Thomas Friedman, "The Man on the Wall": Offensive

It is no accident that until now I have avoided reference in this blog to Ariel Sharon's passing. For me, it involves many conflicting emotions.

In his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "The Man on the Wall" (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/opinion/friedman-the-man-on-the-wall.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0), Thomas Friedman compares Ariel Sharon with Marine Col. Nathan Jessep, as played by Jack Nicholson  in the Hollywood classic “A Few Good Men.” I find this comparison offensive.

I was no "fan" of Ariel Sharon, but then I am not a fan of anyone. People, both great and small, come with their virtues and foibles, and this was also true of Sharon. However, when remembering Sharon, no one can deny that he was a leader.

Friedman mentions that "Sharon was deemed by a 1983 Israeli commission of inquiry as 'indirectly responsible' for the horrible massacre of Palestinian civilians by Phalangists in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps." Indeed, the disastrous mistake of allowing into the Palestinian camps the Christian Phalangists, who were hell-bent on revenge for the assassination of Lebanese president Bachir Gemayel, has always been a source of anguish for me.

On the other hand, Friedman also observes that Sharon was responsible for the 2005 unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. This withdrawal was necessary, notwithstanding the rocket fire from Gaza into Israel that ensued, and only someone with the right wing credentials of Sharon could have obtained the broad backing that was necessary to undertake this difficult step.

But nowhere in his opinion piece does Friedman mention that Sharon saved Israel during the War of Atonement in 1973, when he punched across the Suez Canal and surrounded the Egyptian Third Army, turning defeat into victory.

Sharon, who was very short and suffered from a lisp, was a born leader, whose successes and failures - both come with leadership - shaped the Middle East. Had he not suffered a severe stroke in 2006, might he have been able make peace with the Palestinians? Maybe, although Sharon never really believed it was possible in his lifetime.

Although Friedman tells us that he interviewed Sharon for his high school newspaper (Who cares?), this remarkable man does not deserve to be compared by Tom Terrific with a fictional movie character.

David Brooks, "The Empirical Kids": I Never Was "Cool" and Never Will Be

In his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "The Empirical Kids" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/opinion/brooks-the-empirical-kids.html?_r=0), David Brooks notes that he is teaching at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale. He describes his reaction to a paper submitted by one of his students, describing "how it feels to be in at least a segment of her age cohort." Brooks tells us:

"In sum, today’s graduates enter a harsher landscape. Immediate postgrad life, Buhler [the student] writes, will probably bear a depressing resemblance to Hannah Horvath’s world on 'Girls.' The hit song 'Thrift Shop' by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis 'is less a fashion statement, more a looming financial reality.'"

Brooks concludes:

"[T]he harsh events of the past decade may have produced not a youth revolt but a reversion to an empiricist mind-set, a tendency to think in demoralized economic phrases like 'data analysis,' 'opportunity costs' and 'replicability,' and a tendency to dismiss other more ethical and idealistic vocabularies that seem fuzzy and, therefore, unreliable. After the hippie, the yuppie and the hipster, the cool people are now wonksters."

Quite honestly, I had never before heard of either the television series "Girls" or the song "Thrift Shop." I tried listening to the "official video" of "Thrift Shop" on YouTube, which had almost 200 million views, but within seconds hit the pause button. Instead, as I type, I am listening to bird songs as darkness turns to light outside my window.

"Data analysis," "opportunity costs" and "replicability"? It's not just the kids. Our financial markets, once the stuff from which dreams were financed and built, are algorithm-driven and plagued by computerized manipulative schemes, spelling an end to industrial innovation. Heck, executive policy at the White House is also set by these determinants.

Cool? Never was, never will be, as I slowly fade out of this world.

Recently, I have given thought to writing a book about predictive biology and what I believe to be an imminent revolution in the way in which new life-saving drugs are discovered. But today, does anyone still read? And although predictive biology is premised upon sophisticated data analysis, it would have been doomed to failure if, in its infancy, opportunity costs had factored into the equation.

Often, I find myself quoting the monologue of Colonel Jessep, the antagonist from the 1992 movie "A Few Good Men," played by Jack Nicholson:

"We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something."

Honor, code and loyalty? No wonder Colonel Jessep is thrown into the brig at the end of the flick.

Me? I'm fast becoming a dinosaur, and perhaps my fossilized bones will be placed on display at the Museum of Natural History several centuries from now.

Meanwhile, it's time to replace the broccoli with tomato seedlings in my garden,  where "opportunity costs" and "replicability" have yet to raise their ugly heads.

[Martin Baron, executive editor of The Washington Post, sent me a short e-mail yesterday saying that he was passing my complaint concerning Fareed Zakaria's despicable opinion piece (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.co.il/2013/03/fareed-zakaria-obama-appeals-to-israels.html) to Fred Hiatt, the editorial page editor. Yes, there is still decency in this world, "opportunity costs" and all. Will I hear back from Fred Hiatt? Stay tuned.]