I am really proud of my daughter.

I have written that before, but for different reasons. Pauline has a wonderful career and a great marriage, she's a good mother to Maddie and she's got another one on the way. She seems to balance everything in her life really well, which is impressive.

But what makes me really proud is that this morning, when I signed onto Facebook, I found a comment from her:

<em>"You wrote a really stupid, uneducated, insulting blog."</em>

Say what?

The thing is, I did, but she left out one word. Sloppy. I looked back and read the particular blog she disliked so much, and I realized that I had said something I didn't intend to say at all. I was writing about the killing of Osama bin Laden and the aftermath of the tornadoes that hit the South. This is what I said:

<em>"What happened in Pakistan really has no tangible effect — lasting or otherwise — on their life. </em>

<em>"Foreign policy successes don’t solve domestic policy problems. In  fact, billions spent on foreign policy probably actually exacerbate  domestic policy problems by leaving fewer resources available to be  used."</em>

Foreign policy? But that wasn't what I meant. I am not an isolationist, and I certainly believe in America engaging with the rest of the world.

[caption id="attachment_1105" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Military, not foreign policy"]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/104414_f520.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1105" title="104414_f520" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/104414_f520-300x224.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="224" /></a>[/caption]

I meant "military." Killing bin Laden had nothing to do with foreign policy. It had everything to do with us flexing our military muscles and telling the rest of the world that you don't mess with the big dog.

Precisely the kind of thing I've always hated.

But because I wrote imprecisely, because something may have been on my mind that caused me to say it wrong, because of all that or maybe just because I'm getting old, I said something stupid. Of course Pauline jumped to a conclusion from that and thought I was attacking <em>foreign aid</em>. I certainly wasn't, and I have always understood that we spend less on foreign aid that most critics think.

When I spoke about exacerbating problems, I was referring to the fact that building one less stealth bomber could probably fund some worthwhile domestic program for a year. I'm not an isolationist and never have been.

So, <em>mea culpa. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa</em>.

And Pauline, thanks for holding my feet to the fire.

Thanks for calling me a dumbass.

I hope this clears that up.