Freidonia

Friedman's basic premise, widely shared I'm afraid, is weirdly tautological and self-begging--society exists in order to create government, whose purpose, "governance" is to create the type of society that will endow itself with good government. The most fundamental block of a Thomas Friedman column is a statement to the effect that we need a government that will make it possible for X to Y. Look at today's column. Its central premise is that American society needs to have a better government in order that the government can better American society. It's like a fucking Escher drawing, without the comforting rot and bad reggae of a dorm room to mellow the harsh.