From a reader:

Hi Jonah,
What astounds me about Messr. Friedman’s wishin’ and a hopin’ about us being “China for a day” is that he naturally assumes the good folks in DC will do exactly what he wants them to do with their new-found powers.
I had a friend who waxed poetically about Friedman’s desire, and I simply responded, “So you want Karl Rove to be dictator of the USA for one day?” The friend was appropriately horrified. I pointed out that if any conservative had ventured such idiocies during W’s time in office the left would have been disgusted and up in arms.
It is definitely not a sophisticated argument. They want their stuff, their ideas enacted right now, and that’s all they want.
It’s quite apparent that Friedman’s wish is essentially onanistic. Basically, it boils down to “If I was dictator America would be better.” That is so astonishingly juvenile that the only reasonable response is to point your finger at him and laugh.