Friedman Unit
The Friedman, or Friedman Unit (F.U.), is a tongue-in-cheek neologism coined by blogger Atrios (Duncan Black) on May 21, 2006.[1] A Friedman is a unit of time equal to six months.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] The Huffington Post cited it as the "Best New Phrase" of 2006.[9]
The term is in reference to a May 16, 2006 article by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) detailing journalist Thomas Friedman's repeated use [10] of "the next six months" as the time period in which, according to Friedman, "we're going to find out...whether a decent outcome is possible" in the Iraq War. As documented by FAIR, Friedman had been making such six-month predictions for a period of two and a half years, on at least fourteen different occasions, starting with a column in the November 30, 2003 edition of The New York Times, in which he stated: "The next six months in Iraq—which will determine the prospects for democracy-building there—are the most important six months in U.S. foreign policy in a long, long time."[11]
The term has been used in general to describe any pronouncement of a critical period for the U.S. occupation of Iraq.[7] Such pronouncements have been made by numerous politicians and military officials involved in the war.[12]
References
- ^ Black, Duncan (21 May 2006). "The Six Monthers". Blogspot. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Friedman Finally Urges Fixed Date for U.S. Pullout". Editor & Publisher. 7 December 2006.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Klein, Ezra (December 8, 2006). "TAPPED". The American Prospect. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Gen. Petreaus is in". Think Progress. Center for American Progress. February 28, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Drum, Kevin (November 1, 2006). "Meltdown in Iraq..." The Washington Monthly. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Alterman, Eric (April 5, 2007). "The Politics of Pundit Prestige...". The Nation.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help); Text "http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070423/alterman" ignored (help) - ^ a b Froomkin, Dan (May 8, 2007). "Four More Months?". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Yglesias, Matthew (9 May 2007). "More Friedman Units to Come". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Rachel Sklar, Nick Douglas, Sven Hodges, Melissa Lafsky, Ankush Khardori (January 2, 2007). "Media Winners of 2006: Honorable Mentions (Rapid-Fire Round II)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Tom Friedman's Flexible Deadlines". Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. May 16, 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Friedman, Thomas L (November 30, 2003). "The Chant Not Heard". The New York Times. p. WK 9.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Milbank, Dana (November 30, 2005). "The Time Is (Perpetually) Now". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links
- Friedman Unit at DKosopedia, with list of examples
- Graphical representation of Tom Friedman's Friedman Units at Agonist.org
