Tom Friedman vs. GM, Round 2
Posted by: Clay Waters
6/14/2006 11:49:38 AM
Columnist Tom Friedman, the scourge of gas-guzzling in all its wicked guises, gets extra space Wednesday for his column, “G.M. – Again.”
Friedman is defending himself against General Motors’ response to a May 31 Friedman attack on the company, a column which began “Is there a company more dangerous to America's future than General Motors? Surely, the sooner this company gets taken over by Toyota, the better off our country will be.”
Today he summarizes: “On May 31 I wrote a column accusing General Motors of acting irresponsibly by offering unlimited gasoline at $1.99 a gallon for one year to anyone who buys certain of its midsize sedans, big S.U.V.'s or gas-guzzling Hummers in California or Florida. At a time when we are at war in the Middle East, with an enemy who is indirectly financed by our energy purchases, it seems to me that every American, and every American company, has an obligation to reduce oil consumption. No one should be making a huge gas-guzzling Hummer, and no one should be driving one, and no one -- certainly not G.M. -- should be subsidizing people to drive them.
“After the May 31 column appeared, G.M.'s vice president for global communications, Steven J. Harris, and his colleagues denounced my argument in a formal statement and on G.M.'s corporate blog. This is an important issue, so let me respond to their response.”
What Friedman doesn’t mention is the story on the strange way the Times dealt with GM’s “response” -- the company's letter to the editor.
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