Interesting Tom Friedman Column

[Boom_70]

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."

 

[spnited]

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

 

[Boom_70]

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

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

 

[hockeybeat]

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.

 

[Hoo]

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.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Did you, or a moderator, nuke the thread you started about this this morning, Boom? The one on which people pointed out that Friedman just stated the obvious...

 

[spnited]

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

 

[Chi City 81]

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

 

[Boom_70]

Did you, or a moderator, nuke the thread you started about this this morning, Boom? The one on which people pointed out that Friedman just stated the obvious...

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.

 

[HejiraHenry]

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."

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Did you, or a moderator, nuke the thread you started about this this morning, Boom? The one on which people pointed out that Friedman just stated the obvious...

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.

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.

 

[21]

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.

 

[Ace]

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.

Tom Friedman=hondo?

 

[BTExpress]

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."

Well, well, well.

So only Muslim leaders can remove the cancer.

That means we can't.

Next flight from Baghdad to New York departs at 6 p.m. I expect to see 140,000 soldiers on board. Welcome home, guys.

 

[Boom_70]

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.

Tom Friedman=hondo?

If hondo had made the same observation that Friedman made in his column the thread would have been deleted as "too anti muslim."

 

[Alma]

BT has a point there.

I think, as individual Americans and as a collective single military unit, we can only communicate so much to any Muslim. To them, our culture is abhorrent. We can't understand that, because we believe, warts and all, we live in one of the greatest countries in the world. Personally, I'm not trading my citizenship for anywhere else - and I've been plenty of places.

So why would "they" hate the freedom "we" enjoy?

Well, the answer isn't that they're bad and we're good. It's more complex than that. Fortunately, Friedman usually does a nice job of pointing out those complexities.

 

[Boom_70]

BT has a point there.

I think, as individual Americans and as a collective single military unit, we can only communicate so much to any Muslim. To them, our culture is abhorrent. We can't understand that, because we believe, warts and all, we live in one of the greatest countries in the world. Personally, I'm not trading my citizenship for anywhere else - and I've been plenty of places.

So why would "they" hate the freedom "we" enjoy?

Well, the answer isn't that they're bad and we're good. It's more complex than that. Fortunately, Friedman usually does a nice job of pointing out those complexities.

It is an interesting point that BT makes but the huge question is where does such a pull out leave Israel- a culture that many Mulslims find more abhorrent than ours?

 

[Alma]

BT has a point there.

I think, as individual Americans and as a collective single military unit, we can only communicate so much to any Muslim. To them, our culture is abhorrent. We can't understand that, because we believe, warts and all, we live in one of the greatest countries in the world. Personally, I'm not trading my citizenship for anywhere else - and I've been plenty of places.

So why would "they" hate the freedom "we" enjoy?

Well, the answer isn't that they're bad and we're good. It's more complex than that. Fortunately, Friedman usually does a nice job of pointing out those complexities.

It is an interesting point that BT makes but the huge question is where does such a pull out leave Israel- a culture that many Mulslims find more abhorrent than ours?

I didn't say anything about a pull out.

But where would one leave Israel? I don't know. On the brink of regional war? Exactly where it's been since the Six Day War? I don't know.

That's part of decisionmaking. Do we stay there for Israel's sake? Do we have a moral obligation to Israel? A secular obligation? Even so, if this was always about what's best for Israel...well, I'm not sure America's been playing into those odds much lately.

 

[Boom_70]

BT has a point there.

I think, as individual Americans and as a collective single military unit, we can only communicate so much to any Muslim. To them, our culture is abhorrent. We can't understand that, because we believe, warts and all, we live in one of the greatest countries in the world. Personally, I'm not trading my citizenship for anywhere else - and I've been plenty of places.

So why would "they" hate the freedom "we" enjoy?

Well, the answer isn't that they're bad and we're good. It's more complex than that. Fortunately, Friedman usually does a nice job of pointing out those complexities.

It is an interesting point that BT makes but the huge question is where does such a pull out leave Israel- a culture that many Mulslims find more abhorrent than ours?

I didn't say anything about a pull out.

But where would one leave Israel? I don't know. On the brink of regional war? Exactly where it's been since the Six Day War? I don't know.

That's part of decisionmaking. Do we stay there for Israel's sake? Do we have a moral obligation to Israel? A secular obligation? Even so, if this was always about what's best for Israel...well, I'm not sure America's been playing into those odds much lately.

My sense is that Israel was a major factor in decisions that have already been made on Middle East .

 

[Ben_Hecht]

My sense is that Israel was a major factor in decisions that have already been made on Middle East .
[/quote]

Beyond the shadow of a doubt.