Friedman Sings a New Tune

Tom Friendman of the NYT is singing a new tune in todays Op-Ed.

We don’t need another president of 9/11. We need a president for 9/12. I will only vote for the 9/12 candidate.

What does that mean? This: 9/11 has made us stupid. I honor, and weep for, all those murdered on that day. But our reaction to 9/11 — mine included — has knocked America completely out of balance, and it is time to get things right again.

But this is what really got my attention.

Look at our infrastructure. It’s not just the bridge that fell in my hometown, Minneapolis. Fly from Zurich’s ultramodern airport to La Guardia’s dump. It is like flying from the Jetsons to the Flintstones. I still can’t get uninterrupted cellphone service between my home in Bethesda and my office in D.C. But I recently bought a pocket cellphone at the Beijing airport and immediately called my wife in Bethesda — crystal clear.

This statement is right on. Travel to any major Western European city (and probably some Eastern European cities) and you will have a sense of modernity that you just don't get in the USA. They have better internet access, better cell phone technology, better transportation systems, hell, they even dress better than citizens of the USA. And they do this all the while they fight terrorism (using law enforcement)which they have been doing alot longer than the USA.

Friedman says:

For me, the candidate of 9/12 is the one who will not only understand who our enemies are, but who we are.

The problem is that Americans have huge disagreements on who we are and I don't see that changing in the near future.