Thomas Friedman, "What the Locusts Ate": More Sensible Advice from the Master

You can always count on Thomas Friedman for "sensible" advice.

In his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "What the Locusts Ate" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/opinion/friedman-what-the-locusts-ate.html), Tom outlines the travails of Europe, America, China and the Arab world in a mere nine paragraphs and concludes:

"If I were President Obama, I’d focus my entire campaign now on an effort to reforge a 'grand bargain' with Republicans based on a near-term infrastructure stimulus tied with a Simpson-Bowles long-term fiscal rebalancing. At a minimum, it would show that Obama has a sensible plan to fix the economy — which is what people want most from the president — and many in business would surely support it. We cannot wait until January to do serious policy making again. We, and the world, need America to be a rock of stability — now."

Ah, yes! Obama should devise and implement a "grand bargain" with Republicans with the US economy spiraling down the drain and with elections five months away in order to finally demonstrate that he's "sensible." I'm afraid it's a little late for that.

In order to engage in any sort of bargaining, one needs open channels of communication to the opposing side. In this vein, consider what Olympia Snowe, one of the most moderate Republicans in Washington, had to say when explaining her retirement from the US Senate (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 did 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).

This is the time to reach out to Republicans and proffer a "grand bargain" in order to demonstrate your "sensibility"? Thanks, Tom, but people have been committed to the funny farm for more sensible advice than this.