Worst Tom Friedman Column Ever?

Posted by Jill Filipovic, Feministe at 5:47 AM on November 20, 2007.

This post, written by Jill Filipovic, originally appeared on Feministe

Considering the bile he's published over the past few years, that's a pretty bold statement -- but I think he may have out-done himself.

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.

Just... no. There is nowhere good this can possibly go.

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. If Democrats want to win this election, they have to get these two in balance -- they have to learn how to criticize the Bush record from the right and the left, to show they can be better at engagement and coercion. Successful diplomacy requires both. Americans will want to know that Democrats can do both. My guess is that many still aren't sure.

Foreign policy negotiations are not episodes of Law & Order, and we need intelligent and thoughtful diplomacy, not a good cop / bad cop routine. Tom Friedman has proven that he is entirely inept at predicting and evaluating foreign affairs and political strategy. And his column is making me twitch with Teh Stupid, so read Glenn for an intelligent and spot-on take.

Glenn points out both the playground dynamics and the masculine anxiety looming over the Times' op/ed page yesterday. Between Friedman's tough-guy posturing and Maureen Dowd's Hillary-as-dominatrix / Obama as whipped little pussy / Rudy as Manly Man schtick, it's disturbingly obvious just how deeply gender roles and sexual anxiety will factor into this election.

Tagged as: cheney, obama, election08, friedman, dowd

Jill Filipovic is a New York-based freelance writer and a law student at NYU. More of her writing is available online at her blog, Feministe.