# What does Thomas Friedman mean here? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 11, 2002, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-thomas-friedman-mean-here/142040 "2002-12-11T17:29:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-thomas-friedman-mean-here/142040/1 "2002-12-11T17:29:51Z")
It’s about Bush and the war on Iraq. > **[Opinion | Bush, Iraq and Sister Souljah (Published 2002)](https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/08/opinion/bush-iraq-and-sister-souljah.html)** > > Thomas L Friedman Op-Ed column expresses concern that Pres Bush moves toward war in Iraq without preparing ground in America, region and world to deal with blowback any United States invasion will produce; cites need for American sacrifices and... > [@](#): > > Does Mr. Bush have a Sister Souljah speech in him? Is he talking about breaking from his party’s stance? As far as I remember Clinton, as a candidate in 1992, ripped on Sister Souljah and her music. I didn’t think it was that much of a diversion from his party, not on the same level that Bush would be doing if he does what Friedman suggests. Was there anything else to the Sister Souljah chronicle that I’m missing or forgot about? Mods: I didn’t put this in IMHO because I’m looking to see if there’s a specific episode or incident that I’m forgetting. If it’s just a matter of degree, then that answers my question. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-thomas-friedman-mean-here/142040/2 "2002-12-11T17:37:18Z")
Your link requires registration at _The Times_, so you might want to provide a little more context for the article (without engaging in wholesale copyright violation, of course). ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-thomas-friedman-mean-here/142040/3 "2002-12-11T17:45:59Z")
Here’s the relevant excerpt: > [@](#): > > For me, the question is whether President Bush, having amassed all this political capital by effectively responding to 9/11, is going to spend any of it — is going to ask Americans to do things that are really hard to win these wars over the long haul. Does Mr. Bush have a Sister Souljah speech in him? If not, if he is just going to rely on the Pentagon to fight this war — and on Karl Rove to exploit it — then we will reap nothing but tears. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-thomas-friedman-mean-here/142040/4 "2002-12-11T21:25:54Z")
This [CNN article](http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/time/1999/10/11/bush.html) from 1999 has an in-depth discussion of the Sister Souljah speech, including comments from its author, Paul Begala. It appears that the speech was considered a major step in Clinton’s campaign to distance himself from certain traditional Democratic positions. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-thomas-friedman-mean-here/142040/5 "2002-12-11T22:18:21Z")
Sounds to me like one of Friedman’s weaker parallels. Clinton was saying, in essence, that lefties shouldn’t automatically support lefty positions in a knee-jerk fashion. Sometimes, even folks on “our” side are just dead wrong about things. I don’t think that’s really what Friedman is asking Bush to do. ---
**Author:** ![MaryEFoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-thomas-friedman-mean-here/142040/6 "2002-12-11T23:40:59Z")
I may be dim, but I wonder what sacrifices he might be thinking of.