Friedman: Keep Cheney on for another term.
Friedman: Keep Cheney on for another term.
In his New York Times column yesterday, Tom Friedman said that if Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is elected president, he should make Dick Cheney his vice president in order to more successfully “coerce” Iran:
I have no idea who is going to win the Democratic presidential nomination, but lately I’ve been wondering whether, if it is Barack Obama, he might want to consider keeping Dick Cheney on as his vice president. […]
And that brings me back to the Obama-Cheney ticket: When it comes to how best to deal with Iran, each has half a policy — but if you actually put them together, they’d add up to an ideal U.S. strategy for Iran. Dare I say, they complete each other. […]
In sum, Mr. Obama’s instinct is right — but he needs to dial down his inner Jimmy Carter a bit when it comes to talking to Iran, and dial up a bit more inner Dick Cheney.
Matt Yglesias calls it the Times’ “worst op-ed day ever.”
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What world Friedman is living in…?!!
November 19th, 2007 at 9:37 amTom Friedman just wrote his own journalistic epitaph. If there ever was a sign that Friedman had finally gone over the edge rhetorically, this was it. And damned be the “liberal” NYT for printing it.
November 19th, 2007 at 9:43 amI guess this is what happens to your brain when you get trapped in the same six-month period over and over again.
November 19th, 2007 at 9:43 amFurther proof that Thomas Friedman is now clinically insane. Why this flat-earther continues to even have a column is beyond me.
November 19th, 2007 at 9:45 amWow. Friedman is a lot more F**KED up than I ever imagined. Is there a big tumor pushing on his brain? Did Cheney’s thugs dig up some really good dirt to blackmail him with?
November 19th, 2007 at 9:46 amMotormouth Maybelle’s line in Hairspray seems apt to describe the 2008 campaign:
“You better brace yourselves for a whole lotta ugly comin’ at you from a neverending parade of stupid.”
November 19th, 2007 at 9:47 amMr Obama or Hilliry or Mr Kucinish, could do better with Jack the ripper? At least his heart doesn’t need batteries.
I think Jack the ripper would be a great rePUG!
November 19th, 2007 at 9:48 amYah, that’s gonna happen! Wow. And who would the republican candidate have as THEIR vp choice? Satan?
November 19th, 2007 at 9:50 amUnbelievable.
November 19th, 2007 at 9:50 amI guess all those “six more months” finally collapsed whatever synapses were still firing.
November 19th, 2007 at 9:51 amHey, why not go the whole hog? Bring back Rumsfeld and Gonzo. Bring back the entire corrupt bunch of thugs to serve under a Democratic president.
Bob Novak for Sec State! William Kristol for Secretary of Education (do we still have one of those?). Abramoff can be Secretary of the Interior.
What a great mind Friedman has. So creative!
November 19th, 2007 at 9:52 amweird
November 19th, 2007 at 9:53 amNot even a programmed GOP robot will come with such an idea….!!
November 19th, 2007 at 9:54 amWow, Friedman has really gone off the deep end. If any Democratic candidate chose Chaney as their running mate, they would lose. I am willing to vote for a Democrat who is not my choice, but I could never bring myself to vote for a ticket that had Chaney on it.
Besides we don’t need to “coerce†Iran, we need to try a little diplomacy. Perhaps we could send Powell there to do the negotiating. That way he would have a chance to make up for all the bad things he did while working for Busharruf.
November 19th, 2007 at 9:55 amThat’s scarier than any of the zombie movies I’ve been watching recently. Which is weird, because they are both about the same guy.
November 19th, 2007 at 9:55 amYah, that’s gonna happen! Wow. And who would the republican candidate have as THEIR vp choice? Satan?
Comment by mary — November 19, 2007 @ 9:50 am
Um, I don’t think Cheney could run as VP candidate on both tickets. That might be a conflict of interest.
November 19th, 2007 at 9:55 amYeah, he also started a sentence with “Trust me…” Really. I’ll think about trusting him once he gets something right. Once the WMD didn’t show up, and he started saying it didn’t matter if there were any WMD, what mattered is that we showed the “arab street” (whatever the hell that is) that we were willing to shed American blood. Not his blood, not bush blood, not even right wing pundit spawn blood mind you.
November 19th, 2007 at 9:55 amhe is moronic scum.
“Bob Novak for Sec State! William Kristol for Secretary of Education (do we still have one of those?). Abramoff can be Secretary of the Interior.”
Let the eagles soar!
November 19th, 2007 at 9:59 amAnd cover up those b**bies once more!
November 19th, 2007 at 10:01 amI think the two halves of Friedman’s brain need to consider joining together someday.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:01 amdo you s’pose he’s just trying to subliminally link
obama and cheeeney? somehow?
the guy is officially gone though…
time to shave that mustache…
November 19th, 2007 at 10:03 am…
Keep Cheney on and gargle with drano–both policies for life success!
November 19th, 2007 at 10:05 amDid anyone read the full article? I did. He does not actually endorse such a ticket, except in the ‘tongue-in-cheek’ sense. He uses the person of Cheney to introduce the idea that a carrot and stick (or good cop/bad cop) approach is what he would recommend to best deal with Iran.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:06 amSurely he meant to publish this on April 1.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:07 amAnyone who even considers having Cheney continue as VP does not have the country’s best interest in mind. This guy has OD’d on Kool aid.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:09 amLove this thread!
November 19th, 2007 at 10:09 amHe uses the person of Cheney to introduce the idea that a carrot and stick (or good cop/bad cop) approach is what he would recommend to best deal with Iran.
Comment by m1c — November 19, 2007 @ 10:06 am
The metaphor might work if it was good cop/corrupt cop in the pocket of the oil industry, but not good cop/bad cop.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:12 amThis is the kind of loathsome trick to look out for and to fear….
November 19th, 2007 at 10:13 am“but not good cop/bad cop.”
Comment by toasterhead —
Cheney was the instigator of the Plame outing. Make that “bad cop/ treasonous cop.”
November 19th, 2007 at 10:15 amAnd let me qualify that by saying that I’m referring to the White House decision to out her, not the simultaneous decision by Armitage to reveal her identity.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:17 amAfter eight years of that traitorous sc*mbag it will take the next president’s staff the entire term just to get the smell of dead puppies and aqua velva out of the drapes and rugs. Jeez, this thug belongs in a jail cell not the VP’s office. That’s reserved for someone who is actually part of the Executive Branch. Just wait until they come in to clean and fumigate the office and find Spiro Agnew’s corpse in that man-sized safe of his.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:17 amAnother columnist with nothing to actually say thinking he’s “clever” tossing idiotic crap out there so he can be considered a “thinker.” It’s just PATHETIC. my nephew who is 8 could write a more coherent Op-Ed, the Times is becoming a disgrace. I only say becoming instead of has become, because they still have Krugman who is great.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:17 amDidn’t the ‘loser’ in a Presidential race used to be VP?
Did ‘Party over Country’ cause that to change, & when?
Freidman’s as big a joke as Cheney is a prick, but having both Parties a part of the WH is an interesting scenario.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:17 amFriedman is hooked on the macho thing, like so many armchair generals.
“…he needs to dial down his inner Jimmy Carter a bit when it comes to talking to Iran, and dial up a bit more inner Dick Cheney.”
Which of the two won the Nobel Prize?
November 19th, 2007 at 10:19 amThis just emphasizes the serious mental instability of conservatives. No matter how bad they screw up, no matter how often their policies fail, no matter how unrealistic their vision; conservatives believe in the end that their policies are the only ones which can save the world. There was no problem with the entire use of force. We just failed to have an adequate diplomatic team in place to receive the surrender of our enemies.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:20 amMatt Yglesias nails it as “worst op-ed day ever.â€
Freidman is irrelevant
The MSM is irrelevant
The USA as a leading light # 1 country is fast becoming irrelevant
November 19th, 2007 at 10:21 amZimzone:
“having both Parties a part of the WH is an interesting scenario.”
John Adams tried it in his administration and it didn’t turn out so well.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:22 amFriedman has been huffing Cheney’s crusty old jockstrap again.
Just say no Friedman.
-GSD
November 19th, 2007 at 10:22 amhas this man been drinking?
November 19th, 2007 at 10:22 amIsn’t it the ‘Good cop/bad Dick’ approach?
-GSD
November 19th, 2007 at 10:24 amI love all this bi-partisan pitter pattering we have to go through all the time. I don’t want bi=partisanship. The Republicans had their shot and they blew it bad!!!
Believe me they don’t want bi-partisanship either. Who buys this crap? Politics is nothing more than war fought through ideas not guns. I’m not holding the olive branch out to these extremists anymore.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:26 amWith each passing day I see the continuual disintegration of America.
As a nation, I believe we are clinically depressed.
Whereas January 9, 2009 may not offer perfection, I think out collective 8 year depression/hangover will start to subside.
This nation and world, I pray, will start to heal.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:27 amWith each passing day I see the continuual disintegration of America.
As a nation, I believe we are clinically depressed.
Whereas January 9, 2009 may not offer perfection, I think our collective 8 year depression/hangover will start to subside.
This nation and world, I pray, will start to heal.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:28 amObama should give this idea six months of consideration.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:29 amWhats even more absurd is the idea that Dickhead Cheney’s saber rattling somehow is “working†on Iran or anyone else.
Comment by BARTLEBEE — November 19, 2007 @ 10:24 am
Depends what you mean by “working.”
If “working” means pressuring Iran to increase enrichment of uranium to spite us, which we can then use as a flimsy pretense for a Saudi-financed bombing campaign, then the Cheney Doctrine is working like a charm.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:29 am#49 - “Obama should give this idea six months of consideration.” Comment by PatrioticLiberalChristian — November 19, 2007 @ 10:29 am
Haa! Everyone at work wondered why I suddenly laughed out loud!
Thanks for the injection of humor this morning, PLC!!!
November 19th, 2007 at 10:31 amAs a nation, I believe we are clinically depressed.
Whereas January 9, 2009 may not offer perfection, I think our collective 8 year depression/hangover will start to subside.
This nation and world, I pray, will start to heal.
Comment by Kay — November 19, 2007 @ 10:28 am
The appointment of the next President won’t change a damn thing until we knock the corporations who hold the reins of power out of their thrones. Otherwise we’re just replacing one corporate-controlled puppet with another.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:35 amAnd Cheney’s goal is clear. Never ending war.
Comment by BARTLEBEE — November 19, 2007 @ 10:33 am
Peace is so unprofitable.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:35 amcould novak and friedman be in cahoots?
is THIS what novak was referencing?
conservative columnist Robert Novak, whose nationally syndicated column Saturday stated that “agents” of Clinton’s campaign were “spreading the word in Democratic circles that she has scandalous information about her principal opponent.”
http://desmoinesregister.com/ apps/ pbcs.dll/ article?AID=/ 20071119/ NEWS09/ 711190327/ -1/ drivers
an obama/cheeeney ticket WOULD be scandalous…
yeesh… these people are f’n ca-razy…
November 19th, 2007 at 10:38 am#23 is right, Friedman’s column was tongue-in-cheek. This sort of moonbat, over-the-top, partial truth blogging is not worthy of Think Progress and does a disservice to Progressive thinkers everywhere.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:43 amWhen I saw this TP item, my initial reaction was that Friedman must be on hallucinogenics. Then I read the article. Whew — he’s not seriously proposing that we keep Darth Cheney around, he’s just illustrating his point that the best way to deal with Iran is to employ both honey and vinegar (or unstable dynamite would probably be a better comparison).
That said, I think his “shock” treatment misfired. Diplomacy has always been most effective when conducted with both carrots and sticks firmly in hand, but to suggest that somebody as evil and power-mad as Cheney has to be part of the mix is lunacy.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:44 amDemocrat Soldier
Sometimes humor is the best, or even only, response.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:47 amObama should have used humor to respond to the “blind story” written by Robert Novak alleging that the Clinton campaign had “dirt” on him but chose not to use it against him. Obama should have said that he had a profound response to Novak. Then, he should have waited for the inevitable question of what it was and said “I’ve chosen not to use it”.
Memo to Tom: Your master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies does not qualify you to formulate or recommend foreign policy.
Stop now Tom. You’re quickly becoming the George Bush of journalism.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:47 amSomeone needs to ask Cheney about this. Can you see Cheney being reigned in and relegated back to being just a smiling figurehead who serves at the pleasure of the president.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:50 amI want some of what he’s smoking.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:53 amHillarious. I’m laughing out loud.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:54 amit will be hard for 5-deferment Dickhead Cheney to do much of anything after he is dangling from the end of a rope for his war crimes.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:55 amThis sort of moonbat, over-the-top, partial truth blogging is not worthy of Think Progress and does a disservice to Progressive thinkers everywhere.
Comment by Badmoodman — November 19, 2007 @ 10:43 am
Progressive thinkers are smart enough to know that Friedman’s article is tongue-in-cheek. We read more than you guys, remember? What we’re discussing is the fact that continuation of the Cheney Doctrine is still a crappy idea.
And that Thomas Friedman is a moronic flat-earther who needs to stop writing drivel.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:55 amWhen Tom Friedman takes a dump, his head caves in.
-GSD
November 19th, 2007 at 10:58 amFriedman is apparently taking the “shock jock” approach to editorials with this one.
He’s such a joke, he loses more and more credibility as the years go on.
November 19th, 2007 at 11:04 amAs part 2 of yesterday’s article on the Impeachment Resolution, I have submitted a Summery of the Resolution itself.
It is very important that we understand exactly what the charges against the Vice President are in the resolution, and that we know the evidence is included in the resolution.
Please check it out, and copy it and use it where ever you need to.
http://willyloman.wordpress.com/ 2007/ 11/ 19/ summery-of-kucinichs-impeachment-resolution/
November 19th, 2007 at 11:09 amJust think : if this phony war on terror was truly exposed — the Bush/Cheney killing machine would crumble.
and the money could could go to life-affirming things. I get a kick out of the religious right (Bush supporters) are against abortion but they are the first ones drumming for more war, for more war. Dickhead “5 deferrment” Cheney likes killing our men and women for Profit.
November 19th, 2007 at 11:13 amFriedman’s brain is fried. Keeping the Veep on as VP again is like drinking poison everyday.
November 19th, 2007 at 11:29 amWhat drugs are Friedman taking? There are some serious side effects to these drugs if it makes Friedman that stupid as to think the country wants another four years of coward Cheney. How f**king stupid to even make that kind of remark.
November 19th, 2007 at 11:29 amIt is official now. Friedman is batsh!t insane.
November 19th, 2007 at 11:30 amScrew Friedman and all the other suck-ups to the Israeli Lobby.
Because of this we have a reckless foreign policy, a crumbling economy/infrastructure, a dismantling of our Constitution and a ever increasing worldwide hatred of America.
November 19th, 2007 at 11:44 amI am shocked that Friedman would write something so ridiculous.
Did the poor man have a stroke and forget what hell Cheney and his ilk have created? Did he lose all ability to think rationally? This is one of the dumbest opinion pieces I have ever read.
Cheney’s philosophy of foreign policy has been a disaster. His asinine methods of dealing with Iran have not exactly been a model of success.
I must agree with #73. Bat shit insane.
November 19th, 2007 at 11:45 amSpose Obama could find a lawyer to shoot in the face?
November 19th, 2007 at 11:52 amHoly crap. That’s just plain batsh!t crazy. WTF is wrong with these people??
November 19th, 2007 at 11:58 amre 56
Yes, he was kidding when he said that Obama should keep Cheney as VP, but he’s serious about needing a nutcase to threaten people with. The idea that a president needs to say “I can’t control my VP and he might attack you if you don’t knuckle under” is preposterous. Period.
November 19th, 2007 at 12:00 pmAs if it was needed, further evidence that Thomas Friedman is just nucking futz…
Cheers,
November 19th, 2007 at 12:02 pmNot if he was the last Fascist Scum on earth.
Bush/Cheney
Hague Trials ‘09
Buck Fush
November 19th, 2007 at 12:25 pmSomeone needs to nominate Tom Freidman for Media Putz of the week (http://www.mediaputz.com/nominate.html), right after my nomination of little Wolfie Blitzer, the Republican Talking-Point Reader, goes through. {:-)
November 19th, 2007 at 12:38 pmI thought Friedman was getting out of politics?
November 19th, 2007 at 1:02 pmThat would have been a good move…
Glenn Greenwald has a great take on Friedman’s column that puts Friedman’s lunacy into a greater context of Neocon thinking.
November 19th, 2007 at 1:56 pmAnd Friedman’s next Op Ed will suggest that after Obama makes Cheney his VP, the two of them take up huntin’ together.
November 19th, 2007 at 2:15 pmHow about President Dick Cheney and Vice President GW Bush in 2008?
November 19th, 2007 at 6:34 pmTom Friedman = CUuA!!! Completely Useless un-American.
November 19th, 2007 at 7:59 pm