Veteran journalist Bob Woodward -- appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" this morning -- offered a stunning statement about how to address the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. "...Why don't they call in Google?" Woodward asked at one point. "Why don't they call in some of these people who have these great minds to fix it?"

What's fascinating to me about Woodward's remarks is how Google has kind of become a panacea for the nation's ills. Could Google's army of software engineers really fix a broken well thousands of feet below the ocean's surface?

The Wall Street Journal's Paul Gigot responded to Woodward's remark by bringing up the complexities of the situation, noting that it is a very "specific engineering problem 5,000 feet underwater."

Interestingly, Woodward -- who seemed almost panicked about the situation -- came back to the Google comment a few moments later after Gigot said that the search giant didn't have the expertise to cap the broken well.

"I am saying get smart people," countered Woodward.

It was a fascinating exchange for someone like me who covers the technology industry. But what's also interesting about Woodward's remark is it shows just how far Google has come in establishing itself as the place where super smart people hang out. You didn't hear Woodward say: "Call in Microsoft" or "Call in Apple."

Note, Thomas Friedman of The New York Times also laid out his call to action to get the country weaned off oil by investing in new innovations.