tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post5835897401938662872..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: Aarrrrgghhhhh!!!!!!!Jonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-90220197059362072242011-09-07T14:07:30.333-05:002011-09-07T14:07:30.333-05:00I think wkdewey has the important point here.
Sur...I think wkdewey has the important point here.<br /><br />Sure, Friedman pays no attention to anything the president of the United States says or does.<br /><br />But in fairness to Friedman, he doesn't appear to know anything about anything else, either.<br /><br />The journalism industry's practice of zero-accountability, lifetime tenure for op-ed writers is not much good for journalism or discourse or America.reflectionephemeralhttp://poisonyourmind.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-65507328556072770282011-09-07T09:26:28.314-05:002011-09-07T09:26:28.314-05:00Well yeah, Obama makes a lot of "speeches&quo...Well yeah, Obama makes a lot of "speeches". <br /><br />But Pelosi wrote up Porkulus, Baucus did same with ObamaCare, and the disgraced Dodd and Frank took care of their murky business. Meanwhile, Obama gave more "speeches". He's giving another one coming up here soon, I understand. <br /><br />When Obama actually crafted and delivered an actual piece of work, the 2012 budget, sans speeches... it was scorned by all, and ignored, until Reid was shamed into holding a vote on it... and I guess not a single member of the Senate musta been listening to the "speeches", given the vote count. So Obama gave another speech. But the CBO director musta not been listening close enough either, because he said he couldn't score a speech. <br /><br />Friedman's only saying what we all know to be true. Nobody much cares what this guy says now. The emperor has no clothes... just "speeches". Now, if he puts something on the table, and climbs down into the arena and works, people might listen. But at this point, if he clings to past positions and speechifies, he'll be ignored. That's just the political reality here. <br /><br />And by the way, just to correct Mr. Friedman in the way that he is actually wrong here, the Ryan Plan did offer a prescription for sacrifice. And it was worked up and voted on... by politicians... putting their incumbency on the line. So somebody's doing what Friedman's calling for... it's just not Obama and the US Senate, which is still in a secure undisclosed area, budget-production-free for a few years now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-41430267647910096122011-09-07T09:09:06.051-05:002011-09-07T09:09:06.051-05:00Friedman is a lazy fool.
That being said, is it a...Friedman is a lazy fool.<br /><br />That being said, is it a political problem for the White House when nobody listens to what they say.charlienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-77732145346266131492011-09-07T08:52:04.901-05:002011-09-07T08:52:04.901-05:00The open of this thread reminds of those resume sn...The open of this thread reminds of those resume sniffers in soulless HR departments ("Applicant O uses the term 'sacrifice' eleventy-ten times in this compendium of his speeches! He must be sacrifice-y!")<br /><br />An alternative interpretation is the management one: what sacrifices has Obama asked for from his position of leadership? Any increased taxes on anyone? How about the recos of his own debt commission? Or confrontation with the increasingly defiant, indulgent opposition? And on and on.<br /><br />If I may offer a tepid defense of Friedman, I believe part of his problem is lack of clarity with his terms: he seems to be talking about a "lack of management/enforced sacrifice" (which is fair) in the context of speeches (which is foolish).CSHnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-13230733743350477922011-09-07T07:23:56.587-05:002011-09-07T07:23:56.587-05:00You're right, of course. However, it's on...You're right, of course. However, it's only fair to point out that the President's use of the term in the cited examples is not accompanied by much in terms of specifics. The public seems to be fine with sacrifice as a general concept, but tends to balk when their personal interests are involved.<br /><br />Note that I'm not faulting Obama on this; he's better than most. We get the government that we deserve, and we (collectively) are selfish and shortsighted.Sullivannoreply@blogger.com