Why are Kristof and Friedman afraid of our messy democracy?

Of course, I yell and scream about how messed up the American democracy is.  But then I am not stupid enough to suggest that these democratic processes--the checks and balances, in particular--that we have are the worst form of democracy.

Yet, that is what both Nicholas Kristof and Thomas Friedman do.  Friedman I can understand--over the last few years the guy has been wandering off on his own and sometimes I even wonder why the NY Times has him on the payroll.  Well, he is better than Maureen Dowd :)

But, et tu, Kristof? WTF!

In his column today, Kristof writes:

In my travels lately, I’ve been trying to explain to Libyans, Egyptians, Bahrainis, Chinese and others the benefits of a democratic system. But if Congressional Republicans actually shut down the government this weekend, they will be making a powerful argument for autocracy. Chinese television will be all over the story.

Hello?  This is one fantastic example of democracy in action.  I disagree with the stupidity of both the GOP and the Dems, but this is what representative democracy means.  In fact, I wish they had argued like this every time any President felt that penile urge to bomb the shit out of some country or the other. 

The more I think about it, Kristof can do us all a great service by showcasing this political show(down) as a classic example of representative democracy. 

The only consolation is that Kristof at least did not lead towards a conclusion that Friedman wrote a few months ago:

There is only one thing worse than one-party autocracy, and that is one-party democracy, which is what we have in America today.

Really, Mr. Friedman?  I can think a lot more worse things before I get anywhere near the messy system we have in place.  And that was not even the worst line; he added:

One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks. But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today, it can also have great advantages. That one party can just impose the politically difficult but critically important policies needed to move a society forward in the 21st century.

Look away and puke, dear reader.  Don't mess up your keyboard!