I know we all hate Tom Friedman, but check this out:

[chiburb]

In my next life, I want to be Tom DeLay, the House majority leader.

Yes, I want to get almost the entire Republican side of the House of Representatives to bend its ethics rules just for me. I want to be able to twist the arms of House Republicans to repeal a rule that automatically requires party leaders to step down if they are indicted on a felony charge - something a Texas prosecutor is considering doing to DeLay because of corruption allegations.

But most of all, I want to have the gall to sully American democracy at a time when young American soldiers are fighting in Iraq so we can enjoy a law-based society here and, maybe, extend it to others. Yes, I want to be Tom DeLay. I want to wear a little American flag on my lapel in solidarity with the troops, while I besmirch every value they are dying for.

If I can't be Tom DeLay, then I want to be one of the gutless Republican House members who voted to twist the rules for DeLay out of fear that "the Hammer," as they call him, might retaliate by taking away a coveted committee position or maybe a parking place.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/25/opinion/25friedman.html?oref=login&incamp=article_popular_1

[MikeG]

1. I don't know. I got problems with the other things he said.

[chiburb]

2. I agree with you, but for him to nail DeLay and

Hummer drivers in the same column was too "out of character" to ignore.

[wurzel]

3. I don't "hate" Friedman. I just don't always agree with him.

[buddysmellgood]

9. I don't hate Tom Friedman either. He has an understanding of

the Mid East that few can match. But I don't always agree with him.

[bvar22]

4. Pretty good stuff in mainstream media:

"Yes, I want to drive the mother of all gas-guzzlers that gets so little mileage you have to drive from gas station to gas station. Yes, I want to drive my Hummer and never have to think that by consuming so much oil, I am making transfer payments to the worst Arab regimes that transfer money to Islamic charities that transfer money to madrassas that teach children intolerance, antipluralism and how to hate the infidels.

And when one day one of those madrassa graduates goes off and joins the jihad in Falluja and kills my neighbor's son, who is in the U.S. Army Rangers, I want to drive to his funeral in my Hummer. Yes, I want to curse his killers in front of his mother and wail aloud, "If there was only something I could do ..." And then I want to drive home in my Hummer, stopping at two gas stations along the way."

[barb162]

6. he has a very good point here

[Killarney]

5. wow, that was great. I agree with him on this one.

[pacalo]

7. Friedman seems to have seen the light. This editorial was excellent.

[w4rma]

8. holy shit. (nt)

[robcon]

10. I don't hate Friedman.

I think he's a genius - the smartest op-ed writer in an American newspaper.

[charlie]

11. Fuck him

He has no business using soldiers as a prop to shame House Republicans. As one of the leading and most brazen apologists for the litany of lies Bush used to insert our military into that hellhole, he can't claim decency and concern for their well-being now. Fuck him. Fuck him twice.

[JVS]

12. Hey Tommy, where's the fucking lexus and olive tree now you asshole?