posted on September 16, 2008 11:21:52 AM new
September 14, 2008
OP-ED COLUMNIST
Making America Stupid
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Imagine for a minute that attending the Republican convention in St. Paul, sitting in a skybox overlooking
the convention floor, were observers from Russia, Iran and Venezuela. And imagine for a minute what
these observers would have been doing when Rudy Giuliani led the delegates in a chant of “drill, baby,
drill!”
I’ll tell you what they would have been doing: the Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan observers would have
been up out of their seats, exchanging high-fives and joining in the chant louder than anyone in the hall —
“Yes! Yes! Drill, America, drill!” — because an America that is focused first and foremost on drilling for oil
is an America more focused on feeding its oil habit than kicking it.
Why would Republicans, the party of business, want to focus our country on breathing life into a 19thcentury
technology — fossil fuels — rather than giving birth to a 21st-century technology — renewable
energy? As I have argued before, it reminds me of someone who, on the eve of the I.T. revolution — on the
eve of PCs and the Internet — is pounding the table for America to make more I.B.M. typewriters and
carbon paper. “Typewriters, baby, typewriters.”
Of course, we’re going to need oil for many years, but instead of exalting that — with “drill, baby, drill” —
why not throw all our energy into innovating a whole new industry of clean power with the mantra
“invent, baby, invent?” That is what a party committed to “change” would really be doing. As they say in
Texas: “If all you ever do is all you’ve ever done, then all you’ll ever get is all you ever got.”
I dwell on this issue because it is symbolic of the campaign that John McCain has decided to run. It’s a
campaign now built on turning everything possible into a cultural wedge issue — including even energy
policy, no matter how stupid it makes the voters and no matter how much it might weaken America.
I respected McCain’s willingness to support the troop surge in Iraq, even if it was going to cost him the
Republican nomination. Now the same guy, who would not sell his soul to win his party’s nomination, is
ready to sell every piece of his soul to win the presidency.
In order to disguise the fact that the core of his campaign is to continue the same Bush policies that have
led 80 percent of the country to conclude we’re on the wrong track, McCain has decided to play the
culture-war card. Obama may be a bit professorial, but at least he is trying to unite the country to face the
real issues rather than divide us over cultural differences.
A Washington Post editorial on Thursday put it well: “On a day when the Congressional Budget Office
warned of looming deficits and a grim economic outlook, when the stock market faltered even in the wake
of the government’s rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, when President Bush discussed the road
ahead in Iraq and Afghanistan, on what did the campaign of Senator John McCain spend its energy? A
ahead in Iraq and Afghanistan, on what did the campaign of Senator John McCain spend its energy? A
conference call to denounce Senator Barack Obama for using the phrase ‘lipstick on a pig’ and a new
television ad accusing the Democrat of wanting to teach kindergartners about sex before they learn to
read.”
Some McCain supporters criticize Obama for not having the steel in his belly to use force in the dangerous
world we live in today. Well I know this: In order to use force, you have to have force. In order to exercise
leverage, you have to have leverage.
I don’t know how much steel is in Obama’s belly, but I do know that the issues he is focusing on in this
campaign — improving education and health care, dealing with the deficit and forging a real energy policy
based on building a whole new energy infrastructure — are the only way we can put steel back into
America’s spine. McCain, alas, has abandoned those issues for the culture-war strategy.
Who cares how much steel John McCain has in his gut when the steel that today holds up our bridges,
railroads, nuclear reactors and other infrastructure is rusting? McCain talks about how he would build
dozens of nuclear power plants. Oh, really? They go for $10 billion a pop. Where is the money going to
come from? From lowering taxes? From banning abortions? From borrowing more from China? From
having Sarah Palin “reform” Washington — as if she has any more clue how to do that than the first 100
names in the D.C. phonebook?
Sorry, but there is no sustainable political/military power without economic power, and talking about one
without the other is nonsense. Unless we make America the country most able to innovate, compete and
win in the age of globalization, our leverage in the world will continue to slowly erode. Those are the
issues this election needs to be about, because that is what the next four years need to be about.
There is no strong leader without a strong country. And posing as one, to use the current vernacular, is
nothing more than putting lipstick on a pig.
_____________________
posted on September 16, 2008 11:55:00 AM new
"invent" is one of those phrases like "fix dat".
Great unless you're doing the inventing.
Reminds me of a moronic statement by Borillar about electric cars:
Dey should make dem make better batteries.
So, as stated, we will not be able to do without oil for many many decades, then drill, drill, drill. Since oil is a commodity, it is probably better to drill, drill, drill than to have economic instability, starvation, wars and stuff and stuff.
posted on September 16, 2008 12:34:22 PM new
"Dey should make dem make better batteries.
When you say that out loud it sounds like Palin talking in her thick accent.
ya gonna vote for Palin there eh?
ya hoser
ps - they made better batteries already, they just need to perfect them for car use so they dont blow up like everyones laptops did a few years ago... Chevy unveiled the Volt today, a nice looking city car that you can fully charge in just a few hours and uses less juice over the course of the year than a household fridge. (not that your fridge doesn't use a lot of juice)
hopefully it'll cost a bit less than those Tesla roadsters....
[ edited by vintage4u on Sep 16, 2008 12:37 PM ]
posted on September 16, 2008 01:33:52 PM new
Duhsquirrel,
Borillar hasn't posted here for over five years. Only a coward would misquote his remark while taking it out of context and then call it moronic five years later.
posted on September 16, 2008 01:47:29 PM new
"So, as stated, we will not be able to do without oil for many many decades, then drill, drill, drill."
The author of this article did not say we don't need oil at present. What he did say, in so many words, is chanting drill, drill, drill sounds like worshiping the oil god. I can just picture all the Republican delegates dancing around a giant oil-god idol and chanting drill, drill, drill. Only thing missing is the sound of drums. We all know that we will have to use oil until we come up with something better in 10, 20, 50 years. We need to figure this out post-haste. The drill chanting infers that the Republicans(at least at the convention) do not feel the need for alternative fuel. They would like to drill every drop of oil from the planet and then worry.
[ edited by coach81938 on Sep 16, 2008 01:51 PM ]
posted on September 17, 2008 01:22:54 AM new
Whether the posts were 5yrs ago or yesterday, any post he ever made that left the pc guide and delved into science, math, or technology was laughable. He had many an honored place on the bulletin board here.
posted on September 17, 2008 05:58:20 AM new
If you could "delve into" the English language you might at least be able to explain why you believe that. Otherwise your statement can only be described as juvenile mockery of someone no longer here to defend himself.
I am looking forward to the day when you may enlighten us with your perceived genius. Then you won't have to bolster your remarks with mockery in an effort to suggest that you have a superior thinking apparatus.
Until then...well, I guess we will have to feel sorry for a bitter little squirrel.
posted on September 17, 2008 10:26:02 AM new
The sentences are simple enough. Whenever the topic strays off high school "political science" and delves into the concrete the "making America stupid" becomes reality.
The endless posts about Obama/Dems going to "fix" something are merely boring. When you attempt to re-write the laws of Physics or Chemistry, it becomes hilarious. These things do not work on the "sounds good" theory or are they possible because you can find someone writing a column with the same "opinion". There are no "opinions" there.
I have printed dozens of posts for the colleagues to enjoy during a hard day.
posted on September 17, 2008 10:41:18 AM new
"The endless posts about Obama/Dems going to "fix" something are merely boring. When you attempt to re-write the laws of Physics or Chemistry, it becomes hilarious. These things do not work on the "sounds good" theory or are they possible because you can find someone writing a column with the same "opinion". There are no "opinions" there.
I have printed dozens of posts for the colleagues to enjoy during a hard day."
Please excuse this simple-minded Democrat, but what the heck are you saying? 90% of your posts contain insults to posters/Obama/Democrats, but have very little content. On this thread, no one has said Obama is going to fix anything. He sounds much more likely to explore alternative fuels than McCain does, however. We were questioning, among other things, the drill, drill, drill mentality and the need for exploring alternative fuel while STILL using oil. How does this defy the laws of chemistry or physics?
What might defy the laws of chemistry or physics or geology is thinking we have an endless supply of oil and we should continue belching it into the atmosphere until there isn't a drop left.
Squirrel, do you also print out your Round Table responses and those of your suspended but admiring friends to proudly display and show to your esteemed colleagues?
Your colleagues must be exceedingly intelligent to appreciate the posts that you take the time to print and display. And if they are so esteemed they must view your interest and your unflagging participation here with similar admiration and awe.
