ramble through the bronx
yes, this here is ramble through the bronx, the continuing musings of a graduate student* who should be writing her dissertation, but honestly, living in new york city there's really so much else to do...* and her commenting friends. And guest blogger.
Friday, May 27, 2005
Tom Friedman, ah, yes
Tom Friedman's opinion piece about shutting down Gitmo in today's Times might be a good way of arguing this situation to the Bush administration -- utterly self-interested and concerned with security over, say, any sense of justice. Not that I don't think that Friedman is concerned with justice -- he does admit Gitmo to be immoral, but you know what, Tom?
This would have been a hell of a lot more helpful, say, FOUR years ago when the whole rest of the world noticed the utter illegality of the whole thing. Shutting it down now is just beyond obvious. You don't get credit for that.
What do y'all think? (maybe it's really just too easy to pick on the man. bloody flat-earther).
Oh, wait, may as well let Gawker have her say --Now, on to Thomas Friedman. Friedman is not in his usual jovial idiot mood. No, Friedman is downright pissed. Don’t fuck with National Book Award-winning author of From Beirut to Jerusalem, man, no “world is flat” jokes or attempted explications of his tortured metaphors, no desperate attempts to figure out if he’s such an awful writer because he’s actually that simpleminded or if it’s a canny and dangerous method of cultivating a huge, simple-minded audience, no, there will be none of that today because Tom’s making like George C. Scott in Hardcore, head in his hands, shouting “TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF!” Well, “shut it down,” but it’s close enough.
The “it” is Guantánamo Bay. “Shutting it down” is a magical panacea that will make Arabs stop hating us and turn Iraq into Athens circa 5th century B.C. and bring Brad and Jen back together and pay for a new Jets stadium and calm the housing market. Thomas Friedman knows this because he is IN LONDON. Also, this isn’t the first time Friedman has called for the immediate closing of a political black eye. Almost exactly one year ago (May 13, 2004), he wrote that someone up top should say: “Let’s close this prison immediately and reopen it in a month as the Abu Ghraib Technical College for Computer Training — with all the equipment donated by Dell, H.P. and Microsoft.”
Yes, brilliant idea! Hey, how about the My Lai IMAX Theater! And the Wounded Knee WalMart!
jane 2:24 PM [+]
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