Walter Russell Mead's review of Tom Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum's new book is a classic of the genre. For the order of the brown nose, the Dish bows in awe in front of the following sentences:
"That Used to Be Us" represents an effort by Mr. Mandelbaum, a professor at Johns Hopkins University and one of the country’s leading public intellectuals, and Mr. Friedman, a columnist for The New York Times whose three Pulitzer Prizes only hint at the global influence of his work, to describe the rocky conditions of the present day and prescribe a way forward…
These are big truths, and the authors see them clearly and whole. As is usual in Mr. Friedman’s work the power of the core argument is buttressed by detailed reportage and blizzards of specific fact and detail, but the accumulation of anecdote and evidence never detracts from the book’s central thrust. "That Used to Be Us" is an important contribution to an intensifying debate, and it deserves the widest possible attention.
Yes, he has some quibbles. But still. There's nothing quite so cloying as members of the establishment congratulating themselves on their brilliance.
The Dish 