Thomas Friedman, "When Complexity Is Free": As Told by a Simpleton

Anxious to tell us what he learned on a field trip to a General Electric research lab in Niskayuna, Thomas Friedman, in his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "When Complexity Is Free" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/opinion/sunday/friedman-when-complexity-is-free.html?pagewanted=all), begins by demeaning the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Friedman writes:

"IT’S easy to be depressed about America these days. We’ve got messes aplenty abroad and the Republican-dominated House of Representatives is totally paralyzed. Indeed, the G.O.P.-led House has become a small-minded, parochial place, where collaboration is considered treason, where science is considered a matter of opinion, where immigration is considered a threat, where every solution is a suboptimal compromise enacted at midnight and where every day we see proof of the theory that America is a country that was 'designed by geniuses so that it could be run by idiots.'"

Don't get me wrong: I'm not fond of Republicans. I'm not fond of Democrats. I'm not fond of politicians.

But heck, I don't know how Friedman can come down on the House today, after witnessing Obama, Kerry and Hagel's recent Keystone Cop routine involving Syria.

Today's "deal" with Russia, providing Obama with a ladder to climb down from his tree, has compromised America's credibility and power of deterrence for years to come. (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.co.il/2013/09/new-york-times-us-and-russia-reach-deal.html). Meanwhile, Assad will continue to terrorize Syrian civilians with the threat of sarin gas.

But why should Friedman, a would-be Middle East expert, express an opinion on anything so banal?

At a time like this, I suppose it's better to focus on jet engine parts.