Friedman's still got it; Dowd still lacks it
■"Sinbad Vs. the Mermaids: Martians in the Persian Gulf," op-ed by Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, 5 October 2005, p. A29.■"All the President's Women: No glass ceiling for office wives," op-ed by Maureen Dowd, New York Times, 5 October 2005, p. A29.
I know, I know. I pick on Friedman. Part of it is simply the normal desire of the devotee to tear down his idols as he himself rises, aka professional jealously. Part of it is simply generational: you believe your time has come and you want the elders out of the way. And yeah, part of it is because he's become awfully established and, on that basis, somewhat lazy and less sharp in his analysis (my problem with the "Flat" book).
But in reality, Friedman is still batting at an average way above most pundits. He's like Favre, getting old but still somebody to watch on a regular basis. His piece today provides one of his patented brilliantly-scoped observations:
When the Iraqi Navy drops you off on the [USS] Chosin, a guided-missile cruiser, two things just hit you in the face: one is the diversity of the U.S. Navy--blacks, whites, Hispanics, Christians, Jews, atheists, Muslims, all working together, bound by a shared idea, not an iron fist. To be sure, it took America a good 150 years after independence to embrace pluralism and women's rights, and we're still working at it. Nevertheless, America today is so different from anything in this part of the world. The Iraqi Navy is all men, and almost all Shiites. We are like Martians to them.
Friedman reports one of our sailors talking to a senior in the Iraqi Coast Guard, who said, "It is amazing how you guys can be so many religions, ethnic groups . . . and still make this thing work and be the best in the world. And here we are: fighting north and south, and we are all cousins and brothers."
Great piece.
Counter that to the continuing crap that Maureen Dowd puts out in his non-stop ranting on Bush:
There are only so many supremely powerful jobs to give to women who are not qualified to get them. [Look who's talking!]The West Wing is a parallel universe to TV's Wiseria Lane [aka, "Desperate Housewives"]: instead of self-indulgent desperate housewives wary of sexy nannies, there are self-sacrificing, buttoned-up nannies serving as adoring work wives,, catering to W.'s every political, legal and ego-affirming need.
Talk about bullshit! If you let strong women work throughout your administration, then you must be a complete momma's boy pussy. This coming from the "feminist" Dowd, who has no self-awareness on the sheer hypocrisy of her writing, day-in and day-out. "Office wives" all right. You gotta be some slut who's sublimating your sexual desire if you put in long hours in the office, right?
But, of course, Harriet Miers is doubly bad, being both evangelical and unmarried. She believes too much in God, her career and Bush. No, to be fit for the court she needs the sort of wide life experience someone like the self-appointed arbiters of public opinion such as Dowd so obviously carries in her back pocket.
Yes, yes. If you say that Jesus Christ is your savior, you must be a complete jackass and nincompoop, unfit for any office. Oh to be so sophisticated!