Thomas L. Friedman's Dumb "Jobs" Program

Lamenting the death of Steve Jobs, Thomas L. Friedman alleges that there are lots more Jobses out there waiting to be inspired by--wait for it--Washington politicians:

There are still thousands of U.S. innovators who embody Steve Jobs’s most important attribute: They didn’t get the word. They didn’t get the word that we’re down and out. They didn’t get the word that we’re in a recession. They didn’t get the word that Germany is going to eat our breakfast and that China is going to eat our lunch, so they just go out and invent stuff and make stuff and export stuff. Like Jobs, they just didn’t get the word — and thank God.       

But we’re not doing them justice because our political system is not providing these entrepreneurs what they need to thrive in the 21st century. Think of how cramped and uninspiring our national debate has become. It is all about cutting, filibustering, vetoing and blaming — or solving our problems by either untaxing or taxing millionaires alone.

Neither party is saying: Here is the world we are living in; here are the big trends; here is our long-term plan for rolling up our sleeves to ensure that America thrives in this world because it is not going to come easy; nothing important ever does.       

Sorry, Tom. If entrepreneurs are being stymied, it's because of the hyper-regulations that have made it incredibly difficult for them to do anything of consequence. And if you think some proto-Jobs is out there waiting for John Boehner or--heaven help us--Barack Obama to pump him full of juice and ideas, you are even more out to lunch than your other "genius" pronouncements would have lead us to believe.