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Tom Friedman is A Idiot, Again

Politics and Culture, , , ,

NY Times columnist and trophy husband, Tom Friedman, managed to spew out a column with his signature combo of obliviousness and obviousness.

The topic was how Trump wrapped up America as a very nice present for Putin. What a clever metaphor. How did he ever come up with it at Christmas time? He brings up some VERY IMPORTANT points.

Did you know that Trump lies about everything? Have you heard that he’s eroding our institutions and that Republicans are absolutely going along for the ride, or that the Republican tax scam is guaranteed not to make America great again or ever? Are you aware he’s destroying our trust in government agencies, gutting the State Department, disparaging the FBI etc?

Friedman manages to tell us more about how we’re heading down the wrong track in case we’ve been comatose since November 2016.

Like did you realize how screwed the blue states will be when they lose state tax deductions? Bet you haven’t been mulling that one over for weeks as you’ve been camped out playing scribbage in Susan Collins’ office?

But does Friedman blame Putin for all this? Or Trump for that matter? The word collusion doesn’t seem to be in his vocabulary. He does call what Putin did a “hack” but says it was done on the cheap. Some ads on Facebook, a few gazillion fake-twitter accounts. The word kompromat isn’t mentioned, nor are any of the recently or soon to be indicted. In Friedmanlandia, Putin just made a lucky “investment.” and never could have imagined his good fortune, kind of like marrying into money maybe. It’s not like he was a master spy working for the KGB for a hundred years and actually planned any of this!

But Friedman does blame someone for the wrong track we’ve taken. There is someone at fault,  someone who was even more important to Trump’s victory than Putin, someone who is to blame for all that followed. Who would that be? Could it be Steve Bannon? Or soon-to-be-fall guy and fired-from-the-family Jared Kushner? Of course not, silly! It’s Hillary Clinton.

Hillary, he tells us early on is way “more responsible” for Trump’s victory than small-time investor Vladimir Putin!

Gee, if only she had warned us that Trump was Putin’s puppet. If only she had won three million more votes than Trump. If only the New York Times hadn’t equated her emails with Trump’s lies, lack of experience, bankruptcies, general sliminess, and oh yeah those connections to Russia they barely mentioned. Let’s hope that after this Mueller fiasco ends (on Friday) they appoint a new special prosecutor to examine her role in Trump’s victory, and then they should lock her up!

(Marion will no longer say, “Hillary wasn’t my first, second or third choice, but she was the only choice” because at this point, it’s not the point! The fucking building is on fire! Also you really should check out her novel about gentrification in the East Village or the rest of her works.)

Heiress Trophy Husband Tom Friedman Knows What Public Schools Need

Things that Piss Me off from The NY Times, , , ,

I did not get through whatever drool was spewing from the mouth of the Gray Lady who at this point deserves to face the death panels. I merely opened the new Week in Review Lite section when these words from the middle of Thomas Friedman’s column jumped out:

“In some cities, teachers’ unions really are holding up education reform.”

If you consider “school reform” stealing resources from public community schools to put them into corporate charters for a “lucky” few, then yes, teacher’s unions are standing in the way. If you want those charters to hire new grads eager to pad their resumes before going on to something else because who needs experienced teachers, then yup, the unions will try to block that as well, and sure if you then decide to close the public schools that you gutted to give the charters space and materials, then I’m sure the unions will not be pleased.

Greedy bastards, those teachers. Unlike men who marry heiresses, teachers are all in it for the money.

Friedman goes on:

“But we need to stop blaming teachers alone. We also have a parent problem: parents who do not take an interest in their children’s schooling or set high standards.”

Do such parents actually exist? Yes, they do. But most parents do take an interest, and they certainly want the best for their kids. They may need to work a couple of jobs making talking to the teachers difficult. They might not be proficient in English, and the only available translator might be their kid, but not taking an interest is generally not an issue.

Then he goes on to blame the students.

Finally, he blames the President for failing to create a national campaign to “challenge parents and create a culture of respect and excitement for learning.”

The President is not completely blameless here. His education secretary, Arne Duncan, has put too much faith in charters, but his administration has done more than any previous one to try to build 21st century skills into the curriculum, and to push for excellence, and anyone who popped into a public school during or after the election of 2008 would have seen how much the election of an African American President who extolled education, changed everything.

Instead of blaming teachers, parents and students, why not just try to make schools better? It’s not that hard to look at those schools that work best in poor areas, middle-class and wealthy ones to figure out what the best practices should be. It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that poverty sets up numerous blocks to educational success, and that income inequality in this country is a growing problem. Is there a need for some tough talk with unions Continue reading Heiress Trophy Husband Tom Friedman Knows What Public Schools Need →