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There are days when Thomas Friedman seems to be writing his columns just to screw with Matt Taibbi's head. To wit:
Over the next couple of years, two very big countries, America and China, will give birth to something very important. They’re each going to give birth to close to $1 trillion worth of economic stimulus — in the form of tax cuts, infrastructure, highways, mass transit and new energy systems. But a lot is riding on these two babies. If China and America each give birth to a pig — a big, energy-devouring, climate-spoiling stimulus hog — our kids are done for. It will be the burden of their lifetimes. If they each give birth to a gazelle — a lean, energy-efficient and innovation-friendly stimulus — it will be the opportunity of their lifetimes.The crazy guy raving about pregnant countries birthing gazelles and pigs is right, though. It's been bad enough to watch the financial collapse freeze the economy. No reason to let the resulting stimulus scorch the earth.