Interesting Tom Friedman Column

Tom Friedman makes some interesting observations in today's column that are sure to be controversial.


http://select.nytimes.com/2007/07/04/opinion/04friedman.html?hp

"Of course, not all Muslims are terrorists. But it’s been widely noted that virtually all suicide terrorists today are Muslims. Angry Norwegians aren’t doing this — nor are starving Africans or unemployed Mexicans. Muslims have got to understand that a death cult has taken root in the bosom of their religion, feeding off it like a cancerous tumor.

This cancer is erasing basic norms of civilization. In Iraq, we’ve seen suicide bombers blow up funerals and schools. In England, seven out of the eight people detained in the latest plot are Muslim doctors or medical students. Doctors plotting mass murder? Could that be? If Muslim leaders don’t remove this cancer — and only they can — it will spread, tainting innocent Muslims and poisoning their relations with each other and the world."

 

Second verse, same as the first ....... :

 

I don't see Friedman like that. I find his opinions very diverse.

 

I doubt that Spnited was talking about Friedman.

 

I'm about as liberal as they come -- Irish Catholic Boston Democrat, anyone? -- but I can't find anything wrong with that Friedman excerpt. Nothing illogical about the stark fact that suicide bombers = Muslims, even if Muslims don't largely = suicide bombers.

 

C'mon Ragu. You know Boom's childish game by now.

 

I know Boom didn't nuke it. Only mods can nuke threads now.

 

No, I did not take down. In fact not sure why it was taken down in first place other than the fact the SportsJournalists.com is a shop of Muslim terrorist apologists.

Tom does point out the obvious but the obvious in this case sure upsets a lot of folks.

 

Not sure if there's any point to adding to the discussion here, but at least Friedman gets to what my old boss in PR termed the "call to action."

 

Boom . . . your first graf is a flat-out insult to a lot of folks, here.

Friedman's point remains one that is balefully obvious. Friedman's made a ton of money pointing out many things in ths big, wide, wonderful world that are balefully obvious. Good for him. Doesn't mean we're all going to bow down to
his mode of thinking, five times a day.

We're all used to your extracting embarassing quotes from folks -- while blissfully ignoring the circumstances under which they were made. And we'll keep calling you on it . . . just like no one here is going to tolerate your running crap such as the above.

 

If you posted Friedman's column here without the byline, everyone would be screaming that it was racist and divisive and completely inflammatory. Then it would be deleted. I wonder if Friedman gets that kind of reaction at the Times.