Alan Simpson: A demonstration why America is doomed

I've been trying to figure out just what the issue is. "Tit" is the pronunciation, although the usual spelling is "teat," for what you get milk out of a cow with. Simpson said, essentially, that everybody wants to milk the cow.

Surely, a woman old enough to lead an old women's organization has heard the term before. The context is certainly not "sexist." Yet, Democratic lawmakers and "women's advocates" are calling for Simpson's resignation.

And clearly what these people want is to get rid of the conservative Republican and stop talking about Social Security, so they can focus on their agenda to "balance the budget." Except that you could eliminate the Bush tax cuts and slash defense spending and still not be balanced.

You need a bull that's going to gore everybody if the deal is going to be done, but that's not going to happen. The only support for shared sacrifice is support for all the other people to share it. Entitlements need to be reduced. The idea that we have enough wealth to police the entire world must go. Taxes will need to be raised.

And it won't be done with a partisan commission, and the idea that you can pitch Alan Simpson and still reach the goal is foolish. We need somebody blunt and willing to offend. In my mind, Alan Simpson has polished his credentials.

Dumb and Dumber

It was not a smart political decision for President Obama to take any position on the building of an Islamic center near Ground Zero in New York City. The only thing dumber is that the Republican party seems intent on making this a campaign issue at the same time we're at war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We are in the Middle East, trying to persuade people that when we bring in the army, we're fighting for their rights to a good life, free of oppression, and that we feel strongly that Islam, their religion, is great and worthy.

Then back home, we have one of our two main political parties seizing on the building of a peaceful, welcoming, educational center that Muslims in NYC want to showcase their ability to integrate into American society, and denouncing it as some kind of blasphemy. In so doing, making it clear that for Republicans, Muslim and Islamist are the same thing.

In New York City, where an infinitely rich blend of cultures, ethnicities and religions dates back many decades, this kind of islamophobia probably doesn't play well. But Republicans expect it to play well in East Armpit, Louisiana, where their political base lies.

Republicans seem intent on fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan until we've exhausted the last dollar the Chinese will loan us, but if we're going to be serious, it makes no sense to undercut the mission with petty politics.

Funny Math

The people who count things for the media are now saying that the Pakistan floods are going to be worse than three previous mega disasters -- two earthquakes and the Indonesia tsunami. Because "more people are affected."

OK, guys, "affected" is open to interpretation. But death is binary. On/off. You're dead or not. And while the death toll in Pakistan is above 1500, the three above mentioned were in the range of half a million stone cold dead. Defunct. Pakistan is a horrible and still unfolding story, but it's not in the same league.

Of course, whining aside, we should help Pakistan

Not because they will be as grateful as Indians, or that this is a good use relative to other places in the world where there are more appreciative people, but the way to sell this is part of the war on terror. For that, we'll spend a billion dollars a day and not blink.

Things are getting worse and the Pakistanis may be getting a little tired of their government. They may not become cheerleaders for America out of this, but if we donated a bazillion tents, cook stoves, sacks of rice and porta-potties, all marked "Made in USA," it might do us some good, and the billion a day is doing less than nothing, so why not?

Of course, before writing "Made in USA" on the materiel, we would need to scrub off all the "Made in China" markings.

Pakistan Needs Our Help, They Tell Us

It seems that Pakistan is going to need billions of dollars to repair damage from the monsoon flooding.

Now if I remember right, Pakistan is the country that helped North Korea get the technology for its nuclear bomb. Its intelligence branch has been helping the Taliban, which just murdered ten people for the crime of helping while Christian.

If we plan to assist Pakistan to boost our image, we should consider the recent past. As the Christian Science Monitor reported, the 2005 earthquake similarly opened an opportunity to boost the US image. Five years later, most Pakistanis view us as an enemy. They'll take our help again, but we aren't going to win any hearts or minds.

In India, a country with a generally positive attitude towards the United States, there are many among the dalits, formerly known as untouchables, who have suffered for a couple thousand years what the Pakistanis are suffering now for a few weeks. Bill Gates has recognize this and has started to help. Our money would earn us a lot more return if we spent it in India.