The world as they know it
Three-and-a-half years ago, the World Trade Center became a memory.
The only two people I know of that have maintained their positions on terrorism, democracy, patriotism, and the way-the-world-should-be, are George W. Bush (President, most influential man in the world), and Thomas Friedman (columnist, most understanding man when it comes to what really influences the world).
The Bushies spend at least 90% of their collective intellectual ability conjuring up devious media spins, and then repeat them so often that phrases like social security "reform" (re·form To improve by alteration, correction of error, or removal of defects; put into a better form or condition.), and war on "terror" (ter·ror Intense, overpowering fear) have become second nature. The mere fact that the phrases themselves are so blatenly partisan, makes debating the underlying issues futile.
Mr. Friedman, on the other hand, has repeatedly stressed two themes since America woke up to the idea that a significant part of the world isn't so happy with us. The first is educating and propping up the "humiliated," disenfranchaised, Islamic youth, and the second is the importance of a "decent" democratic outcome in Iraq, no matter how hard it is to stay the course.
Of course, volumes could be written on each of the subjects above. Mr. Friedman has written a few, that I doubt Mr. Leader-of-The-Free-World has bothered to read.
The appointment of John R. Bolton as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. today is just another slap in the face of the world. As if this administration couldn't be more intimidating, more hawkish, more hardline in it's pursuit of "freedom."
I nominate Thomas Friedman. We have a black woman as Secretary of State, how about a Jew from Minnesota as Ambassador to the U.N.?
What do I know anyway?
The only two people I know of that have maintained their positions on terrorism, democracy, patriotism, and the way-the-world-should-be, are George W. Bush (President, most influential man in the world), and Thomas Friedman (columnist, most understanding man when it comes to what really influences the world).
The Bushies spend at least 90% of their collective intellectual ability conjuring up devious media spins, and then repeat them so often that phrases like social security "reform" (re·form To improve by alteration, correction of error, or removal of defects; put into a better form or condition.), and war on "terror" (ter·ror Intense, overpowering fear) have become second nature. The mere fact that the phrases themselves are so blatenly partisan, makes debating the underlying issues futile.
Mr. Friedman, on the other hand, has repeatedly stressed two themes since America woke up to the idea that a significant part of the world isn't so happy with us. The first is educating and propping up the "humiliated," disenfranchaised, Islamic youth, and the second is the importance of a "decent" democratic outcome in Iraq, no matter how hard it is to stay the course.
Of course, volumes could be written on each of the subjects above. Mr. Friedman has written a few, that I doubt Mr. Leader-of-The-Free-World has bothered to read.
The appointment of John R. Bolton as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. today is just another slap in the face of the world. As if this administration couldn't be more intimidating, more hawkish, more hardline in it's pursuit of "freedom."
I nominate Thomas Friedman. We have a black woman as Secretary of State, how about a Jew from Minnesota as Ambassador to the U.N.?
What do I know anyway?
posted by jb at 7.3.05
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