Sunday, January 22, 2012

Thomas Friedman: So Far Left, He Thinks The Center Is...Far Left...

This is a Friedman classic, in which he decides, for all Americans, exactly who should be president.

First, he sets forth his bona fides to be named the nation decider:

...voters are still casting about for a leader with a winning message. I can save both parties a lot of money. I am one of those voters, and I can tell you exactly for whom I want to vote — and I don’t think I’m alone.

Well, Thomas, you're right about that. You have about 33% of the American people with you. They are called "the Democratic base".

For check out what Friedman feels are the "winning platform" for 2012:

I want to vote for a candidate who advocates an immediate investment in infrastructure that will create jobs and upgrade America for the 21st century — ultrafast bandwidth, highways, airports, public schools, mass transit

So point one is: Another stimulus, even larger than the first failed trillion-dollar attempt.

Second, I want to vote for a candidate who is committed to reforming taxes, and cutting spending, in a fair way. The rich must pay more, but everyone has to pay something.

Point two: Soak the rich, but everyone must have skin in the game. Obama campaigned on this, then once in office limited it to "soak the rich". Fool me once, Tom...

Third, I want to vote for a candidate who has an inspirational vision, not just a plan to balance the budget.

Point Three: Friedman wants a demagogue. Or Obama redux. Same difference, except, as point two mentions, it involves fooling us twice.

Finally, I want to vote for a candidate who supports a minimum floor of public financing of presidential, Senate and House campaigns. Money in politics is out of control today...
 It sure is, especially when Republicans are occasionally the beneficiary. Point Four: Overturn Citizens United!

Isn't this really the Obama agenda? Friedman admits it is:

Any candidate with that four-part agenda would win... I hope it is Obama, because I agree with him on so many other issues...

 
Obama won in 2008 because he advocated many of the positions Friedman outlines above. The problem is, he either abandoned them, used them as Trojan Horses to advance less popular parts of his radical agenda, or implemented the aforementioned policies, only to see them fail in spectacular fashion.

So Friedman wants Obama to re-run the 2008 campaign, convinced he can fool us all twice. Shame on you, Tommy boy, the American people are simply not as dumb as you are...

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