Friedman: You know what’s kind of cool? Dictatorship!

Hot Air ^ | September 9, 2009 | Ed Morrissey

[Lou Budvis]

One normally expects to see paeans to one-party rule and dictatorships in fringe publications sponsored by International ANSWER or World Can’t Wait. Usually, the New York Times offers those sentiments in more subtle terms than it does in today’s Thomas Friedman column. Friedman extols the Chinese form of government while deriding the fact that political opposition keeps Obama from imposing the policies Friedman likes:

[Lou Budvis]

Thomas Friedman advocates dictorship in an op-ed published 2 days before the anniverary of 9/11.

[RexBeach]

Friedman, you magnificent putz!

[nina0113]

You know what’s kind of cool? Dictatorship!

Only if I get to be the dictator. And my first diktat is, I prefer the title of Queen.

[the_devils_advocate_666]

If I were king...

[Daveinyork]

Robert Heinlein once said that given a choice between a benevolent dictatorship and an efficient democracy, he’d take the benevolent dictatorship. The problem is that both are equally rare.

[ridesthemiles]

Thomas Friedman advocates dictorship in an op-ed published 2 days before the anniverary of 9/11.”

I will put a couple of dollars into the fund that buys Freidman a ONE WAY ticket to Chavezville, and let him see up close how he likes that status of living.

[Red Badger]

“Stroke of the pen, law of the land, kinda cool!”... Paul Begalice................

[GonzoGOP]

Robert Heinlein once said that given a choice between a benevolent dictatorship and an efficient democracy,

The former is a lie and the latter a fairy tale.

[Boiling Pots]

Wherever there is a jackboot stomping on a human face there will be a well-heeled Western liberal to explain that the face does, after all, enjoy free health care and 100 percent literacy.
- John Derbyshire

http://is.gd/35oWe

[andy58-in-nh]

"One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks. But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today, it can also have great advantages. That one party can just impose the politically difficult but critically important policies needed to move a society forward in the 21st century..."

- Thomas Friedman, New York Times

[denydenydeny]

Yep. Sometimes the distance between “liberal” and “hardcore Stalinist” isn’t that great after all.

[BenLurkin]

Unbelievable that anyone living in the West would say such things.

Unbelievable that a major newspaper would stoop to printing them.

[cranked]

Surprising how many Dems and Libtards are revealing-—more like outright flaunting—their true ideological colors.

It must be cool and en vogue to be a Communist or Socialists these days, huh?

[marron]

The thing is, guys like this always assume that, under the dictatorship, they’d be some kind of high priest or intellectual tecnocrat, tucked away in their high tower overlooking the bucolic meadows where the masses toil. They would devote themselves to meditating and imagineering ways to a better life for the simple people down below. The wise and benevolent leader would look to them for advice in solving the problems of his beloved kingdom. It would be a tranquil life, devoted to mind and spirit.

They never see themselves as the guy slogging through the mud behind the water buffalo, or getting his butt kicked by police goons.

[Revolting cat!]

The difference the likes of Friedman should be concerned with is between a corrupt two party system such as ours, and a dynamic multi-party system, where each political party stands for a set of specific ideas and principles, and not as our two parties (or more precisely one and a half) for goodness and mom’s apple pie.

[rarestia]

That picture sends chills down my spine. I’d rather die in a firefight than with my hands bound behind my back.

Fsck you, Friedman!

[ChrisInAR]

Friedman sounds a lot like one President that he probably hates:

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator. "

- - President Bush

[Paine in the Neck]

It’s impossible to read any of Friedman’s stuff and not come away with the clear impression that he spends a lot of time imagining himself as dictator and much admiring the notion.

[Bigg Red]

One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks. But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today, it can also have great advantages.

&&&
I am speechless! Friedman could house about 300 people in one of his mansions, so I wonder why he doesn’t practice real communism and share his wealth. I guess he would be happy in a communist country because he would be one of the oligarchs, who would be more equal than the rest of us on the animal farm.

[nina0113]

The trouble with a benevolent dictatorship is, someday the guy dies, and where do you get the next one? Hereditary? Election? What’s the process for removal if he stops being benevolent?

While it lasted, the Benevolent Dictatorship (mine would be, I promise, unless you don’t know how to merge onto a freeway) probably is as good as government gets.

[FourPeas]

One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks. But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people

Of course, we know who those "reasonably enlightened group" is. I'm shocked Friedman didn't come up with this argument under Bush I or II, or Reagan?

[6SJ7]

I’ve always said, scratch a liberal and you’ll find a fascist.

[wbill]

Robert Heinlein once said that given a choice between a benevolent dictatorship and an efficient democracy, he’d take the benevolent dictatorship.

Yep, I'm inclined to agree.

An efficient government scares the hell out of me.

[sourcery]

“Bushitler” was just clever wordplay. The contrast with the serious, unapologetic, in-your-face fascism advocated by the author of this article is stark.

I doubt the author had any problem with calling Dubya “Bushitler.” But then, why should he have? He wants the POTUS to be der Fuhrer.

[allmendream]

LOL.

My brother was once complaining about government waste.

I said “would you like to see what power the government could exercise if it effectively and efficiently spent a trillion dollars a year rather than wasting most of it?”

Never heard anything about government waste from him again.

[vpintheak]

The fact that FRIEDman even has a job, and was given a Nobel, no less; speaks volums about the state of the World. I am amazed at their sheer level of willful ignorance to evil.

[TexasCajun]

Well! ..why didn’t little Tommie tell us this while George Bush was President?

[swarthyguy]

An absolutely dramatic series of pictures, that is, subsequent ones showing the gory aftermath of what is reminiscent of a military picnic in the background.

Tibet, IIRC.

Friedman’s tone is reminiscent of period pieces from the 1930’s extolling the virtues of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia.

But, he may as well kowtow, when the Chinese have us by our financial short hairs, there’s precious little public bleating even about the recent riots and massacres in Xinjiang.

And I bet Tom has even met and empathized with the Dalai Lama.

[wbill]

Yep, our system is the worst there is, except for every other one out there.

I figure, though, that you could cut 1/3 (more?) of government, and no one would ever know the difference. Really, how many "Third Assistant Secretaries to the Vice-Deputy Czar of the Interior" do we need?

Unfortunately, the system is such that cuts would be teachers (not useless admins)....police+fire (not useless bureaucrats) and so on.

[Pete]

I wonder if he felt that way when Republicans held the White House and both houses of Congress?

[pallis]

Anyone who thinks the Neocoms are going to be benevolent and enlightened hasn’t been paying attention. The kooks may want 0bama for their Dear Leader, but they will not like it when they see what it brings for the 21st Century.

[Tublecane]

Yeah, how many of its own citizens have the Chi-coms killed? Like, 65 million? Small potatoes compared to all the “social justice” and manufacturing power they’ve been able to deliver.

[DieHard the Hunter]

> The former is a lie and the latter a fairy tale.

There would be a good technical reason for that: neither are possible, particularly if you are a follower of Machiavelli.

In “The Prince” our friend Niccolo outlines the skills that would be necessary to run what amounts to a Dictatorship. Benevolence is not one of those skills: in fact, it could get the dictator killed dead. It is better to be feared than to be loved.

In “The Republic” he describes his vision on how a Republic should work. Public participation and debate cause internal conflicts that strengthen the Republic and provide checks against abuse of power: these are hardly efficient, by necessity. The Republic is the anti-Medici anti-Dictatorship. Dictatorships are efficient: Republics are not.

[Tublecane]

“a dynamic multi-party system, where each political party stands for a set of specific ideas and principles”

I don’t know about that. Didn’t work for the Weimar Republic.

[DieHard the Hunter]

> and a dynamic multi-party system, where each political party stands for a set of specific ideas and principles, and not as our two parties (or more precisely one and a half) for goodness and mom’s apple pie.

That’s a fairly good description of the MMP system that the Allies put in place in post-war West Germany, and has been in place in New Zealand since the mid-1990’s.

It tends to encourage reasonably-stable coalition governments, and affords the minor parties an amount of power disproportionate to their size, as they tend to be kingmakers.

Accordingly, thinking voters tend to give their Party Vote to the minority party whose specific niche platforms they like, and their Electorate Vote to the local representative of the Party they want to see as forming the Government.

I actually like it: it grows on you after a few elections.

[UCFRoadWarrior]

Friedman is just another Free-Trader Anti-American Liberal Globalist (FLAG)....and the scary part of Friedman is so many neo-cons and nearly-coms agree with him.

Some of the comments from his article have even been mentioned, indirectly, by some of the Free-Trade supporters her on FR...especially the praise for Communist China

[fishtank]

I bet 000bama and Friedman really dig those slick uniforms the ChiComms are wearing.....

[GonzoGOP]

There would be a good technical reason for that: neither are possible, particularly if you are a follower of Machiavelli.

If Obama had read the prince he would know that if given a choice between offending the elites and offending the people you should always offend the elites. The elites have more to loose and are hence more easily controlled. Once the people have turned on you there is no place to run. Obama is like the princes in Machiavelli who built forts in lands they had made hostile to them. The more he shelters inside the beltway the more the rest of the country will turn on him.

[andy58-in-nh]

When I read the Friedman article, I had to re-read it twice just to make sure I hadn't misunderstood it. Sadly, I had not. The Left is letting the veil down, letting the mask slip to reveal their Inner Fascists. This is what they intend. For us.

Prayers are not out of order at times like these.

[ChrisInAR]

That’s an incredible pic you got there. I wonder if Obama will hang that in the White House when he flies the PRC flag on Sept. 20 to commemorate their 60th birthday?

[Daveinyork]

“In “The Prince” our friend Niccolo outlines the skills that would be necessary to run what amounts to a Dictatorship. Benevolence is not one of those skills: in fact, it could get the dictator killed dead.”

Which is why Heinlein said that benevolent dictatorships were as rare as efficient democracies.

[andy58-in-nh]

There are many more such pictures from China available on the Internet, most far too graphic to post here. Obama is just the latest US President to ignore the brutality of the Chinese regime in exchange for their willingness to sell us cheap goods and loan us money. I believe we will live to regret our willful blindness.

For his part, Thomas Friedman ought to hang his head in shame, but as a Liberal Fascist, he will instead soldier on in the service of the "common good", whose ultimate expression is found in the picture I chose to post.

[Ann Archy]

He’s ashort little man and has a Napoleon Complex.

[CGVet58]

mornin’ Andy -

am in the midst of an email exchange with friends discussing Friedman’s article - came back here to Freep for reference, and re-discovered your posted pic. Can you send some links on where I can get more examples of this? They make my case (to not be as the Chinese...) very powerfully.

thanks,

JG

[andy58-in-nh]

Sure - I'll round up a few examples and send them your way. Not pretty stuff to look at, but perhaps they might help you reach some of the China apologists. If you are interested, I've also got a great link to pictures of the horrific pollution damage the Chinese Communists are doing to their own land and people (with nary a word from the UN, which proposes to destroy Western economies through emissions caps and taxes).

Regards,

Andy

[Texas resident]

Right with you. friedman is another media moron that thinks that they are part of the government. He has no clue of history. When dictatorships come into power, the press is one of the first groups of people who are targeted. The commies call them “useful idiots”.

[andy58-in-nh]

As promised:

Chinese pollution: http://www.chinahush.com/2009/10/21/amazing-pictures-pollution-in-china

Chinese political repression (WARNING: SOME GRAPHIC IMAGES)

http://www.henryjacksonsociety.org/thescoop.asp?pageid=106&poid=591

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/september2005/220905dehumanization.htm

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/12/1047431092598.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8356095.stm

http://www.euroweeklynews.com/2009111167142/news/international/china-hasty-executions-highlight-unfair-xinjiang-trials.html

Chinese execution photos (WARNING: SOME VERY GRAPHIC AND DISTURBING IMAGES):

http://www.boxun.com/hero/picshock/5_1.shtml

http://www.boxun.com/hero/picshock/3_1.shtml

http://www.boxun.com/hero/picshock/14_1.shtml

http://www.boxun.com/hero/picshock/1_1.shtml

http://www.boxun.com/hero/picshock/9_1.shtml

[CGVet58]

Thanks Andy,

very sobering, indeed.

I’ve sent some along with a link to my friends. I suspect there will likely be some silence (a few are libs) by way of response.

But maybe, just maybe, the fire of Patriotism and awakening to how precious it is to be American will begin to stir within them.

Thanks again, God Bless always

South of ya in Fairfield Cty, CT. If you’re ever down these parts, drop me a line & we’ll knock back a couple of black’n’tans with a good single Malt on the side.

JG

[andy58-in-nh]

You're very welcome.

I would not be surprised to hear silence either, as it is the most common response of liberals to tyranny by the forces of Progress. Honesty, at least, would demand something more.

I'd love to take you up on your generous offer. ;-) I have a very good friend who lives in Trumbull, if that's anywhere near your vicinity. I owe him a visit one of these days, too.

[CGVet58]

Trumbull is exactly where I live, fellow Freeper. This would be a welcome event!

JG