On Sunday's "Meet the Press," Friedman incorrectly asserted that folks in the world's major oil producing nations would be happy to hear that Americans want to produce more of their own oil, and equated the chant to people in the computer age shouting "IBM Selectric typewriters, IBM Selectric typewriters."
Before analyzing the stupidity of his position, here's the segment in question (video embedded right, relevant section at 1:45):
TOM BROKAW, HOST: It's hard to get the kind of focus that we need on this kind of a challenge in the midst of a political season. Last week they were chanting "drill, baby, drill," at the Republican convention. Senator Obama, speaker Nancy Pelosi have said recently, well they'd be willing to take a look at offshore drilling, even though we know that there wouldn't be any real productivity for 10 more years. Both parties, it seems to me, share a responsibility here and blame at the same time.
TOM FRIEDMAN, NEW YORK TIME COLUMNIST: No, there's no question this has been a bipartisan effort to get us into this alley, dead end, that we're in right now, Tom. But when I hear, drill, drill, drill, or drill, baby, drill, I try to imagine--Tom, you were at the convention, I wasn't, what would happen if the Saudi, Venezuelan, Russian and Nigeria observers were up in a sky box in that Xcel Center listening to the crowd chant, "drill, drill, drill"? What would they be doing? They'd be up there leading the chant. They'd be saying this is great. America isn't sitting there saying, "Invent, invent, invent new, renewable energy," they're saying, "drill, drill, drill." And you know, for me, yes, we do need to exploit our domestic resource. I'm actually not against drilling. What I'm against is making that the center of our focus, because we are on the eve of a new revolution, the energy technology revolution. It would be, Tom, as if on the eve of the IT revolution, the revolution of PCs and the Internet, someone was up there standing and demanding, "IBM Selectric typewriters, IBM Selectric typewriters." That's what drill, drill, drill, is the equivalent of today.
First off, why would nations involved in oil production be happy if America produced a greater percentage of what it currently uses each day? This would reduce the demand for THEIR product and would reduce the price they could sell it to others for.
As such, Friedman's point here was absurd.
Of course, his argument would be that these nations would be happy to hear that America was going to continue to use oil rather than exclusively trying to find alternatives. However, as such alternatives are still years away, there is nothing that's going to significantly reduce how much oil America consumes each day thereby making increased production on our part the only thing that will expeditiously reduce our dependence on others.
That Friedman ignored this is rather shocking given his intellectual capacity.
But maybe even more addle-minded was his analogy that asking for more drilling is akin to folks wanting to replace their computers with typewriters.
After all, computers are currently utilized by virtually every American and every business. As such, America and its citizens are now just as dependent on computers as they are oil.
With this in mind, Friedman's analogy would only hold water if folks at the convention were chanting "Horse-drawn carriages, Horse-drawn carriages."
As I was there, I can assure you that's not what we were saying.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters.
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Boo-hoo, Tom
September 7, 2008 - 19:45 ET by AgentAmericanThe liberal media is done. Kaput. Finis.
Drill ANWAR
Drill Now
September 7, 2008 - 21:06 ET by allanfI'd have some respect for Friedman, if he went to his employer and threatened to resign unless his employer discontinued their tree killing print edition.
and equated the chant to
September 7, 2008 - 19:57 ET by Newsbusterbrownand equated the chant to people in the computer age shouting "IBM Selectric typewriters, IBM Selectric typewriters."
Right, because there are millions of non-gasoline fuel alternatives around.
Why is Friedman considered such a brilliant person?
“There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.” - Ronald Reagan (1964 Republican Convention)
Well, speaking only for myself...
September 7, 2008 - 20:10 ET by heldmywI consider him a particularly limp variety of assclown. Sort of a Global Village Idiot.
He and Frank Rich are a
September 7, 2008 - 20:20 ET by motherbeltHe and Frank Rich are a matched set.
MB
September 7, 2008 - 22:33 ET by doug1950I was thinking bookends, myself.
I saw this...
September 7, 2008 - 19:56 ET by unkeeafI was livid while watching this idiot make his indefensible points. The thing that really struck me was he knew his position was inaccurate (and so did Brokaw). There was no mention that the Republicans wanted to drill as a bridge to new technologies. However, can there any doubt that they were both aware of that fact? It was raised in speech after speech at the convention last week.
Typical liberal BS.
MSM = PR firm for the Democrat Party
Drill Baby Drill, Drill Baby Drill...
September 7, 2008 - 19:57 ET by BadassBuckeyeHey Friedman I will continue that chant here you intellectual idiot.
We drill, we get our own oil, supply goes up, and then prices come down. Just like if we stopped taxing the crap out of corporations and industrial business it would stop going over seas.
But hey...no one expects common senses to be common place....except conservatives...
Silly Liberal D#&@s are for Chicks!!!!
Hey Tom.... Like I've
September 7, 2008 - 20:09 ET by bigtimerHey Tom....
Like I've been saying Drill Everywhere....Drill Often! (Thanks BD)
...and when I listened live to Steele say Drill Baby Drill! I fell more in love with him than I already have been from the first time I heard him speak at our convention years past...hmmmm...seems it was during the same time frame as a charlatan named Obama...
Poor Tom, he really doesn't understand he is the minority out here, he lives in the NYTs and other politico elitists bubble who have been making him feel more worthwhile than he is...which is zilch.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Why all or nothing?
September 7, 2008 - 20:13 ET by ArcherBWhy is it either drill or find alternatives? Why not drill now and use that fuel UNTIL we find alternatives? Are liberals unable to grasp the concept of doing two things at once?
"To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary." Ernesto "Che" Guevara
Drill Now, Drill everywhere
September 7, 2008 - 23:29 ET by merlin61Don't you think that if Congress did their job
before they took a vacation that the economy
would have improved immediately? Nancy
Pelosi needs to get this to a vote ASAP. She's
the one causing the dillemas we are now in.
If we start drilling now, prices will go down
immediately because there is a light at the end
of the tunnel. Jobs are being lost because of
the high cost of gasoline, and it is trickling down
to all of our businesses. Also, the Dems raising
the minimum wage has cost jobs also. Then,
in addition, Obama wants to tax more. We need
to get this to a vote ASAP if the idiots in Congress
ever get off their dead butts and get back to
work earnestly on drilling. Also, no stupid
strings attached to the bills that they vote on.
merline... You are right
September 7, 2008 - 23:36 ET by bigtimermerline...
You are right about congress doing something now...
...but...
You can be sure nothing is going to be done before the election in congress...in my opinion anyway.
That's the plan Stan...the dems are stuck on stupid.
There are some things I would love to see done for various reason, for both side of the aisle to see how they vote...not gonna' happen.
Both playing chicken to an extent...believe me, I am not talking abut all in congress....mostly the leadership.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
I disagree with T. Boone
September 8, 2008 - 05:40 ET by motherbeltI disagree with T. Boone Pickens that wind power is the way to go, (for one thing, he'll never get leftists to accept all those windmills in the way of those poor birds) but even he says that we need more oil in the meantime!
Friedman's either an idiot or a dissembler...
September 7, 2008 - 20:13 ET by Jarhead68...or both. I saw this segment and turned it off as soon as he threw out his ridiculous analogy - probably the most sophomoric analogy ever attempted. If I were Brokaw, I would have followed with "So, when the computer age was dawning, our economy was in trouble because we didn't have enough typewriters?" But Brokaw's in the tank for Obama and hates Republicans so I'm not surprised.
In order for it to be analagous, THAT's what the situation would have to have been, right? Tom Friedman should change his last name because, by keeping it, he dishonors one of the greatest economists of all time - Milton Friedman.
Friedman is only impressed by foreign nations
September 7, 2008 - 20:22 ET by sms5217Friedman is the typical east-coast liberal who flies from JFK to Beijing, Bangalore, Ho Chi Minh City, or other foreign cities, follows government "handlers" to places designed to impress gullible NY Times writers and then professes to fall in love with these places and how America is slow, befuddled, old, gray, uninspired, and, of course, how the world laughs at Bush.
Being an Indian-American, I can vouch that his book "The Earth is Flat" is nothing but a wet kiss at India, while ignoring its corruption, its caste/religious strife, and how the poor there are still dirt poor. How embarassing that I bought his book!
The only people who think that Friedman has the answers to complex international political and economic issues is.....Friedman himself, of course, and his syncophants in the media.
Trial lawyers are the scum of the earth
worst analogy ever
September 8, 2008 - 11:10 ET by mbuelBecause Typewriters were used to make tires, pave roads, build dashboards, fertilizer, the fan that is cooling me right now, the keyboard I'm typing on right now, the computer that is processing everything....
Yep completely apt analogy!
Did he even listen to McCain call for Nuclear, Clean Coal, Wind and Solar? Those are the only things that will reduce our dependency on foreign oil ON TOP of drilling for our own oil. But even if we did do that, it wouldn't isolate us from the global economy. We need to face these tin pot dictators head on, not withdraw like some turtle. Isn't it ironic that the very same people trying to isolate us economically from the world, by withdrawing trade agreements, and "end our addiction to oil" (but how?) are the VERY SAME people that are okay with millions of illegals spilling over all four borders every year?
Palin has accomplished great things, while Obama has continued to make empty promises that the world owes you a living.
the debate is over
September 7, 2008 - 20:17 ET by mom_rox"We know"? meaning Friedman and himself? This reminds me of Al Gore's statement, "The debate is over", regarding man-made global warming.
What's the difference between Barack Obama and Sarah Palin?
One is eye candy while the other kills her own food.
Interesting he mentioned
September 7, 2008 - 20:27 ET by ckc1227Interesting he mentioned typewriters. Maybe I missed it, but, did we have to stop using typewriters in order for the personal computer to be invented?
TOM BROKAW, HOST: It's hard
September 7, 2008 - 20:28 ET by MidAmericaTOM BROKAW, HOST: It's hard to get the kind of focus that we need on this kind of a challenge in the midst of a political season. Last week they were chanting "drill, baby, drill," at the Republican convention. Senator Obama, speaker Nancy Pelosi have said recently, well they'd be willing to take a look at offshore drilling, even though we know that there wouldn't be any real productivity for 10 more years.
But.... during that ten years before real productivity there will be the creation of many high paying American jobs plus extensive investment in the USA.
I remember hearing all about
September 7, 2008 - 20:29 ET by muh-oonI remember hearing all about the new energy revolution- it was in my school textbooks in the 70's. They told me that very soon we would get all of our energy from the sun. And the US would convert to the metric system too. I just don't believe that we are going to replace oil anytime soon, and I can't afford to replace my cars anyway.
This is what happens when you drill
September 7, 2008 - 20:31 ET by upcountrywaterwe got into the age of oil by drilling, (jpg) we need to keep on drilling.
And we need to revive this project, that clinton killed in '93.
Just maybe we will find the "GOD" particle. Who knows maybe these particles will be sold at the corner gas (particle) station .
Dreaming..
Liberals62%
IranianUranium
When I did a google search
September 7, 2008 - 20:43 ET by USA4freedomWhen I did a google search on this guy, I ran across this inthe Daily Kos, it looks like no one likes this guy. How funny is that. The sidethat he represents hates his guts.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/7/31/121447/985
This guy is soooo full of it..
Ronald Reagan, 1962: I did not leave the Democratic party, the party left me.
Insert: your name, 2008, and the Republican party.
I'm tired of hearing this
September 7, 2008 - 20:47 ET by dmntd1I'm tired of hearing this 10yr crud about crude.
I think that the U.S. government can, and should, grant lease concessions to any company that can get a certain number of barrels to the market in a certain amount of time.
For instance: Given that ten year time period we hear about, as long as they haven't gotten 1,000,000 barrels of crude refined and to the market, they have to pay normal lease rates. Once they hit the 1,000,000 mark, plus are able to demostrably prove they are able to maintain production, their lease becomes $0 for the remainder of the 10 year period.
It's my belief that the first million barrels will arrive at the market within 2 years. Might take 3, or even five, but I highly doubt it would take much more than that. Give them the incentive, while making them keep the very tough environmental standards, and anything is possible.
Fascism is a religious conception in which man is seen in his imminent relationship with a superior law and with an objective will that transcends the particular individual - Mussolini
We Drill land wells in 2 months or less...Drill baby Drill
September 7, 2008 - 21:17 ET by JayTeeOffshore wells take a little longer, Getting a rig up to Alaska a little longer....BUT...If we had STARTED early this Year we'd be PUMPING our way out of this.
One thing is for sure, we can't TALK our way out the Gas prices. Pelosi is trying, though.
I DROVE from Seattle to Texas 2 weeks ago, I saw Wind power in S.E. Washington, Idaho, and Utah....and they all had one thing in common early in the Morning.....THEY WERE NOT MOVING.
They always show the Wind Power towers with Moving Blades...I was shocked to see them sitting still. Thats a problem, we need to put some politicians out there talking them into moving.
The Republican Revolution will not be Televised
For all the people pushing wind...
September 7, 2008 - 22:39 ET by on-the-rocksas our best energy salvation (including T. Boone Pickens), maybe we should corral them and make them stand a few hundred feet from the Wind Towers and start speaking. Maybe that hot air will start moving those blades.
I am all for developing alternatives while the oil companies are drilling, but I harbor no illusions that these alternatives are going to make any difference in the near future.
Libs are big on "bridges" to the future. Oil, natural gas, and coal are bridges that will sustain our economy until the other sources are ready. But we have to go get them and that development can take years.
We are in this fix because of things we didn't do 20 - 30 years ago, so there are no quick and easy solutions.
When I lived in El Paso years ago, the only places deemed suitable for wind power were some mountain passes north of the city, where the wind was naturally-funneled, but at the time (the mid-1980s), the average wind speed needed to justify windmills was 17 mph and these mountain passes just barely met that minimum.
So if these mountain passes were only borderline as far as sufficient wind speeds (improved technology may have lowered that minimum), what kind of average wind speeds can we expect for the Great Plains? I know the winds can come "howling down" from Canada (at times), but day-in and day-out, what are the average speeds?
OMG! MSNBC dumps Olbermann and Chris Matthews!
September 7, 2008 - 20:49 ET by smartestmaninamerica"MSNBC drops Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews from anchor chair... David Gregory will anchor news coverage of the coming debates and election night.... Developing..."
http://www.drudgereport.com/
Wow, I love it!
They are right about Sarah Barracuda...
September 7, 2008 - 20:54 ET by smartestmaninamericaShe does leave lots of bodies in her wake!
Demotion
September 7, 2008 - 21:07 ET by dboMSNBC drops Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews from anchor chair
Gee...it's almost as if political considerations did have something to do with removing KO from the RNC convention last week. Enjoy covering sports and weather KO.
Well David Gregory is
September 7, 2008 - 21:25 ET by BlazerWell David Gregory is only about half a notch above Chrissy and Keith and is another smirking partisan hack, but what an awesome week this has been.
Since we can be sure that decision certainly didnt' come from within MSDNC. What was it?
G.E., Brokaw, public backlash, or wait for it,................The European Press of all things calling them on their bullshit. BWAAAHAHA!
I'd like to think the excellent masthead and contributors at N.B. and all of us members helped with their downfall also.
"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. "
- Ben Kenobi on Liberals, and the MSM.
" The Cake is a lie."
WOA ! Check this headline
September 7, 2008 - 20:52 ET by BlazerWOA ! Check this headline Drudge has up !
" MSNBC drops Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews from anchor chair... David Gregory will anchor news coverage of the coming debates and election night.... Developing..."
"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. "
- Ben Kenobi on Liberals, and the MSM.
" The Cake is a lie."
Betcha Brokaw was
September 7, 2008 - 20:57 ET by zhombreBetcha Brokaw was instrumental in getting the loons removed.
I don't know if "drill baby
September 7, 2008 - 20:55 ET by zhombreI don't know if "drill baby drill" is as backward as chanting "dead tree media".
Again With The Alternative
September 7, 2008 - 20:59 ET by JoelCTListening to these people can drive you crazy.
The leftists have been using the "alternative energy" chant for decades, and after billions, hell, maybe trillions, of dollars they still have no usable technology. When the wind doesn't blow, wind turbines don't work. On a cloudy day, solar panels are useless. Both of these "alternatives" have to be backed up by a 24/7-running power plant, because no one knows when the winds will stop and the clouds will block the sun.
Alternative energy sources are probably at least ten years down the road. According to these people, that's the same as getting results from oil drilling. And the difference is what?
Most actual experts, as opposed to politicians, say we could be using the oil within 2-3 years if we start drilling now, not 10 years.
Like I said, listening to these MSM folks regurgitating the DNC talking points with no facts to back them up will drive you crazy.
JoelCT, I wouldn't go as far...
September 7, 2008 - 23:06 ET by on-the-rocksas to say solar panels are useless on a cloudy day (assuming you mean photovoltaic panels). There is still diffuse visible light and UV reaching the photovoltaic cells. I think a more accurate assessment would be solar panels are of limited use with light to moderate cloud cover.
For what it's worth, I consider individual homes and businesses with rooftop solar arrays (backed up by storage batteries) to be more efficient than giant ground-based arrays. Though the solar conventional wisdom may have changed since the 1980s.
[While burned-out on Geology grad school in the early 1980s, I considered a career in solar architecture, but decided to return to grad school, just in time for the big "Oil Crash". The Oil Crash not only ruined many Geology jobs, it also damaged the growing solar industry of that time. High crude prices are good for Petroleum Geology and Solar jobs.]
Other than that minor quibble, I agree with everything else in your post.
Remember Al Gore's 80mpg by 2010?
September 7, 2008 - 21:09 ET by Mica the MagnificentI remember when Al Gore was VP and the Ford Motor Co teamed with the feds to come up with a car that would get something like 80 MPG by 2010.
Al Gore was not only the advocate of this, he was placed in charge of the fed's part of the deal.
Whatever happened to that?
Does any one else remember it?
LOL
September 7, 2008 - 21:12 ET by usbeefThis has got to be one of the dumbest people I have ever listened to. He says "What can we do to make the earth livable for man?" Since when has the earth not been livable?
Then he says we should pass legislation to force the private sector to develop new energy technologies. That statement right there exposes the green movement for what it is, an attempt to take over the private sector and force bussiness to conform to servitude for the government. The green movement has nothing to do with the environment, it is a marxist private sector take over plan. In the meantime fools like this one can sell propaganda to get rich. Getting rich is an objective but it is not the goal. The goal is to seize power and inject as much marxism into the country as possible.
"Push back the liberal hordes!!" - Mark Levin
Money =
September 7, 2008 - 22:56 ET by kilrodMoney = power = control = money = power = control ====== ad infinitum, ad nauseum.!
kilrod
Remember, only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American Soldier
get our news from overseas
September 7, 2008 - 22:47 ET by wdhorningThe NYT wants us to get oil from overseas instead of in the USA. Fair enough, lets ban the NYT from publication and get our news from overseas.
wdh... I Second
September 7, 2008 - 22:49 ET by bigtimerwdh...
I Second that!
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Assisting Tom Friedman
September 7, 2008 - 23:12 ET by Lame CherryI doubt if Tom will send me a box of Rush Limbaugh Chicago steaks for assisting him, but I will do it anyway to correct his ignornace.
As America needs to produce more oil as there is no replacement for high octane jet fuel, fertilizer, plastics, because there is only so much of that to distill out in barrel of crude.
Friedman is so ignorant he doesn't even know the facts that there are not going to be electric jets, electric space shuttles nor solar powered Tupperware as Tupperware is plastic so crude is always going to be in high demand as it can not be replaced by solar powered fertilizer.
Friedman should be ashamed at how moronic he is and old South Dakota boy Brokaw for not catching it. I know you Tom in coming out of that glacial lakes country and you know the difference between a bag of fertilizer and the manure Friedman is spreading.
This is not about gasoline only. This is about all the things which the civilized world depends upon in products coming from crude which are necessary.
All of this just reveals how patently unqualified these 6 and 7 figure babbling Obamas are in even attempting to speak on this issue.
You can not replace Tupperware with wind power no matter how much Friedman blows.
So show some class Tom Friedman, Allan Brothers has steaks, I like a Porter House cut 2 inches thick, half plate size for grilling and you can bother Noel Sheppard for my email and you better make it a big box as I will probably have to share with all the boys and girls here and Warner Todd Huston and Tom Blumer are big American boys.
Drill Baby Drill.
agtG
*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS
I keep hearing people say
September 8, 2008 - 00:36 ET by bertdwI keep hearing people say "We need a manhattan type project to create the new energy source". Hello, they already did create a revolutionary energy source. It's called NUCLEAR. It's one of the greatest discovery ever made. An incredibly powerful source of energy just waiting to be used. And building all those nuclear power plants will create a lot of high tech jobs as well.
Decisions, decisions...
September 8, 2008 - 03:05 ET by RackieThese soaring, sky rocketing, never before seen, astronomicialy high, corporate gouging gas prices are putting lefty pregers in quandry. What to give up so they can still afford to go to Planned Parenthood for a quickie? Damn that George Bush!
His "Real" Agenda
September 8, 2008 - 10:01 ET by Wildcatter1980It is not Friedman's intelligence that is in question here. It is his "real" agenda.
Friedman's goal is not to "save the planet" as he wants us to believe. No, it is the same as the rest of the left-wing elitists. These elitists, of course, think that THE future of the world is one based on the common socialist model practiced in many European countries today. These models are of the paternalistic national government that basically treats its citizens as incapable of taking care of themselves. They need the government to be there to support them through nationalized health care and other forms of entitlements. The downside of this approach is that the nation's economy struggles under the heavy burden of high taxation and creates a "Catch-22"; the heavy tax burden suppresses the economy making it difficult to have enough tax revenues to pay for the entitlements that results in shortages of services like medical care and other entitlements that are barely enough for people to survive on.
A powerful, independent and free United States of America that opposes socialist doctrine and policies will always show how bad the European socialist model fails at achieving its allegedly superior goals. Friedman (and his ilk) want to "knock down" the USA and remold us into the European socialist mold to remove the shining example of how much better a free society and economy are. Thus, Friedman will make such ludicrous statements as he did on Meet The (De)Press(ed).
Senator Obama, speaker
September 8, 2008 - 10:33 ET by fitzfongSenator Obama, speaker Nancy Pelosi have said recently, well they'd be willing to take a look at offshore drilling, even though we know that there wouldn't be any real productivity for 10 more years.
Well, it's nice to see that hairsprayed phony Brokaw hasn't curbed his practice of injecting ignorant editorial commentary (as if it was objective fact) into his news delivery.
As for that smug imbecile Thomas Friedman...the reason people weren't chanting "IBM Selectric Typewriters" is that something DEMONSTRABLY BETTER had already hit the market to render IBM Selectric Typewriters obsolete. Not the case here, moron.
Now, if the crowd had been chanting "New York Times" over and over again, the "IBM Selectric Typewriter" comparison would have been appropriate.
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -Ronald Reagan
fitzfong.blogspot.com
Great point
September 8, 2008 - 13:19 ET by BaxterJThis is a great point -- now the Obama campaign needs to run with it.
http://www.entertone...