I'm no particular fan of Alan Simpson, but his description of Social Security -- a "milk cow with 310 million tits" -- had enough truth in it to be the kind of provocation that should create meaningful if heated discussion. No, that doesn't mean kicking old folks penniless into the street; but the system is an illustration of the entitlement mentality we've drifted into. And the expression is just a variation on the "government teat" phrase that's been around forever. So it's a shame he gave in to the "outrage" over the remark and apologized:
In his apology, he told Carson he had put his "size 15 feet" in his mouth. adding "when I make a mistake, it's a doozy."
The White House on Wednesday night said it was satisfied with Simpson's apology and will keep him on the commission.
The fiscal commission that Simpson co-chairs is supposed to give advice on how to tame the monstrous federal deficits and debt. But I think this is an example of how any suggestion of the need for spending restraint will be dealt with. The group should be called the "giving Washington politicians cover for new taxes" commission.
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Simpson get's smacked for stating the obvious. Anybody remember the old math? You know, 2+2=4?
I've been amused at the reluctance of TV news readers to use the word "tits" on air.
Anyone who's ever been near a farm knows that rural folks routinely use that term in reference to livestock, and are perfectly aware that the term is a bit vulgar only when speaking of humans (although I don't know why - we're all mammals).
One of the problems with 24-hour news channels is that apparently no one has time to actually research anything.
Some of the little-old-lady set where I grew up in rural Kentucky insisted on pronoucing the word as "teet." Kind of charming, actually.