In the grand scheme of hare-brained ideas, the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman offered a doozy over the weekend. He suggested presidential candidates level with the American people.

Tell me, have you heard anything so outrageous?

In Mr. Friedman’s Sunday piece, titled "Who Will Tell the People?", the writer says he will vote for the presidential candidate who has the strength to go on national television, prime time, and tell the truth to Americans about the nation’s position in the world.

The truth, as Mr. Friedman sees it: The United States is not dedicating enough money improving its infrastructure ... the infrastructures of Iraq and Afghanistan, that’s a different matter. The United States is no longer devoting appropriate resources to research ... in China, India and Singapore, officials have made biotechnology national goals. (Think of what St. Joseph, earnestly nibbling at the edges of this trend, could do if warmed by federal intent.)

And Mr. Friedman sees the values that built our nation — “work hard, study, save, invest, live within your means” — as noticeably absent in Americans and abundantly apparent in thriving Asian economies.

Think of our nation’s current sacrifice: We are asked to take a check from the federal government, regurgitated from our own tax dollars, and spend it in order to jump-start the stagnant U.S. economy. Our dependability in a science lab might be questionable, but Americans can be trusted to consume.

For all this, there is a word for an American presidential candidate who tells voters their country has slipped from its lofty perch, that their habits no longer position the nation for greatness, that their values trail those of people of other lands. And that word is loser.

Presidential candidates won’t tell the truth to the people they need to elect them. They will pander, a more proven formula for success.

What was Mr. Friedman thinking?

(On a serious note, read his column, linked above. It is a remarkable and provocative piece of work.)