The two areas were C++ is strongest are actually better handled by C or by a combination of C and a higher level language....
Systems programming: C code is more predictable; less place for bugs to hide. It also better represents the underlying execution model.
Performance critical applications: C offers a standardized binary interface to implement performance critical components with effective interop for business logic written in higher-level languages.
That's not to say that C is the be-all, end-all systems or performance language. It's just better suited to the task than C++. Writing an entire application in C OR C++ is almost never using the right tool for the right job.
Few modern languages get as much criticism as C++, and I think rightly so. It is very complex, and takes way to long to master.
Think of the FQA as a survival guide.
Keep in mind, though, that reasons for many of those restrictions have to do with maintaining compatibility. This may not be as much of an issue with newer projects.
OTOH, Google's coding standards is probably the most thorough, well documented, clear, and easily available set of C++ coding standards out there. For this reason, I don't think it would be a horrible decision to use them for a new project.
I think it is actually pretty sane stuff in there and you can use it to your advantage when programming C++.
It's a pretty subtle kind of humor I think, but I don't think it is meant as a put-down, more an extensive critique from years of experience. You can't know that much about the shortcomings of anything if you haven't spent significant time with it.
"And you can also test your code by creating programs that check if it does what you want it to do in a bunch of cases. It's the same with C++ except that it compiles forever and you have to write notable amounts of code to implement the simplest test, so C++ code ends up being tested pretty rarely."