters (and some very Blue ones) believing that same-sex marriage should be banned?
Has Friedman forgotten sitting in Jerusalem, on September 11, 2003, when he realized how weak the neck muscles were, for suicide bombers' heads are "blown straight up," and then he had his epiphany that culture really matters? But in 'Sniff post-election wailing, we heard him gnashing his teeth that many Americans object to the notion that abortions should be as readily available as Chinese take-out.
Since Saddam Hussein's statue fell "20 months ago," how many times has 'Sniff shed tears for the half-million Iraqis that were butchered by Saddam's tyrannical regime? (Searching Friedman's Times page for "mass graves" we get 4 hits; whereas, Searching Friedman's Times page for "abu ghraib" we get 6 hits.)
Nothing proves Friedman's cluelessness regarding Iraq more so than 'Sniff's Question 2 answer ("we are still at least two divisions short in Iraq") and his Question 5 quote ("We have never been able to persuade Iraqis that we aren't there for the oil."). Are we to believe more American troops will convince the Iraqis we're not there for their oil?
At the end of October, the European Union Commissioners signed their constitution, but only 10 of 25 Member States will allow their citizens to vote on its ratification. Will 'Sniff be surprised when Bush stands for the "group shot" with the German Chancellor, one of the countries that will not allow its citizen to vote for its ratification?
Here's an idea, 'Sniff: go back and answer the questions you asked yourself 4 years ago, then we'll talk about answering your latest batch meaningless questions.
posted by Tony Harrison at 8:07 AM
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