It’s not the first time he’s drawn the comparison, but Thomas Friedman recently etched it into his column at The New York Times for posterity.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we were attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, we were attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, and we were attacked on Nov. 8, 2016,” Friedman writes breathlessly. Last year when speaking with Bill Maher, Friedman called Trump’s election a “moral 9/11.”
At least this time Friedman acknowledged that 3,000 innocent Americans weren’t murdered by jihadists on election day:
That most recent attack didn’t involve a horrible loss of lives, but it was devastating in its own way. Our entire intelligence community concluded that Russia hacked our election by deliberately breaking into Democratic National Committee computers and then drip-by-drip funneling embarrassing emails through WikiLeaks to undermine Clinton’s campaign. And what have we done about it? Other than a wrist slap against Moscow, we’ve moved on.
“That is not O.K.,” he added.
Friedman goes on to say he isn’t making the argument that Trump’s win was illegitimate, but that Trump isn't acting like a president. Here’s why, according to the columnist:
Trump presents himself as “Mr. Patriotism,” wrapped in the American flag. And yet he has used his Twitter account to attack BMW for building an auto plant in Mexico, Boeing for over charging for a government airplane, the cast of “Hamilton” for appealing to the vice president to reaffirm American pluralism, American newspapers for undercounting the size of his inauguration crowd and the actress Meryl Streep for calling him out for bullying a handicapped reporter. And yet “Mr. Patriotism” has barely uttered a word of criticism on Twitter or off about a Russian president who has intervened in our democratic process.
That’s not O.K.
“What Trump is doing is not o.k.,” Friedman repeats. He urges the federal government, Congress, and the press to find an answer -- and fast -- to “the biggest national security question staring us in the face today: What is going on between Donald Trump and the Russians?”
Remember when Friedman ignored Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder obstructed investigations by Congress during Operation Fast and Furious? That’s not okay.
Or how about when the Department of Justice refused to investigate the radical New Black Panther Party after Obama was elected even though they stood outside a polling place to intimidate white voters by screaming at them, “You are about to be ruled by the black man, cracker!” That’s not okay.
No, Friedman never bothered to pursue those serious allegations. But this time it’s different: there’s a Republican in the White House and his name is Donald Trump.
