Thomas Friedman, Stop the Stupidity!

In case you didn't know, "9/11 is over."

Thomas Friedman says so. He has officially declared it to be dead and buried.

Why does he think that we need to get over it?

He says, "9/11 has made us stupid."

Really?

Stupid, huh?

He thinks that the next president should have nothing to do with 9/11 and all that ensuing stupidity.

So, Friedman will not be voting for Rudy Giuliani.

He vows to vote for a "9/12 candidate" instead.

He writes:

I honor, and weep for, all those murdered on that day. But our reaction to 9/11 — mine included — has knocked America completely out of balance, and it is time to get things right again.

It is not that I thought we had new enemies that day and now I don’t. Yes, in the wake of 9/11, we need new precautions, new barriers. But we also need our old habits and sense of openness. For me, the candidate of 9/12 is the one who will not only understand who our enemies are, but who we are.

Before 9/11, the world thought America’s slogan was: “Where anything is possible for anybody.” But that is not our global brand anymore. Our government has been exporting fear, not hope: “Give me your tired, your poor and your fingerprints.”

...We can’t afford to keep being this stupid! We have got to get our groove back. We need a president who will unite us around a common purpose, not a common enemy. Al Qaeda is about 9/11. We are about 9/12, we are about the Fourth of July — which is why I hope that anyone who runs on the 9/11 platform gets trounced.

Friedman isn't really calling for a 9/12 candidate with a 9/12 mindset and a 9/12 agenda.

It seems that he doesn't want a 9/12 candidate at all, because Rudy Giuliani is a 9/12 candidate. He promises to fight the terrorists and protect the country, as do other tough on terror candidates.

What Friedman is really looking for is a 9/10 candidate.

He doesn't get that, like it or not, 9/11 is part of "who we are." We can't wish it away and it's most definitely not over.

That 9/11 was such a headache for Friedman; and if that wasn't bad enough, he's upset that it made us stupid.

Stop the Stupidity!

Friedman cheerleads for getting "our groove back."

He believes that won't happen unless we quit letting 9/11 define us.

There's a problem with that. 9/11 does define us because it isn't over.

It's not over anymore than Pearl Harbor was over until Japan surrendered after years of war, including two atomic bombs, to end the fight that the Japanese started.

Friedman says that we are about the Fourth of July. That's true. We are.

The Fourth of July is about declaring our independence. A hard-fought war followed that declaration. Other wars were fought to maintain that independence and those inalienable rights that we cherish. In that respect, the War on Terror is no different.

Friedman may think that 9/11 is over, but the Islamic extremists don't. If they have it their way, there's more 9/11 in store for us.

Friedman is wrong. 9/11 didn't make us stupid.

Friedman, and those of his ilk, are stupid about 9/11.