Tom Friedman Is Shrill
Steve Clemons reports that Tom Friedman calls for the censure and resignation of George W. Bush:
The Washington Note: New York Times foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman was one of the headliners at a star-studded annual "Opinions Award" dinner sponsored by The Week in partnership with the Aspen Institute on Tuesday night.... George Stephanopoulos... asked: "Are we just treading water for the next 22 months until the Bush administration leaves office?"
Tom Friedman responded:
We need a new constitutional amendment called "Can I Go Now?" Something less than impeachment but more than resignation. President Bush just needs a "Can I Go Now?" clause in the constitution.
Friedman got a lot of applause.
Steve Clemons goes on:
On the war and what to do in the Middle East, Friedman admitted he was out of ideas. He didn't know what to do.... Friedman... expressed real frustration with where we are at and sees a problem in a world that is perceiving an America that has increasingly diminished capacity to achieve its objectives in the foreign policy arena.... Friedman also stated that we "used to worry about a world with America having too much power. Now we have to consider what to do with a world with too little American power."...
The cynicism that ran through the room about the sorry state of American affairs in the world was palpable and shared by most there -- across the majority of the political spectrum.
I am not sure that Clemons means "cynicism." I think he means "pessimism." Perhaps "sardonic despair."
