Thursday, March 19, 2009

Friedman vs. Taibbi



Welcome C&L Readers (Thanks for the blog love, Blue Gal...)

Ah, fuck it all. I tried to resist the urge to over-analyze Thomas Friedman's lack of literary prowess after reading Matt Taibbi verbally abuse the poor schmuck. After all, Taibbi is little more than the poorest of poor-man's Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, a personal hero of mine. But I have to admit it, Thomas Friedman is to diction what I am to nuclear physics... or diction for that matter.

Taibbi's gone back to that well 3 times or so, each time going for the jugular. But his obsession with Friedman is an indication of the three-time Pulitzer Prize winning author's success.

Taibbi is Friedman's tapeworm... a parasite that profits from the destruction it inflicts upon its host.

Not that Friedman doesn't deserve it or anything. I couldn't care less about his inability to write a decent sentence. But the "I support the war in Iraq, just not George Bush's war in Iraq" politcal gymnastics were all too similar to the rest of the bullshit we've had to put up with from politicians, corporate executives, media-rock-band-front-men and the like for quite a while now.

I guess I'd just be happy if we could stuff both of these morons into a blender and make a douchebag smoothie. I wouldn't drink it, but it would be fun to watch.

29 comments:

puddy said...

braddatroll! you're like a shiny new penny! except you're not shiny, and there's never been a penny so unaware of its own sad irony.

hmmm... come to think of it, that analogy was kinda friedman-esque of me. somebody call matt immediately!

Randal Graves said...

What? No commentary on that swanky moustache? You all suck.

Fran / Blue Gal said...

Fuck you, Sal. Take it from one, fat chicks make the rockin world go round, and I'll prove it to ya tomorrow morning on the hit counter.

Memo to IE: put "welcome C&L readers" at the top of this post as soon as you get this. Just sayin'.

Fran / Blue Gal said...

Oh, and Bradda, go upstairs, your mom's calling.

puddy said...

i fucking love that blue gal...

John Logan said...

Matt Taibbi is one of the most erudite writers of our time. To put him down, simply because he calls a spade for what it is, shows the utter shallowness of Puddy's thinking.

We need more Taibbi's in this world. Thank God we have him.

puddy said...

John - Thanks for the kind words. Erudite eh? Pendantic maybe, but certainly not erudite. In fact, I challenge you to present a stable argument comparing the eruditic qualities of Friedman's From Beirut to Jerusalem to the Taibbi piece of your choice.

Me thinks you swim beyond your depths, John...

John Logan said...

Well, I haven't read From Beirut to Jerusalem, and not sure I really care to after plowing through The World is Flat.

I rather enjoyed Taibbi's pieces Flathead and Flat N All That, and I think his observations are spot on.

As for me being out of my depth? Perhaps my Mensa membership doesn't quite get me out of the water, but I think you may be in desperate need of a life preserver yourself.

Kup said...

John- When and why did you join Mensa? Should I join?

puddy said...

John -

You've read only two articles that Taibbi wrote and none of his books.

You've not read Friedman's most important work... and claim to have read the Friedman piece that Taibbi destroys in Flat and All That. But no other Friedman work (have you even read any of his articles in the NY Times?)

I figured this was the case.

Either mensa condones complete ignorance or you are a liar.

Either way, you are out of your element. Please respond when you've gained literacy on the subject.

puddy said...

John -

Here's an "erudite" piece by your hero.

Enjoy.

John Logan said...

Thanks Puddy - enjoyed the Pope piece immensely - but I suppose that sort of humor is beyond your reach. Perhaps you're one of those wacko religious conservatives that still believe in G. Bush and all things wing nut. Give it a rest already.

Sal - San Diego Mensa meets every Thursday for lunch in Kearny Mesa. We'd welcome you to come join us.

puddy said...

John - Hey, I enjoyed it too... but I'd hardly classify it as erudite. Maybe your buddies at mensa can explain the definitions of the words you use - or give you a primer on the books you've never read.

Is there anything else you know nothing about that you'd like to comment on?

John Logan said...

er⋅u⋅dite

characterized by great knowledge; learned or scholarly: an erudite professor; an erudite commentary.

Synonyms:
educated, knowledgeable; wise, sapient.

As for commenting upon those things which one knows nothing about, I'll leave that to you.

puddy said...

John -

You're from Texas. Denton, I think - at least, that is how your router is configured.

You used San Diego Mensa as an example because you checked Sal's profile at 11:59am PST and saw that he used to live there.

Server logs are fun!

You are a liar and a troll.

Good bye.

John Logan said...

Puddy - a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing - especially in hands like yours.

I can affirm I am very much in San Diego. My office looks upon the unfinished Sunroad building off the 163 by Montgomery field.

I'd be careful before I accused people of being liars. Troll - well that's just a nebulous pejorative term, call me that all you will.

You carry a lot of anger inside of you. You might think about taking up yoga, or even try some deep breathing. Life is too short to be mad all the time.

puddy said...

John - So you have a misconfigured router... who gives a fuck?

The truth remains - you came to my blog and made irresponsible claims about authors that you know nothing about.

You continually get schooled and now feel the need to spam my blog with senseless bullshit.

Yet, you haven't made a single valid statement regarding the subject that you mindlessly wandered into.

How very un-mensa of you (LOL).

Mad? Not at all. This sort of thing happens all the time on the internet(s).

Enjoy your Monday, loser.

John Logan said...

Puddy - exactly where is your insightful analysis? Your blog is just one stream of baseless, ignorant attacks.

Every single post inthis thread, save one shout out for Blue Gal.

To claim reading your drivel is my schooling, is hedonism in the extreme.

My claim, to which you attach no validity, was that Taibbi is calling out Friedman for being the fraud that he is - and we need more critical thinking like this.

That's my only offering - an opinion, to which you choose to belittle and attack.

So go fuck yourself, asshole.

I mean this in the nicest way possible.

I don't have a misconfigured router, btw. But I won't be revealing the intricacies of my network to the likes of you.

puddy said...

John - Ahhhh... who's angry now?

For the record, had you actually claimed that Taibbi called out Friedman for being a fraud and said that we need more critical thinking - I would have questioned why you call Friedman a fraud (which he absolutely is not) and agreed that we need critical thinking. The fact that Taibbi is a critical thinker is why I read him in the first place.

But what you said is:

Matt Taibbi is one of the most erudite writers of our time. To put him down, simply because he calls a spade for what it is, shows the utter shallowness of Puddy's thinking.

We need more Taibbi's in this world. Thank God we have him.


Calling your host a shallow thinker and making the absurd claim that Matt Taibbi is one of the most erudite writers of our time is where I objected.

How you continue to make a complete shmuck out of youself and come back here to mis-argue your point is hilarious and rewarding for me.

I look forward to your next installment of stupidity.

Kup said...

John-
You are a fraud! SD Mensa has been meeting on Thursday nights at Tiny's in O.B. for over 3 years now! HAHA!

You are the guy that doesn't like George Lucas because all you have seen is Howard the Duck...

Taibbi is good, he is just not very original. Like I've said before, if HST was the Stones, he is Aerosmith.

John Logan said...

You know, I can take a lot of heat, but it really irks me when people call me dishonest.

Here's the link to the SD Mensa weekly meeting. Every Thursday at the Spice House Cafe in Kearny Mesa. Please don't bother to join us.

Kup said...

Cute attempt John! I could register the domain name "www.SalKilmisterisPresident.com and that would only mean that I took the time and spent the cash to do so. I really feel bad that you had to not only be dishonest, but that you had to be so deceitful and cruel to the REAL MENSA members that visit Tiny's in O.B. You are without basic decency.

Kup said...

Bradda is right. Gosh, why is he always right?

puddy said...

"Friedtard"...

Name calling...

Amazing...

Bradda, you just keep feeding this unhealthy obsession you have:

Returning Visits: 52
Entry Page Time: March 23rd 2009 11:41:16 PM

The BraddaTroll, calling people names instead of coming up with a decent debate of the real point 52 TIMES!!!!!

Kup said...

The BraddaTroll (I guess that name is much better than Drunky the Troll) does rule. I love the fact that he cares more about this blog than he does himself.

Hey Bradda- Maybe you should head down to O.B. and go to one of those Mensa meetings with John. You two might hit if off...

John Logan said...

Wow. You guys are just ignorant imbeciles. I didn't know you were getting me involved in a circle jerk here. Please feel free to carry on without me.

John Logan said...

I haven't encountered a more ignorant group of assholes anywhere. I didn't realize you guys were starting a circle jerk. Please feel free to continue without me.

puddy said...

Sal - Easy there "hobbit butt buddy". You don't want to be called another name do you?

puddy said...

John - You sure do like circle jerks. You've mentioned them 100% of the time in your last two comments. Neat!

But you have to understand, we can't continue without you... this blog was created just for you!!!

PLEASE DON'T LEAVE US JOHN! PLEASE!!!!!!