Syrian "rebels" (courtesy presstv.ir)

I know. You’re shocked. How could a progressive superstar possibly be a hypocrite on gun control? I mean, other than the whole armed guards thing. Well, here ya go. “I think the best response to the use of poison gas by President Bashar al-Assad is not a cruise missile attack on Assad’s forces, but an increase in the training and arming of the Free Syrian Army — including the antitank and antiaircraft weapons it’s long sought.” That would be flat earther Thomas L. Friedman writing in this morning’s New York Times under the headline Arm and Shame. The same Tommy Boy who wrote . . .

In my world, you don’t get to call yourself ‘pro-life’ and be against common-sense gun control — like banning public access to the kind of semiautomatic assault rifle, designed for warfare, that was used recently in a Colorado theater.

So providing fully automatic guns and anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to “rebels” in a seething caldron of Islamic extremism is OK, but “allowing” Americans to exercise their natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms is “anti-life.” In kinky Friedman’s world. In case you didn’t know.

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56 COMMENTS

  3. Honestly, never heard of Friedman before today. But saying a pro gun control person is a hypocrite is like saying the sun rises in the east. It really don’t need saying.

    • You should consider yourself very lucky for having never heard of the man. If you’re on good blood pressure pills, and or tranquilizers, google “The World is Flat”.

      • There was a time, believe it or not, when Friedman was the right-of-left but left-of-center voice at the NYT. As his reputation increased it went to his head via his wallet. It also built pressures on him to renew his cred among the oligarchic left on certain topics.

        Therefore I’ve outsourced the Friedman brain space to a guy in Singapore who understands economics and policy better. And he’s cheaper. Friedman overpriced and under-skilled himself in a competitive world. Too bad.

    • Friedman is the favorite “must read” author of books with really unimpressive insights, like “The World is Flat” and other such twaddle. He’s supposedly a serious analyst of trends and future economic/political developments around the globe.

      Now, with that out of the way, here’s what he really is: A full-tilt apologist for the ChiComs and a guy who has never had a penetrating insight about anything, anywhere, at any time in his life. He just enjoys a prestige from working at the NY Times, hob-nobs with political and business leaders, and he works that angle for all it is worth.

  5. As per Tommy Boy’s statement in the block quote, exactly how many AR-15s are currently in use on the front lines in Afghanistan?

    Don’t arm law-abiding Americans. Just mouth-frothing radical Islamic jihadists.

  7. Kinky Friedman. I see what you did there Robert. I always ;liked Kinky as an entertainer, but not so much as a politician. On gun control, he once said, “I don’t carry a weapon, so anyone who wants to shoot me will have to bring his own gun.”

    Thomas Friedman? Who cares?

  8. In my world, you don’t get to call yourself ‘pro-choice’, and then take away my choice to defend my family because “It’s for the children.”

  9. In my world, Americans don’t arm Jihadists who want to kill Americans.

    In my world, you don’t kill Syrians because other Syrians are killing Syrians.

    In my world, Nobel Peace Prize winners don’t go around launching missiles and killing people.

    In my world, Kinky Friedman is Richard Samet Friedman, Texan, raconteur and erstwhile singer, and he’s a lot funnier than Thomas L. Friedman, New Yorker, failed writer and present day moron.

    • “In my world, Kinky Friedman is Richard Samet Friedman, Texan, raconteur and erstwhile singer, and he’s a lot funnier than Thomas L. Friedman, New Yorker, failed writer and present day moron.”

      Not only that but “Kinky” is a better author, IMO. He’s written several “detective novels”.

    • Ralph, your world and my world are very similar. Only problem, that world does not exist, except in our dreams.

    • Now I’m confused. I thought you guys were just characters I made up in my fantasy world. I have a whole world inside my head which helps me make it thru my days in the institute. If you guys are starting to make up your own story lines and characters maybe the doctors were right about me.

    • Ralf ? That must be you who moved in a block away from me. Or we live in the same plane of existence. Or is it the same dimension?(dementia?) Not quite sure.

    • I used to enjoy Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys. They’d play my town regularly. Kind of juvenile humor, really, but hey, I was a juvenile. Good backing band. ex. “What’s brown and sits on a piano bench? Beethoven’s Fourth Movement.” Texan balance for the Fugs, I suppose. Less literary.

  10. No different than my beloved senile Senator, John McCain, calling for UBC’s on the American people, but wants to give all sorts of toys to a bunch of Al-Qaeda-backed militants.

    • Every time Ross Perot stepped out from the “selling IBM computers to the government” bit he created chaos. Threw an election to Clinton. Made McCain into a hero from, well, something else. If McCain wants into Syria so much, let him go play “downed fighter-bomber pilot.” Again. Somebody’s got to tell rich chicks to stop marrying political guys just for the ride. Really. Stop. Please.

  11. The left is just following the script, if Obama had said no, they would have made excuses as to why not to attack. The reputation to loose is Obama’s not America and the liberal press will have none of that.

    Friedman is just being a good progressive pawn — he is an idiot

    • I was thinking along the same lines. People are full of contradictions. Pro Choice, but against capital punishment.

      OR

      Pro Life, but support capital punishment.

      How about a Nobel Peace Prize recipient (BARAK HUSSEIN OBOMBA), who use 5 times as many drone strikes (as previous POTUS), killing hundreds (estimate) of innocents for a few bad guys. THEN willing to use missiles and our bombs to kill citizens of another country BECAUSE their leader supposedly use poison gas on his OWN people. Including women and children? So POTUS kills more innocent people of another country to punish the guy who used the poison gas? Makes all kinds of sense to me.

      • You know, the way you laid that out makes all kinds of sense to me. I’m going to jump off the roof now…

    • Yeah, I’m Librral. No, not “progressive.”

      I’m glad that abortion is legal, as there are times when it’s the best option. It shouldn’t be used in lieu of contraceptives, however. Abortions are performed (IMHO) far more often in this society than is right.

      The “morning after” pill is not an abortion, any more than is failing to get pregnant. Keeping a guy’s pollen (no, it’s not seed) from working on a gal’s seed ain’t an abortion.

      As to capital punishment, it’s an excellent idea — save that slow hanging (televised) is a better idea than a fu¢king lethal injection. That’d be an actual deterrent.

      The only exceptions should be where it’s just too nice. Nidal Hassan, for instance, should be denied a Martyrs’ Death and put in general population to get beaten and used as a boy toy.

      There ya’ go. Now it’s your turn to deride the token Liberal.

  14. Rush calls him Thomas al-Friedman for his squishiness about Islam and Muslims.
    The Rodney King school of thought that says, “Can’t we all just get along?”
    Friedman would need electroshock therapy to get him to turn right.

  17. I agree with pretty much all of the above. Specifically, unsurprisingly, and vociferously with that whiskey part…(Balvenie Doublewood, OMG)

    We need to launch some missiles or SOF into Syria. But the goal of either must be to destroy the chemical weapons that have a very real chance of falling into the hands of terrorists.

    Nobody is saying this. I’m hoping that’s due to not wanting to play into their hands too quickly and a desire to maintain opsec.

    I worry that it’s due to we have Barack Obama as a president and no matter how many race baiters he hires, he’s still an incompetent boob and screw you Barry, I’d vote for Ice T any day. It’s not about racism it’s about dumb@ss.

    I’m probably just going to drink more and spout off about how something didn’t happen while you all hold a grudge because apparently being off message for a moment is an unforgivable sin *cough* *JWM about not wanting to carry after a DGU* *cough* *forgive and forget* *cough*.

      • I think it was a Zimmerman article(several actually), if I’ve confused you with another regular poster, I’ll blame the Balvenie and offer apologies anyway.

        • I don’t remember a specific comment, Blehtastic. But emotions ran high during those posting about GZ and TM. I have no anger or grudges and I don’t think either of us has reason to apologise for speaking our minds.

      • You were just talking about how after taking a human life, one might want to have nothing to do with defensive carry. It was psychologically sound, but not a thing any of us needed to hear in the heat of the battle against the grabbers.

        Nobody wants to punch holes in anything but paper and well used steel, but being a victim of vengeance is also no bueno.

  19. Thomas Friedman, Progressive Superstar? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!? What planet are you living on? He’s a right-wing apologist on his best day. One good friend of mine describes him as “the smartest 5th grader in his class.” Seriously. The guy is a corporatist whore, spewing Milton Friedman’s (I know, same surname) nonsense at anyone who will listen. He is the pet columnist of the 1%. He jacks off to NAFTA.

    If you’re going to talk politics (I mean real politics, not the partisan “debate” on TV), get a clue.

  21. “Kinky Friedman” is actually the name of another person entirely, you can look him up on wikipedia. calling Thomas Friedman “Kinky Friedman” would be like calling you: “Robert McNamara”. Doing so makes you look stupid, as if you heard someone say “kinky friedman” without knowing what it meant and used it here as an insult; I suggest you correct your faux pas and delete my comment.

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