Thomas Friedman, "Elephants Down Under": Why Didn't Tom Talk With Olympia Snowe?

An itinerant Tom Friedman is now visiting New Zealand and Australia, from where he seeks to proffer "fresh" perspectives on US politics. In "Elephants Down Under" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/28/opinion/friedman-elephants-down-under.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss#), Friedman declares that in New Zealand and Australia "there is a place in the world where moderate Republicans still exist — unfortunately, you have to take a 13-hour flight from Los Angeles to get there." Tom continues:

"Looking at America from here, makes me feel as though we have the worst of all worlds right now. The days when there were liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats, who nudged the two parties together, appear over. We don’t have compulsory voting. Special interest money is out of control, and we lack any credible Third Party that could capture enough of the center to force both Democrats and Republicans to compete for votes there. So we’ve lost our ability to do big, hard things together. Yet everything we have to do — tax reform, fiscal reform, health care reform, energy policy — is big and hard and can only be done together."

Read his op-ed again from top to bottom. Now reread it again. What is missing? Answer: There is not even a single mention of President Obama, who was expected to put an end to partisan wrangling and reunite America. Contemplate Obama's uplifting 2004 keynote speech to the Democratic National Convention:

"There's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there is the United States of America. There's not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America; there is the United States of America."

Consider also Obama's January 2009 inauguration speech, in which he stated:

"On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics."

Did Obama fulfill his promise to reconcile America? Sorry, it didn't happen. Now tell me which other name is conspicuously absent from Friedman's opinion piece? Answer: Olympia Snowe.

Snowe, one of the most moderate Republicans in Washington, recently announced her departure from the US Senate. Snowe explained her retirement to CNN (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/29/snowe-explains-decision-to-leave-defends-tough-criticism-of-senate/):

"People are just stunned by the debilitating partisanship, polarization and the overall dysfunction of the institution and political paralysis as we come, you know, to the point of extreme when it comes to resolving the problems facing our country."

And what does Snowe, one of three Republicans in the US Congress who voted for Obama's economic stimulus plan in 2009, have to say about the president? Snowe told Jonathan Karl that she has not had a face-to-face meeting with Obama in two years, and asked if she had to grade Obama on his willingness to work with Republicans, she replied that he would be "close to failing on that point" (see: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/frustrated-senator-olympia-snowe-gives-obama-f-101657433.html).

Sorry, Tom, but there was no need to travel to New Zealand to understand why Washington is growing increasingly dysfunctional with every passing day. Olympia Snowe, a moderate Republican ignored by Obama, whose Senate offices are a short drive from your Maryland mansion, has all of the answers.