It might be hard for you to imagine covering the democratic uprising in Egypt as a way to reflect upon all the wise things you’ve written in the past.
But you’re not Tom Friedman. He wrote today (New York Times, 2/11/11):
I spent part of the morning in the square watching and photographing a group of young Egyptian students wearing plastic gloves taking garbage in both hands and neatly scooping it into black plastic bags to keep the area clean. This touched me in particular because more than once in this column I have quoted the aphorism that “in the history of the world no one has ever washed a rented car.” I used it to make the point that no one has ever washed a rented country either–and for the last century Arabs have just been renting their countries from kings, dictators and colonial powers. So, they had no desire to wash them.
That wasn’t the first time Egypt reminded him of something smart he’d written (NBC‘s Meet the Press, 1/30/11):
For the first 15 years or so of his rule, Egypt really did stagnate. I visited, gosh, back 12 years ago. I remember writing that Mubarak had more mummies in his Cabinet than King Tut, OK. Then he slowly, under our pressure, and under the pressure, really, of globalization, started to open up. And in the last few years, actually appointed a lot of reformers to his Cabinet who produced a real opening, a 6 percent growth, I believe, last year.
Appearing on Charlie Rose last night (2/10/11), Friedman said this:
We’ve had this conversation before where we talkedabout the Iraq War and the whole idea of why it’s important to democratize a place like Iraq. I think I said to you the old aphorism that in the history of the world no one has ever washed a rented car. And the point I made about Iraq is that no one’s ever washed a rented country, either.
Is this guy wise or what?
Actually, Friedman’s most memorable “conversation” about Iraq on the Charlie Rose show didn’t have to do with washing cars. It was the time he explained the reason the U.S. invaded Iraq–to pop the “terrorism bubble” after 9/11. As he put it (5/30/03):
What they needed to see was American boys and girls going house to house, from Basra to Baghdad, and basically saying, “Which part of this sentence don’t you understand? You don’t think, you know, we care about our open society, you think this bubble fantasy, we’re just gonna to let it grow? Well, suck. On. This.” That, Charlie, is what this war is about.
He is so smart. You know, before this, no one in any Arab country has ever picked up garbage.
I just listened to Friedman’s interview on Charlie Rose and believe me, your article is a welcome antidote to what I heard.
Friedman and his support of the US war-making machine in the Middle East leaves him no fan of mine, but for him to now come out in support of the Egyptians’ victory is nothing but jumping on their bandwagon in hopes perhaps it will somehow bring him back into a better light with progressive Americans. Ain’t gonna do it for me…phony as all get out!
And, of course, sell more of his books! Give it up Tom, you’re simply the cheerleader for all those Americans that would rather sit home and read your books and feel all warm and fuzzy about their pompous, pious ideas of freedom and democracy.
We’re talking about stolen, not rented, cars here, aren’t we?
And Friedman’s bad ass ‘Mericanismo on Iraq makes pretty damn clear his identification with the guys carrying the crowbars, doesn’t it?
While we’re at it, let’s pull the plug on Charlie Rose, too. That would be one less bloviator gatekeeping the public airways.
Friedman is an Israel Firster, a prerequisite for a Times Columnist.
And Charlie Rose is so incredibly stupid that it boggles the mind. It is not just that he is reactionary; he is dull, slow and IQ challenged.
The thing about his interview last night on Charlie Rose is that this detail about the Egyptians displaying amazing personal conduct during the protests is, I think, important for Americans to hear about because there are so many negative stereotypes about angry violent Islamic radicals who must all be terrorists. But in Egypt, they’re picking up their trash, not screaming death to America or burning the American flag. For conservative listeners, hearing that from Friedman I think has to be positive. (And puts a spotlight on American behavior in the streets after a big sports victory.)
I almost didn’t watch the interview because the last time I watched Friedman on Charlie Rose he blasted the Bush administration for botching the Iraq war, blamed them for not doing it right (he smacked the table with his hand), but didn’t criticize them about going in under false pretenses in the first place. That was the point when I more or less went off the Charlie Rose show—not altogether but kind of like, eh. It was at the roundtable where I heard most of the pro-war bs that supplemented the bs I heard on NPR. At the time BBC news was presenting a very different version of events and that was how I realized how bad things had gotten here even with media that I had trusted for a long time. Ashame. Although Egypt is an encouraging sign for good new things. Democracy Now has been excellent with their coverage. Viva la good informacion!
I have not read or seen the articles/interviews related above, but judging from the comments I haven´t missed anything. Tom Friedman and Charlie Rose are either ignorant or just stupid, probably both. They do know what they can and cannot say to keep their – probably overpaid – jobs, but they seem to have totally forgotten what it means with honest journalism. Take a look at ICH = Information Clearing House, which newsletter brings out articles You´ll never find in mainstream media. I´ve been following what´s up in Egypt for the last weeks, and the information displayed in those articles are far more comprehensive than what You´ll ever find in a newspaper or on FOX news.
When I´m writing these lines, it is less than eight hours since president Mubarak announced his resignement via his vice president. The Egyptian people made it! Let´s hope that they will do the rest the whole way to a true democratic society – without interference from the outside!
Let us also keep in mind that this was the second popular uprising ending up with the overthrow of an impopular dictatorship in short time, mostly thanks to the World Wide Web and cellphones!
The men in power can´t hide facts, lie and opress people the same way they could only a decade or to back.
May God be with the Egyptians!
Oi ! Is the “Earth flat” or What?
Which undoubtedly means so is Egypt no matter who will run the country. I mean, — if not — why send the Paper of Record’s economic imbecile to cover a revolution?
But everything in life has a purpose, I suppose. Look at AIPAC, for instance. And then look at poor, pitiful Egypt. Take away the last 3100 years or so and you’ll be hard-pressed to figure out why the Nation of Israel left Egypt in the first place. Especially since it’s so flat.
If you don’t believe me, just scrape away the last 5ooo years of sand and — voilÃÂ! — you’ll find a pre-feudal dynasty bearing a striking resemblance to the series of Western puppets that have sat on Egypt’s “throne” since 1952. That’s the year King Farouk was overthrown by the so-called “Society of Free Officers” that had sided with the Nazis during WWII. The group wasn’t exactly enthralled by Hitler’s idea of Aryan supermen, mind you. They just hated being part of the British Empire. A lot.
Having a Canal on their geography the size of the East River and owned by somebody else didn’t help Egypt’s self-image. Then again, what’s the East River ever done for Brooklyn? The Manhattanites wound up taking it over, anyway.
In all fairness, King Farouk had once had the British ambassador buried in hot sand, smeared with honey and staked to an ant hill. You would have thought that the Brits would have gotten the message then — but the ants somehow managed to serve the ambassador a decent tea during the ordeal. Order was quickly restored and Egypt remained flat.
So it is a credit to all involved — the Nazis included — that the Nile valley (which makes up most of Egypt) has indisputably remained flat throughout all this turmoil.
‘Course, in between there was that aeon or so of being an empire in decline: from conquest by the Assyrians, and later, by the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Ottomans, and Europeans. Each paid very little in rent and nobody had to wash the country, either. The spring floods in the lower Nile valley did that for them.
So, Egypt got to remain flat a good while longer. [God — I’m starting to feel like Chico Marx.] Although Gamal Nasser would restore a touch of autonomy and dignity to the ancient land in the 1950s — he did so by relying on the trade-off between the superpowers. Which isn’t nearly as important for keeping Egypt flat as it was for supplying new and even more decrepit mummies that the British had already run off to museums. No wonder Hosni Mubarak has had a steady supply of neo-con desiccants for cabinet duty these the last 30 years.
And that’s why you send your economics correspondent to cover a revolution. I hope the new government will be hard-pressed not to keep him — and trade him for the extraordinarily renditioned Egyptians buried like mummies at Guantanamo Bay.
Friedman is really interesting to watch beyond merely loving his own words, his ideas and the sound of his voice – which many people are guilty of – but for his particular whining, hysterical, self aggrandizing tone. He’s manic. He’s thrilled. He’s engaging with the material and with us via brilliant metaphors, homespun wisdom, down to earth common sense. It all adds up to a veritable banquet of epigrams…that just fall short of wisdom. But never mind that. He’s the Liberace of pundits, not technically unskilled at all. And if you’ve heard him describe doing his part for global consumption – all three members of his immediate family have (or had) electric hybrid vehicles – he’s doing more than okay financially. I think he would be a killer hire for any infomercial producer. Montel, sir, you have met your match. But he does have a couple of things unambiguously going for him – he’s not a fabulist, imo, in the mode of Judith Miller (the neocon conduit) or Gina Kolata (the HIV years.)
I probably meant, “He’s not a fabulist in the mode of, imo, Judith Miller (the neocon conduit) or Gina Kolata (the HIV years.)” Hell, words don’t matter. But the order they arrive in can.
That line about, “Nobody in the history of the world ever washed a rented car” is typical Friedman BS. Half the salesmen in the country drive leased–i.e., rented–cars. And even limiting the view to traditional short-term rentals, who knows how many people, having rented a car for several weeks and driven it through a muddy field, have washed it? Like his “flat world” metaphor, this one loses its appeal the longer you think about it.
friedman came on the tube and i turned it off. i was once a fan of his until the more i heard him speak i realized that he is so full of himself and all of his wonderful ideas (in his own mind) and he speaks so he can hear himself speak. charlie rose exists to provide a platform on pbs for these self-aggrandizing types. occasionally he also has quality guests but you really have to sift through a lot of you-know-what.
Great summation of Tom Friedman. I had the “opportunity” to meet him and argue about the morality of invading another nation under obviously trumped up “intelligence.” He’s a hawk in a loose fitting disguise. And full of himself.
Reading all these remarks about Tom Friedman reminds me of how I once read a book of his that really did help to open my eyes about the truth of what was (and is still to some degree?) going on in the middle east. As an American raised in the usual modern Jewish tradition — and no, I am not referring to being religious or even understanding much about Judaism — of mindlessly and unquestioningly supporting Israel and anything it did, his book was just one of several that changed my mind about the righteousness of Israel and the reality of American imperial power.
I was a youngster growing up in a period shortly after (20 years) after the horrors of the Holocaust were revealed to the world, and therefore, the Jews deserved a homeland, and therefore, anything the Israeli government and army did must be right. I was a good little Zionist, attending all the rallies and cheering for Team Israel; I even knew all the calls and songs. Israel could do no wrong because that is what I was firmly trained to believe.
Then I grew up, and came to learn of the horrible practices by my own government, formed and fashioned in the best of Nazi, fascist, imperialist traditions. I learned how we got our fingers into everything on earth, claiming the resources and peoples as our own to do as we wish. Our electronic media, limited to 3 very narrow TV networks in the 1960’s, rarely shed any light on the reality of this paper tiger, with the exception of the occasional outliers like Dan Rather who actually did genuine journalism until ultimately selling out to the establishment. Maybe I am mistaken, only having read “From Beirut to Jerusalem,” but I think I would have placed Friedman in that group of rebels for the time.
The disaster of 9/11 certainly did a lot to shake up some people, at least briefly. Most of us mentally recovered and rejoined human conscience, albeit with somewhat permanent damage to our psyches. But it seems like Tom Friedman might have been more affected than some by the radiation emitted from the weapons of mass destruction, suddenly veering hard right, supporting and becoming cheerleader for George W. Bozo and his bund of neocon human and economic torturers.
Of course, we discovered there were no weapons of mass destruction after all, but that didn’t prevent some heavily-invested red faces from continued suffering from exposure to those plutonium rods, regardless of how factful their existence. The enormous emotional impact of our nation being attacked on our own soil apparently caused permanent, irreversable mutations in even our most resiliant strains of informational investigators.
Something very tragic happened there, and I could no longer trust anything coming from this formerly (I think) admirable writer. I really /had/ learned some things reading him, and it really /was/ wise and insightful, and I still think so largely. Maybe the best we can hope for is that other journalists will learn from history — that is, this chapter on the history of journalism itself — and not permit themselves to repeat these mistakes.
By failing to maintain his integrity and objectivity, Friedman has discredited and dishonored himself as a writer and journalist.
> Then he slowly, under our pressure, and under the pressure, really, of globalization, started to open up. And in the last few years, actually appointed a lot of reformers to his Cabinet who produced a real opening, a 6 percent growth, I believe, last year.
Those hapless Egyptians, just as we finally get Mubarak to start to open up, they get themselves to Tahrir square and spoil things. It may take us decades to get their new ruler(s) (whoever that is) to start opening up.
Pres. Obama made a speach about democracy in Cairo and further lit the flame of freedom in the Egyptian heart; along with other influences , the Egyptian people decried no more stifling of their human spirit, and peacefully yet forcefully fought and regained their land and freedom. This is a Victory for the Human Spirit and for the Forces of light and goodwill on this planet. There are two paths: one in which Pres. Obama made a speech in June 2009 to stimulate “democracy”, and the secon path in which Pres. Bush used brutal force by a foreign country to try to force a democratic change in another country. You cannot bring about true democracy by an outside force; only the collective “people’s” will of the nation needing change can do that.
Mr. Hart,
You and “Fair” dissappoint me. I thought the purpose of this forum was to point out inaccurate reporting. Your piece is simply criticism about someone’s personality– I see no indication of ‘inaccurate information’. Shame on you. It’s one thing to disagree with someone’s assessment of a situation or even with his style– but using this forum to do so only cheapens it.
It is all about how the wise ones in the U.S. perceive things isn’t it? Our opinions just stand above everything else. My take on the street cleaning is that not only are these people beautifully peaceful in the vein of Gandhi & MLK, but they are also excellent physical caretakers of their land. The press is gushing over the clean up after it is over, but anyone watching this revolution for more than a second would have seen these people cleaning their streets even when it was far from clear whether Mubarak would go. We are just looking like fools every time we open our mouths. Obama is out there gushing over what peaceful resistance can do while he stonewalls his own people who demand lawful justice with the prosecution of Bush & Co and while he carries on their brutal wars…. and Friedman just plain gushes!
Yes, Friedman is a horrible pain in the ass. To think that people like him are given a giant microphone and an unearned six-figure salary in this country probably says as much about failing newspapers in the US as anything else. We have intelligent people in this country who aren’t blinded by their own vanity and who are actually somewhat independent ideologically, but thinking doesn’t sell: comments re: washing rental cars does.
I recall a particular documentary where Friedman went to France and was shown among French students enlightening them with his business-first philosophy. I was surprised they didn’t edit it out because compared to these French undergraduates, Friedman appeared idiotic, but mostly irrational. The students rightly looked confused, apparently not fully bought into the religion of Business. He kept at it though, and I wish I had some of those infamous Friedman quips at hand.
Why is he there?
My fear is that they are cleaning the streets in preparation for a theocracy.
That whole cleaning up after ones self has really gained traction in some thought circles. The Massive tea party rallies and Glen Beck were clean as a whistle.If you could of viewed it you would of been amazed. The Obama inauguration was a filth pit. Trash piled everywhere. People climbing over it.It took 3 days to clean up. And all this means what?????……..I have no idea.
What worries me is the words coming from the middle east and Europe from our so called friends. Indicating how removed,how impotent,how willing to dump long term friendships at the first sign of trouble we are. Weakness is danger in this world. Weakness thy name is Obama.I pray everyday that this man is never truly tested.
Allie Avery…………DITO
Tom Friedman is not to be trusted… or read. Or listened to…
Charlie Rose never failed to slobber all over him each time I saw him on as a guest. He practically slides across the table and into Friedman’s ample lap. I stopped watching Rose long ago. But before I did, I was pleasantly surprised to see he had on a far better, far more truthful, intelligent and enlightening guest – Noam Chomsky. It was clear that Rose did not exude the same unbridled admiration for Metaphor Tom with Chomsky – au contraire, he seemed very uncomfortable and wary. He made it clear to Chomsky that it was only because his viewers had badgered him for a long time to have him on that he finally did.
But wait, good old buddy Tom Friedman enters into this picture. Seems Charlie couldnt resist scolding Chomsky by quoting Friedman – of all people! – on Chomsky. He said something about how while Friedman respects Chomsky’s intelligence, he cannot stand how he always turns American success “belly up” … turning glorious to inglorious…
Ahem. Chomsky’s bad? Lol. Try America’s bad. Talk about shoot the messenger. Talk about passing the buck. Just like Friedman to get it arsebackwards… wrong. Thomas Friedman’s world isnt flat, it’s upside down and he is a fool. A very lucky fool, at that.
I wholeheartedly subscribe to the opinion of “Truther” (and others) above, both about Friedman and about Charlie Rose. Friedman has never had an original thought, he’s like a weather vane, turning this way and that. Moreover, he is a FRAUD, always has been, and I can’t for the life of me understand how he continues to write for the NYTimes and fool some people; I understand even lerss how he continues to be accepted as a “friend” by some Arabs (according to him).
I feel so proud to note that I have PERSONALLY refuted Tom Friedman’s aphorism. Yes, believe it or not Tom, I HAVE washed a rental car! It happened back in the 1980s, after driving around in the southwest USA for a week+, my rental car was very dirty and had a couple of small scratches that I didn’t want the car rental-return inspector to notice, so I washed the car before returning it to reduce the possibility of their giving it undue scrutiny. It was successful.
Obviously this banal anecdote means nothing politically, but when you DO use an absolute term (“…no one has EVER washed a rental car”) it normally becomes very easy to refute the analogy. It seems to me about the only absolutes that are true are ones that are SO broadly general & diffuse as to be useless in shedding any additional light on a subject — “We all have to go sometime” or “History repeats itself — except when it doesn’t”, etc.
Like most of the posters above, I have no use for Friedman, and ESPECIALLY his apologetics for the ‘free trade’ agreements (it’s always easier to carry those kinds of elitist opinions when you’re a ‘kept man’ such as Mr Friedman, marrying a billionaire-ess as he did)
Tom may be bright but he sure had the reason for the Iraq war wrong. As time has proven, it was to fulfil PNAC’s preconceived agenda, largely one directed by Likudniks for the sake of Israel .
Pat Buchanan and Bob Novak tried to warn us in late 2002 and early 2003, but who was listening? Too many were drinking the Cheney Kool-Aid, including Tom.
Suck on this Friedman — the Egyptian revolution is everything anti-globalization. Mubarak is the pure product of Your world.
Kudos to Carol Crown on her comment about Obama, “Obama is out there gushing over what peaceful resistance can do while he stonewalls his own people who demand lawful justice with the prosecution of Bush & Co and while he carries on their brutal wars…”
Carol, if we will lead, the politicians will follow. I write to Obama almost every day demanding he stop the bush’s armed aggression against four sovereign nations: Afghanistan (had nothing to do with 911), Iraq (totally innocent of wrong doing to America), Pakistan (drone attacks create militant nationalists: “terrorists” by our military’s definition), Palestine (free bombs and missiles to murder almost 2,000 defenseless people in Gaza enables unmitigated terrorism–state sponsored), and now Obama strikes at yet another Muslim country Yemen with drone (terrorist) attacks.
Two admitted terrorists–george w bush and Luis Posada Carriles–walk about America bragging about their heinous crimes and no one in this nation that preaches justice, liberty, and democracy will lift a hand.
Please write every day to President Obama and demand he do something to restore our credibility as a nation respecting the rule of law, not a nation tolerating the outlaw. Furthermore, President Obama must cease and desist from terrorist assaults against sovereign nations and funding those that do.
If you get a chance to see Thomas L. Friedman on C-Span’s ‘In Depth’, do (I think it was from 2005).
I could only get through the first 30 minutes or so.
I sat there, mouth agape, as he went on and on and on about how smart he was, how he could have been a professional golfer (he was THAT good), or a professional model, but NO, he decided he had learned SO MUCH about the Middle East in his teens that he MUST dedicate his life to helping the REST of the WORLD learn some small portion of what his ENORMOUS intellect had already COMPREHENDED by his early twenties about the WORLD.
It was breathtaking.
If he and Scalia and Larry Summers were in the same room, the mass and gravitational pull of their collective egos would create a black hole that would collapse the universe.
Frank Walter…… I write to Obama every day demanding he stop Pee wee Herman and David Hasselhoff who were the real people who launched the 911 attack ,and drugged Bush to make him do their bidding,from trying to take over the world.Can you please pass the ketchup, i think it’s gonna rain.Im reading some real wacko comments here that reminds me why Obama and Bush really do need secret service protection for life.
Angellight, I recommend that you don’t write about politics when under the influence. It makes you sound very foolish.
loved your post. here’s my response to friedman’s feb 13 column: http://bit.ly/hhYqnA