I don't think it's an indictment since it's a clear tradeoff. Yes git isn't intuitive or self explanatory for newcomers, but that's only because it's optimised to be maximally efficient for experienced users.

To me, this is a sensible decision. The target users of git will use it day in and day out for decades, in this case it makes sense to prioritise experienced usage. For onboarding new users there are plenty of good tutorials, and I think in the long run it makes sense to put the legwork in with those, rather than switch to a more intuitive but less efficient porcelain.