GPS: Tom Friedman Wants The Inauguration Bumped Up To Thanksgiving
By Nicole Belle Monday Nov 24, 2008 12:25pm
Think the world is sick of George W. Bush? Look at Tom "Yeah, it's a flat world, but let's give 'em 6 more months in Iraq" Friedman advising both on Sunday's GPS with Fareed Zakaria and in his NY Times column that we throw away precedent and just get Barack Obama in office as quickly as possible...like by Thanksgiving.
It’s a huge moment for America and the global economy. I think we should seriously consider moving up the inauguration day. Because I don’t know that we have two months to have a political vacuum at this moment in this economic crisis. I mean, to Neil’s point, the financial system is the heart, it pumps blood to the industrial muscles of the economy. It’s not working. We’re supposed to sit around for two months and wait for the new administration to get in…because this administration has kind of checked out. They’re not going to do anything big. And so, I don’t think people have fully grasped the fact …I tell you, I go to restaurants now and look around, your point earlier….I wanna come up to people and say, “You shouldn’t be here. You should be home having tuna sandwiches. What are you doing here? Don’t you understand there is a storm coming?” Okay? And it hasn’t hit yet. And I believe the decisions made possibly in these next two months could determine the next four years. This administration could be over before it starts. Over in the sense that it will spend the next four years digging out of a hole that has been created right now that may be deeper and darker than anyone realizes.
Oh, to be on the forefront of media memes! It means never having to be right about anything you say and yet be considered A Very Serious Person. Bob Cesca:
Yes, Mr. Friedman. Good idea! Let's give the next president, you know, four days to hastily assemble his entire cabinet and staff in time to govern the world through the worst financial crisis since whenever... starting Thursday. Smart -- then again, it would certainly help the establishment press to build their "failed Obama presidency" narrative.
Or how about this: Why don't the very serious commentariat demand that our current president do his damn job for a change rather than running out the clock? Naturally, this won't happen because the current narrative is all about Clinton drama. And notice the end of the article -- Friedman closes with a quote about a potential Obama mistake. Very serious!
By the way, notice that Friedman is also channeling our favorite financial diva Suze Orman. Nag people about their spending! [..]
Eight month emergency fund, young people! Eat tuna! No mention whatsoever that the Iraq invasion and occupation, which Friedman vocally supported and endorsed, is helping to bankrupt America. We're still spending $10 billion a month over there, but eat tuna sandwiches, you lazy stupid young people!
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I go to restaurants now and look around, your point earlier….I wanna come up to people and say, “You shouldn’t be here. You should be home having tuna sandwiches. What are you doing here? Don’t you understand there is a storm coming?”
I wonder if Friedman is right about this. Economists are always right when they tell us what's going to happen in the future.
Six Months Friedman is not an economist. He studied foreign affairs and in his 20+ years of reporting and column writing he demonstrated a lack of understanding the world.
who hasn't had enough of that bush thing? what part of the last 8 years do you want to relive? Make it stop now.
not this time. It would seem the President-elect is a very thoughtful man ( I wouldn't have voted for him otherwise) and he no doubt gave careful consideration to his transition based on the 1/20/09 inaugeration. So I'm sorry Tom; not this time!
What did Tom Friedman have for lunch today? Bet it wasn't Starkist.
Friedman married into Big Money, so it's easy for him to tell us struggling folks to tighten our belts. I guarantee he isn't going to compromise one bit on his lifestyle.
Hypocrite.
The people asking other people to tighten their belts, usually are those wearing suspenders.
Hes talking to people that will run out of money.
Which is the majority of Americans!!
I'm amazed that a jerk like Friedman, who never understood the insanity of the Iraqi invasion and it's horrific occupation, can have the temerity to believe that his proven fucked up opinion should still be respected.
It's a little nauseating to hear Freidman pontificating and moralizing. Friedman's wife's family is worth billions. Her father is Matthew Bucksbaum, and according to Forbes, the Bucksbaum family is worth $4.1 billion.
It makes one wonder whether Freidman comes from a slightly different perspective from those of us who are middle-class. "Eat a tuna sandwich?" I suggest a little different menu choice for Tom.
The less Bush touches from now until inauguration day the better. Better still, sit Bush down with the book "My Pet Goat" so he will not be bored with nothing to do while he waiting. True, the economic situation will worsen during that time but it will allow Obama to select the best people he can find to help him tackle it.
Can we impeach W and the Sith Lord and just let O Admin be the replacement?
Is it true Obama is working on another biography he's callint The Story of O?
real title will be "The Story of That One"
... I wanna come up to people and say, “You shouldn’t be here. You should be home having tuna sandwiches. What are you doing here? Don’t you understand there is a storm coming?”
so what are YOU doing there, tom?
more 'do as i say, not as i do'...
but hey - cooks and wait staff need wages too...
yet, how about that over-priced restaurant on 60 minutes last night?
i forget the details, just that it seemed sinful...
I agree with the observation that someone should be demanding this CRIPPLED duck president do his job. What a complete and utter waste of a human being.
*
Ferragamo Clownshoes. Keep wearing them everywhere you go.
Also love Matt Taibbi's review of Friedman's The World Is Flat.
freidman's flat world is built on the exploitation of poor people. take away 14 hour work shifts and 2 dollars a day and there is no globalization. talk about that, tom.
Tom"it's MY Unit" Friedman wants to move it up? All the war/neocon enablers are changing tunes now that the revolution has overthrown the tyrants...screw you Friedman. At least Kristol is consistent and proud of his wrong positions. Stay in line, the guillotine is working as fast as it can.
I guess I can understand wanting to get rid of Bush ASAP, like, don't let him touch one more goddamn thing.
Considering what impact progressive bloggers and commenters have ACTUALLY had on the current administration, I have personally decided to sit back and watch, while toughening myself for whatever might come. This mess is far beyond the control of mere mortals. I will mentally prepare for anything that may come down. What else can one do?
in saudia arabia they lop off the
hands of thieves and stone other
criminals for even more minor crimes
than bushco has committed. i vote to
send bushco,ALL, by extreme rendition to
Somalia's frontline and let them deal with
these fucking disgusting rethugs......how about NOW!
This is good advice. Why is giving people good advice on how to manage their money bad? I don't get it... Having a reserve is a good thing. Spending money going out to dinner is a great place to cut some costs.
Someone has to speak up and start reminding people that they have responsibility for their own actions. Regardless of the bailouts we are giving elsewhere that doesn't mean most Americans are woefully underfunded in their savings and reserve funds.
Feel free to ignore Friedman because he didn't agree with you on every political position. I'm sure he has no insight as to what is about to happen since you disagree on the Iraq war.
It's not about the crooks on wall street, it's about us slobs and our rich tastes, with our rice crispy wishes and our peanut butter dreams.
Why would you worry about the wallstreet guys when you're preparing for your future? Worry about yourself mate.
It didn't take economic genius to advice people that eating out less will save them money. You "feel free" to listen to that fat fuck Friedman, Mr. Anon. I'd rather take advice from clearly brighter people(Krugman) who got better grades on their tests these last eight miserable fucking years.
you'd be surprised how some of the simple things need to be repeatedly illustrated to people before the message sinks in. Think of advertising...
My point was, why would you get one someone for giving good (if not obvious) advice?
I already spend less money than everyone else. I don't need the inventor of the 'Friedman Unit' to tell me what to do. As for the belt tightening -- as long as you wear elastic waistbands Friedman, there's plenty of room for expansion, right? You already knew that though.
Knock yourself out, glutton
thanks a tankful.
Seeing that his wife's wealth is built on a collapsing empire of financially troubled shopping malls- and Tom's own future as a pundit is plummeting towards irrelevance- I'd suggest that Friedman stop dining at the posh eateries of Georgetown and Manhattan. While he's at the cost-cutting, I'd suggest he also stop buying those black mock-turtlenecks at Saks and get a Sears credit card.
in his credit rating.
Hah!!!!!!
Friedman was advocating that the other people in the resturaunt not be there spending money eating out, he wasn't talking about himself because he is married into a family worth billions.
[Deleted. You're right, it is OT here, but it isn't OT on the thread we posted on the exact same topic two days ago. Thanks. Site Monitor]
O ye of little faith. Don't you see there's no magic wand that can be waived to fix what some still dare refer to as "the economy". This is not like rebuilding some broken levees or fighting off some pesky terrorists, it's more like getting the price of oil to drop or foreseeing the possible damage of a storm. It cannot be done I tell you! Just ask Krugman!
No seriously, someone should just ask Krugman to step in until inauguration day.
it's not the economy, it's what's left of an attack from greedy wall street criminals that are sure to get away with it. It's a crime scene, not the economy.
Another FU for Tom Friedman. Imagine having to live with a woman whose family fortune lost 99% of its worth in just two months?
That's 3.6 billion to 25 million.
Oy vey...
...indeed!!
justice
"Or how about this: Why don't the very serious commentariat demand that our current president do his damn job for a change rather than running out the clock? "
Ignoring the dysfunctional nature of the one we have is definitely a big part of the problem. The press has just let the occupied White House throw this country down the drain, and now it would like some deus ex machina to end it all. Doing its job would work for all concerned.
Fuck you, Flat-Head Friedman-Unit! Enough of your bright-eyed, BushCo tailed bullshit! I don't know if I've ever seen a dude so overflowing with half-baked, you-run-with-that ideas. The real shame of it is that he keeps getting booked on supposedly intelligent pundit shows. WTF?? Can't these guys find a professional SOMEWHERE??
noise and misdirection until Obama is available to blame shit on.
honestly... and I hate to say this, but - in both Friedman's and President Bush's defense -
the economic problem is global. it affects many world economies. its just that out of all the major world economies, its hurting us about the hardest.
so Bush is running some last minute effort to gather leaders together to fix this... and I'm getting the impression they're just dismissing him. I'm getting the impression that Germany, France, England, China... they all know how much shit Bush (and GOP pundits) talked the last 8 years, how badly our economy was mis-handled, and how its kind of Bush's/our fault in the first place.
I kind of get the impression that the rest of the political leaders of the world are just dismissing Bush at this point and stalling to talk to Obama, anyway.
so - in a sense - I feel kind of bad for Bush because he's got to be feeling pretty isolated and hopeless at this point.
and - in a sense - I kind of agree with Friedman. lets get this damn show on the road Thanksgiving's a bit hasty but January 20th is pretty far down the road. can America afford to lose another half million jobs between now and the end of January, just to honor tradition?
"so - in a sense - I feel kind of bad for Bush because he's got to be feeling pretty isolated and hopeless at this point."
Burnt, you live up to your name, you feel bad for BUSH? You dumb ass your going to be wanting him dead in a year or 2.
The economic problem is global because the international community are heavily invested in US stock market shares including those on bundled sub-prime mortgages.
I think thats why so many global leaders are hesitant (and likely too bitter) to want to work with him at this point.
they probably think he wants to manifest another "my way or the highway" approach to collaboration. and they probably think that while their own citizens are suffering a little bit... the dipshits in America who voted for this assclown twice in a row are suffering a helluva lot more...
so my suspicion is a lot of world leaders are just bemusedly toughing this out until Obama takes over and they can sit down with someone with a little more maturity.
"The highway" is no longer an option, thanks to cuts in infrastructure investment.
The Obama Administration over before it starts, my God when are these stinking CONs going to shut the fuck up? The Dems in Congress should be stepping up to the plate now, what about those useless SOBs. We are fucked if we think one man is going to turn this country around.
Why is this guy all of a sudden being invited to every show? Isn't this the same f&*(&er who said
"McDonald's cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas, the designer of the F-15."
Nick going, jerk!
He's right. He's got the inside track. He knows that the Bush's are familiar with the disposal of the Kennedy's and Kings. This is the plan: to wipe out America. Friedman is exposing this to you so you can do something. You don't run a country this big into the ground unless you have a plan to "kill the baby in the bathtub". Treason, beyond belief.That's why Ronald (666) Wilson has 6 letters in all three names. God was warning you too! But you better believe it. Cause this is a plan. Thanks Friedman.
Ok is it REALLY about to be as cataclysmic as he's describing!?
You always prepare for the worst case scenario, but jeez...
...for real?
He just wants Obama to "own" the economy sooner so they can blame him that it's bad.
Of course some have already jumped the gun.
Quite the spinning top that Tom Friedman. He's basically disavowed all his previous prognostications, so that he can continue to prognosticate his new prognostications on paid tv and be rewarded quite handsomely for having essentially been wrong on everything from the war to the economy for the last 8 years.
Bravo.
The whirling dervish that is Tom Friedman...
Mon, 11/24/2008 - 12:59 — Liberal AND Proud
Funny you should call Friedman a whirling dervish when that's a form of Sufism, a mystical approach to Islam, founded by Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī.
a deal....Move up the inauguration in exchange for no pardons from Bush.
by this fat fucking piece of shits concern. Yeah, we'll all eat tuna Tom, you go eat a bag a shit asshole
Maybe Freidman ought to think a second before he comes up with another "good" idea. The transition date is set in the Constitution (actually, the 20th Amendment). While it might be nice to move it up or move it back, it really doesn't make any difference what Freidman thinks because a Constitutional Amendment is not going to pass in the next 57 days.
I am sure the NY Times could end his contract in shorter time if they came to their senses.
I'd like to see the inauguration moved up by about 8 years ago.
Hey Friedman, you got 60 days. That's way less than a Friedman unit. So for the time being SUCK ON THIS.
...the dems would have nominated an staunchly anti-war candidate, and not Mr. "lets move the War on Terror into Pakistan.."
Saw this earlier and wanted to comment then but had to go out shopping for Thanksgiving and of course the games on Thursday.
These a-holes really piss me off. Where were they for the last 8yrs and how many billions being spent on Iraq and the natural accumulation of debt that comes with all Repuke administrations.
And now the wingers are coming out with comments about whether the US gov't can afford to pay for all the Obama programs. Yeah sure, we could have paid for these 10 times over if they had been applied then but nnnnnnoooooooooooooooooo this mofo gov't spent it on their friends Oil/Pharma/IMC and now let them eat tuna.
Anytime I run into any riechwinger now I quote them the same as wheyghey mentions above: SUCK ON THIS. That's all they understand anyway.
Like Bill Mahr said Bush won't be happy until he leaves the white house burning down as he is walking back to TX. The Bush family have always been about making the Bush family rich. Shrub always felt he was entitled to his way of life. People should have realized Bush never had a business success without daddy holding him up. Bush was alright maybe as a mayor someplace but he managed to destroy this country. He will hold first place as the worst president ever in the history of the United States and for my generations a poor example of what was wrong with our generation of the 60s & 70s. He was a spoiled brat. This country was sold a bill of goods. Am happy I never voted for him.
I was hoping he'd disappear.
I would like our chances better with Obama running the show the next fifty-some-odd days. Obama's few days of prep time would still involve much deeper consideration of issues than President Go-With-His-Gut and Company.
Six Months Friedman married into the family that owns GGP, a real estate development firm. According to GGP's site, in the last 52 weeks, the stock went from $49.79 per share to $0.24. Today's price is $1.36. That's a loss of more than 97%. The company is worth not even 3% of what it was worth a year ago. The highest price in the last two years was $67.00 in March 2007. Now it's worth 2% of the March 2007 value. The vertical scale on the stock price chart is logarithmic. Those who know what that means know it's worse than it looks.
A company that was worth billions of dollars last year is worth millions, a fraction of past values.
The company will rebound some more but to what extent no one knows. Only scavenger real estate investors are willing to buy property and only for pennies on the dollar.
Six Months Friedman can kiss his wife's inheritance good bye. He should write another book and this time give it an honest title "I Was Wrong, so Wrong"
http://www.ggp.com/investment/stockquote.aspx
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